Summer generally is not a time of much city activity. Heat in Kyiv drives people outside and away. Many leave the city or try to go to some parks or lakes. Families take vacations and either visit their relatives in some village away from Kyiv, or just go to their dachas to work the garden. Most students go away as well. So there is not a whole lot of summer activity at the UEC, yet there are still some activities that we host to serve the community.

In May, the UEC's director Chris Lovingood led two English classes as outreach. Some students from the Aviation University have expressed their interest in studying English. They came to our student nights before, earlier in the year. These classes, in addition to giving Chris an ongoing opportunity to share Bible stories, was also good in terms of sustaining relationships. Hopefully their interest will remain through the summer and more will join these classes in the fall.

Some students remained in Kyiv, got jobs, and are trying to make some money before the next semester starts. I am meeting to study the Bible with one of these students, Nina. She has been a regular visitor to the UEC during the last two years. Her interest towards Christianity took some time to develop. It's a blessing that we were able to sustain the relationship for that long and the UEC served the purpose well.

Nina, like many of the students at ICU, was exposed to a lot of false teaching through one of the university Bible professors. So, we started with the beginning - Genesis (pictured above are Nina and Vitaly during one of their Genesis classes). She is learning so much; it's a blessing to see her continued interest and growth.

Since the UEC is not that busy during the summer, we will take this time to prepare for the busy fall season. Some minor repairs need to be done in the rooms. We already replaced several cupboard doors in the kitchen and have re-wallpapered one room. We are also planning to put new carpets in the library where most of our traffic comes through.

By Vitaly Samodin

Posted August 29, 2006