Rev D A Ross
The last news article on this Mission reported that there was sufficient money in the Eastern Europe Fund to erect the boundary security wall and gates at our new building. These are now complete. Local by-laws also required that the land outside the boundary fence be cultivated and prepared for a flower bed, which added to the cost. We are thankful that this work is now complete, leaving only paving, and external tiling to prevent the intense frost penetrating and destroying parts of the building.
The major work at the moment is editing a translation of the book Line
12 The Works of John Owen, vol 5, p 33.
13 James Fraser, Am I Christian?, Banner of Truth, 2009, p 61.
Upon Line, ensuring that the Russian reads well. This is taking longer than expected. Mr Igor Zadoroshnyy is engaged in this work; while he does not speak English perfectly, as a journalist he has a thorough grasp of his own language.
As was noted in previous news reports, there is a high demand for children’s books throughout the Ukraine, and we hope that, once this book is printed, it will be well received throughout the Ukraine. There has been a grateful response to the Exposition of the Confession of Faith by Robert Shaw as can be seen in these excerpts from letters:
From missionaries in Rivno, Ukraine: “Thank you very much for the book which we received yesterday. We have started reading and we must say it is a blessing. May God bless your labour, so that it may become a blessing for others, as it has become for us. We have sent you some postage stamps.”
From an academic in Religious Studies, in the National Academy of Science, Kiev: “Thank you very much for your care and for remembering our spiritual needs. The book will be read, for our scientists have a great interest in theological problems.”
From Dimitrov: “Our pastor says and teaches that Calvinist teaching is correct, because it has the Holy Scriptures as its foundation. We very often have conversations with the Pastor about the doctrines of election, predestination and limited atonement. Should you have some other new literature, please send us these books.”
From Kiev: “Today, 16 October 2010, I finished reading the book you gifted to me, written by Robert Shaw. It is an excellent work, with easy-to-read print. Once and again I was persuaded that The Westminster Confession of Faith (along with The Heidelberg Catechism) is the best interpretation of the Christian Faith for the present day. I left the Baptist Arminian Church for a Reformed Church, where a missionary from Holland, Jos Collijn, is working.”
Finally: “Fifteen years ago, I was a young Ukrainian preacher . . . and then I was presented with the book, The Westminster Confession of Faith. My spiritual teachers, Arminians, were teaching me that the theology of other denominations is heresy. Therefore, when I was reading the Confession of Faith, I was stroking out pages of the book and writing my opinion on every page: ‘Heresy, nonsense’. In a few years I repented of this action. And today I am distributing the Confession of Faith and Shaw’s Exposition of the Confession among ministers of different denominations. Over these years my understanding of this document has fundamentally changed. The Confession of Faith is a theological masterpiece.”
Such letters of appreciation encourage us to continue printing Reformed literature. Some of them seem to indicate a genuine love for the truth of the
gospel and that the Lord is blessing this aspect of our work. We deeply appreciate the support which makes it possible; ongoing support is necessary if it is to continue. “Freely ye have received, freely give” (Mt 10:8).