Day Three of Class and a Seminary Visit

Lviv was back to work today after the Constitution Day holiday on Tuesday, and so were we.  The morning started with a visit from the Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce to whom Perry gave a nice Cross pen with Calvary’s logo on it.  Later, we went down and met briefly with the President to thank him for letting us use the facilities.

Jim took his turn in front of the class today leading them through a session on assessing their company’s resources. He shared some great experience from his time at Walk Through the Bible and it was clear that the class was engaged with his practical examples.  He’ll finish up a few notes on Thursday morning before turning things over to Jay for the session on identifying strategic opportunities.  Once again, lunch with the class created some great opportunities for conversation about the session and getting to know our Ukrainian friends.

A couple of themes that we have seen emerge from the class is how deep the authoritarian culture runs in this country and in their businesses.  Every question comes from one of two themes: 1) How can I crush those in my business who make mistakes, and how can I please my boss so that I don’t get crushed, and 2) there is fatalistic sense that there is no better tomorrow.  We are trying to encourage them to lead like servants and to better the people around them, and this is clearly counter-cultural.

After lunch, local IMB missionary Shannon Ford picked us up and took us to the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary for a tour and to meet with the president, Miroslav (Slavic) Pyzh.  It was a great time hearing from Slavic about his vision for the seminary, and how he has transformed it into a true training ground for pastors to preach the gospel and build up the local Ukrainian church.  The conversation was encouraging and challenging, and we came away incredibly impressed at his drive, passion and gifting and how the Lord is using him to impact theological and pastoral education.

This evening, it was back downtown to Rynok Square for some dinner and a walk through the old city.  After an evening devotion, we turned our hearts and minds to the day tomorrow.  Pray with us that the Holy Spirit will use the principles we are teaching to grab the hearts and minds of the class and that we will be sensitive to how we can partner with Christ to love and serve them in an effort to show and share the Gospel!