Spring has arrived with the chestnut trees in full bloom in Kiev, and temperatures in the upper 60's - low 70's during the day. It can still get cold in the evenings and the night, though, so the coats and sweaters can't be put away just yet. Here has what has been happening in the our district in the last few months:

Church visits: We have visited our churches in Kerch, Sevastopol and Lugansk as well as visiting Odessa where there is an existing Christian fellowship exploring the possibilities of becoming a United Methodist Church. In June or July, we hope to visit our churches in the Caucuses region of Russia: Stavropol and Pyatigorsk. Living in Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, it is quite easy to get the impression that people are not living too poorly, that the days of economic struggle may soon well be in the past. But in elsewhere, where many retirees receive an income equivalent of 25 cents per day, the decision of the many local governments to remove the privilege of retirees to ride for free on public transport can make going to church a sacrifice. Just the bus ride to church and back every Sunday can be up to 10% of a person's monthly income! The gas line that was opened by President Kuchma to Kerch in the fall, with the promise of warm winter heating, reported even in the US press, was shut off shortly after the President's visit, so that there was even less heat than the previous winter. Fortunately, the 99-2000 winter was milder than previous ones. Our churches, though, are moving ahead even in these difficult times. The Kerch church will open a new location for a free lunch program, supplementing the one already in existence. In Lugansk, the church has experienced steady growth, almost doubling their weekly attendance, despite the fact that they only have a pastor twice a month who has to travel 10 hours by bus to reach Lugansk.

District Work:

Language Study- Helen is taking Russian lessons twice a week, while Bill has started Ukrainian twice a week, and advanced Russian once a week. Sometimes people will ask me what are the three hardest things about mission work in the Ukraine, and invariably I will say, language, language and language. Culture is transmitted by language. Even a surface study in church growth will reveal that if an outreach does not take into consideration the culture and demographics of an area, and cannot communicate the Good News in a way that targets the needs of the population, then the outreach will be ineffective, regardless of good intentions. Language is a vital part of our work.

Lviv: In early February, we traveled with our new missionary couple in the Ukraine, Fred and Stacy Vanderwerf, to help them move to their place of assignment in Lviv. They have been studying Ukrainian 3 hours/day - five days/week at Lviv University, have made many contacts, and are already exploring ministry opportunities with students in Lviv and other surrounding cities. According to some mutual Ukrainian friends, they are making great progress in speaking Ukrainian.

Work with our pastors: Bill has held two district pastor's meetings since January, where together we focused on the needs of the individual churches, and how we can work together in the district. At the last meeting, was the first meeting of the district evangelism committee, where some first steps were made in organizing effective evangelistic work in the district. Two needs immediately surfaced, being the need for lay training and literature in the Russian language. Ukrainian language literature needs will arise as we begin to have work in the Ukrainian speaking regions of the Ukraine.

District Social Work: Helen has been busy in her area of assignment, holding two training sessions for drug and alcoholism prevention programs with children and youth. Helen has also participated in two such conferences in St. Petersburg and Stockholm. In August, we will have a youth camp near Sevastopol, where the theme will be drug and alcoholism prevention. In June, a training session will be held for the leaders at the camp.

Connectional and Ecumenical: A Finnish/Estonian UM evangelism team will come to the Crimea again this year to continue the ministry they had last year. We have been in contact with the Christ Church Anglican of Kiev to explore possibilities of working together in social work programs in Kiev. Bill will conduct services at Christ Church on August 6. In late August, we plan to have a Wesleyan Heritage Conference in Kiev, with the participation of the various Wesleyan related denominations working in Ukraine. This conference will have the denominations share their experiences and investigate way we can cooperate together in ministry.

As you can see, things are busy here, but rewarding. Please pray for the needs and events mentioned above. Also pray for us as we have the honor and privilege of serving in Ukraine.

C Bogom, (with God) Helen and Bill Lovelace.