Impressions from Leadership Conference in Hungary

We have just concluded the leadership conference for our denomination in Central and Eastern Europe. The meeting was held October 7-11, in Hajduszoboszlo, Hungary which is only 30 km from the university town of Debrecen.

This year's conference had three major highlights.

• Our guest speaker was Dr. Fred Garmon, president of "People for Care and Learning". As I have noted in earlier blog posts, Fred and I were in our doctoral program together at Regent. And we have enjoyed each other's friendship over the years. Fred taught on leadership develop - which is his area of specialty - and did a great job.
• Farewell and celebration of the ministry of Dieter and Hildegard Knospe who will retire at the upcoming General Assembly. Besides gifts for the Knospe's, various representatives from our field area spoke words of appreciation on behalf of the entire audience.
• 10-year anniversary of the Church of God in Hungary. Actually the Church of God in Hungary goes all the way back to the 1920s and '30s. However, with the help of the Nazi regime and the war, and the communist government that followed, this initial COG denomination disintegrated. In 1999, a new start began with missionary Csaba Tenkeley and today we have 25 congregations.

This year's conference had its usual share of representatives from Germany, Austia, Norway, Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia (including Siberia, too), Ukraine, and Hungary (of course).

August News

We are currently in the United States for vacation and business. I hope to share more later.

In the meantime, we have posted our quarterly newsletter and it can seen at http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs072/1101898662382/archive/1102675738242.html

The Reason for God

Due to my busy schedule in May / June, my reading has taken a back seat until the last couple of weeks. To end my reading fast, I pick up Tim Keller's The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. (Here is a link to the book's website.) Dr. Keller leads the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan. He planted this church some 15 years ago and the congregation averages over 5000 each week. His strength is communicating the gospel to a multi-cultural, postmodern society -- and this is the purpose of his book.

At this junction, I would like to draw the opinion of Mark Meynall and his review of the book. (I admit it. I'm too lazy to reinvent the wheel.) He makes four points:

• It is very readable - in fact it is basically a précis of countless conversations Keller has had with various archetypal Manhattan sceptics. The standard format is "X asked me this… and Y asked me that …"; "and this is how I answered them…". So it is not exposition as such (a small point is that the book could have benefited from more explicit biblical material), but it is fair to say that it is thoroughly 'bibline'!**
• The format is not accidental - because the aim of this book is to tackle all the big ones that people ask - or rather, all the big ones that sophisticated New Yorkers ask. So it may be that these are not necessarily the questions your friends are asking. So for example, the American political context (with its caricatures of 'liberal left' and 'religious/evangelical right') is such that it is necessary to say more about how the gospel transcends these boundaries - in our more secular European settings, the presenting issues are slightly different. But i would think that there are few questions out there that have not been addressed in some shape or form by this book.
• It is full of thought-provoking angles and arguments, and helps to put things on the front foot by exposing the flaws in current thinking.
• Keller has read deeply and widely - and it shows. By that I don't mean that he does this in a showy way - it is all very constructive and handled with a very light touch. So it is not like reading one of those doorstops in which there seems to be footnote for every line or Notes pages taking up more space than the main book. The point is that Keller is constantly tapping into popular culture and secular thinking in order to engage. I am convinced that this is both fundamentally necessary for us all as we seek to communicate to our culture and provides a very strong model. I think this is particularly powerful in his articulation of the problem of sin (a more unpalatable or culturally incorrect subject one could perhaps not find these days!).

Keller's book is a great read and shows us that it is very possible to reach today's postmodern generation.

Update on Shestopalov Family (3)

On Tuesday, July 28, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with our Russian overseer Vladimir Shestopalov and his wife Aphrodite. It was the first time for me to see them since the tragic events from last month (see earlier posts). I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But I think they are holding up well considering what they have gone through.

Aphrodite is still wearing a cast for her broken elbow. Vladimir is still taking pills for the kidney damage from the accident. The second oldest daughter is healing on schedule from her broken legs. But the patient with the longest path of recovery ahead is the oldest daughter Christine. She has several fractures of the facial bones and will face future surgeries once the current bruises / swelled areas have gone area. Due to the swelling, an acurate diagnosis has been slow in coming.

In describing the accident, the police calculated that Shestopalovs were traving about 60 mph *100 km/h) on the highway when an upcoming car doing 100 mph (160 km/h) crossed the yellow line and hit them head-on. Both cars rolled over several times before coming to a stop. It's a miracle that anyone survived the accident - and of course, there was one fatality.

The Shestopalovs have had strong support from the local church and from their ministerial colleagues in Russia. And they are also grateful for the prayers and support they have received from abroad. But they continue to be in our need of our prayers.

