Central Eurasian Partners

Winter in Ukraine

cepartners — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:38:26 +0000

Bartek and Zhanna, still only a few months into their married life, have sent some news, which you can read here , about their early efforts at establishing a work for the Lord in their new situation in Rovno, Ukraine.

Filed under: News Tagged: mission, ukraine

A Polish Testimony

cepartners — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:58:58 +0000

Karolina is working for CEP in Poland, dealing with admin and coordination of the work of the different Partners. Her own family has known its fair share of difficulties, which in some respects are typical of the problems faced by many Polish families. Praise the Lord that her mother, Irena, found the true and lasting solution to her problems in the Lord Jesus Christ. Evangelical Times published her moving testimony, and you can read her story here

Filed under: News Tagged: personal testimony, poland

YFC looks ahead to the New Year

cepartners — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:33:12 +0000

The Youth for Christ workers in Poland are excited at the prospect of God working in new ways in this year which has just begun.

Wiola looks forward to Project 15+ and manifest events:

So 2012 has already started…The opinions of various specialists in economics, politics etc. for this year are, if not pretty pessimistic forecasts, definitely the soaked-in-fear uncertainty of a good tomorrow for the world. But we as Christians know that our future is safe in God’s hands and that He is the one who marks time and seasons. And He knows what this year will bring and He, whatever He plans, will do it completely. And it is so beautiful when we become part of not what we, but what God has planned, as only then we can be sure we will succeed. We need such certainty of God’s will for this year in our work with youth through Project 15+ and manifest. And for this certainty we are praying now in January when we are planning next events, conferences and meetings.

Here is what we have already marked in our calendar: a MINI-fest for middle schoolers this coming Thursday, Feb 1st, and some 45-min evangelistic sessions called face-Bóg(Polish for God) for 4-6 graders of elementary school. We also set the date for an annual manifest conference in Krotoszyn, which will take place from the 30^th March-1^st April. The main speaker will be pastor Leszek Korzeniecki.

From the 5th Feb. till the end of April we are happy to host a volunteer from YFC Norwich, Beth Miller, who is coming to help us with our ministry and to build and deepen relationships with youth in two schools in Wroclaw.

We ask you to pray for those coming events, Beth’s visit, for the young people God will allow us to meet this year and for us so that we will not forget that we live and minister not in our own power but thanks to God’s grace. And grace is new each day and is from the Lord who is not frightened by any of our human pessimistic forecasts for 2012. He is with us, in good and bad times. We pray so that You too, will stay under the wings of the Almighty during this new year (Ps.91).

And Ewa is looking forward to some big changes in the Contact 1 to 1 ministry:

Here we are jumping into the New Year…It’s so good to be aware of God’s protection and control over everything. We are totally safe in Him. I want to dream and plan and impact the reality around me, but in all of this I need to remember to be totally submitted to the Lord. We cannot do anything without Him when it comes to bringing hearts’ change in people, and this is what I dream of – to see the hearts of the kids and their parents changed. This is the dream of mine for this new year – I would like to see the miracle of new life being born. From this year on Program “Contacts One to One” is part of a bigger project called “Colourful Neighbourhood.” This is the new name of our neighbourhood since the time when it was renovated and the playground was built and painted in a colourful way. Still the buildings are ugly and grey, but we hope one day they too will be renovated and the hidden beauty will become visible. This is, after all, what happens to a human heart changed by Jesus Christ. Beauty so far covered by sin becomes suddenly visible under the touch of God’s grace.

“Colourful Neighbourhood” includes also the community centre “Świetlówka” which was opened under the wings of Slot Association in partnership with us, YFC Poland. I had the privilege of coordinating its program last year and this year again we would like the centre to operate , thus we are applying for a city grant for this project. We do not know whether we will get the grant but we do trust that the club is God’s will and He is our source of provision. We do not know what channels of provision He will use but we know His will is to be fulfilled. We also need His help and provision for the renovation of our YFC office as we would like some of the Centre’s activities to be moved there in summer.

In January, in theBaptist Church “The House of Prayer” which is located in the middle of the “Colourful Neighbourhood” we are starting The Alpha Course. We have invited the parents of the children from our Contacts 1to1 and of those who attend the Community Centre. The Course is a chance for them to learn about the Gospel of love. And we have been for so long praying for the families living in that area to hear that God is good and to experience the change of hearts through the work of Holy Spirit.

Please, pray with us….

And a wonderful hot-off-the-press postscript: the grant application has been approved!

Filed under: News Tagged: alpha course, community centre, manifest, poland, youth for christ

A New Partner

cepartners — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:12:42 +0000

The Navigators in Central and Eastern Europe have over the last few years been developing a wide diversity of ministry forms, so much so that each country’s operation is run fairly independently. As such, it was agreed at the last CEP conference that Navigators as a whole would no longer be a Partner, but that in time some of the separate countries would seek to be recognised as a Partner.

An application was placed by D3 Generations in Romania, and was accepted by the other 9 Partners, based on

1) a recommendation from Ralph Gatti, known and trusted by all the current Partners : “ D3 Generations is the local expression of the Navigators ministry in Ploiesti, Romania. Laurentiu and Carmen Mateuca and Saskia Elkerbout lead the ministry very capably. I have had the pleasure to work closely with them over the last couple of years and can attest to their commitment to Christ and their integrity in ministering to people. I am especially impressed with their thoughtfulness regarding how they approach the work to which the Lord has called them. ”

2) the basic principles agreed, which must characterise each Partner :

CEP member organization profile:

Bible based convictions
Evangelical
Enjoying trust of at least one existing Partner
Indigenously led
Autonomous
Focus on disciplemaking
Focus on holistic ministry
Interdenominational
Moving toward self sustainability

3) the description of the ministry, submitted by the leaders :

Background

In 2006 D3 Generations Association was founded in Ploiesti, Romania. There was a desire to reach mainstream young people with the Gospel. These mainstream young people are Romanian Orthodox high school or university students, who have most of the time no connection with the church and/or Bible. They are not looking for Christian input in their lives and Evangelical Christians (individuals, organizations, churches) are considered by them to be a sect. This was the reason to start a neutral NGO (D3 Generations) and to offer programs that are attractive and useful for these young people on the one hand and offer possibilities for spiritual transformation on the other hand.

