CEE Story From The Mission Field
Training Church Planters in Ukraine
January 29, 2007
Igor* is from Azerbaijan. Despite his Muslim upbringing, he is a believer in Christ. In fact, he is a church planter and a seminary student. Since he was saved about 8 years ago, he had not returned to Azerbaijan to see his family for fear of their reaction and the inevitable persecution that would come. He's married now and has 2 children, so, understandably, he and his wife were concerned for their family's safety. But God impressed on his heart that he needed to contact them. Still he was afraid.
He and his family flew into the airport not sure what to expect. The airport is 130 miles from his hometown. But waiting for him there was his entire family! They had all traveled the distance in their eagerness to see him again. They fully accepted him and his testimony and wanted him to come home! Now, he has a tough decision to make—does he go home to plant churches among his Muslim people, does he return to his wife's homeland of Russia to plant churches, or does he stay in his new homeland of Ukraine after seminary and plant churches. Whatever he does, he knows he has been called to plant churches!
Igor's call to plant churches came shortly after he met the Lord. He was in Russia completing his military stint and somehow found himself in possession of a children's Bible. Through that simple testimony, Igor became a believer in Christ. He met his wife in Russia and settled there for some time before moving to Ukraine to study at Kiev Theological Seminary (KTS). After coming to Kiev he developed a plan of multiplying a church: gather and teach until there are 30 conscientious adult leaders and then split up and plant new churches. He has been meeting with his new church in a renovated garage for one and a half years. The only problem is the lack of heat. Recently volunteers have given funds for this problem to be fixed—a great gift from the Lord.
Igor is just one of many students at Kiev Theological Seminary (KTS) that has a heart for church planting. KTS is dedicated to helping young men like Igor fulfill the vision God has put in their hearts, by offering a special church-planting program run by IMB missionaries Joel and Mary Ellen Ragains. Joel and Mary Ellen moved to Kiev three years ago in order for Joel to serve as the practicum director of the KTS, but within a matter of months felt like God wanted to do something else. They approached the seminary president about starting a program specifically designed to help students become successful church planters. The seminary's leadership liked the idea and Joel and Mary Ellen have been the directors ever since. This is a new turn in their lives. Joel was a worship pastor for 35 years before moving to Ukraine.
"This is totally different from anything I've ever done," said Joel.
But he doesn't feel like the work needs his expertise as much as his obedience.
"Nothing we're doing is really ours, we just happen to be the ones here watching God at work.”
One of the signs that God is definitely at work is the fact that the program had almost 50 students last year. The seminary continues to grow in all of its programs. In fact, they are completely out of space. Part of their task now is renovating and expanding to accommodate more students.
Many of the students do not live at the seminary. They come to classes four times a year for 2-week intensive courses. During their months away, they continue to complete and submit assignments.
"These students are full time, but they stay in their home communities so they can keep a job," said Joel.
" These are the students that we really want to reach for the church-planting program—they live in their community and can plant a church there."
Igor is an example of such a student. Joel and Mary Ellen want to help develop numerous "Igors" so that the name of Christ can spread throughout Ukraine and beyond.
* Igor is a pseudonym.