Update on Shestopalov Family (2)

Many of our readers of the blog and/or newsletter have been asking about the Shestopalov family. The funeral for the daughter was held this past Monday at the seminary. About 200 guests came from all over Russia, and a number of family members from outside of Russia. After the church ceremony, most of the guests accompanied the family for the graveside ceremony. Later in the afternoon, there was a meal for the family and guests at the seminary.

Bishop Shestopalov and his wife, Aphrodite, were able to attend the funeral. They were temporarily released from the hospital on Monday morning. They returned to the hospital on Tuesday morning. The two oldest daughters remain in the hospital and were not released for the funeral. (The two youngest daughters not in the accident did attend the funeral). The 2nd oldest daughter who had broken both legs continues to improve. The oldest daughter who suffered many head injuries is stable but will require further surgeries. We had antipated that she would be operated on last week, but this action has been delayed.

Thank you for your prayers. The Shestopalovs still face many challenges with their health plus the adjustments of losing a daughter/sister.

Update on Shestopalov Family

Many of our readers and those receiving our updates via email have asked us for updates.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Brother and Sister Shestopalov were finally transferred to a Moscow hospital, but I'm not sure if it is the same one where the two oldest daughters are.

The funeral for Sabrina is scheduled for Monday, June 22 to be held in the seminary chapel. Exact time .... I haven't heard yet. This will be coordinated with the cementary.

The overseer, Vladimir, has suffered some kidney damage from the accident and needs time to mend. He will be released on Monday just for a couple of hours to attend the funeral. Aphrodite, the wife, is suffering from low blood pressure and psychologically / emotionally is having a most difficult time.

The oldest daughter, Christine, remains in ICI with "head damage." and swelling. She has been brought out of her coma, can open her eyes and can think. Due to swelling, she has high pressure in the head. Her vision isn't the best; one eye has trouble shutting. And there is a part of the skull that has been shattered and needs to be replaced. Today she was transferred out of ICU into a regular room. I hear there is a surgery scheduled for Friday, but I'm not sure what is being done.

The 2nd oldest daughter, Diana, who had the broken legs is sitting up and might be released from hospital in the next couple of days.

Thank you once again for your prayers

Urgent Message from Moscow - Update on Shestopalov Family

Immediate Response Needed
Church of God World Missions Project Number #132-4002

Daughter Killed in Car Accident
On June 13, 2009 Russian National Overseer Vladimir Shestopalov and his family were traveling in the Moscow region when they were hit head-on by an coming SUV, causing them to slide into a ditch and roll over several times. In the van with Bishop Shestopalov were his wife, Afrodita, and his three oldest children.

Unfortunately, the Shetopalov's third daughter Sabrina died of her injuries shortly after the accident. The other two daughters in the vehicle were seriously injured and were medivaced to a hospital in Moscow. The oldest, Christine, is in critical condition with sever damage to her head. Another daughter, Diana, has broken both of her legs below the knees but is otherwise stable.

Bishop Shestopalov and his wife remain hospitalized near the accident site with numerous cuts, bruises, and internal injuries. The will be released to attend Sabrina's funeral but still require further medical treatment.

This horrible tragedy affects the entire Church of God family and Russia and throughout the field of Eurasia.

Prayer: Please pray for the Shestopalov family. They need much love, comfort, and emotional/spiritual support in this time of loss. There will cert ainly be many painful and unanswered questions to arise in the weeks and months ahead.

Give: The Russian medical system promises free health care for only the most basic of needs, but patients must pay for effective medicines and operations. Many Russian churches responded with offerings within 24 hours of the news, but we anticipate the family's medical expenses to be well beyond these available means.

Since medical treatment in Russia is largely dependent upon the ability to pay in advance, the Shestopalovs will require immediate assistance for their hospital expenses.

Please help us respond to this need today by sending donations to:

Project #132-4002
Shestopalov / Medical Needs
Church of God World Missions
PO Box 8016
Cleveland, TN 37320-8016

Or call toll-free at 1-800-345-7492
Or donate online at www.cogwm.org

If donating online through our secure server, please make sure to check the box: "My gift is specifically for Missionary Support, National Workers or Special Projects as listed below". (If you use the20link above, the project number should already be listed in the form.)

PLEASE NOTE: This is a different project number than the one listed yesterday. Instead of using the seminary's project number (710-0072), we ask that all donations for the Shestopalovs go the number highlighted above.

Lee Singers in Germany

There has been quite a bit going on and little time for blogging. Today, I hope to post a few news items that relate to our work in Europe.

First, the Lee Singers (Lee University, Cleveland, TN, USA) are currently on tour in Germany. Tom helped them finalize their schedule when they had a last minute cancellation. Additionally, we help our district church in the housing arrangements of their visit to our area.

But the highlight for us was to see my cousin Rachel (okay, 1st cousin once removed). It has been a couple of years since we had seen her and the family. So this was a very special evening. She and two other Singers stayed at our home for the one evening. Dr. Brad Moffit has kept a blog of the tour which you can read here.