Chris Zurbach's February update from Ukraine

Greetings!!!

Did the ground hog see his shadow or not? I missed catching that bit of information on the news and am wondering how long winter is going to last because it finally arrived to Ukraine and the word on the Babuska corner is that it’s going to be a long one… virtually no spring. Hoping that they’re wrong but experience proves that they are probably not.

Well there is a lot happening here in Chernihiv as we prepared this past month to move our Sunday services to a museum located not far from our church building. We held our first Sunday service there this past Sunday and it went really well as our church body was really excited to take this step forward in renting a larger space. Along with having more space for adults we are able to also have a Sunday School as there is a large hall that the museum said we could use for children’s ministry. We are very excited to be able to have a place for kids to be a part of the church on Sunday’s. Please pray for us as we begin developing a Sunday School and raising up teachers to teach the kids. Pray that the kids from Krepost kids club would come with their families to church as parents have expressed interest in coming.

Kids Club – God is truly blessing our kids club as we have a group of about 15 kids that come on a continual basis. It is amazing to see them beginning to understand more about the love of God. Please pray for our group that serves there that God would continue to unite us and give us wisdom as we begin preparing for summer and all the different festivals/camps that we want to do.

School Outreach - We truly have an amazing open door at one of the local schools here as we teach English there every week through Bible lessons. We are seeking to get permission to show the movie from a few years back, “Miracle Maker”. We want to show it in Ukrainian the week before Easter at the school. We also continue to meet with the teachers and some advanced English students helping prepare them for the English Olympics. Woohoo

Church Prayer Needs – We are planning on meeting together with the gals in the church every Friday in the month of March to get together and do some topical Bible Studies regarding issues that they deal with everyday. The guys will be meeting together simultaneously too. One interesting fact about Chernihiv is that it is known as the city with the most women. In the 70’s it is said that women outnumbered men 10:1. Now the figure is about 6:1. Our church demographically represents the city as we pretty much have a church of young women. All to say the girls are very excited to get together and discuss women’s issues. Please pray that God would give us wisdom in planning and preparing.

Thank you again for praying for this ministry here. I ask that you would also pray for me as I will be going to another city, Rjischiv, at the end of the month to do a Bible Study for their women’s group. Please pray that I would be able to prepare well in Ukrainian and speak clearly. I’ll also be taking a group of gals to go down and do worship in Priluki which will be fun. So please pray for safe travels and encouraging times with the other churches.