Thursday, August 17, 2006	Pastor Ken Sanders

By God's grace and mercy, the team arrived home to Boston - Logan Airport at 4:45 pm on Tuesday, August 15. Despite some significant turbulence over the North Atlantic Ocean, the flight went very well.

We rejoice in God's providence that He permitted us to treat over 100 children in the dental clinics and to build two fences at the Reformed churches of Vishpol and Vilsk. Our prayer has been that these deeds of love may be a part of the church's witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ in these villages and that our sovereign Lord will call many sinners to be given the gift of faith and to know the saving mercies of the true God.

Our hearts were filled with compassion as we had an opportunity to visit an orphanage on the last Lord's Day of the trip. Pastor Kovba and his wife Tanya visit this orphange every week and minister to the children with God's Word and with gifts of fruit. This orphanage in the Zhitomir region has about 200 children of all ages and they are both physically and mentally handicapped. Pastor Kovba has raised money to provide a new heating system for this orphange. Many pictures of our visit are found here on our website. For about an hour, the team visited with some of the children, gave out a children's Bible to each one, a Ukraine mission team tee shirt and a gift of fruit. Over a hundred Bibles and tee shirts were left for the other children who were not available for our visit. Again, our prayer to the Lord is that He will call out many from this orphanage by the reading of His Word, and give to these children true riches of the kingdom of Christ.

We are thankful to God for everyone who helped and supported the mission work this year. We are thankful for those who gave financially, those who helped out in many ways on the home front to maintain the worship services, and those who prayed. God has answered prayer. The clinic ran almost perfectly without any major mechanical problems. The spiritual atmosphere of the team was daily strengthened by devotions and Scripture readings. The health of the team was good. The bonds of fellowship were deepened both doctrinally and spiritually with the Reformed churches and their pastors. Also, the lives of the team members were blessed by the faith and love of the Ukrainian Christians.

There are many needs that remain in the Zhitomir region of Ukraine. These fellow believers are hard working men and women who live in an economic wasteland due to the decades of an atheistic Soviet regime. The average household income is about $300 per month whereas many services and goods are about the same price as in Western society. The pastors and Christians in these churches are showing great personal sacrifice to see the gospel spread and real physical needs met. There is still so much to do and so much help needed. Perhaps the Lord will touch many more hearts and lives in our affluent society to share in this gospel work in the Zhitomir region. The apostle Paul says in II Corinthians 8:14, "...that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack..." and 9:6, "...He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Team at an orphange in Zhitomir...

Friday, August 11, 2006	Pastor Ken Sanders

It is now Friday of the second week of the Mission Trip and tomorrow is the last day of the Dental Clinic. It has been a busy couple days in Vilsk, the second small Reformed church in which we have set up the clinic. Over the past two days, the dental outreach has been able to fully treat 22 children for cavities, extractions and crowns and cleanings. An additional 6 children's teeth were cleaned by Kathy who this morning will be treated by Dr. Blake and Carol. Dentally, the work has been similar to the work in Vishpol. Kathy has observed that the teeth of the children in Vilsk appear a bit cleaner than in Vishpol. Is it perhaps the effect of the different water which is used? Perhaps but we really don't know. The team still has two full days to do dentistry and our prayer is that the Lord will permit us to see many over this short time period.

