We slept in and spent the morning with our host family. Fortunately, Sergey was there to help us communicate. He speaks some English and sings with the Victorious Living ensemble group--fifteen youth who do weekend ministries in nearby villages. We ate brunch there, a meal similar to what we would encounter the rest of the trip. Food included hard bread covered with tomatoes and cucumbers, blueberries with sugar, tea (chai), coffee, cold sausage slices, and chicken noodle soup (a whole chicken leg cooked in a bowl of water and noodles). Our host family also made a layered chocolate cake (sounded like tort) for us each meal.
We went to the church at 2:00 pm for a rehearsal with the Luts'k choir, gathered from several area churches. This was one of the first cooperative efforts of the individual choirs. The Ukrainian director, Victor, led the Ukrainian songs while my dad led those in English. The nationals' English was better than our Ukrainian, but they did have difficulty with the "th" sounds, and some words like defiled were mistransliterated. Dinner was supposed to follow the rehearsal, but 4:00 came and went. The team was led outside for pictures, and we grabbed a bite in the basement at 4:45.
Our first service of the trip began just after 5:00. The auditorium was not full--only five hundred came to hear us--but sixteen people were converted in that service. There was some confusion, since we didn't know when to stand or sit, except to stand during prayers...and then it was hard to know when they were praying.
Immediately after the service, we went to the park for a youth crusade. Several hundred were in attendance, most of them from the church. We were preceded by two college-age groups. One was the Luts'k youth choir, and the other was Don's Victorious Living group. Nancy and Rick gave testimonies at the crusade, and fourteen made a profession of faith and repentance. We ate a night meal at our host home and got to bed relatively early (i.e., before midnight.
Sunday 7 July
Our first team meeting was at 8:00 am, and was darkened with the news that Jerry's father had died the previous day at 1 pm after a long illness. Jerry was given the opportunity to return home and see to family matters, but he opted to stay with the team. Rick led a Bible study on boldness, and this study would affect his attitude and ours for the entire trip and long after. That night's crusade in Luts'k had been rescheduled due to conflict with an impromptu football game (?), and so its time was swapped with the Rivne crusade planned for the 14th. Don informed us that the KGB had refused to allow us to hold a crusade in Luts'k or Rivne that night. The road would be blocked off. Further, the stadium owner said that he would not turn on the electricity if we were to arrive (a futile maneuver, since we had an independent sound system).
We rode our bus (from 9 to 10) to the village of Derno for a baptismal service, joined by two more interpreters, Julia and Roman. This was Don's first baptism in Eastern Europe--a high honor. Two hundred or more gathered for the service, which included our choir music and several sermons: by Brother Chaika, Bill Maupin, the Derno pastor, and of course Don Betts. Five were saved at the baptismal service. We all stood for the entire service, and the thirteen baptismal candidates received roses from our choir (supplied to us by the Derno congregation). After the service there was a picnic, eaten on blankets spread out on the ground, and Don was presented with the bread, salt, and water symbolic of Christ's presence. In addition, Don was made honorary pastor of the Derno church.
The ride from Derno to Rivne lasted from 1:00 to 3:30. The Rivne crusade was held at the stadium despite the aforementioned threats; Christians in the area had offered the police eight months' wages as a bribe. The police decided not only to allow us in, but also to protect us from the KGB, which was present--though hidden--at the crusade. The choir sat on loose plastic seats placed over wooden bleachers. It was a hot day, over 100 degrees, and many of us used umbrellas to shade us from the sun. Much confusion resulted when the Rivne choir sang completely different words to the Ukrainian hymns than those we had rehearsed with the Luts'k choir. Whatever difficulties we faced were mitigated by the fact that four thousand attended and five hundred came forward at the invitation!
That evening we went to the city park. A symphonic band was performing on the stage we would be using. Unfortunately, no one had located a restroom, and since we had twenty minutes to spare, Scott, Katrina, and I left to find one. We asked passers-by and finally found a couple to help. We all searched the park for a long time and eventually found one about a block outside the park. We returned at 8:15, just as our team was taking its place on stage. At Lyuda's request, Don preached his Jonah sermon, and the four thousand or so in attendance was thoroughly edified. (It has been hailed as one of Don's most vigorous sermons.) By the time the crusade was over, there were six hundred professions, bringing the total to about 1100 for the day.
At the conclusion of the service, we were ready for sleep, but the Rivne church wanted to serve a night meal. We left at 11 pm. To make matters worse, we were stopped by police and informed that buses were "not allowed to travel at night"--a rule apparently newly enacted specifically to disrupt our crusades. We didn't get in until 1:50, and our host family was asleep by this time. It took ten minutes to wake them up.
