“Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

One of the most important things we train church leaders to do in the Timothy Leadership Training Institute is to identify “Kingdom Change” that needs to take place in their lives, families, congregations and communities. “Kingdom Change” is that change which takes place when God’s reign – God’s Kingdom – is more fully realized in these different spheres of our lives. It’s what we pray for when we pray, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

While we identify the changes that we anticipate God will bring because of the activities we plan to do, we realize that God, in his sovereignty, may and often does bring about results that we didn’t think of. When participants report on their plans, therefore, we ask them to also tell us about any “unexpected Kingdom changes” that took place as they carried out their activities.

Recently we were privileged to continue our training with a group of churches living and ministering under very difficult conditions near the front lines of the war between Russia and Ukraine. As my group of trainees reported on their plans, I learned of a wonderful “unexpected Kingdom Change” that came about from my plan to train these brothers and sisters.

We first visited New Life Church in Dobropollya the first week of November, 2015. 24 people from 5 different churches finished our first course, Caring for God’s People. Among them were a young man who was a recovering alcoholic with a difficult past. His name is Mikhail. The other was a young woman named Olga. She was divorced, also a recovering alcoholic and new to the church. They met for the first time at the training.

Mikhail told me how he didn’t think much about Olga at the time, but at the end of April, 2016, when we gather for the second training, he noticed how she reported on the plan she had made the previous November. He says that he thought, “Wow, she’s really serious about this.” And he decided to try to get to know her better.

When we returned to do the third training this past November, I was surprised by a wonderfully “unexpected Kingdom change”. That summer Mikhail and Olga were married in that church. During our training they also announced that they were expecting their first child together! Maybe if it’s a boy they will name him Timothy. J

May your Kingdom come and your will be done in Mikhail’s and Olga’s lives and in their new family, in New Life Church, in Dobropollye, in Ukraine and throughout the world!

Amen

Please be in prayer for the reconciliation workshop and training taking place in Ukraine Oct 11-21.  God has used this workshop, “Healing the Wounds of Ethnic Conflict,” to powerfully bring healing and reconciliation to people living in Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, and just recently countries of the former Soviet Union.  We envision God continuing His work of healing and reconciliation here in Ukraine.  It is our prayer that through this process God would enable Ukraine to rise above the oppression and suffering of centuries to thrive as a nation.

Taken from the website for this workshop: “The varied and creative workshop Healing the Wounds of Ethnic Conflict (HWEC) includes interactive teaching on God’s character; Jesus as our pain bearer; the power of forgiveness and repentance, the role of the church, and a healed identity. There are also practical and group activities. After experiencing the workshop, participants will be trained to conduct their own workshop.”

* Pray for openness of the participants to bring their wounds to the cross and receive God’s healing

* Pray for the participants to take this workshop and the training their receive back to their communities

* Pray for wisdom and insight for the leaders of the workshop and training: George, Joseph from Rwanda, and Rhiannon Lloyd from Wales

* Pray for the translators that they would accurately and seamlessly convey the words and message of the presentors

* Pray against any schemes of Satan to interfere

* Pray that the Church in Ukraine would become agents of healing and reconciliation across the country, into Russia and to other countries of the former Soviet Union

What a blessed time we had this summer visiting our supporting churches, friends, and family!  For those of you we missed, here are a couple of the videos we shared.  Home service was a great time for us to be mutually reminded of how God works through the Church, as a whole, to accomplish his purposes around the world.  We are blessed to be serving alongside faithful and committed churches.  May God be glorified!