This article gives an account of mission work being done by the Free Presbyterian Church in Eastern Europe. It is also intended to remind our people of our wish for their ongoing support. In June of this year we planned to spend at least a fortnight in Odessa, intending to use as much of the time as possible in active mission work. However, this was not possible; we spent 10 days in Odessa and two days travelling to and from the Ukraine. Mr Edward Ross and I arrived there on Friday, June 24 and left on July 5. During that time, along with others responsible for the running of the Mission, we attended to a variety of projects connected with the work there.
In our previous article we noted progress with the book, Line upon Line. As Mr Dmytro Levitskyy is studying in Glasgow under the Church’s tutor, Rev Roderick Macleod, the work of editing has been curtailed. Nevertheless the final editing of Line upon Line is about complete and we hope, God willing, to have the book in print shortly. We have begun the translation of the Memoirs and Remains of Rev Donald Macdonald, Shieldaig. It was also agreed to go ahead and print, in booklet form, those psalms already adapted into a metrical form in Russian, with music. Mrs Inna Levitskyy hopes, now with the assistance of Mrs Tanya Zodorshnyy, to speed up the rest of this enormous task of producing a metrical version of the Psalms.
As stocks of The Westminster Confession of Faith are running low it is necessary to print a further 5000 copies. This is a new translation carried out by someone we have employed; it is an improvement on the previous one and at the same time frees us from a particular restriction attached to the original translation. This further print run brings the total number of copies produced thus far to 20 000, the first 15 000 having already been distributed to interested parties. How much this mission work needs to be accompanied by the Holy Spirit, who alone is able to open the minds of sinners to the Bible-based doctrines of The Westminster Confession.
A number of months ago a Baptist conference was held in Odessa to expose what they called the heresies of Calvinism. Attendance was by invitation only but, had it been possible for Mr Igor Zadoroshnyy to be present, he would have witnessed against these mistaken views. It is also our intention, God willing, to produce a short work on the five points of Calvinism as well as to provide a correspondence course based on the chapters of The Westminster Confession of Faith. All this takes time but we aim to add to the ever-increasing numbers of Scripture-based books circulating in the Churches in Eastern Europe; these include John Calvin’s Institutes, Matthew Henry’s Commentary and Thomas Boston’s Fourfold State. The Shorter Catechism is much in demand, one pastor requesting 400 copies. This marvellous summary of Bible doctrine has proved a wonderful blessing to many people in our own Church and far beyond, and we hope it will be so in Eastern Europe in particular.
The vehicle we have been using for transport, including bringing people to church, is now in poor condition and has to be replaced. We are at present looking into obtaining another vehicle and, depending on the availability of funds, it will be purchased as soon as possible. During our visit we organised the completion of the forecourt of the Mission building, where it was necessary to lay small concrete blocks, and also around the building, to prevent further frost damage in the areas already concreted. Some other small jobs remain to be done in connection with the building and of course there will always be ongoing maintenance.
Happily, we were once again in a position to have a communion season. Normally we have a service each day, with two services on the Lord’s Day. As yet we have not had a Fellowship Meeting. Five communicants belonging to the congregation sat at the Lord’s table. Just as in other parts of our Church, the Lord’s table was fenced. The sermons were preached in English, with Mr Dmytro Levitskyi interpreting. The attendance at these services was slightly higher than the previous year. A few of those attending are from other churches; some of these people come a long distance and therefore cannot wait for the evening service. As well as attending at communion times they also come on some other occasions.
We trust this small work will go from strength to strength. Our hope and prayer is that it will always exist as a centre from which true, biblical doctrine will go out to many people for their spiritual advancement in the Christian religion. With the Lord’s blessing, that will indeed be a reality.