Yesterday, Thursday, was a very busy day for the fence-building contingent of the team. Paul, Chris, Ian, Sam, Pastor Ken, and Daisy worked with Pastor Nicolai, Pastor Yuri, Pastor Anatoly, and several other Ukrainian brothers to fully complete a beautiful fence across the front of the church property. The project, which we undertook with primitive tools, began with digging holes about one meter deep, setting 200 pound concrete poles in place, measuring, leveling and filling the holes with Zhitomir granite. Granite stones were carried from the pile to the holes with a "four-poled, carry-all", instead of a wheel barrow. A concrete mix was then poured into the holes of stone. The concrete was mixed with a shovel in a large wash tub. Sixteen poles were placed and three decorative concrete panels were slid into place between each post. The team faced three obstacles in putting up the fence. First, a large horse chestnut branch needed to sawn off with a two man saw. Second, an old tree root happened to lie right where one of the post needed to be placed. And finally, due to a minor mismeasurement, the crew needed to dig most of the holes two times! We were very thankful, however, that we were digging holes in the Ukraine and not in New England! There no rocks or stones at all in the deep rich loamy soil here. Even with a small shovel, a deep hole is no problem. A place was left for a driveway entrance and a center gate. After a full day of work by a crew of 14, the fence was finished! Fences are very important to the Ukrainians. Every property along the dirt road has either a simple or beautifully ornate fence. Blue, green, purple, white, yellow and many other colored fences decorate the roads. The team has now gotten used to a road on the way to Vilsk that can only be compared to a roller coaster!. No wonder the German army had a difficult time crossing Ukraine in WWII.

The church in Vilsk and Pastor Yuri have been exceedingly thankful for the two projects this year. Their loving smiles and warm handshakes and sincere words have deepened our brotherhood in Christ. What a joy that we have like minded brethren half a world away with whom the Lord is pleased to continue building bonds in love and truth.

The plan for the next few days include a work day and clean up at Vilsk on Saturday, a day of worship and fellowship on the Lord's Day (Sunday), and a free day in Kiev on Monday. The team's flight leaves for Boston Logan on Tuesday.

The Zhitomir region Reformed churches now have ordained a fourth pastor. Pastor Nicolai was ordained in June 2006 and has been preaching in a church in Goradishe for the past four years. Nicolai is committed to the Reformed faith and is married to Luda, the general physician who works in the hospital in Zhitomir and will dispense the medicines which the team has carried with them this year. The church in Goradishe meets in a small renovated home with a large property which Come Over And Help purchased. Goradishe is one of the many Chernobyl relocation villages in which many former residents of Chernobyl now live. Several years ago, Pastor Kovba visited this village and met several believers in this village who desired to form a church. They were so thankful to meet a Christian pastor. He started to preach to them each week and a church was formed. Four years ago, Pastor Nicolai took over this work.

Last week the team had "Gadzinka Day" on Saturday. The team which had the clinic set up in Vishpol asked Pastor Anatoly to transport children from Gadzinka on that day to the clinic. Many children came aboard Anatoly's auftobus. Some new children who do not attend the church also came on the bus that day to the clinic. On Sunday morning, four of these children who had never before come to church, attended Sunday school in Gadzinka. We were very thankful to hear this report. Our prayer that next day was that these children might continue to come, to hear the Word of God and if it pleased God to work in their hearts the call of the Spirit and the gift of faith.

During the fence project, an older man from the village of Vilsk was very interested and stood around watching. Pastor Ken had an opportunity with a translator at the end of the day to speak with him. In his mid - 70's, he has lived through the Soviet era and has also seen the effects of the fall of the iron curtain. When asked , "Are things better now?" This gentleman stated, "Nyet". (No). "Before, the fields were filled with wheat. Now, they are empty!" It is true. Ukrainians now face many difficulties. Rising fuel prices, high cost of food, and other basic necessities. The average income is about 300 US dollars per month. The conversation turned to spiritual things. When asked, "Do you know what happens when you die?" This man said, "Nyet" (No). Pastor then began sharing the gospel, beginning with God the Creator, our sin and evil, and the hope of Christ in His death. The man listened with puzzled eyes. He said, "That is religion". "The Bible is written by men". Pastor ended by thanking the man for speaking and assuring him that we would pray for him, also, inviting him to Pastor Yuri's church.

We ask you to continue to pray for the work here. Again, we are grateful that it is our loving and sovereign God who prepares the good works for us to walk in each day, so that He receives all the glory. May God continue to lead us as American churches to be a blessing to our faithful brethren here in the Ukraine. We can assure you that their hearts and lives are indeed a great spiritual blessing to us.

