Healthy Relationships Build Healthy Community
Kyiv, Ukraine – Can – or should – Christians do non-evangelistic events for the community?
This was the question the leaders of Kyiv First Church of the Nazarene discussed as they planned an event together with Kirche in Aktion (KIA), a Nazarene church in Frankfurt, Germany.
About three years ago, Kyiv First Church moved to another part of the city and it took a while to find ways to connect with the new community. In 2015, a group from KIA came to help with construction on the church, but besides helping with physical construction, they also noticed they could help the congregation build relationships with people outside of the church.
In Frankfurt, leaders of Kirche in Aktion (“Church in Action”) center their calling and activities around their dream: bringing and witnessing “Heaven on Earth.” It was this dream that motivated them to start reaching beyond their city by sending teams all over the world to serve people.
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS BUILD HEALTHY COMMUNITY
RANDOLF WOLST, NEWS, SNAPSHOTS
Kyiv, Ukraine– Can – or should – Christians do non-evangelistic events for the community?This was the question the leaders of Kyiv First Church of the Nazarene discussed as they planned an event together with Kirche in Aktion (KIA), a Nazarene church in Frankfurt, Germany.
About three years ago, Kyiv First Church moved to another part of the city and it took a while to find ways to connect with the new community. In 2015, a group from KIA came to help with construction on the church, but besides helping with physical construction, they also noticed they could help the congregation build relationships with people outside of the church.
In Frankfurt, leaders of Kirche in Aktion (“Church in Action”) center their calling and activities around their dream: bringing and witnessing “Heaven on Earth.” It was this dream that motivated them to start reaching beyond their city by sending teams all over the world to serve people.
This summer, KiA sent out 10 teams.
“Serving others is one of the most important tasks and most fulfilling tasks for the follower of Christ,” says Robert Stößer, project manager for KIA. “Whenever we serve and think more of the needs of others than our own, we grow spiritually, emotionally and mentally.”
The KiA team joined forces with Kyiv First Church to serve their community through a series of seminars on marriage. Then it was decided to widen the topic to a more universal concept: Healthy families make healthy communities.Each night’s seminar focused on various themes related to relationships: non-violent and effective communication, conflict resolution, building a strong marriage, etc. The presentations were followed either by question and answer time, or discussion among a panel of speakers who shared their own experiences and tips on how to handle challenges and problems.
It was decided not to brand these events as being sponsored by a church group, because in the current situation in Ukraine, where there is an abundance of false and odd religious teachings, people are wary of religious events.
The main purpose of these events was to meet the community and establish relationships first, being Christ to these people instead of simply telling them about Him.
“Since we’ve been working on ways to meet more people and to make a positive impact on our surrounding community, this was a great project to try,” said Sylvia Cortez Masyuk, an attendee at Kyiv First and Ukraine Learning Center coordinator (European Nazarene College).
While looking for a place to host the events, Kyiv First Church contacted a very large, gated community complex within walking distance from the church. The idea was not only to offer free seminars, but to also partner with a local coffee house that would provide coffee and snacks, and to meet residents, business owners and employees.The events turned out to be an interesting mix of serious, deep talks and moments of laughter when the speakers, as well as people from the audience, gave authentic insight into their own relationship struggles, some of which could be quite amusing.
Stößer said, “We look back on a week of meetings with honest sharing of more or less intimate details of our own lives as married or unmarried [people] and were received with great hospitality and gratitude of providing a space in which insights and maybe even solutions to conflicts could be gained in the end. Our team felt enriched by all the wonderful moments of trust and friendship that we experience during our stay. We are very thankful to the amazing people who supported us every day from morning until night and made us feel at home in a way that cannot be put into words.”
Sabine Wolf, also a KiA team member, said, “No matter which country you’re from, we all want to be loved and to love. However, being married is not always that easy. Sometimes we have to work a lot on our relationships. It was amazing to see all the people who came to the meetings with a desire to have healthy relationships in life and I personally have learned a lot during these seminars as well.”“This project was our first event with this community and we look forward to partnering with them again in the future. We were also able to make great and lasting connections. We are so thankful for our KIA team and the lasting impact they are helping us make here in Kyiv,” said Cortez Masyuk.
This summer, KiA sent out 10 teams......
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Longtime Scottish missionary Samuel Hynd passes away
LONGTIME SCOTTISH MISSIONARY SAMUEL HYND PASSES AWAY
GINA POTTENGER
Dr Samuel W. Hynd, CBE, a longtime Scottish missionary to Swaziland, passed away August 18 at the age of 92.Hynd was born on 19 December, 1924, in the home of his grandfather, Dr George Sharpe, the founder of the Church of the Nazarene in the British Isles. At the age of six months, he travelled with his parents, Dr and Mrs David Hynd, to Swaziland, where his parents founded the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital and the Manzini Mission Station. The later founding of schools and colleges made this the largest mission station of the Church of the Nazarene.
Samuel Hynd returned to Glasgow for his medical studies, serving as district president of the NYPS and being one of the initiators of the annual conference-holidays known as ‘Institute’. He graduated in 1950 and was appointed a Nazarene missionary to Manzini, succeeding his father as head of station in 1961.
