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    The Seeker's Study

    A couple months ago I wrote about our team's plans on beginning a new church in the city.  Our plan to begin this new church was to start forth with a basic gospel Bible Study- we call it a Seekers study.  In this study we invite people who are seeking to learn about and know God.  Right now we are studying the gospel of Mark, following Jesus' life and ministry and learning from this book who Jesus was and what he did/said.  It is not complicated, but it is very fulfilling.  So far almost every week we have had someone new to this study, and every person expresses how much they enjoy reading the Bible, especially in groups were we can talk about it.  Some come who already believe in God and are trying to follow Him, and others come who have no religious background at all.  It is a great group, and we are thankful for every one who comes along.

    This study started about two months ago, and at that time we were not sure how it would go.  For the first two weeks no one came.  We invited people we thought would be interested, but no one came.  Now someone new comes almost every week!

    It first started with Oksana.  Oksana has been coming to our English-through-the-Bible group every Saturday night for more than a year now.  We had told her about our church gatherings, and the purpose our family was here in Kharkov, but until recently she never accepted an invitation to our meetings.  I think that over the past few months our relationship with Oksana has changed.  I can't say that one event changed our relationship, but now we are definitely closer to Oksana than ever before.  She is open, friendly, she laughs a lot.  She and Olivia often go on walks together (as is it is the most popular Ukrainian pastime), she has introduced us to her sister, and we are just generally sharing more of our lives together.  She comes every week to the seekers study, and we are so thankful for this!

    Recently we hosted our first LST team in Kharkov.  And from this we were introduced to more people who are interested in studying the Bible.  The Sunday after LST left we had one of the readers come to our Bible Study.  Olya was someone I personally remember handing a flier to inviting her to LST.  As I stood in front of the metro entrance with a flier in my hand saying, "Free English practice", she walked right past me.  She went about ten steps when I saw her turn her head, stop for a second, then come back to me and ask more about what I was doing.  Now she attends our study.  She is a great person to be in this study with.  She does not have a lot of religious background, and this means she asks amazing questions in our study.  Since I have grown up going to church, studied in a Bible College, I often glance over some of the simpler points in scripture.  But in this study, as we read through something, Olya stops us and asks, "What is this?", or "What does that mean?" or even better, "How does that help?"  It has been so great to have this!  It makes me stop and think, and sometimes I'm surprised that these "simpler points" I usually pass by are actually very rich and deep.  She is a blessing to this study!

    Another girl, Lena comes almost every week and she is a great part of our group.  Lena is very eager to learn and understand what the Bible says.  A few weeks ago when she was told that in our studies we are spending a lot of time looking at who Jesus is, she said, "Good!  I really want to know more about Him " Lena also has a gift with music.  She came to an English Bible study where we sang a few songs, and she sang with us.  Even though she had never heard the song before, she sang loud and she sang well.  Lena told me after she really appreciated the singing, because they make you feel good and happy.  Each week we see her process and take to heart what she is reading. 

    A few weeks ago our family was blessed with an opportunity to meet Sergei and his family.  We had a wonderful time!  Sergei comes from a home that knows God, and seeks to serve him.  It was great to hear that he wants to become a preacher one day and share the Bible with people.  His understanding of the Bible, his humble spirit, and his cheerful attitude make him a huge asset to our study.  On multiple occasions Sergei has talked to us about bringing his friends to this group as well, specifically some of his friends that don't believe in God yet.

    Julie is the first person to be baptized and saved in this church plant.  Though she has only come to a couple of our Seekers studies, she has been involved in a study with Olivia and Katie for the last few months.  This new addition to the kingdom brings our church plant to its next phase.  We have started off this work with the plan of studying the gospel with people, and as they are saved we invite them to fellowship in the church.  With Julie being baptized, she'll now hopefully join us in the time together as a church before the Seekers study.

    Our plan from here is to keep doing what we are doing.  This study seems to be a great way to share with people the life and teachings of Jesus.  Soon we will be getting to the point in Jesus' life that he begins to head towards the cross.  We pray that as we see Jesus make His journey, all of us in the study connect with and relate to what He is doing.  Those, like Julie, who understand and become a Christian we will invite to meet earlier in the day as a church.  Our hopes are that this study will continue to reach people and help them understand God's plan in their life.  Then as they come into His church we can together, as one body of believers, share the gospel with others.

    • 26 July 2011
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  • The Nelson's Space

    We are a family of three who have been sent to Ukraine to plant churches. We are constantly growing and learning how to be the people God calls us to be.
    We enjoy life, and want to share with others the things that make our lives so great.

  • About The Nelson

    We are a family of three who have been sent to Ukraine to plant churches. We are constantly growing and learning how to be the people God calls us to be.
    We enjoy life, and want to share with others the things that make our lives so great.

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