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I have been serving as a missionary in Kiev, Ukraine for the past twelve years. I am involved in making disciples, and in planting, establishing and caring for simple churches.

In light of the fact that most of the churches with which I work are small and are simple and organic in nature, I am often asked a question. Timmy, are you against big churches and big meetings? I am quick to answer that I am not against that which is big. For me it is not about big or small, and it is not about a model or strategy for church planting, development and reproduction.

One of the main paradigm shifts within this movement of simple churches is the belief that ordinary men and women hear God.  They can be entrusted with the affairs of the Kingdom.  It does not need specially trained people to manage the church.  The Holy Spirit is able to run the church by speaking directly to His people.   He will do a far better job of it than our organizations and denominations ever can.

Teachings, from a conference on church planting movements, by Victor John, who initiated a remarkable movement in India with around 3 million people baptized and 80,000 churches planted.

1)       At 6:30 pm we began with 15-20 adults and several children, meeting in the home of the church planter, which also doubles as a beauty parlor during the week. All the hair dressing equipment had been moved to another room to make space for the plastic chairs that were set up in a circle. It was very hot and crowded, but nobody seemed to mind (except the visiting missionaries!)

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ . . . (Romans 16:25, NIV)

Ever since I've been a Christian, I've observed that most believers can be divided up into two camps: the libertines and the legalists.

In my experience, libertines are those who go to church, own a Bible, and profess to believe in Jesus. However, they appear to have no vital relationship with the Lord. And they hold to the same values as do non-Christians.

If you were to examine their lifestyle, you would discover that libertines behave scantly different from non-Christians. Their attitude is that God only wants us to be nice to others and try our best to be good. Beyond that, the Almighty doesn't particularly care how we live. So long as a person mentally assents that God exists and Jesus is Savior, they are worthy to bear the name "Christian."

Dear Nicolay,

Greetings, Nicolay!  I am sorry that we did not see one another on this last visit to Ukraine.  I did see many of my old friends who we worked with in the early 1990’s.  They were great reunions as we met and talked about the “old days”.  I love remembering those days of revival in Ukraine, but we cannot nor should we live in the past.

“For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.”
1 Corinthians 14:31

The Vocal Minority
Recently I attended some small group meetings where the same people prayed, taught and led week after week, often for a long time. By the way, what they said was usually encouraging. But, how did this affect the silent majority? For some, it was a good time for a nap. Others felt intimidated because they could never pray that long, so why try? They reasoned, “What will my little one sentence prayer sound like?”

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