A story about a two-month trip of a young couple from Ukraine
This report is an expression of gratitude to all those who prayed and supported us…
Many people ask us, “Why India?”
And we answer, “Why not?” It is a place on the earth where open idolatry is concentrated like nowhere else, there are a lot of souls most of whom do not know Christ. God allowed my wife and me to spend two unforgettable months in the culture which is different from ours and which is like another planet.
India appeared before us as a country of contrasts: very poor people and beggars live close to very rich ones. There are slums close to huge malls, supermarkets, hotels. Total illiteracy of many people contrasts to education and smartness of others… one can continue this list. The conclusion we have made is that the main need of these people is not material, social, educational, or mental, their main problem is spiritual. They do not know God, they are born and then die without Christ.
One of the first impressions about the country is a lot of garbage and a lot of cows. And the way things are can be described as a chaos and as one brother said, “Where there is no God, there is no order” and I agree with these words.
India is one of the biggest polytheistic countries in the world. Anything can be an object of worship: trees, animals, people… there are millions of deities in India and they are limited only to people’s sinful imagination. A visit to one of the most distinctive places of idolatry in India, a temple of the goddess of death, made a strong impression. People there try to reach a certain emotional stress, such an ecstatic worship, which is accompanied by loud cries and prayers and anyone wishing can receive a dot on a forehead as a sign of worship. They make blood sacrifice, mainly goats, on the opposite side from the entrance. This place of worship of the goddess of death became a place of spiritual struggle for us, a place of special prayer. In that place, I realized what Paul meant in the first chapter to Romans, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen” (Rom. 1:25). Ask God for mercy towards these poor people!
The first place of our ministry were the villages in the jungle in the North-Eastern part of the country. India we saw there is far from civilization, far from our understanding of normal life. People there live in dugouts or huts made from dirt, they walk barefoot on dirt floors, straw roof made of bamboo protects them from the rain. By the way, they made many things out of bamboo: beds, chairs, fences, etc. Many people do not have any job, they live out of farming. Nature is rich in different fruit trees and people grow mainly rice which is about 90% of their diet. God showed us in these circumstances how rich we are.
Every local in these villages is a polyglot, they know 4-5 languages because every village has its own language. It’s worth saying that English is not among those languages and therefore we had two young village pastors in our team who became our guides and interpreters. We fell in love with those open and simple people and their families.
Every morning I went to pray to the bamboo garden which was not far from our place. There were termite mounds as high as a person and occupied by snakes. It was seen by characteristic holes on the mounds’ walls which were the snakes’ canals. I took a local dog with me who started barking when he felt some kind of danger.
A big part of our trip to India was ministry to children. Reading the Gospel, we know that Jesus treated children in a special way and emphasized the influence one has to have on children at an early age. This ministry was very valuable for us. We tried to spend time with children as simply as possible. We got to know them, played different games, using balls and cups. Those were both team and individual games, we ran with them, did squats, danced, laughed, competed. Besides, my wife taught them to do crafts which was not easy for them to do. God gave my wife wisdom to do the craft which would summarize the Bible story I had told them. For example, after we had told children about God who created everything, children made sky with clouds and a rainbow.
I tried to explain Bible story in as simple way as possible, it was necessary due to interpretation for them, for visual perception and better learning. I used the pictures from my telephone. We believe that the sown word in the young hearts can grow in their lives and bring lots of fruit.
Preaching was one of the key directions of the ministry in the villages. God opened the door to be able to influence believers’ hearts and even the pastors. The thing is, being zealous followers of Christ, Christians there have a huge need in Biblical instructions, healthy teaching, clear Gospel. Unfortunately, not all worshippers and even pastors value God’s Word and the Gospels and therefore, when I preached I left all other themes and just preached the Gospel of Christ, the News about holy and just God, about the depth of human depravity, about Christ’s cross, His life and resurrection, about the strength of biblical repentance in practical life, about the truth of faith. I preached in English with an interpretation which added its difficulties, but it led me to bigger dependence on God Who is the only One who can open the listeners’ hearts despite all my weaknesses. It was a special honor for me given by God to preach in front of my Indian brothers and sisters in the churches which do not have any pulpits and chairs, instruments and equipment, where people tithe with rice. There I realized that Christ’s body is so diverse, but one at the same time.
We spent one month far from civilization, in our understanding, and that month will be always in our hearts. After that we took a train to a completely different region of India, to the foothills of the Himalayas.
Next place of our ministry was much more civilized in comparison with the villages in the jungle, but it is the cities that have the most of garbage everywhere. A part of the city looks like one huge landfill with a lot of wandering cows who graze in the middle of all the garbage.
Anyway, what we got in the orphanages where we were serving, was worth all the hardships and limitations we experienced there. Boys aged from 5 to 14, the orphans, were the people we shared our life with during the following several weeks. All the children welcomed us and showed us their kindness and they became our real little friends.
Besides all the things and activities we did with them as well as the kids from the villages, we also taught them how to cook and learned from them. My wife showed them how to cook Ukrainian cuisine and they taught her some Indian. Together with them we made Christmas cards for their school friends, we competed in pull-ups on the bar, and just had a good time together. We celebrated Christmas with them to which we all had prepared. Those children grow in a completely different atmosphere than the children of the same age outside such institutions. From the early age, they receive the seed of grace which we hope will one day grow for salvation. Out of all people we met in India we miss them the most. It was unforgettable time and the children will always remain in our hearts!
As for a long-term stay in this country, Ukraine and India don’t have visa-free travel yet and a foreigner can stay in India with a visa for three months and is required to leave the country every three months. It is cheaper to go to a neighboring country, but it still requires additional transportation expenses. Stay in the country is not more expensive than in Ukraine, especially in a village and especially after you purchase necessary things like a water tank, gas tank, furniture. If you are in a city, it is necessary to have a good drinking water filter. White man’s status is very high in a village which gives additional authority to any of your words. It is important to know English as well as to learn at least one of the local languages for effective communication.
Our exciting trip has revealed that there is a huge need in ministers and a screaming need of people to know the truth. We realize that most of us will never visit Southern Asia personally, but the need that God pointed to has to become our common prayer, we all have to participate and pray for the souls that are perishing…
Brother Tymofiy