After the independence of Swaziland, Dr Hynd served as Minister of Health in the government of King Sobhuza II, and was later to be the doctor in charge at the birth of the prince who became the present king of Swaziland, Mswati III.
Over the decade following his 80th birthday, Dr Hynd raised funds and established a new clinic to combat the AIDs epidemic.
Dr Hynd was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by the Queen in 1998.
His last visit to Glasgow was to open the new Parkhead Church of the Nazarene.
Dr Hynd wrote about his life for Engage magazine: engagemagazine.com/content/first-small-step
Read the Swazi Observer story announcing his passing.
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Nazarenes design “Hub” for community and creativity in Croatia
NAZARENES DESIGN “HUB” FOR COMMUNITY AND CREATIVITY IN CROATIA
RANDOLF WOLST, NEWS, SNAPSHOTS
In a country where being in a community is part of the culture, Nazarenes wanted to provide a place where people could develop holistically in a spiritual community.Missionaries Dave and Betsy Scott provided the impetus. With friends, volunteer missionaries and local partners, they opened The Hub, after they had started and run a Charity Shop for a few years. As time passed, they saw the need for a larger additional space where they could develop community activities and plant a church, so they began looking for a new space. About two years ago, they found a former bakery big enough for both. After renovations, the building became what is now known as “The Hub”. For about a year and a half now, it has been fulfilling its purpose in the community.
The community center’s name is a neutral name, not something religious as it is also the headquarters of their Croatian non-profit, and an English name because in Zagreb, English names are catchy and popular. However, the name “The Hub” does have a significant meaning. It was chosen by Dave, who has a love of fixing and repairing bikes for others. The Hub is the part of the bike that is the center of the wheel, so it is to represent a place where things and people come together, but also everything comes out from the hub of a bike wheel and spans out. Thus, they hoped it would be a place of both gathering and sending.
Over the last year, slowly, The Hub took shape as they hosted events, like an afternoon tea, or creative workshops. But one of the first consistent things was a Bible study, with only two other ladies, Dalia and Sanja, apart from Betsy attending. Only about five months later, a small group also began gathering weekly for a church meeting.
“We always wanted to have a church that was Croatian-led,” Betsy said. Some of the leadership team are American volunteers, but they have also drawn Croatian people who have caught the vision, and have helped to take ownership of The Hub and the leadership team of the church plant.
Unemployment in Zagreb is very high, just like all of Croatia, which reports a 15 percent rate of unemployment. Many people would like to start their own businesses to earn money, but lack the financial support, or confidence, or knowledge on how to take the next steps. In January 2016, Dalia and Sanja, both Croatians, started a project at The Hub called “Valuing Life”. The Hub brought this opportunity to women all over Zagreb through a variety of activities dedicated to supporting and promoting women’s initiatives in holistic ways. This monthly community event is a place where women can empower and help to develop each other.Sanja said, “We started this project because in Croatia there is a bad situation with jobs and finances, and many women have ideas but they don’t have opportunities to develop those ideas.”
The Hub, in general, has filled a need to help develop a sense of community, but with “Valuing Life” specifically, it has become a place to show women, in particular, that their dreams are possible. It is a place to start giving them hope. Women are invited to speak and share their entrepreneurial ideas. They provide time for questions and answers with the speakers, and have a time of discussion to help the speakers gain another perspective for pursuing their dreams.“The Hub is a help for them to promote their own businesses,” Sanja said.
Sanja also has been giving her business idea a start.
“I’m selling healthy cakes. I like to do raw food cakes,” she said. “So I make them and people can try and buy them. The most popular is made of strawberry, cashew nut and nuts. It’s all raw ingredients, it has no sugar or flour and people just love them.”
“Valuing Life, to me personally, is a very beautiful way: gathering women that are presenting to our community their created business ideas and initiatives that sustain them and the lives of their families,” said Dalia.
Men also have a place to grow together and build relationships through a weekly Bible study and movie night at The Hub. Other activities that keep The Hub moving are game nights, conversational English classes, and creativity nights. And of course Sunday worship services. The Hub seeks to always be holistic in meeting needs.
It’s all about building relationships and being a community center. Anywhere from 10-30 men and women participate in these weekly activities, forming the supportive and loving community that the Scotts and their team dreamed of.
“I found home,” says Dalia.Ashley Huber has been a missionary in Croatia for about three years. She went to Croatia as a church planter to work with the Scotts. They were able to start building a church drawing on Croatian culture.
“As a church planting team we didn’t want an American church here in Croatia,” Huber said. “We wanted a Croatian church here in Croatia.”
Although building relationships takes time, she added, “God is in this. God’s hand is in it. And it’s His timing and not ours. And just building relationships here takes a very long time, and listening to all the women talk, either at Valuing Life or when we are at our Bible studies or creativity nights, is a blessing. Just being able to participate in the Kingdom of God here has really shaped who I am, and it has shaped my belief in God.”
Huber prays that God may allow her to one day see the women at church be the ones fully leading The Hub.
