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Wind of Change
03/11/06
Announcement: New Planting
– Kyiv International Church of Christ
“Remember those earlier days
after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest
in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and
persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so
treated…But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those
who believe and are saved.” Hebrews 10:32-33, 39
During the 23 hours aboard my
three flights from Portland to Kyiv, Ukraine, my mind was flooded with memories
of the miraculous “early days” of the churches planted in the
former Soviet Union…There were 17 sold-out disciples on the Moscow Mission Team.
I vividly remember the tearful send-offs for us from the Los Angeles and New
York City Churches in July 1991. We landed in Moscow on a warm Tuesday
afternoon, July 9. The team was so fired-up! We “dumped” our luggage in our
rooms at the rather impoverished Intourist Hotel and raced over to Red Square.
The team’s enthusiasm quickly morphed into intimidation as we gazed in awe at
the Kremlin walls, St. Basil’s Church and the tomb of Lenin all bordering the
expansive Red Square. Red Square was filled with stern looking Russian soldiers,
impeccably dressed in green uniforms, all carrying guns. After all, these were
still the days before the August 1991 coup that dissolved the Soviet Union.
Sensing our need for prayer, I
called the team to regroup on the other side of Red Square on the bridge over
the Moskva River. There we huddled arm-in-arm and prayed. The first few brothers
prayed softly. Then emboldened by the Spirit of God, our prayers literally
became “loud cries” to God to start a revolution that would allow
everyone in the Soviet Union to hear about Jesus Christ! Since most of us on the
team did not speak Russian, Wednesday morning at out devotional I challenged
each team member to find an “Aaron”…a Russian who could speak English! Then as
Aaron was Moses’ mouthpiece, these “Russian Aarons” would be ours as we preached
Christ and invited people to our first service on Sunday, July 14.
On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday all of us worked so hard for the
Lord. On Sunday morning, I woke up early as it was difficult to sleep. I read
Joshua 6, where the Israelites walked around the walls of Jericho and God made
the walls fall! (As a mission team, we read one chapter a day in Joshua, so on
Sunday we would all read Joshua 6.) After reading, I set out to pray as I walked
all the way around the walls of the Kremlin. That Sunday morning at our first
church service, the Spirit’s
“wind of change” was blowing full force as 268 attended our first service!
Almost 100 signed response cards to study the Bible! The following Friday was
our first baptism, a young woman named Era! In the first 16 days of the church,
16 were baptized, some of whom had been our “Aarons!” Elena and I were moved to
tears as we said good-bye to the Moscow Church on July 30. I will never forget
the sight at communion when 16 Russian disciples were arm-in-arm with the
American disciples, all of us singing with all our might! Only in Christ could
citizens of former enemy nations be this united!
A few weeks later the historic
coup in Moscow began. Back in Los Angeles, I like millions around the world
watched on TV as this world-changing drama unfolded. I still remember watching
on TV as countless denominational missionaries to Russia returned to Los Angeles
and then bent down to kiss “American soil”… Almost immediately during those
tension filled days, I received phone calls from the non-Christian parents of
the Moscow Mission Team and even American evangelists. Each asked the same
question, “Since the mission team’s lives are in peril, when will you pull them
home, as the other church groups have done?” I told each of them, “I will not
pull them back because the Russian people, especially the new disciples, need to
see that we love Jesus and His church more than our lives.” For the record, no
one on the team even hinted about leaving Moscow!
After a few excruciating days,
the coup ended. I believe in answer to prayer, the Spirit melted the “Iron
Curtain” and ushered in a new era of religious freedom as the Soviet Union
broke-up into 15 different nations, the largest of which were Russia and
Ukraine. Sensing the Spirit’s efforts, the Moscow disciples preached with
unparalleled fervor! When I returned to Moscow to teach First Principles in late
September, there were 100 disciples! At the end of the first year, 850 Russians
were baptized into Christ!
At this point, the decision was
made to plant three new churches in the summer of 1992. Two plantings were in
Russia: Novosibirsk (in Siberia) and St. Petersburg. (God graciously allowed me
to serve as the leader for the St. Petersburg planting, where God gave us 400 at
our first service!) However, perhaps the most glorious was the third planting of
Kyiv, the capitol city of Ukraine with three million lost souls. I attended the
first service in early June 1992 when over 500 Ukrainians gathered to hear the
Word of God! Unparalleled in the “Boston Movement’s” history, in the first 22
days of the planting 77 were baptized! To God be all the glory!