Tuesday, August 8, 2006	Pastor Ken Sanders

Greetings to everyone from the Ukraine! Our last update was Saturday evening and since that time the team has enjoyed one full Lord's Day of worship and fellowship and a day of work at Vishpol and one free day to relax and gather our strength for the second half of the mission.

Sunday morning began with a worship service in the village of Vilsk, about a one half hour ride from our hotel Lazer. We were greeted by Pastor Yuri, his family, and a congregation of about 12 people. To spend a day in Vilsk is like taking a step back 150 years. The homes are very simple with only the bare essentials. The farm work is all done by hand or horse drawn cart. Every home has a rather large garden which for many is both a source of their food and income. One man invited us to visit his home. He was very proud of his four cows and garden with some fruit trees which lined one side of the garden. His produce included cabbage, beets and cucumbers. When asked, he replied that one head of cabbage would sell for about 5 cents.

The worship service at Vilsk was very good. The preaching was verse by verse from a chapter in Thessalonians. The exposition was faithful to the text. Pastor Yuri is a humble and sincere Christian pastor. He said several times how deeply grateful he was to the Reformed Bible Church for coming over to open a dental clinic in Vilsk. Our prayer is that this will be the means of showing love to the village families so that in turn they will come to church and hear about the death of Christ and the sovereign grace of God and God willing, become truly saved.

The dental clinic is planned to begin tomorrow morning at 9 am in Vilsk.
Please pray for smooth operation of equipment, and that many children may be relieved of the pain of dental problems. Also, pray for those who will be building a fence around the property. These fences are very important as animals - horses, cows, goats, sheep - move around freely throughout the village. In this case, we pray that the building of fences will be the means of building bridges between the Ukrainian believers and the American believers!

The team then traveled to Zhitomir for a second worship service at 2 pm. We worshiped in a newly constructed small building. There was standing room only. Pastor Sanders addressed a few words to the congregation from the great commission passage. Each family and individual off the team introduced themselves and Pastor Kovba preached. Again, we were thankful for such faithful preaching from a Reformed perspective here in the midst of a large, spiritually destitute city of 300,000. This new congregation has taken the name - First Reformed Bible Church of Zhitomir. If the Lord wills, we hope that Pastor Kovba will be able to build a large church building in the center of Zhitomir where many can come to hear the gospel on the Lord's Day, visit a Christian book store, and know the mercies of Christ's work through the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit.

After our second worship service, we enjoyed a beautiful time of fellowship at the Seminary building and a Shaslik (Shiskabob) cooked by Pastor Nicolai. Pastor Nicolai is the fourth pastor to be ordained here in the Zhitomir region. His small congregation is in Garadishu (The spelling of this village is probably incorrect). Pastor Nicolai's wife is a general physician and serves the congregations with medical care. We were able to give her many medicines from the agency called Global Mission in the United States.

On Monday, the team travelled in the morning to the Church in Vishpol and conducted dental clinic from 9 am until 3 pm. This was our last day in Vishpol. At 3 pm , we packed up everything and moved to Vilsk. The set up, once we arrived in Vilsk went forward without one problem and only took one and a half hours. Praise God for His providence and goodness.

Dr. Blake and the team were able to see a total of 62 children and fully treat 51. He also treated a few adults for minor dental needs. One story which Dr. Blake related to me was of a young woman who was very afraid to return to the dentist due to a horrifying and painful visit to a local dentist in the previous year. This young woman is the new wife of one of the men who assists in the Gadzinka congregation. However, since she was again in great pain from a decaying tooth, she came to the clinic, fearful and trembling. Dr. Blake did a wonderful job reassuring her that she would not go through any pain in the extraction. He was able to section the tooth and due perhaps to reduced inflammation, properly prepare her for the extraction. All went well and she was very very happy and felt blessed that her pain was gone and her fears subdued.

