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Ukraine Trip Update

Restore My Heart Conference
University Baptist Church (UBC), Clear Lake, Texas & MotherWise
Kiev, Ukraine, October 9-16, 2007

In sharing this beautiful conference time in Ukraine with you, our MotherWise website friends, I want to begin with the words to a song that the 61 attendees sang to our team in Ukrainian. Surely we were receiving a glimpse of heaven because their voices were amazing and our hearts were touched. The Ukraine Baptist Women’s Ministry ladies shared the words to the song and here they are:

The Lawn Mower Song

There was a beautiful flower in the middle of the lawn-in the grass. The flower looked up to God and asked Him to save it from the lawn mower. When the lawn mower man cut the grass, a ROCK by the flower, kept the flower from being cut. 

The author of the song’s story:

“There was a man who was sick and sat by a window in his home and looked out each day. He saw a beautiful flower in the middle of the grass in his yard. He asked God to save him from his sickness and if God would, he would bloom like the flower, for Christ. He was saved from the sickness because the ROCK was there to protect him. One way he bloomed for Christ was by writing the song.” 

While in Kiev, Ukraine, we had 61 women who are official Women’s Ministry leaders that represent all 25 regions of Ukraine attend our Restore My Heart conference. A very special guest to our conference was Svitlana Svishchova, who is the official Women’s Ministry Leader of Ukraine. 

We marked a map of Ukraine, showing where each woman who attended lives. The entire country was represented! Women traveled many miles by van, bus and train. One lady traveled for 15 hours. The conference site, The Independent Evangelical Christian Baptist Church of Kiev, hosted many of them in their dormitory overnight. 

The ministry goal of our team was to teach an overview of the Bible study, Restore My Heart, by Denise Glenn, MotherWise Ministry. We also wanted to inspire the ladies to go back to their region and share that God chose us, He accepts us just as we are, He renews us each day, He comforts us at all times, He delights in us as His Bride, and He adorns us. Our prayer is that they convey this through this Bible study to the women of their influence. Our desire also was for these women to enjoy fellowship and experience a retreat atmosphere. 

Our praise and worship was blessed to be led by the singing group, “Crystal.” This is a group of three young ladies from New Life Baptist Church, Lutsk, Ukraine. We also heard the group sing in the Sunday worship service of Central Baptist Church in Kiev where they were well received by over 1,000 people. God has certainly blessed these precious young Christian women with beautiful voices and is opening doors for them in an amazing way. 

Some comments we have received from the ladies who attended are:

*They loved working with the team from the US; the structure and order used in the conference and in the Bible study.

* Many were excited to know that they could use this Bible study with their older teens and unmarried young adults.

*Restore My Heart includes a fictional narrative story paralleling Old Testament Jewish wedding traditions and a woman Believer of today as being the Bride of Christ. This spoke to the women of Ukraine, touched their hearts and was one of their favorite parts of the conference.

* It was said that previously they knew God as their Redeemer and Lord but not as their Bride Groom. This was special to their hearts and a new revelation to them. 

* Recently, one woman’s husband left the church and their marriage. Restore My Heart gave her encouragement that she was not alone because God is her Bride Groom now.

* The women who were widows were encouraged to love God as their Bride Groom and not to feel lonely.

* Learning the Jewish tradition of the husband preparing a place with love for his bride and now knowing that God is preparing a place and waiting for us was important to realize. It made several women stop and evaluate whether they had given God that priority and were truly waiting for Him in areas of their lives.

* The women loved making the floral wreaths as wreaths are a symbol of Ukrainian weddings and celebration of life. They also loved receiving new scarves collected by our US church members.

Team: Delynn Halloran (MW Executive Director & member UBC – Team Leader), Diana Forrester-UBC, Joy Deason – UBC, Claire Crigler – JFBC & MW International Relations, Svetlana Lagoda – MW Ukraine Coordinator, Larissa Matina – MW Russia Coordinator, Anya Burekhina, Kiev Women’s Ministry Coordinator, Dianne Wallingford – Moscow, Alina Fonerova– Moscow

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