“The protestant churches here in Croatia aren’t known for allowing women to have a leadership role,” she said. “It’s really unheard of in this community, so we just pray all the time that God may use the women. Seeing God work through them has been the biggest blessing.”[By Nicole Almeida]
-------Ukraine church ministers to families displaced by political violence
UKRAINE CHURCH MINISTERS TO FAMILIES DISPLACED BY POLITICAL VIOLENCE
RANDOLF WOLST, NEWS
The seaside city of Odessa, Ukraine, is known as a resort town. Its health sanatoriums were designed to be places of rest and recovery, where residents could relax, recreate, and in some cases receive short-term medical services. But in the gray winter months of 2016, one sanatorium outside the city felt more like “the setup of a horror movie,” said Iryna Galisevych, child development coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene’s Commonwealth of Independent States field.Its new residents aren’t on vacation; instead, they’re some of the 1.4 million people displaced by violence in eastern Ukraine after the Ukrainian political revolution and the subsequent Russian Federation annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Nearly all of the internally displaced persons at the camp outside Odessa are part of families with children, many of whom have disabilities and, now, no resources.
When volunteers from the Odessa Church of the Nazarene visited the camp, they were struck by the range of needs among the residents, from children with disabilities to senior adults with significant physical challenges.
“I’ve never seen so many disabled people of different ages gathered in the same place,” says Andriy Takhtay, coordinator for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries in the CIS field. “Back home [in Kyiv], many of the children had a chance to be a part of groups for children with [specific needs] and were provided specialized quality help, but now all those children were just gathered together as one large group.”The sanatorium rooms, which had been abandoned for years, have no stoves or refrigerators. For a while, food was provided in the dining hall, but with decreases in government funding, residents now have to pay for their food and accommodations — a challenge when jobs are nearly impossible to come by and the small amount of state support each family receives barely covers children’s education and medical needs.
The children take a bus to Odessa for school, but they have no access to the sports clubs, music education, or other activities that could support their overall development. Children with disabilities ranging from cerebral palsy to autism do not receive the medical or professional services they need.
“The need is great, and people are left hopeless there,” Takhtay says.
In response, Nazarene churches in Ukraine are exploring how to help with a range of groups, including those with psychological needs, residents who are blind or visually impaired, children with general needs, children with disabilities, adults with disabilities, and senior adults.Volunteers from churches in Ukraine are installing kitchens, providing social services, partnering with Christian medical ministries that can support the specialized needs of many of the camp’s residents, and facilitating a Kids’ Club for children that includes games, crafts, music, and Bible stories. Volunteers with experience working with children with disabilities are traveling more than 10 hours round-trip every couple of weeks to assist with the ministry.
Volunteers have also been holding weekly Bible studies for residents of the camp. When Bible study participants became interested in attending church, Pastor Nabil Babbaisiy began to hold a weekly worship service at the camp in addition to the service at the church in Odessa. Then on Easter Sunday 2016, members of the Odessa church all journeyed to the camp and, with more than 165 gathered, celebrated Christ’s resurrection — and the promise of new life — together.
Previously published in Summer 2016 edition of NCM Magazine
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'I did not hold back’: A testimony
Nazarene Essentials available in 18 Eurasia languages
‘I DID NOT HOLD BACK’: A TESTIMONY
RANDOLF WOLST, NEWS, WHERE WORLDS MEET
Mr. Jagat*, who attends a Nazarene church in Bangladesh, gives his testimony.This Bible verse influenced me to become a good Christian: “Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’” Luke 9:62
I come from a family that worships many gods. My father and forefathers were followers of [the dominant] religion. I was not very happy with the [ritual] prayer. I felt like we are praying to gods who cannot respond. For this reason, I was seeking a true God whom I could worship.
One day I was riding on a bicycle and met with some Nazarene friends. I asked, “Where are you going?” They replied, “We have a baptism service, we are going there.” I was interested to see the baptism service. So I went there with my wife and child. When I saw the baptism, a strange feeling was brewing inside me. I don’t know why, but I liked that service and their prayer. I told my wife that I want to be a Christian. My wife did not agree at that time. After that we came back home. I prayed to God to change my wife’s mind.
Then I talked with our Nazarene brothers and showed my interest in being baptized. They gave a schedule for baptism when some other brothers and sisters were scheduled to be baptized.
I went that day and found that the other brothers and sisters who were supposed to be baptized did not turn up. I did not hold back. Only myself was baptized that day, and the others were baptized six months later.
A few days after my baptism, one of my Nazarene brothers told me to enroll in the SANBC (South Asia Nazarene Bible College) course. It was the time for harvesting. As I am poor, and harvesting is the only way that I earn income, it was very necessary for me to work the land. Then I remembered the Bible verse, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” I forgot all my basic needs and determined to enroll at SANBC. I went there and attended the courses.
Since then, I am living a faithful Christian life. God has used me to cure many sick people through prayer. Though I have faced many problems, I did not hold back. And as long as I will live, I will be working for the kingdom of God.
*Name changed and location omitted for security
© 2016 Eurasia Region, All rights reserved
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