Zakarpats’ka — it’s an area of Ukraine bearing the scars of communism. Roads and other infrastructure are in disrepair. People are left with little opportunity to fulfill their dreams. Open sewage, outside toilets and lack of pure water are just some of the devastation left behind by a totalitarian government.
But the people are loving, friendly, willing to learn and ready for a new day, according to Ben Chandler, director of missions for St. Clair Baptist Association.
“There is openness to the gospel,” he said — a reality that was a welcome find when a missions team from St. Clair Association traveled there for eight days in September.
The team, led by Chandler and Scotty Goldman, an associate in the office of global missions for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, did several types of ministry but focused on English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, which served as a vehicle to share its faith. Teaching adults and children, the team gave “culture” lessons on topics ranging from country music and square dancing to vacationing at the beach.
“Flexibility was a major key to accomplishing the missions project,” Chandler said. “The St. Clair team shared their lessons in three different locations instead of just the one planned.”
And the opportunities just kept expanding. In the town of Zapsony, Chandler’s group’s classes — which began inside using a crude chalkboard made of a plastic sheet — got too large for the room and ended up moving outside under a grape arbor.
“They were just so eager to learn; they soaked everything up like a sponge,” said Karol Edgil, a member of Whites Chapel Baptist Church, Moody, who went on the trip. “It was awesome to see how they responded to us and to the Word of God.”
And when the topic of baseball was taught — including hot dogs, crackerjacks and the song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” — it was “so well received the translator and pastor’s wife at Zapsony Church requested that the team come back later in the week to the public school to teach baseball,” Chandler said.
The team agreed to the challenge, and when it arrived at the school, it found that the pastor’s wife had already researched the rules of the game on the Internet, taught them to the students and chosen 18 players for a game.
“Two classes of middle schoolchildren followed us to the ball field about a half-mile away, walking with great anticipation of playing the Americans’ favorite pastime,” Chandler said. “For two hours, the kids learned about the sport and new relationships were formed.”
Later that day, the team made its final presentations to the ESL classes, using “faith” as the theme of the day and offering a prayer of commitment at the end.
Chandler said he hopes the relationships established “will open new doors for the gospel in western Ukraine and beyond.”
Other members of the team were:
– Nathan Albano, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pinedale, in Springville;
– Rachael Nelson, a member of North Valley Baptist Church, Odenville;
– Mary Nell Deweese and Angie Fuhrman, members of Chandler Mountain Baptist Church, Steele; and
– Gene Dobbs, Goldman’s father-in-law and a retired pastor from Mississippi. (TAB)
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