Yesterday was a pretty amazing day for me. For a little over 10 years now (long before our time here), our church (Temple Bible Church) has been partnered with a fellow church in the Ukraine. Over these years, our sister congregation in Belaya Tserkov has grown to be the one of the largest gatherings of Christian believers in the Ukraine.
(I have to confess that I’ve never really been a guy who felt called to mission work in a foreign country. I have many friends, and family members who have spent time doing Kingdom work on foreign soil, but it’s just never really been something I felt drawn towards. Perhaps my struggles with being a missionary in my own hometown have caused me to have a tunnel vision when it comes to my missional calling. While I’m seeking a change to my shallow mission-mindedness, I feel it’s important to make note of, in order to set the stage for my thoughts today.)
We had the privilege in our “corporate worship gathering” yesterday, to hear from both the youth pastor, as well as the main pastor of our distant sister church. It was such a huge blessing to hear what the Lord is doing all across His creation. This was the youth pastors very first trip to America, and the only words he speaks of English are “Very nice to meet you!”. Both of these men are doing an amazing work in their homeland to shepherd the flock they’ve been entrusted with. Both have amazing stories of Abba’s faithfulness to believers in the Ukraine. Both had to have a translator in order for me to know what they were saying. Both touched my heart in an amazing way.

I’m sure I’ve heard 5 or 6 dozen missionaries speak over the course of my days in the church, but none seemed to have as much of an impact on me. Perhaps it was just the day that the Lord chose to open my eyes a little wider to the fact that His Gospel reaches far beyond changes in language. Perhaps this time was different in light of the fact that my dear friends Chad and Erin Gerlt are now the proud parents of Max, who they adopted from the very land these 2 gentlemen are serving. Max seems to bubble with a joy of the Lord that I’m not quite sure I’ve ever experienced. Either way, my heart feels very full today in a place that I never even realized was empty. The Gospel is a powerful and amazing truth, and it’s changing people all over the globe. How amazing is it that we all get to share in the same mission. It reaches far beyond my comfortable historic district little house. It reaches far beyond my local church. It even reaches far beyond my ability to communicate. It’s unstoppable.

Thank you my Ukrainian friends, though you’ll never read this, for telling me the story of HOPE that calls you to work in a land I’ll probably never set foot on. Thank you Erin and Chad, for demonstrating the LOVE of Christ, which saves and restores people from dark and lonely places. Thank you Max, for showing me the true JOY of redemption.