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Logos Ministries Incorporated
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Volume 1, Number 3 -- December 1992 FROM THE TRAVEL DIARY OF BILL COOPER As I return from my teaching assignment in Donetsk, Ukraine, I come back a different person than I was when I left. I knew that things would be in bad shape, but nothing like I found. I would like to share some of these impressions with you so that you too can uphold these people in prayer. The political conditions in this country are in tragic conditions. These people are holding their breath. Communism is not gone. In Donetsk there is a huge statue of Lenin still in the center of the town. As you may have heard, the enemies of democracy are now working together to bring down the Yeltsin government. Christians want the Yeltsin government to succeed. They are not that excited about Yeltsin, but it is an improvement over the past and a great improvement over what the opposition wants to see happen. These are isolated people. I knew, from the BBC, of these moves to bring down the Yeltsin government before they did. It is like they are in one world and Moscow is in another. They don't know when, but they are convinced that the present system will collapse in the near future. The economic situation is even worse. The whole internal structure of the country is falling apart. Yesterday it rained, so the power went off in a huge part of the city of Donetsk. The roads are out of this world. Drive fast and you will be too. The school has a fax machine, but the phone service is so bad that the fax machine can not be used. You can buy a car, but you can not buy windshield wipers for it. It is that way with everything. The issue is not supply, it is distribution. There is an abundance of food in the Ukraine. There is no system to distribute it without the black market. There is no currency. They have "coupons." They work the same as currency. It is very unstable. The coupon went from 230 to the dollar to 500 in one month. At this rate, each of the states will go bankrupt in the very near future. They need to develop a market. Anything can and will break down. There are no parts for anything in the country. Everything that you can buy is manufactured in Germany or Holland. It is not hard to understand why the leader of Germany pushed the U.S. to normalize relationships with the governments here. The German economy is selling as much in the states of the former Soviet Union as they are in Germany, or more. There is a problem with personal responsibility among the population. They have had hundreds of years of autocratic rule. They have not been allowed to decide anything for themselves. When something happens, they are unable to decide. They know they can get along one way or another and it is easier for them to suffer and wait rather than to take a chance on making a decision for themselves. They have no hope. They do not see any difference that they can make. I always wondered why they were helpless in communism when the communists were a small minority. I can understand much better. They have learned to do without. They have no drive. They have also lost perspective. They do not see the dirt on their streets, and are not aware of the filth in the air. They do not even see the empty shelves in their stores. They are not bothered that the escalators do not work in the store. They do not notice that there is rubbish everywhere. Soot clogged air is normal to them. Life is bland. These are people with a history of phenomenal background of variety. Now, however, their food is the same day after day; their clothing is just about all the same. There is a sameness about everything. If you asked someone to meet you by the grey building in town, forget it ! Every building in town is that color. Their history is very colorful and many faceted, but you can't see it now. I looked down a street in a mining village and was appalled at what I saw. Everything was tiny, broken, and bleak. These people are strong. They have been in prison, but it is not a deterrent to what they are doing or what they plan to do in the future. They are not hiding their faith or their efforts to evangelize. They know they are being watched, but it makes no difference to them. They are ready to risk everything as young Christians. There is a very strong, growing church in the midst of this chaos. People are very active in the church. A very small church, 100 members, would probably not have more than five choirs. There is a huge problem with lack of instruction. We have gone to Sunday School all our lives, but for the entire church in this country that has not been possible, without phenomenal risk. The top priority in most churches is an academy in the congregation. Several churches have set up correspondence courses. The church in this city would teach Bible, while the next community will teach Christian education. The church in another city will teach administration. etc. There is also no developed church leadership. The church is very young and leadership development takes time. Add to this the fact that these people have learned to let other people make decisions and they just do what has to be done. Everyone in the country is trying to survive. The church is no exception. In spite of this, people come and give anywhere from a day to a week of their time, in all cases without pay from their regular job, to get some of the work done here at the school that they do not have the money to accomplish otherwise. A farmer about 100 miles away gave the school a ten ton truck load of potatoes - enough for all winter. People have very little, but they are trying to provide funds so that the school can make a go of it. The school, here, is far too small for what they are trying to do. The dean is away this week looking at property trying to make arrangements to buy a different site so that the school can expand. They are at maximum capacity right now. Another limitation for the school is the fact that they do not have any national scholars. They desperately need professors who know this language, the culture and the Russian Bible. I teach for 4-1/2 hours each day, but the fact is that they are only getting about 2 hours a day of lectures. With as much as they need to learn, they are being short-changed by the present process. It is not the best, but it is the only option for now! Having taught all morning, I spend every minute that I am with the students answering questions about our subject material or any other subject that is on their mind. They are just running over with questions. Night before last I spent nearly two hours showing my slides of Palestine. The entire student body and most of their spouses were in attendance. They had to bring their little ones with them, but they came anyway. A course consists of 4 hours a day, at least five days a week and from two to four weeks in duration. At the end of that time, there is a 2-1/2 hour examination administered by the dean of the school. These people have strong faith. I am glad that they do. They are going to need it. There is a developing scholarship in this school. Some of these folks could do an excellent job of teaching when they get a little better foundation. There are many limitations in this system, but none that are not normal and to be expected when you start from scratch as these people are doing. There is an increasing academic level with each class of people who come here. That is a good sign for the future. What has my role been? Well, I have taught 65 very eager students how to do Inductive Bible Study. They can, now, use the system and are in the process of practicing it in the book of Mark. They