The purpose of the Center for Missionary Preparation (CMP) at the Kremenchug Regional Bible College is to prepare Christians for individual or team evangelism in the mission field and for planting new churches. In order to provide more effective education and development for future ministry workers, each session is conducted in different regions of Ukraine and beyond its borders.

 

The third session for the school year was conducted from January 19 to 25 in the city of Kirovohrad. Is this session 10 students and 5 teachers engaged in practical evangelism not only in the regional capital but also in nearby cities and towns. Throughout the session, hospitality was generously provided by the Baptist Church, Christ the Savior and the pastor Gregoriy Doroshenko. This was a big contribution to the development of the future ministry workers for the harvest of the Lord.

The priority of the training of the CMP was the development of the character of the Christian ministry worker. For this reason in every session, in addition to the academic topics, half of the time was devoted to practical ministry.

The practical elements were very interesting and varied. The students had the opportunity to participate in street evangelism in various areas of Kirovohrad. They invited people to services is the church House of the Gospel, where Leonid Doroshenko is pastor, the Church of Christ the Savior, where Vladimir Dubovoy is pastor, and Living Word Church, where Andrey Kalinin is the elder. They also conducted evangelism work and surveys on Christian topics in Kompanievka, where Vadim Aldelfin is the elder, and in Ivanovka, Nazarovka and others.

The students had the special blessing of meeting with children in Hope Orphanage in Kirovohrad. There the CMP students were able to talk to the children about topics that were interesting to them, sing songs and present the gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that was accessible to the children. They also had the opportunity to speak personally with the director of the orphanage and get valuable information about the work of the orphanage and the situation of homeless children and the children of disadvantaged families in Ukraine.

A further valuable experience for CMP students and leaders was the visit to a social services center, which offers services to mothers and children in the village Novo. This is a specialized institution that serves as a refuge for pregnant women in difficult situations, and their children. The women are able to stay for 18 months and receive help from the staff in raising their newborn children. The students enjoyed tea with the women and staff of the center. The women were able to share about the difficulties in their lives and the CMP students were able to share that the best help and support for anyone is Jesus Christ.

Together with the youth from Christ the Savior church the CMP students conducted two sporting events. They played soccer and volleyball with unchurched youth. Evangelism of the youth of Kirovohrad was not limited to just sporting events. The CMP students had a wonderful opportunity to meet with students of the Kompanievka Veterinary College of the Belotserkoviy National Agrarian University. They had a friendly conversation about the biblical perspective on friendship, love, happiness and also sang about Christ, played and answered questions that are particularly interesting to youth today.

So in the course of the week the CMP students were able to speak with many different people, both believers and those who are not yet believers in Christ as their personal Savior, youth, middle-aged people and the elderly, as for example was the case with a small group of believers in the town of Ivanovka where three older women study God's Word together. The CMP students were happy to share God's Word with them and encourage them spiritually.

On Sunday January 25th the CMP students and leaders participated in the Sunday services of four different churches in the city of Kirovohrad where they shared God's Word, poems and their personal testimonies.

This CMP session, with its wide and varied practical lessons was made possible by the effort of many members of the churches of Kirovohrad and by the personal participation and help of the senior presbyter of the Baptist churches in Kirovohrad, Sergey Vladimirovich Teslenko. We also thank the Baptist churches Christ the Savior, New Life, Bethany, House of the Gospel, Christ the Savior and Living Word of the city Kirovohrad, and many others for their participation in the teaching and development of future missionaries, and for their contribution to sharing the gospel throughout the world.

Alina Korbut