In time, the Kyiv Church grew to
over 3,000 disciples (LA Story, June 2001), yet when the great apostasy of 2003
occurred many left the congregation disillusioned by “the changes:” no
discipling, no clear direction for the church, ultimately people lost their
faith and devotion. By the summer of 2005 the church had greatly diminished in
number; some have estimated that it is presently half its former size. Even
sadder, few were baptized as our entire movement had largely ceased its
“forceful advancement” around the world. (Matthew
11:12) It was during these days that Maxim Potapov began teaching a small group
of disciples in the Kyiv Church the “Mandate of God for World Evangelism”
Series from the Portland Church website. During my recent visit, one sister
commented, “I saw Maxim’s group as the hope of revival for the Kyiv Church and
thought it would be great if groups like this emerged in every region of our
church.” Maxim visited Portland before and during our Jubilee and was so
encouraged when he saw first-hand that the entire Portland Church was composed
of sold-out disciples, just as the Kyiv Church had been when he was baptized in
January 1993. Maxim returned to Kyiv and more and more came to hear him teach
about “God’s dream to evangelize the world in a generation.” The Kyiv leaders
came to Maxim and “his group” and told them collectively and individually they
would be disfellowshiped if they continue to meet together. Maxim and “his
group” refused to compromise their Biblical convictions about world evangelism,
discipling and their association with Portland. Consequently, they were
officially disfellowshiped in December 2005. Thus their chance of helping the
Kyiv Church from the inside was taken away from them.
Responding to this now outcast
group of sold-out disciples’ pleas for help, I arrived in Kyiv on February 23,
2006. I met with the leaders of the group – Maxim Potapov, Natasha Kukoba (a
four-year old disciple) and Slava and Tanya Trotsenko, former Lead Evangelist
and Women’s Ministry Leader in St. Petersburg, Russia and Odessa, Ukraine. (Slava
was the 74th baptism in Kyiv and Tanya was baptized in 1994.) I preached to the
group on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon where almost 200 were in
attendance! According to various disciples, for the past two years, the
“original” Kyiv Church has tried to distance themselves from their connection
and core beliefs of the “early days” of the International Churches
of Christ, the “Boston Movement.” Therefore, Maxim and Slava, desiring to keep
their historical roots and vision of world evangelism, have chosen to name the
“new congregation,” the Kyiv International Church of Christ! For the next two
weeks, any Christian who desires to “join” this new congregation will
“count the cost” of discipleship (Luke 14:25-33)
with either Maxim, Natasha, Slava or Tanya. By taking this approach, the “church
membership” will be composed only of sold-out disciples. While in Kyiv, I
reinstated Slava as an Evangelist, Tanya as a Women’s Ministry Leader and I made
Maxim the Teacher for the congregation. Natasha will train for the full-time
ministry as she co-leads the women with Tanya. Also, Maxim and Slava have asked
me to officially disciple them from Portland. Pray for the inaugural service of
the Kyiv International Church of Christ on March 19, 2006 as well as the
faithful disciples who are still making disciples in the original Kyiv Church.
One of my favorite songs is
“The Wind of Change” by the Scorpions. It recounts the radical days of
Moscow in August 1991.
I follow the Moskva Down to
Gorky Park Listening to the wind of change An August summer night Soldiers
passing by Listening to the winds of change The world is closing in Did you ever
think That we could be so close, like brothers? The future's in the air I can
feel it everywhere Blowing with the winds of change Take me to the magic of the
moment On a glory night Where the children of tomorrow dream away In the winds
of change<
For the Sunday afternoon service,
one disciple, Dennis, traveled from eastern Russia, some 65 hours by train! He
was searching for a “magic moment” through a renewed dream for his home
city of 1.5 million lost souls. Amazingly because of our common dream,
immediately when we talked Dennis and I felt “so close, like brothers.”
Today the “winds of change” are blowing not only in Kyiv but all around
the world as sold-out disciples who dream of evangelizing the world in the
twenty-first century will “do anything, go anywhere and give up everything” for
our Lord and Savior.
In 1991, the Moscow coup
eventually produced a separate Ukraine. However, Ukraine needed a second
revolution to continue its radical progress towards a non-corrupt, free market.
The Ukrainians call this event in 2004, the “Orange Revolution.” Viktor
Yushchenko, now president of Ukraine, valiantly led this revolution. During the
election, he had a very serious attempt on his life through dioxin poisoning by
those who opposed him. It left his face disfigured, yet his determination
undaunted. In Kyiv and around the world, most of our fellowship of churches need
a second revolution. Let us determine to pray and pay any price, following the
new Kyiv International Church of Christ’s courage, to be united with all who
“dream away in the winds of change.”
Kip McKean
Kyiv, February 26, 2006
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