will be able to study any book of the Bible using this process when we are done. I have also helped set some sights a bit higher than they have been up until now. I have also opened some new areas of interest such as geography. I have signed a contract, on behalf of Logos Ministries, Inc., to give the school permission to print Did You Know This?! in Russian. It is to be done in exactly the same way that we are doing it in America - on a non-profit basis. People who can't afford the book will receive it free. The translation of the book is nearly completed. They were hoping to have it done so that they could have copies available by the time I leave for the states. The first printing will be 5,000 books. They have done some checking and it appears that these 5,000 copies will be sold by the end of the year. If so, they will then order 15,000 more. They anticipate printing 100,000 copies of this book. They have also asked for permission to print all of the things that I have written to date. The president has asked me to send them a copy of each book as I finish it When I knew that I was going to the Ukraine, I asked the doctors in the community to give me some medicine to take with me. They gave me over 400 pounds of it. It cost nearly $800.00 to send it over there. The people there did not even have an aspirin, and they needed them. A little boy, who has cancer, was able to receive injections because I brought a case of needles. My translator has a kidney disease and I brought medications that were helpful. Everyone has a cold. I brought three cases of cough drops and about the same amount of children's cough medicine. The local hospital did not want to give medical care for the students because they were not local people. They told the president that they would give the care, if he would get medicine for them. That day, I arrived and was able to give them enough medicine to get medical care for the student body for the whole school year. I was supposed to teach here for three weeks and then take a week for traveling. The Dean approached me the other day and asked if I would be willing to forego the week of travel and teach a group of pastors in Rovno. These men have no formal training at all, not one day. Nevertheless, they have placed their lives on the line for the Gospel. I must try to help. It will take most of the five days that I have left before leaving for the States. I would like to travel. That would be exciting. On the other hand, I think you have to see and share with these people to get a sense of the situation in which they are functioning. I look out at these men and women each morning and the thought rushes through my mind - this is like preparing army recruits for combat. Some of these folks are going to be casualties on the firing line in the not-too-distant-future. It is the same driving feeling each morning. Which of these men and women will be the first to pay a high price for what they believe? I would very much like to travel and see some sights that I never thought I would have the chance to see and may never have it again. The other side of that coin is that it is far more important to me to teach them just as much as I can whether I ever get to see the beautiful places in this land. When it came time to go to teach, I was informed that they needed me to teach and preach in Rovno rather than just teach pastors. I preached in a different church each evening and twice on Sunday in the Rovno area. I was the fourth preacher in a four hour service on Sunday morning. No one minded at all. Only half the congregation was present because the other half was out witnessing. They alternate weeks. When I went to the evening services, I would first teach the congregation for about an hour. Then I would show the slides on Israel. After that I would answer questions. We started at about 7:00 and finished at about 10:00 or 10:30. No one was in a hurry to go home. When I showed the slides, the people insisted that the lights in front of their sanctuary be turned out, but the back ones were to be left on so that they could take notes. These are hungry people. They have suffered for their faith. One man paid a fine each week from 1947 until 1990 because he allowed the church to meet in his home. Another, the president of the seminary, was put in jail for two years, bread and water, because he witnessed for his faith. Upon release, he immediately witnessed again and went back to jail. He and his family were happy to be able to suffer for Christ. It has been awkward, strange, inconvenient and very funny. I would not take anything in the world for the few short days that I have been privileged to teach and share with these people. I have given as much as I possibly can. I have received, however, far more than I could ever give them. It cost nearly $3,000.00 for me to go and serve in the Ukraine. Some of you have helped make it possible for me to go and serve the Lord in this capacity. To you I owe a deep debt of gratitude. It has been a marvelous opportunity and privilege for me to share what God has shared with me. I am deeply grateful. It will be good to get back to Colorado again and to be with my family. I have missed the mountains and the dry climate there more than I thought I would. I will be glad to get back to work again on the second volume of Genesis, but it has been a wonderful change of pace. I have been officially invited to teach in the Seminary in Donetsk again next year. The dates will be finalized sometime in January. Again, I will teach at the school for three weeks. During the fourth week, I will teach a seminar for area pastors during the day and speak in their churches at night. Having been there, I know much more about what they need. I am going to try to make arrangements to take medication again. It will probably cost about $4,000.00 for the trip and the boxes of medication I send. This is an opportunity for you to be a part of our ministry to people who hurt and to people who desperately want to be taught so that they can be pastors and missionaries among their own people. Gratefully, Bill Cooper FROM THE EDITORS The Board of Logos Ministries would like to thank each of you who has purchased materials or made direct contributions to Logos. With the sale of the books, we have been able to contribute 350 books to a Colorado prison. Books are also printed and ready to be shipped to Africa. This will be 1000 copies of Did You Know This!. A part of the cost of Dr. Cooper's trip to the Ukraine to teach for a month was a gift from some of you. He was able to take medical supplies, office supplies, and some clothing with him to be used by the seminaries students and their families. The medical supplies went to the hospital and in turn they agreed to care for any medical needs of the students. We continue to marvel at the hand of God in making this possible. In Dr. Cooper's Diary you will note that he plans to go again next year and that costs will be greater. Part of that is because he hopes to take medical equipment in addition to medications. It will be more expensive to ship. We know that airline tickets are going up. As soon as we know when he will leave, we will let you know that you might be a part of this joyous work. In the meantime, Bill is working on two new books that will be ready some time within the next few months. Hopefully, we will be able to give you publication dates in the next newsletter. Emmaus Community people will be delighted to know that Bill will be serving as the Spiritual Director of the Rocky Mountain Emmaus Community this coming year. Luke 2:1-14 (NIV) In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." |
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