Monday 8 July
Our team meeting was postponed until 10:30 in order to allow us to sleep in. Although interpreters were usually not present at the meetings, we held a baby shower for Lyuda, who was five months pregnant. She received gifts from everyone. For many of the guys, this was the first time we had ever attended a baby shower. Don asked us to pray for Mira, Roman, and Julia, since they were not believers. They attended the Orthodox Church, whose only fast-held doctrine was a kind of ethnic universalism. That morning our fifth interpreter, Slavick, joined the group. He was the son of a pastor and spoke with enthusaism, believing every word he translated.
What followed was to many the most memorable event of the trip. We rode an hour (12-1 pm) to a village called Volodymyr-Volyns'kyy, where there was a church. We were scheduled to arrive at noon and were surprised to discover people still waiting for us. In fact, the little church was packed, with people standing in the aisles and on the stairs to the balcony. This was a conservative church, many of whose two hundred members had been heavily persecuted for their faith. Scott and Glenda gave their testimonies, and the choir sang to a somber audience, but when my dad introduced the song "Get All Excited," he explained that we should be joyful as Christians. Every face lit up, and the whole atmosphere of the room was changed. Afterwards, Don informed us of the persecution these people ahd experienced and had us sing "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb." There was not a dry eye in the building, even among the choir. Don followed with an upbeat sermon from 2 Chronicles 18-20, the stories of Micaiah and Jehoshaphat. At the invitation, seven people came forward and prayed aloud to declare their repentance. The last of these had been hesitant to come forward and only stepped out on the tenth verse of "Just As I Am."
The church expressed their appreciation with lunch outside the building. It was here that I obtained several of my pictures of people I met on the trip, including our bus driver Victor. As usual, we had a restroom break before we left. Kelce and I tried delicious-looking cherries from a cherry tree growing just outside the restroom building, only to find that the "soil" the roots tapped into had left the cherries with a strong alkaline taste.
We went on to the city of Nolovolinsk, leaving at 3:30 and arriving at 5:15 for the 6:00 crusade. On the way, we passed several World War II memorials; battles had been fought in this area, most of them won by Hitler's army. Despite our close arrival, the crusade went well, with 350 of the estimated two thousand coming forward. Unfortunately, I developed a severe headache during the choir numbers and had to sit out. Glenda, one of our four nurses, gave me an ice pack, but I was still miserable. After the crusade, we were barraged by children wanting autographs, taking too many Bibles, and disrupting the counseling. Our leadership decided to give separate counseling to the children--handled by native Ukrainians--from then on.
I suffered the entire two-hour ride back to Luts'k, where we arrived at 1:30 am, and went straight to bed. Don suggested I sleep in the next day and join the team in the afternoon for street evangelism if I was able.
We slept in and spent the morning with our host family. Fortunately, Sergey was there to help us communicate. He speaks some English and sings with the Victorious Living ensemble group--fifteen youth who do weekend ministries in nearby villages. We ate brunch there, a meal similar to what we would encounter the rest of the trip. Food included hard bread covered with tomatoes and cucumbers, blueberries with sugar, tea (chai), coffee, cold sausage slices, and chicken noodle soup (a whole chicken leg cooked in a bowl of water and noodles). Our host family also made a layered chocolate cake (sounded like tort) for us each meal.
service, joined by two more interpreters, Julia and Roman. This was Don's first baptism in Eastern Europe--a high honor. Two hundred or more gathered for the service, which included our choir music and several sermons: by Brother Chaika, Bill Maupin, the Derno pastor, and of course Don Betts. Five were saved at the baptismal service. We all stood for the entire service, and the thirteen baptismal candidates received roses from our choir (supplied to us by the Derno congregation). After the service there was a picnic, eaten on blankets spread out on the ground, and Don was presented with the bread, salt, and water symbolic of Christ's presence. In addition, Don was made honorary pastor of the Derno church.
What followed was to many the most memorable event of the trip. We rode an hour (12-1 pm) to a village called Volodymyr-Volyns'kyy, where there was a church. We were scheduled to arrive at noon and were surprised to discover people still waiting for us. In fact, the little church was packed, with people standing in the aisles and on the stairs to the balcony. This was a conservative church, many of whose two hundred members had been heavily persecuted for their faith. Scott and Glenda gave their testimonies, and the choir sang to a somber audience, but when my dad introduced the song "Get All Excited," he explained that we should be joyful as Christians. Every face lit up, and the whole atmosphere of the room was changed. Afterwards, Don informed us of the persecution these people ahd experienced and had us sing "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb." There was not a dry eye in the building, even among the choir. Don followed with an upbeat sermon from 2 Chronicles 18-20, the stories of Micaiah and Jehoshaphat. At the invitation, seven people came forward and prayed aloud to declare their repentance. The last of these had been hesitant to come forward and only stepped out on the tenth verse of "Just As I Am."