This Sunday we will have our Vision Sunday.  Our shepherds will be sharing about our vision for this next year as well as upcoming years, and I will share a message on our call to serve the Lord and others.  I know you will want to be here for this important family time together.

This week we have had the opportunity to once again be reminded of the great opportunities and blessings the Lord has given through Eastern European Mission (EEM).  Darryl Willis who directs the Youth Camp program was with us this past Sunday.  He shared an update on the youth camps during our Bible class time, and led us as we gathered around the Lord’s Table during our worship assembly.

In spite of the shelling and other aspects of war that have plagued the Donetsk region our Team Imagine has worked with, as well as other regions, the nation of Ukraine continues to seek the Lord by strongly desiring God’s Word.  We have seen it firsthand working in the camps. As Darryl showed on Sunday, the children immediately take the Bibles we give them and sit down and begin reading every single word.

We saw the same thing Tuesday night at the EEM dinner hosted by our wonderful South Fork ladies.  Thank you Jo Morris and crew!!

Dirk Smith with EEM shared some wonderful and incredible opportunities and accomplishments at the dinner Tuesday night.  One story he told really stuck out to me.

He said the national director/minister of education asked to meet with the EEM leadership.  He had seen that the regions where EEM has provided Bibles to be placed in the public schools showed two significant differences from schools in the other regions: they had fewer discipline problems, and they had higher scores.

Upon seeing those results, Ukraine’s minister of education said they wanted Bibles in ALL the regions of Ukraine—Bibles to be placed in every public school; Bibles to be used by every schoolteacher; Bibles made available for every student.  Wow.  That’s a tall order, but as Dirk shared, the Lord will provide the means to take advantage of this incredible opportunity.

God has a vision for this country; God has a vision for Ukraine; God has a vision for you.  That vision involves and is determined and framed by God’s Word.

Our problem here is different from Ukraine.  There, so many children and adults have no access to the Bible.  We are helping to change that.

Here, there are Bibles everywhere.  Your home has several I’m sure.  I imagine you can access several versions on your tablet, laptop or smart phone.  There’s just one thing a printed copy or an electronic copy of the Bible can’t do.

It can’t read itself for you.