Ukrainian Gospel

Our church accepted another task from Seedline and The Bearing Precious Seed. We have in the past helped to fold, correlate, assemble, staple, trim, and pack the Gospel of John and Romans, KJ Versions that have been translated into many different languages. Those copies of the Gospel have been shipped for distribution in those countries. It is a way to get the hope of the Good News of salvation, redemption, and the promise of eternal life through the belief of Jesus Christ as Savior. It’s been a win-win deal all around. The Seedline project gets free labor and our church becomes an active member in sharing the Gospel and in all actuality we extend our missionary endeavors to those far off lands. In the past, I imagine that we’ve assembled John and Romans in more than a dozen languages.

Initially, we thought that we were going to assemble the Gospel literature in the Thai language, but because of a urgent need, we actually were putting together John and Romans in the Ukraine language. It was the first reliable translation in Ukrainian. Before this the biblical translations were loose and unreliable or were written in the Russian language. Because of the current situation, that Russian version was unacceptable for the people of Ukraine and if other translations fell short of the truth, both were unacceptable and one was unwelcome. Bearing Precious Seed was receiving a flood of incoming calls from missionaries in countries surrounding Ukraine pleading for copies. Refugees were pouring into their countries and the missionaries wanted to be able to offer the hope and peace to these men, women, and children who were leaving their possessions and homes behind, people who were seeking refuge from the atrocities of war, death, and destruction.

Friday evening we gathered to unload the supplies and machinery. It’s becoming old hat for us. We were able to do unload and set up an assembly line rather quickly. Forty-two people gathered to do the work. Men, women, and children came. Children 8 years old, teens, and the elderly like me began the tasks assembly. Everyone chose an age appropriate task to do. Six people to a table, conversations with the others that you meet only superficially during church services occur. An added benefit is that you become more closely bonded with brothers and sisters in Christ and know more about them.

Saturday morning another 40 plus people showed up to work, in spite of the snowy, blustery weather. Again things moved smoothly and we were done in record time. Twelve thousand and twenty-two Gospels were assembled. We were finished an hour ahead of our normal time. Now we can only pray that the Gospel in Ukrainian is able to be speedily and safely shipped