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Odessa UBF

May 26, 2013

FATHER, FORGIVE THEM

We thank God for His mercy and grace, which He richly poured out on our Conference. We thank all servants around the world who diligently prayed for this Conference. Glory to Jesus Christ, who prayed for each of us on the cross saying, "Father, Forgive them," who gave each of us the kingdom of God, and who made ​​us happy people.

We started preparing for the Conference 2.5 months before with prayer meetings three times a week. A month before the conference, we began to gather for prayer meetings every day. During preparation, we received direction from the Holy Spirit to have each of the five Odessa UBF tribes offer 30 joint prayers for the conference and to invite 20 participants from each tribe. By this, we received the heart of God and heartily started to invite students using different ways. We constantly visited Universities and Dormitories in twos or threes for invitation. Shs. Ester created beautiful posters and invitations. Thanks to them, we had filled Odessa with rumors about our conference. And not only Odessa! Sh. Moses, sh. Augustine, br. Antony visited Nikolaev (closest to Odessa Regional City) once again, in order to pray for and invite students there. Msn.Grace, shs.Teresa and shs.Thuy visited Dnepropetrovsk to invite some sheep, and to pray and support our pioneers.

We decided to have the conference for 4 days, May 9-12. In doing so, we faced serious obstacles. In Ukraine, every day during the first half of May is a holiday (8 out of 12 days - are days off). Almost all students leave on April 30 and return May 13. The rest of the month before and after the holidays is the students' session. We were challenged by faith. God has blessed our faith and sent about 20 new sheep to the Conference.

We wanted to invite many guests from different countries, but, because of preparation for the International Conference, only Prayer servants from Kiev and Moscow could come. To our Conference, God sent servants from Kiev UBF: sh.Avraam Vlad, shs.Natasha and shs.Galya, from Podyl UBF (Kiev): msn. Maria Peace, msn. John Peace, shs. Maria-Joy Peace, s.Yulya and s.Natasha, and from Moscow: shs. Ruth Datsenko, shs. Vika, s.Anya. All of them served at the Conference with prayer and special songs. Sh.Abraham Vlad served as the professional photographer at the wedding. Thank God for their prayer and service.

Sh. Augustine was appointed as the conference disposer. Overcoming many difficulties and challenges, he always carried the cross with a smile saying "Hallelujah, Amen" from the beginning to the end. Brother Larry and sister Thuy were his magnificent assistants. Msn. Rebekah also served with all her heart in preparation for special music. Shs. Tanya Zhdanova diligently supervised the preparation of the drama through training non-professional actors. Br. Luke prepared a monodrama for the message "Follow Me," and shs.Thui and sh.Chin prepared a duo-drama for the message "You are the Christ". Shs. Ester had a very hard time training to serve the entire music program through playing piano (shs. Hannah Lee, who served playing the piano for 16 years faithfully, recently went as a missionary to Germany.) The Lord blessed her zeal and love for God, and gave her a wonderful performance throughout the Conference.

 God anointed 7 preachers for the conference. With the opening message delivered by sh.Moses, God asked each one of us "Where are you?" (Genesis ch.3). Then, through sh.David’s message, God showed us that only "Jesus is the way" (Jn.14:6). On Friday morning, through sh.Matthew’s message, Jesus gave us a call: "Follow me" (Mt.9:9-13), and in the evening, through sh.Abraham Anz’s message on the prodigal son, we all decided: "I will arise and go to my father" (Lk.15:11-32). In the morning of the third day, through sh.Gennadiy’s message, each person confessed: "You are the Christ" (Mk.8:27-38). The main message "Father, Forgive them" was delivered by sh.Abraham Vasilenko (a pioneer in Dnipropetrovsk). Through this message, each one of us received complete forgiveness and healing through the cross of Jesus. Sh. Abraham repented that he used to look for happiness in lambs, but Jesus’ death and resurrection became his source of happiness. The final sermon "How we should live?" (Mk.13 :1-10) was by sh.Alexey. Through the word, God taught us that we must live to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The preachers wholeheartedly served the Word, even while sh.David’s wife gave birth to her third child 2 days before the conference. Also, sh. Moses’s 4th child was born on the second day of the conference.

We had 2 Bible Studies: "Follow Me" and "You are the Christ". For this, God set up 9 Bible teachers. However, they were not experienced leaders. They were growing disciples of br. Lary, br.Antony, sh. Chin, Sh.Abraham-Manh, shs.Tanya Chuprun, shs.Olesya, shs.Ester, shs.Teresa, shs.Sveta Anz. Each of the teachers diligently prepared for their bible studies, making them not only interesting and graceful, but also very free and joyful.

As the main theme for the Conference was to become a happy person, we made the conference into a Picnic-Conference to have a light and free atmosphere. There was a lot of time for recreation, and no one was forced to write testimony. However, despite this, the word worked so powerfully in us that almost everyone wrote testimony. Many read it with tears. In the past, Sister Tam lived an empty life for half a year, having a dark complexion and harboring self-condemnation in her heart with thoughts of suicide. But, after hearing the words “I desire mercy, not sacrifice," she received the forgiveness of sins and the love of God, who never leaves her side. She then became very happy and constantly wore a smile on her face. Brother Yuri, who looks like Hercules, was afraid to throw out his carnal lifestyle. But with the words "You are the Christ," he boldly decided to follow Jesus by taking up his cross.

On a third day, we listened to Mission Reports. Shs. Natasha shared a testimony-mission report on Kiev UBF, S.Ira Polukhina shared a testimony-report about her life and ministry in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Shs. Sarah read the Mission Report for Dnepropetrovsk UBF, and S.Yulya read the mission report for Podil UBF. We praise God who uses us in his history of salvation.

The Conference was held in a resort on the Black Sea. It was really like a picnic because we had plenty of time to relax by the sea. Nature gave us a lot of joy with sun, sea, sand, and even dolphins that swam close to the shore. Each morning, the sun woke us up with its rays, and in the evening, the shore’s waves lulled us. On the evening of the third day, we had a bonfire on the beach. We praised God with songs and prayed for Ukraine and world mission.

After the Conference, there was a Wedding Ceremony between sh.Gennadiy and shs.Teresa (Cuc). We pray based on Jn.21:15 that they love Jesus and tend his sheep. May God establish this house church as good shepherds for students in Odessa, Ukraine and the world.

There were 70 participants at the Conference, with the addition of some relatives and Vietnamese guests who joined us on the last day to participate in the wedding.

The full photo-report of the Conference can be seen on Youtube: http://youtu.be/dUP3difMKqQ

Prayer topics:

Each one of us was became a happy person in Jesus

• Luke Gospel Bible Study and messages of msn. John Lee
• Msn. John and Grace Lee health and self-support
• Put the ancestors of faith in the 12 High schools in Odessa
• Opening Nikolaev and Moldova
• World Mission:
• International Summer Bible Conference 2013
• Sh.Abraham and shs. Sarah in Dnepropetrovsk
• Msn. Hanna Lee in Frankfurt (Germany)
• S. Irina Polukhina (Amsterdam)
• B. Joseph-Festo (Tanzania)
• B. Quan (Vietnam)
• S. Estel (Spain)