CEE Story From The Mission Field
Surprise! Surprise!
2001
Mission trips are always filled with the unexpected. This was true in the case of a Mississippi Baptist group led by pastor Robert Gills. They had planned to have VBS in a Ukrainian village but the trunks filled with VBS materials didn't make it to the airport. Two mornings after they arrived one of the volunteers was standing outside a hotel waiting for his ride when an airport van drove up, dropped the luggage in front of the hotel, and left. The volunteer just happened to be at the right place at the right time to retrieve the lost luggage. No one from the group was even staying at that hotel!
God had other unexpected surprises for the team from Mississippi, such as ten children praying to receive Christ at VBS, five young people repenting of their sins as a result of evangelism with their soccer team, a lady at a bus stop and a young soldier on the corner hearing the message of Christ and asking Him for forgiveness, and thirty to forty people responding to the preaching of God's Word during a Christian concert. Although Mississippi Baptists have been in partnership with Ukraine for three years and have sent numerous groups of volunteers to help in church planting projects, they are always amazed at how God works in their midst.
"God revealed a soul-hunger in the hearts of the people," explained Gillis.
This particular trip was the fourth time a group from the Mississippi came to work with home missionary and church planter Vladimir Meshincko in and around the city of Razedelnia, Ukraine. Each visit proves that their work is a work in progress. With each visit they build on the trust and reputation established on previous trips, finding hearts more open and more interested in what the volunteers have to say each time they return. This time, the Mayor of Razedelnia personally thanked the volunteers for the excellent care his wife had received from a medical team that had come on an earlier trip. Sentiments such as these are helping local church planter Meshincko to have a firm foundation on which to build.
This latest trip during July of 2001 brought volunteers to conduct VBS with local children, work with youth, do personal door-to-door and curbside evangelism, and hold revival services. The volunteers mingling with people on the streets were amazed at how interested and receptive the people were to the Gospel-many having the privilege of leading passers-by in a prayer for salvation; others giving out 600 Bibles to those who came to the local church to receive free reading glasses; one being welcomed to pray for and share the gospel with local soccer teams participating in an area wide tournament, many helping to answer questions and leading in prayers of repentance with those who came to revival services.
In ten days God used this Mississippi team to lead over fifty-five people into the Kingdom. If that's surprising, wait and see what He does next!