Ministry

4.14.11

Vasiliy Sydin with wife and young actors

Children’s Theatre “TIMUR "

Children’s Theatre “Timur” has been performing in our city for over 30 years. The theatre is led by a wise storyteller, Christian director Vasiliy Yevgenevich Sidyn. The theatre has a special place among children’s theatres in Kharkiv.  "Timur" is more than a theater, a holistic example of spirituality, culture and surprisingly gentle and reverent attitude to every child. 

A lot can be said if one would look at the repertoire list of the performances played by the theatre, usually at Christmas time and right before Easter.  They are   "The Light of the Christmas Star", "Reclaiming the Temple," "Little Prince", "Heidi", "The amazing story of Sarah Crew", "Children of Noah", My Sister Little Mermaid ", "Green banner of Hope, The Gospel by Janusz Korczak "...

For the past 12 years Vasiliy Y. Sidyn has been organizing and leading the theatrical festival for Kharkiv youth theatres “The Spirit blows wherever it pleases”.  This year “Timur” staged the play “Please be alive…”, the story about the children with leukemia. The actors (children of ages from 6 to17) did not actually perform the play but rather lived through it. Vasiliy’s actors are real Kharkiv children from dysfunctional families, orphans, children with special needs.

The performance “Please be alive…” is based on the book by Lydmila Ulitskaya. Lydmila wrote about reality. Children are patients of Moscow hospital.  Events are taking place at the clinic, where a group of volunteers arrives, orthodox priest Father Alexander Mien’. There is painting, arts, singing, crying and falling in love going on. After the tragic death of Father Alexander the ministry is continued by another priest. Volunteers continue carrying out the work. The doctors are surprised by the four times decrease of the mortal cases in their practice.

Vasiliy says: “I call it ministry. We need helping the child to get over the illness. Being ill the child loses faith and hope to become well and our task is to bring faith back to the child. We can do that, each one of us. Every child has a chance”. Teasing by our own example is Vasiliy’s creed. Who are we? And what do we do influences every child.

This time “Timur” theater gathered about 5,000 dollars for Kharkiv hospital with leukemia children.
Christian Life Church and students of the School Without Walls prepared Christmas presents for actors of “Timur” theater and children with special needs. We would like to thank Association for spiritual revival for partnership in the “Gift of Hope” on behalf of Vasiliy Sydin and children of the “Timur” Theatre. Big and warm thank you!

"Gift of hope" for children

2. 12.11
Evangelical Churches in Kharkiv on the way to reformation. 
Finding knew ways of ministry in society.                                

Balaklitsky Maxim, Sergey Kaluzhniy, Vladimir Zhurba

The world is developing at a sky-rocket pace. Know-how. Technology. Young Christians are trying to use the modern scientific and technological achievements for evangelism. But here appears the question. Is it really meaningful to use internet resources, commercial, TV and radio programs for spreading the Word of God? Why Jesus did not use such means of evangelism?

What should be changed in our attitude to society for people to start attending churches? How church and society can come closer without a compromise? Is there really a need in the reformation? Is it possible for Christianity and politics to co-exist?

There was made an attempt to answer these and many other questions during the round table organized by Vyacheslav Kholanski in “Revival” church of Kharkiv on February 12, 2011.

Pastors, ministers and civil religious workers of Kharkiv took part in the work of the round table. Journalist association “Novo media” and Manors Group, Christian sociologists and counselors, Christian Scientific and Educational Center, Christian lawyers, and private secondary school of Kharkiv “The Beginning of Wisdom”, “School Without Walls” ministry, Christian IT-technologists and TransWorld Radio took part in the discussions presented at the round table.

Shevelev Vyacheslav, Vyalov Alexander, Molodchy Yevgeniy

  After the prayer and the opening word Pavel Lukoshenko from “Grace’” church in Makeyevka, Donetsk region, successful businessmen and sponsor of many youth Christian projects shared his experience in ministry to young people of this generation. He pointed out that, “people were looking for God because of the poverty in 90-ies. Now the lifestyle of people improved and the interest of people to spiritual things decreased”. Mostly people are having prejudices concerning evangelical church. On the other hand evangelical churches of Kharkiv are biased towards society and stay away from dialog with society. “It seems like we do not have anything that we can give to society” was the remark of one of the ministers.

Balaklitsky Maxim, professor of the Journalism chair of Kharkiv State University, PhD, spoke on the advantages of personal evangelism or group evangelism over the mass evangelism. “By no means has the technology taken our breath away”. For example, the new Catholic confession program for  I-Phone on February 8, 2011 was introduced on the market. But we can agree that we lose friendship behind all fashionable gadgets. Cyberspace opens huge audience for us to share information at the cost of relationships. Physical contact is absent.

Statistics shows us that  the 70% of people became Christians due to personal contact while having spiritual-personal crisis. 17% became interested after reading the Bible and only 1% by means of TV-program or Christian movie. However, there are exceptions, Vyatcheslav Shevelev, the director of Radio program on TransWorld radio in Kharkiv found his way to Christ by means of Christian broadcasting. Being involved in radio ministry for many years he pointed out that there are many people in Ukraine which simply are not able to leave their houses. They are people in a far away located villages, disabled or handicapped. Here mass media represents a good alternative.

Alexander Vyalov, principal of  the “Beginning of Wisdom” private school pointed out that the role of the church is not only to proclaim the Gospel, but to live it out. The church is the conscience of the state and she is responsible for social, political, spiritual and cultural reality.

Vyacheslav Kholanski, the moderator of the round table spoke on the theme: “From mission to missiology through holistic understanding of a person in Biblical anthropology”. The following thought was introduced: “It is important to live in the close connection with your neighbor and answer the challenges of everyday life. While doing this it is essential to look at the nature of men as a whole through the lens of Christ resurrection and eschatological resurrection of the bodily world. The solution of men’s problems is possible in the light of Biblical anthropology. Churches’ mission is to work together with different institutions in society which are fulfilling virtues of freedom, good and truth”.

            At the end of the round table the main problems were specified and tendencies of the future work were established, the beginning of the meaningful dialog was opened. 

02.05.11

     At the end of January I had an oportunity to translate for Rick Yount, professor of Foundations of Education at SWBTS in Fort Worth, TX, at the conference for Youth Camp Leaders. I was really blessed by serving with proffessor Yount. The time enriched me in understanding, growth and commitment to develop the area of christian pedagogy! This is the feedback I received from the dean of the conference: 

"Dear Evgeniy,

We at CCI Ukraine are thankful to you for your participation in our International Convention for Camp Leaders. The input you have made has surely contributed to building a solid foundation for this and future year's camping ministry (and not only camping) in the churches of Ukraine, Russia, Belorussia, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Latvia and Lithuania. A total of 408 participants representing 159 camps took part in the conference. Up to 48 additional people attended our evening sessions on days 1 and 2. The students indicated in their registration forms that 235 of them held an MA degree and 50 held a BA degree. There were 43.6% of male and 56.4% of female students. 

        We are thankful to God for you and for each of the students and staff who took part in the conference. A few pictures that will remind you of the conference you can see by clicking this link: www.cciukraine.org/cclc2011/

Grace and peace to you,

On behalf of the Conference Committee,

Vladimir Shevchenko, Conference Dean"