CHURCH LIBRARY & LIBRARIAN TRAINING PROGRAM - From her home in Belarus, one of the most repressive regimes in Europe, Lyudmila’s growing hunger to minister to her community motivated her to make a bold move. In the face of increasing persecution of evangelicals in her country, Lyudmila opted to travel to Ukraine to attend the READ sponsored church librarian training not available to her in Belarus. She faced a tedious 24 hour train ride each way, each time she traveled. On the return trips, she carried stacks of books for her church library. Dreading the searches at border crossings, she knew that discovery of Christian literature in her bags could result in seizure of the books or worse. Yet her commitment to Christ emboldened her. Lyudmila now heads a thriving library ministry in her home church – one designed to reach out to her community.

PASTORS' CONFERENCES & LIBRARIES - Why we do this is best expressed by the following story from our Ukraine Field Representative,…”Exhausted from another taxing trip, it feels good to be finished with the ministry responsibilities of another Ukrainian assignment. The pastors’ conference in Kherson ended well. My translator and I huddled in a corner of a chilly, dimly lit train station, waiting for the overnight train to Kiev. I recognized a young man I’d seen at the pastors’ conference earlier in the day. I walked over to greet him and in no time at all, we were talking shop. This man came to the conference from a former republic of the Soviet Union in Central Asia which has the dubious distinction of being among the top ten countries in the world for persecuting Christians. Speaking in muted tones so as not to be overhead, he poured out his heart to us. ‘Spreading the gospel is risky in my country. Current laws hinder the ability to share our faith, work with minors, or receive and distribute Christian literature.’ Unable to risk crossing the border into his country with the full component of books that READ had given him and the other pastors at the conference, he temporarily left some of the books with other Christians in Ukraine until he could pick them up later, a few at a time. The volumes he was taking home were casually mixed in with a stack of secular titles in hopes of not having them seized at the border. Obviously, his government understands the power of Christian literature! We talked about ways READ might expand into digital resources, encrypting messages or possibly recording Christian material on flash drives, easier to conceal in transit. In the distance a train whistle sounded its lonely blast and we stood and headed for the platform. ‘Pray for me’ he said. I thought his request would be for protection but he said ‘Pray for boldness, Pray that I will not fall back into unbelief.’ After hugs and handshakes, we went our separate ways. I headed to the comforts of my Minnesota home, and he traveled to a life of sacrifice and risk.

Doors in Eastern Europe opened to evangelical ministries shortly after the fall of Communism in 1991 are beginning to close again. These dynamics will make it particularly important for READ to focus on establishing librarian training courses and pastors conferences in cities near Ukraine’s borders, since, among all the countries of the former USSR, Ukraine has become the hub country that continues to be the most open to the gospel. With passionate, committed risk takers like Lyudmila and our unnamed friend above, READ has promising opportunities to reach across the borders of Ukraine’s surrounding nations with networks and resources that will stay in place long after the doors of opportunities in these countries slam shut.

ORPHANAGE LIBRARIES - Ukrainian churches take seriously God's command to serve widows and orphans. READ provides these churches with Christian literature and media resources. This ministry has particular significance because orphanages in Ukraine are truly a system of "warehousing" young children until they become teenagers with little or no hope to hear the Gospel, or break the cycle of poverty and despair.

With your help, READ Ministries will continue to provide pastors conferences, theological libraries, church librarian training and church libraries, Christian libraries and resource to orphanages and support evangelical outreaches through our bookmobile ministry in Ukraine and other parts of the former Soviet Union. Although powers and authorities would have it otherwise, the evangelical church is alive in this part of the world and God’s spirit moves on. We continue to receive pleas for help from the church in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Israel and surrounding countries. Your gift to READ will enable us to answer those pleas and place Christian literature resources in their hands.