From the October-December 2006 Issue
Serving the Lord in Ternopil
Volodymyr and Oksana Kostyshyn
Downtown Ternopil“Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2). These words were written by Paul to Timothy. In a very straight and clear way he explains to the young minister the most important task of his life. And not only his, but that of everyone who is called by God to be a minister in God’s Church and to serve His people. To preach the Word is the most important task anyone can ever have. But its importance makes the task also the most difficult. It is important because this Word is the Word of life. Without it no life can be found. This is something we all need to remember all the time. It is difficult because the task is laid on the shoulders of faithful, but still weak human beings. Our weakness is what disturbs the preacher most and shadows the great truth of his calling. “Preach the word” – this great imperative encourages me as I think about the work we are doing in Ternopil.
Druzhba
It is seven years since the group of believers met for the first time for Home Bible study in the Druzhba district of Ternopil. Soon afterwards this Bible study group came to be known as Druzhba Baptist Church. From the very beginning we have had a longing to preach the Word of God to the people in our neighbourhood. Year after year we have been trying to find a way to communicate the great truths of the Bible to people around us, but have seen very little in the way of results. It is very difficult to reach those who are proud of their religiosity, who think of themselves as Christians and are happy with their twice-a-year (Christmas and Easter) church attendance. Materialism preoccupies the minds of many and prosperity is becoming the most desirable thing.
However, all this isn’t an excuse for us not to preach the Word. Today there are those who question the way of communicating God’s truth through the verbal preaching. We need video, they say, drama, dance. Sometimes it sounds attractive, especially when you are eager to see more people coming to your church, but the minister must never forget about the main need of the people around. It is not to get some temporary excitement from well-made music, film or drama, but to satisfy the hunger of souls by the Word of God; not looking at the number of people coming, but at lives transformed as the living God speaks to them through the power of His Word being preached. Careful attention to God’s Word is the way to salvation, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). Nothing else but the message preached.
And here I agree with Mark Dever and the comments he made in his book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, “Preaching should have a certain content, a certain transparency of form. The people listening to preaching should know they are hearing God’s Word preached, and church members should be encouraging preachers to do this, should be praying for them and looking for such preaching, and thanking God for it when it comes. It is good to preach the truth, and to preach it in such a way that people can see where the truth is coming from. That, more than anything else, is what we need as Christians.”
Encouraging one another
I remind myself of these things over and over again. Especially in a time of discouragement it is very important to know why, what and how to do the work. In times of difficulties we are to be faithful to our calling. Over the past year, since our son Zechariah was born, I have been learning by experience the difficulties of being a husband, father and pastor. When Zechariah was born he was very weak. Uncertainties about his health and well-being have made it very difficult for me to concentrate on my task of pastor. We do not know even now whether he will ever be able to overcome the consequences of his illness and the delay in his development, but in all these things I am thankful to God for my wife Oksana. It was her example that encouraged me to trust God day by day.
As a family we are also thankful for the support we received from people in our congregation. It is always heart-moving to see how they are trying to help, and to hear their prayers and rejoice together as we have seen them answered. We are also thankful for the prayer support of those who never had the possibility to see us as family, but are faithfully praying for us, and especially for our son. It is really a great blessing to be part of the family of God! What a joy it is going to be when we see each other on the Great Day of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we will worship Him in the much bigger fellowship of believers!