Key leaders gather for CMI's annual bible school conference
Leadership training is central to the CMI's purpose, this is why every year we gather our key trainers and bible school directors for three days of instruction, fellowship and encouragement. It is a vital time for these men to connect with other schools and to learn how to more effectively cultivate leadership in their churches. Our goal is to send the men home enabled and inspired to continue the work of discipling servants in the Body of Christ.
This year we listened as each of our five regional directors described their schools, students and churches. Despite the growing problem of materialism there are many churches with members who have a deep thirst for learning and understanding God's Word yet they lack the necessary means to travel to a Bible college in another city and enroll. The CMI is helping met this need by providing training within the walls of these local churches.
Although the number of students is growing many of our bible schools run into the problem of finding teachers. Often this is limited by the need to cover the cost of a train ticket or gas money for the teacher to travel to the school.
Get involved:
Pray for regional directors: Volodya, Eduard, Igor, Mikhail and Richard
Help provide leadership training on the local church level through the "U-can do it" campaign
It's been nearly 3 years since the CMI has had an Academic Dean and that is why we are so excited and grateful for the addition of Vladimir to our CMI team! He comes to us from the city of Cherkassy in central Ukraine where he serves as a pastor at Grace Church. Vladimir graduated from Irpin Seminary in 2008 with his Masters of Divinity and he is currently working towards his Doctrate of Ministry at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul Minnisota.
Vladimir is passionate about training up new church leaders. His first priority in the new position will be to bring all of our courses up to date, making sure they meet high standards and are applicable in contemporary Ukrianian churches. During our annual conference he presented "Methods of Bible Study" one of our core subjects, that has already been completely reworked and redesigned. Everyone was excited to see the progress and they were all ready to order the new course for their students!
Currently Vladimir has 60% of the needed support to reach full time. We are encouraged by those who have already commited to support his work in the CMI and are looking forard to see how God will supply.
Get involved:
Pray for Vladimir as he oversees the academic program at the CMI
God can
and is using Ukrainians to build His
church!
The "U" represents Ukraine and "can do it" reflects the fact that God can and is using Ukrainians
to build His church! The CMI is focusing its
efforts on three aspects to aid this church planting
movement:
Ukraine can reach the lost: Despite a growing number of cults and a rising emphasis on materials the CMI has
stepped forward with two completely new tools to help Ukrainian believers reach
the lost and disciple new believers. Not only is the CMI offering these
tools to churches but it is also training church members how to effectively use
these tools through evangelism and discipleship seminars.
Ukraine can train church
leaders: Without leadership the church can not go far. Unfortunately, many
churches lack solid biblical leadership leading to slowed growth. The CMI
is actively strengthening existing leaders and helping churches raise up new
leaders through its network of local church centered bible schools. Each
bible school offers students a unique opportunity to obtain theological
education within the walls of their own church.
Ukraine can cross borders: Country borders should not stop the multiplication of the local church.
This is why the CMI is reaching beyond the borders of Ukraine to countries like
Moldova and Russia where the need for the gospel and church planting is even
greater. The CMI also offers students both theological and practical
training in missions.
We invite you to view a short 2
minute video from CMI president John Taylor.
Last month 8
Ukrainians, 8 Moldovians and 4
Romanians gathered on the bank of
the Dnister river with one common
goal -to share the Good News of
forgivness through Jesus Christ in
the village of Chimichen. Not long
ago one of the villagers, Ioan,
trusted in Christ as his savior
while traveling abroad. The Lord
then burdened him to return to his
home village and... more
Pastors and Wives Retreat
3June 2011
Ukrainian church
leaders and their wives gathered at
the “Word of Life” camp outside Kiev
for 4 days of fellowship, rest and
training. Several ministers from
Russia also shared some of the
blessings and difficulties of
working in Russia. CMI president
John Taylor spoke on “Women’s role
in the church” and vice president,
Vladimir Nickolaev spoke on the
topic of communication.
This weekend
around 50 people from half a dozen
different churches in the Odessa
area gathered at "Hope for People"
Church for another "Good Soil"
evangelism and discipleship
seminar. John, Misha and Caleb
taught this seminar together. These
tools have been very well received
in churches here. After our last
seminar in Odessa I heard a report
of how one man went and met with an
unbelieving relative after the
seminar. He was able to share God's
redemptive plan from Genesis to
Revelation with-in a matter of
several hours!
Support Good Soil Seminars
Since 1994, God has used the CMI
(Church Ministries Institute) as
His instrument to train hundreds
of church leaders in Eurasia (the
former Soviet Union). Those
leaders are now being used by God
to fuel church planting movements
throughout our region and beyond.
There are more than 300 students
enrolled in the CMI in a network
of 17 local church-centered
schools in 3 different countries
across Eurasia.