Another important story is a small girl named Anya. Anya lives in Vishpol and due to the many children who desired treatment, was not able to be seen. She was invited to travel with Pastor Anatoly to Vilsk this coming week, but her father will not permit her. She is in need of dental work on at least four teeth. The team is praying that her father will trust the church in Vishpol and the pastor and allow her to travel to Vilsk, only 7 kilometers away, to be treated this week. We ask you to pray this for little Anya also.

Along with the dental clinic, about 6 members of the team have been helping to construct a chain link fence around the property of the Vishpol church building. This 300 meter fence (that is 900 feet) was a sizeable undertaking for 3 days. With the leadership of Pastor Anatoly and the help of a few Ukrainian brothers on the last day, the project was all but completed. We give thanks to God for strength given to all who worked in the hot sun, and for the most part down on their knees, first putting the chain link fence together properly and then, hanging it on poles and wires around the property!

We are planning to update the web page with pictures each evening and written updates every few days.

Saturday, August 5, 2006	Pastor Ken Sanders

Greetings to everyone from Zhitomir, Ukraine! It is Saturday evening and we are sending our first report to our church web page at the end of a full work day. We have had a few problems hooking up to the internet and with our telephone calls home. However, we are now able to send, the Lord willing, daily updates.

A lot has happened since we arrived on Wednesday evening. Our flight began on Tuesday evening at 7:15 pm out of Boston and after a stop in Amsterdam, we arrived very well into Kiev on Wednesday at 5:00 pm. The time zone we are in is seven hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. For the team of fifteen, the travel went very well.

We were wonderfully surprised when we saw all our luggage arrive in the Kiev, Borispol airport! The last two trips close to half the luggage found its way to other airports or was delayed. However, that was the small news when we tell you that customs went exceedingly well. In fact, each of us, with our three pieces of luggage, walked through without one problem. We are happy as we were carrying much needed items for the work in the dental clinic and for the orphanage. The verse that came to mind was Romans 8:28, "All things work together for the good, to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." The Lord has been very merciful to us.

After a pretty good first night of sleep (we were exhausted since we traveled about 30 hours), the dental clinic was set up without one problem! And we even began seeing our first children patients at the scheduled time of 1:00 pm. We are spending our first 3 and one half full days of dental clinic in Vishpol and next week in another little village called Vilsk. Pastor Anatoly and Pastor Yuri oversee these two Reformed churches.

Last summer the mission team helped to work on an old train car in the back of the Vishpol church to turn it into a Sunday School room. It has turned out beautifully. It has a very nice little kitchen and bathroom with shower. The team has been eating all their lunches and dinners there and the food was been good Ukrainian fare.

Each morning at 7:45 am, the team participates in devotion time. All fifteen members crowded into one hotel room for the singing of Trinity Hymns, a devotional and announcements for the day. Pastor Sanders has asked each team member to choose a Scripture that they will read for the whole team at either lunch or dinner. Today, Dr. Blake read from Psalm 22 at lunch and Ian Michaud read from Philippians 2 at dinner. It was great how both passages spoke of Christ's sufferings and the response to this is that His people should worship Him, and obey Him!

The dental clinic has run very smoothly this year thus far. The team has been working in Vishpol. Dr. Blake and Carol have been working very diligently and have already seen 42 children. Most have been new patients. Today was Gadzinka day. These are children we have come to know for three years now. Some new needs had arisen this year since we starting treating them two years ago. There have been many fillings, crowns and extractions. This year, Patrice, was able to obtain hundreds of tee shirts with our team logo on the front. Each child has received one as well as their pick of toothbrushes, toys, shoes, gloves, hats and other clothing items. Kathy has been doing a wonderful job cleaning all the teeth of the children. She has been working hard on the third dental bench.

Patrice, Shelly and Caroline have been assisting the dental team in sterilization and general work and Amy and Elizabeth have been assisting the dental work at the benches.