D3 Generations has the desire to offer high quality programs that help young people not only in their spiritual growth, but also in their personal development in other areas of their lives.

Aims / focus

The general goal is to help young people to develop themselves in the most important areas of their lives: intellectually, physically and spiritually.

At the moment there are three programs developed by D3 Generations. The main goal of all three programs is to challenge the participants to think about life-questions (Who am I? What do I want to do with my life? Where am I going? What do I believe? etc.)

Volunteer project Just as Precious!: high school and university students work as volunteers during a whole academic year in two state facilities (one with disabled children and one with street children) and receive a training program.
FreeTimeClub: high school students learn new ways for spending their free time (sport, creative, games, etc.) and develop skills like teamwork, communication, respect, etc.
Dutch Language and Culture Course: university students learn the basics of the Dutch language and grammar and discuss about cultural differences betweenRomania and The Netherlands.

Who’s involved?

D3 Generations association is a small organization and at the moment has only three members (who are also the founders of the association):

Laurentiu Mateuca: President (works as volunteer)
Carmen Mateuca: Vice-President / executive director (fulltime)
Saskia Elkerbout: Vice-President (fulltime)

Why applying to join?

D3 Generations can offer new ideas and advice to other organizations / churches / Christians about working with young people who are not interested in the Gospel. The first results of the pioneering activity inRomania, which are a blessing of God, can be an encouragement to other people.

The desire of D3 Generations is to find new possibilities for fundraising. Even though the organization is putting a lot of effort into local fundraising, it is not possible yet to survive without financial help from abroad. Another desire is to get new ideas and encouragement from other organizations / people who are working in a similar context.

Filed under: News Tagged: D3 Generations, navigators, romania

A Short History

cepartners — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:03:03 +0000

To refresh your memory as to the background of how CEP came into being, read this article which was published in the October edition of Evangelical Times. Look out for the February edition, which will carry an article about a young couple who left their home in Ukraine to travel to Tatarstan, where they saw many people come to Christ over subsequent years.

Filed under: News Tagged: cep, Evangelical Times

20th Year of Slot

cepartners — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:49:57 +0000

The dates for this year’s Slot Arts Festival in Poland are 10th-14th July. This will be the 20th year of the festival, and the organisers are busy now preparing for it with new ideas, as well as retaining the elements that have worked best in the past.

In addition, a new commercial initiative is in the planning stages, which will offer workshops throughout the year for families, children, and business team-building events. This will provide some funding, as well as building on relationships with workshop leaders etc.

Filed under: News Tagged: arts festival, slot

Help for African children

cepartners — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:51:25 +0000

The Slovak public are really getting behind Integra’s efforts to sponsor needy children in Africa, as Allan Bussard explains :

There is a growing response to Integra’s Malaika program in Slovakia. This is a program that links Slovak families and individuals in support of needy children in Kenya and Ethiopia. We are facing the “problem” that at present growth rates, we will soon have more Slovak sponsors than children, especially for Kenya.

What this means is that we can open discussions with some potential new partners in Africa, to include them in this program and help more needy children have an eduction, better health and nutrition, and a safe place to stay. And to give more Slovak families the chance to engage in changing the future of a child.

But this is not so easy! We have already had the experience of a partnership with an agency that proved untrustworthy. So the process of choosing a new group to work with takes time, involves a lot of evaluation and consultation, and needs your prayers.

This next week will be the beginning of this process, and we ask you to pray for wisdom.

More about this program at http://www.malaika.sk/en

Thanks for your help. More later….

Just because the church and public in Slovakia are responding so well, does not mean that Integra wouldn’t welcome further help from other sources too. As an example of what is possible, the children at ARKA School in Poland held a Christmas Market to raise funds for the bus that is desperately needed in Kenya to take AIDS orphans to school. Donations for that would also be welcomed from the UK, to boost the great amount already raised by Slovaks and take the total towards the required amount.

Filed under: News Tagged: arka, child sponsorship, integra, kenya, slovakia

Belated Christmas Greetings

cepartners — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:26:43 +0000

We have just received Pavel’s latest newsletter, containing his Christmas greetings, but also much encouraging news - click on this link to read: Parakletos Newsletter_Dec_2011

Filed under: News Tagged: counselling, czech republic, parakletos

Vaclav Havel

cepartners — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:52:05 +0000

Pavel Raus of Parakletos gave us this Christian perspective on the influence of Vaclav Havel :

Vaclav Havel was Czech disident, persecuted and several times arrested during the Communist era in the Czech Republic. During the Velvet Revolution he became leading figure in the transition of the country to democracy. He was in 1989 elected president of Czechoslovakia and later he became president of the Czech Republic. He wrote excellent analysis of the problem of Communist regime and described dilemmas of living in truth in such condition. His conclusion was that the main problem during totalitarian regime was consumerism, the same problem which democratic Western countries are facing. While in prison, Vaclav Havel was at one point very close to become a Christian, though he did not. But many of values which he represented were Christian values. Vaclav Havel died at the age of 75.

Filed under: News Tagged: czech republic

P2P in Action

cepartners — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:40:18 +0000

For more news on how this mentoring ministry is helping young pastors in Poland, read Wojtek’s latest newsletter here

Filed under: News Tagged: Pastors2Pastors, poland