Hello everyone! Praise the Lord, CMO 2019 has entered its 2nd week. After spending the weekend in the mountains showing a film on Sunday, and passing out more film invites in the mountain villages on Monday as well as traveling back to L'viv, it was a huge privilege for the team to take Tuesday off to rest. Well, rest from ministry with the whole team.
Me (Cornelius) and Nelson spent the day starting with drying out our camping gear, doing laundry, reading , and then we went to the city centre for some touring. Later we had the privilege to climb the clock tower. After a climb of 213 ft, the spectacular view of the city is well worth the climb. After shopping for food and packing for the next 2 days, we called it a night.
We woke up Wednesday morning with no power (electricity) in the apartment. That meant no coffee and, if you know anything about Canadians, you'll know that coffee is the most important meal of the day! 😂 But soon after 7am it came back on and we were once again enjoying breakfast the right way.
Wednesday morning: the van is loaded and we're headed for Rivne!
At 8:00 the team met at the MC. Everyone was in a good mood and thankful that Josh was feeling better and joining us again. We joyfully loaded all gear and supplies and made our 3-hour journey to the city of Rivne. There, we split into teams of two: Josh and Corny, Ben and Nelson, Tolik and Ralph, Kade and Nathan. We started going from apartment to apartment putting Good and Evil invites in all the mailboxes. Together with the team of 8 we passed out 13,700 tracts on the first day. It was not a walk in the park, and we were all very thankful for the nice dinner at an air-conditioned restaurant and a nice bed to rest in.
A quick team huddle to determine how to divide up the next group of buildings.
Cornelius distributes Good and Evil invites in Rivne.
Thursday morning after a good breakfast at the motel, the team gathered for a devotional about unity as well as prayer. This would be day #2 of walking all day for the kingdom and glory of God. Thankfully everything went well, and the team got out 20,400 tracts. Once again, we were glad for a good night's rest.
Whether in the mountains or the city, CMO involves LOTS of walking!
Friday morning, Kade brought an excellent devotional about having a right heart before God. Lots of good Scripture!
Friday morning Kade give us a good devotional about having a right heart toward God, taking examples from Old Testament godly characters. Next, Josh give us some good pointers/teaching for street preaching/ministry which we were going to do again the next day (Saturday). After that we were back out handing out invites. A good dose of friendly competition helped us to push thru the day and get it done. Around 3pm we started off back to L'viv, arriving back at 7 in the evening. In total, the team put out 45,925 tracts during our time Rivne!
Once inside the apartment entrance (called a "pid'yizd"), it's time to stuff those boxes with tracts!
Later, we all received the schedule for Saturday and plans were changed due to rain in the forecast. So our street preaching, Bible surveys, and book reports would be put on hold till the following week. But the day was still wisely spent. Starting at 10:30 Josh, Nathan, and Ben shared their wisdom about evangelism and reaching people. By the time 6:00 came around my brain could hardly contain all the good information they shared. I could sense their passion to instill mission evangelism in young men. Thanks for preparing and sharing with us!
Sunday morning we had the privilege to join Josh and Nathan's church family for a worship service. We were welcomed with smiles and an opportunity to introduce ourselves. Though I couldn't communicate with the people, I sensed God's Spirit there and that felt like home and made us one. Josh brought the message thru an interpreter so we could all be blessed.
After church we got in the van and headed to a mountain village to show the Courageous film. The small community hall filled up with about 20 people. At the end, everyone received a copy of a Good and Evil. After closing up the building, we went back to our favorite camping spot beside a wonderful small winding creek. Everyone was in a good mood as we set up tents, cooked and enjoyed our food, talked about the day, and enjoyed a bonfire and retired for the night.
We always have a great time chatting, laughing, eating and relaxing at CMO camp sites.
Monday morning we packed our tents in a drizzle, but that didn't stop the team from gathering for a devotional led by Nelson. When we pulled out of the camp we were informed that a local MP (Member of Parliament) a friend of Serhii named Vasyl, invited the team to his house for coffee. What a treat and an honor to be served a great cup of coffee along with snacks. As we sat in his house, it became very evident that he had real concerns about some of the corruption going on regarding the forest that he is fighting to protect. At the end of our visit, Josh informed him on the teachings of the Bible to pray for the leaders, which he gladly accepted. After that we headed to one more village to pass out film invites, and then started off for L'viv, getting back to our apartment at 5:30. I was very thankful that God has once again protected us and brought us thru week 2 of CMO!
How you can pray
- Praise the Lord for those who heard the Gospel last Sunday in Rozluch!
- Pray for a successful showing next weekend in Yavora.
- Pray for successful open-air outreaches this week in L'viv and Zhovkva.
- Pray for health for team. Karen has learned that her foot is broken, but it seems to be healing well. Ben is also doing well with his knee injury, but prayers still appreciated there. Lots of walking. Joshua is better, and so far no one else is sick. Praise the Lord!
- Pray for safe travel for Ben Sargent as he flies back to the States on Saturday.
View the full Week 2 photo album on our Facebook page!