Ukraine and Uganda Short Term Missions Report
We are very thankful to God for his good work in sending three students as short term missionaries this Summer! God first opened the door to Clara Yoon to go to Uganda, a place that had been on her heart for some time. Matt and Leonard also originally hoped to go to Uganda, but God had another plan for them. Through much prayer, Joshua found an appropriate mission field for them in Kiev Ukraine, and the least expensive flight, through Turkish Airlines, with a one-day stop over in Turkey that included hotel accommodations and a brief tour. So they were able to visit V.P.’s chapter in Istanbul on the way over to Kiev, and again on the way back, and they were very encouraged even during the short time spent there.
Matt went to Kiev together with Joshua Yoon (Waterloo UBF director), who stayed for a week to help get things arranged, and Leonard joined after a week and a half. During their two month stay in Kiev (Apr-June) God enabled Matt and Leonard to be a blessing to the UBF chapter there on weekends especially by helping out with their English club. God is using this English club greatly to invite many Ukrainian students to hear God’s word, since the Bible is the main text book! Dr. Peter Kim wholeheartedly assisted them in finding a volunteer opportunity at an elderly care centre run by another Christian organization in Gogolev. Their work included building walkways and retaining walls. They worked hard and ate a lot of wonderful Ukrainian food. They were also very inspired by the members of Kiev UBF, who treated them so well. They stayed with Samurai and Katya, and were able to see several beautiful sights with them. According to Matt, most people around Ukraine look very serious and a bit sad, but in the ministry everyone is very joyful and full of God’s Spirit and hope. By God’s grace just a few weeks after their mission trip we had a visit from the Peace family (along with three of the Lomahans from Chicago), some of whom are in Turkey and others in Ukraine. They visited Waterloo after attending the Midwest Summer conference. Through fellowship with them and hearing their reports God continued to pour out on us his vision of the gospel work throughout the world.
In Uganda, over about a two month period (May-July) Clara Yoon was able to participate in the two UBF chapters, in Kampala and Makerere, especially on the weekends. Dr. Samuel Yoo’s family graciously supported her during her stay, and Dr. Joseph & Esther Chung served her with the word of God from Romans and with the love of Christ. Clara assisted Dr. Luke Lim in distributing medicine to some villages outside of Kampala. She was involved in three other charitable organizations: Sanyu Babies Orphanage, a Crisis Pregnancy Centre, and the Uganda Jesus Village, a place where children affected by the war in Gulu have been undergoing rehabilitation and being educated so they can return to their villages in time. Clara was able to visit a child whom she had been sponsoring through World Vision in a small village about 5 hours away, and was very encouraged to see the difference she had been able to make in this young boy’s life. She also made a special connection with a girl named Martha and a boy named William while she was there. According to Clara, she was blessed by all those God led her to meet more than she could be a blessing to them. She hopes everyone will go out for a short term mission trip somewhere. She herself hopes to return to Uganda next year, after her time in South Africa on an exchange as part of her program at Wilfrid Laurier.
To see photographs from the mission trips and read reports, please visit our website.
We at Waterloo UBF have been praying for some time that God would make us a house of prayer for all nations and would send out his servants with the gospel of eternal life from Waterloo to all corners of the earth. We believe these short term mission trips are part of the Lord’s answer to our prayers. We also give thanks for our friends in Uganda, Kiev, and Turkey UBF who took care of our students while they were away. May the Lord continue to strengthen his servants with his grace and power to carry out the gospel work in their respective mission fields. And may he continue to raise up many workers for the harvest until he returns!
