Nordic / Baltic / Eastern European Newsletter
April 30,
2009 Issue 6
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Dear Victor,
Thank you for opening our eNewsletter! Our
circulation has now grown to more than
220. Several subscribers to the Good News
magazine in the Nordic countries have requested
it. Our intent with this eNewsletter is to put
on a more personal face to what we do. We want
to talk about the people who serve in the
Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European
regions. We are pleased to share news and
happenings with you.
The May/June issue of the Good News
will shortly be in the mail. The lead articles
deal with the institution of marriage. The
editorial is entitled "Why Marriage Matters."
Then there is an article "What To Do After You
Say 'I Do," and a though-provoking article
entitled "The Truth About Love."
The Good News interviews Dr. Pat
Love, author of The Truth About Love.
Dr. Love discusses the phases couples go through
in marriage and how understanding those phases
can greatly strengthen one's marriage.
My personal plans will be to visit
Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Ukraine in late June
and early July. Perhaps we'll see some of
you. We travel regularly through the area and
always enjoy meeting readers of the Good
News magazine.
Again we would like to hear from you and if
there is anything you'd like to share with those
who receive this newsletter, please let us
know. You can view this newsletter plus all the
previous ones on our Web site at
http://kubik.org/ucgee.
In Christ's service,
Victor Kubik
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Nordic/Baltic/Eastern European Work Featured at
GCE
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Our work in these parts of the world will
be featured at the annual conference of the General
Conference of Elders this year. A presentation by
Victor Kubik will speak about the the scope of the
work, the people and the particular challenges they
have as Christians. This will be done on Sunday, May
3rd along with other international
presentations. The entire PowerPoint presentation
will be available online after its made and will be
announced in our next newsletter.
The Annual conference of the GCE is held
every year usually in the first month of May to
discuss the Work of the Church. A majority of
our elders from all over the world attend. The
theme of this year's conference is "Making
Disciples, a Whole Church Effort."
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Booklets in the Swedish Language
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We
are adding literature in more languages as our
resources permit. We are happy to offer the booklet
What is Your Destiny? (left) and The Road
to Eternal Life (right) free of charge.
You may order them from our Swedish office
by email or regular mail
Mailing Address:
The Good News
P.O. Box 3535
111 74 Stockholm
Sweden
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Teaching English as a Second Language
2nd Year in Vinogradov, Ukraine
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Dan and
Cindy Harper
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This summer four volunteers along with
Victor Kubik will make their way to western
Ukraine for a two week project. Daniel and
Cindy Harper from Cherbourg, France and Ken
and Cherie Zahora from Indianapolis, Indiana
along with Victor Kubik will have the
opportunity to visit Vinogradov, Ukraine in
July to teach English and mentor a very
special group of children.
This year's project will be an
opportunity to build upon a project started
last year: teaching English as a second
language to street children in Vinogradov,
Ukraine. All year round there is an existing
soup kitchen project supported by LifeNets
and headed by a devoted couple, Vasyl and
Irina Polichko. The Polichkos have given
their time and energy to daily feeding
(physically, emotionally, and spiritually)
the needy children in their village. Each
summer they go beyond this daily service to
provide a fun and educational camp for the
children.
Our volunteers will provide English
classes each morning of camp and help to
organize and staff sports and leisure
activities in the afternoon. English classes
will involve basic but useful phrases and
vocabulary taught through songs, games, and
hands-on activities. Two separate classes
are organized, one for returning children
from the previous year and a separate one
for the new children.
Ken and
Cherie Zahora
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Returning children will have a chance
to review what they learned the summer
before and deepen their understanding of
basic concepts and words. New children will
experience the same curriculum from last
year but with changes made from lessons
learned. With these classes the volunteers
aim to create and nurture a love of learning
the English language as well as give the
children a strong foundation in learning
this powerful language of business and
opportunity. Outside of class, other
activities throughout the day will provide
chances for further positive interaction,
teaching, and mentoring. It is the hope of
the volunteers to make an impact on the
lives of the children, not only through
English but also through loving, patient,
caring interactions, positive examples and
service in all the activities throughout
camp.
To get an overview of our working in
Vinogradov the past eight years, see
comprehensive reporting at www.lifenets.org/vinogradov.
- by Cindy Harper
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A Word About Johnnie Lambert, Our Associate
Pastor
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Johnnie Lambert, our tireless elder who serves
in the Nordic/Baltic/Eastern European areas had
knee replacement surgery on April
21. The orthopedic surgeon was surprised at how
much damage his left knee had sustained since
the original surgery took place when he was in
college at Georgia Tech during the early
1960's. However he went on to say that the
procedure went "very well" and he was "very
pleased with the outcome". He also stated he
felt the range of motion and amount of function
would be greatly increased.
He is recovering well at home now. Thanks
to everyone for your prayers and please continue
to pray that everything will continue to go well
and that he will have a speedy recovery without
any complications. We all pray for a full
recovery for Johnnie Lambert!
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Death of Ivan Czornyj
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Dr. Ivan Czornyj was a pioneer in translating
literature into Russian for the Church. He
helped with translation and consultation in the
United Church of God from 1995 to 1998. His
pastor, Doug Johnson, in Cleveland, Ohio
notified us of death and writes this obituary:
Dr. Ivan Czornyj, 97, died here April 13, after
a number of years of declining health. He is
survived by two sisters in Ukraine.
Dr. Czornyj was born in Ukraine in January
1912 (three months before the Titanic sank on
its maiden voyage!). He immigrated to this
country after World War II. Baptized in 1957, he
taught Russian language classes at Ambassador
College, Pasadena in the late 1950s and early
1960s. He was also involved in translating
booklets into Russian for both the Worldwide
Church of God and, in its early years, the
United Church of God. Some of that early
translation work proved helpful in the church's
reaching out to Ukrainian Sabbatarian groups,
and in their subsequent use of the material in
other parts of the former Soviet Union,
including the startup of a congregation in
Siberia.
The funeral was conducted on April 16 by
Doug Johnson, pastor of the UCG-Cleveland
congregation.
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Contact Information
Victor Kubik
3707 Turfway Ct.
Indianpolis, IN 46228
phone: 001 317 216-0802
mobile/sms: 001 317 679-7676
Johnnie Lambert
562 Sing Sing Road
Horseheads, NY 14845
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