About 5 or 6 members of the team have been assisting Pastor Anatoly the last couple days in the construction of a chain link fence around 300 meters of the church property. This didn't sound too bad until we converted the measurement into 900 feet! Sam, Paul, Pastor Ken, Ian, Daisy and Chris have made excellent progress in the first 2 and ½ days.

Today, which is Saturday, is the day that a woman physician named Luda came to the clinic. Her husband is one of the four ordained pastors in the Zhitomir region Reformed churches. The team was able to bring over a lot of donated medicines from Global Mission and Luda was thrilled to receive antibiotics, tylenol, cough medicines, blood pressure devices and many other medical items. She has made up a list with the help of one of our four translators, of the most needed medicines and we hope to be able to supply her with more. Luda is a trained general physician and has an office in Zhitomir. She also generously treats all the members of the Reformed churches and works in many orphanages. Many medicines will go the orphanages as well. We praise God for this unexpected provision from Global Mission back in the States. There is a great need here in this area for heart medicines, medical gloves, and many more.

Tomorrow is the Lord's Day. We look forward to worshiping in the Reformed church in Vilsk in the morning and in the new Reformed church in Zhitomir at 2 pm. Afterward, the whole team will go the Seminary building for a dinner with all the brothers and Pastor Viktor Kovba and his gracious wife Tanya. The name of the new Zhitomir church is the First Reformed Bible Church of Zhitomir.

We miss our families and church back in New Hampshire but are thankful that the Lord has been with us. He has been helping us through His Word each day, through fellowship with the brethren here and through His good Spirit.

Ukraine Mission Meeting Report Pastor Ken Sanders	July 15, 2006

The team met a few Fridays ago and enjoyed a good meeting together. Pastor Ken led the meeting and began with some instructions from Scripture on our spiritual preparation for the trip. God’s providence has kept this door open for the church to send a team. We can be thankful that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. Also, we should look forward to a time of service to Christ. We go to serve not to be served. Also, we must trust in the Lord for all things, for the families that will be apart, for the flights, the baggage, the unknown, the finances. Cast our cares on the Lord, for He cares for us. Also, our best preparation is our daily devotions right now and walking in obedience right now. No better preparation for tomorrow than walking close to the Lord by His Word today. Then, the team was given some spiritual challenges for the actual two weeks there, including daily private devotions, being a godly witness in all things, and a willingness to serve and do the mundane duties. Some new additions this year will be an evening prayer time and a noon time Scripture reading, in addition to morning team devotions. Elizabeth Wullbrandt is collecting favorite hymns from the Trinity Hymnal for our worship.

The first Lord’s Day, August 6, the team will be worshipping in Vishpol in the morning and visiting the orphanage in the evening. The second Lord’s Day, they will be worshipping in Vilsk in the morning and in Zhitomir in the evening. Pastor Sanders has decided not to engage in the seminary teaching this summer in lieu of the orphanage visit.

Dr. Wullbrandt has set a goal of treating 140 children this summer, including new cases in Vilsk. Bibles will be distributed to all the children who come for dental care.

A new addition this year is the generous provision of medicine by Global Mission. Dr. Wullbrandt has ordered a large quantity of common medicines that will be used by the team and/or distributed by the village physician in conjunction with the work of the local church. Perhaps the Lord will provide a medical physician for our team in the years to come. We would ask everyone’s prayer for the successful delivery of these meds into the Ukraine.

About half the meals this summer will be eaten in the restaurant located on the premises of the Lazar hotel. The other half will be provided for by our wonderful cooks who have lovingly provided for us for two summers.

It’s hard to believe that the Lord is calling us to send a team for a third summer for two weeks to the Ukraine! We therefore go forward in faith and obedience to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us upon the cross.

Updates and pictures will be posted on this Blog. If you want to send the team email, they will have daily access to the Internet.