Gordon and Nancy Snider

Back in Ukraine

2009-10-12T01:04:00.024-05:00

From the date on the last post, it has been too long since we have updated this site. A big thank you to Ashlee who set this up for us. This is my (Nancy's) first time at trying to blog, so here goes.

We returned to Ukraine on July 22, 2009, after a 10 month stay in the U.S. After an overnight rest at the Hotel Borispil, we met our team of English teachers (Don and Joyce Englund, Pastor Rod Davis, and Pat Ravenscraft), and traveled on to Simferopol for the camp we had been planning.Upon arrival there, we did not see the people who were to meet us, so after a couple of phone calls (we're very thankful for cell phones), we discovered that they were waiting for us at the train station, not at the airport, so we waited a little longer. At last they came--in two cars, no vans in sight, and our group consisted of 6 people and 12 suitcases, plus carry ons for everyone. You can only imagine the comments that were made by those watching as Joseph and his son-in-law loaded the suitcases in the trunk and on top of one of the cars, and then got all the people in. We did get everything in, or on the car, and had a safe trip to the home where we were to stay.

At this point none of our 3 interpreters that we had hired were with us, so Fatima had made arrangements for a local interpreter to be with us until Vadim could get there. Angela is an excellent interpreter and she was a great blessing, but she already had commitments for the following week. She was able to help us occasionally in the evening when we needed her. Vadim came down from Zaporozhye around noon on Friday and by this time we discovered that the other interpreters would not be coming because they had made other commitments. Vadim was able to contact Diana (from the Zaporozhye area) and she came down late Friday night to be with us for the camp.

Saturday was spent sight seeing in Sevastopol. A celebration was planned for Sunday, so the Russian navy fleet was anchored in the harbor for everyone to see. Also, the head of the Orthodox church was to be in the area the next week, so efforts were being made to prepare for that celebration, as well. We toured the Kersonez Orthodox church which had been bombed out during World War II and has only recently been rebuilt and opened to the public, as well as the harbor. Of course, there were opportunities to visit the souvenier shops along the way so our visitors could take home something to help them remember their trip and to buy things for those who had given them money for something special from Ukraine.

On Sunday we visited the Central Church in Simferopol for the morning service. When we were there before, they had the choir up in the balcony, behind the congregation, so when we found our seats that morning, we sat where we could see both the balcony and the puplit (the seating area of the main floor is a semi-circle), and to our surprise, when the choir came in, they sat on the platform at the front of the church instead of in the balcony. However, we were still able to see and hear the service very well. In the afternoon we were able to visit a smaller church where two of our graduates from ZBCS (Taras and Masha Zabrodzky) are helping restart a church that had closed because the congregation, pastor and all, had immigrated to America. What a privilege to see young people who are doing what they trained to do at ZBCS. This is a very small congregation of maybe 15 people being lead by a young couple with the assistance of Taras and Masha.

On Monday morning English camp started. We were expecting teen-agers at the camp, so were very surprised when we had children as young as 2 years old (with their mother's or big brother or sister) up to 13 year olds come. Then came the attempt to determine what level of English these 45-50 children had. Don was in charge of this part, so while Pastor Rod and Diana were getting the names of all the children written on name tags and in a notebook, Don was "testing" their English abilities. It was decided to divide them into 2 groups for the next day, with Rod and Pat taking the older children with better English abilities and Don and Joyce taking the younger ones. The younger group was much larger, so it was finally divided into boys with Don and girls with Joyce. During this time Gordon discovered that we would not only be teaching English, but we would have the crafts, games, and all activites of the camp. So, since Vadim and Diana had experience with other camps, they were put in charge of the games, and Joyce worked with the Ukrainian staff at the Cultural Center on the crafts. Monday afternoon was spent with shopping for the supplies needed for games and crafts.

On Tuesday morning Vadim awoke with a sore throat and hoarsness so that he could barely speak. He returned to Zaporozhye that evening on the train, which left us very handicapped with only 1 interpreter for the whole team. Fortunately, a few of the staff at the Center know enough English to be helpful, so Leila helped out in Joyce's class, Diana worked with Don, and Nancy helped out with Pastor Rod and Pat. Fortunately, for Nancy, Pastor Rodand Pat had a group that understood well enough that interpretation wasn't needed very often.

On Wednesday, one of the girls in Pastor Rod and Pat's class invited the whole team to her house to meet her family. I asked her, "Are you sure you want everyone to come? That will be seven people!" "Oh yes," she said with a big smile. "Moma wants all of you to come." So on Thursday after camp finished for the day, we went to Niyara's home. There we met her mother, her little brother, her grandmother and grandfather. Her Mother had baked a very delicious cake, had apples, tea, and candy on the table for us, as we visited with all of them. They were full of questions about our families and life in America. It was a beautiful display of the hospitality of the Ukrainian people.

Front: Pastor Rod, Niyara, her little brother.

Back: Gordon, Niyara's mother, grandmother,

grandfather, and Diana, our interpreter.

The camp seemed to be going very well. The children were coming back quite eager to learn more and to be with their new American friends. However, as with many projects in Missions, no matter how well you think you have counted the cost of the project, there usually is not enough to quite cover everything. On Thursday night when Gordon went to pay our hostess what he thought was the balance of what we owed, he found out that she was expecting much more than he had planned or that he had with him to give her. After much prayer and consultation among our team, it was decided by the Ukrainian staff that the camp must close on Friday, instead of going on through the next week. There were many teary eyes on Friday afternoon as we told the children that the camp was closing that day, but during those five short days we feel that many friendships were forged and we trust that God has shown them His love through us and used our time there to be of benefit to the children.

The playground behind the cultrual center.

Pastor Rod and Pat's class.

Some of our students in the main auditorium.

Pastor Rod and his special friend "Emic"

Joyce and her group of girls with

Gordon in the center.

On the playground. Can you sit like this, or

go through the Hoop like this?

Friday afternoon was "dress up" time. Here we have the two doctors and two nurses. It's amazing what you can do with old curtains and paper!!

Since Gordon and I already had planned to return to Zaporozhye on Friday night to get our car, we went ahead with that plan. (We had too many suitcases to bring all of them on the train back to our home.) So, the team went ahead with plans for sightseeing on Saturday, and we returned home.

This was our first sight of "home" in 10 months and was it a welcome sight. Vadim and Marina had done a wonderful job of caring for our home while we were away. She had the house all cleaned up and had prepared a meal for us that evening. We checked on the car Friday night, and the battery was dead, so we found a charger to put on it. Thank the Lord, it started the next day, and has run well since then. We returned to Simferopol on Saturday evening to find that the team had a great trip to Yalta and had enjoyed themselves very much.

Sunday morning we went to church again, this time to the Simferopol Christian Church which our interpreter Angela attends. This church was described to me as a "free church;" and we discovered that the atmosphere in the service was much "more free" than in the Central church we had attened on the previous Sunday. The worship team did a good job of leading the music and preparing the congregation for the Word of God. The people were very warm and made us feel welcome. We met several people there who speak English very well, so that was a special treat, too.

After lunch it was time to start packing the car. Would all the suitcases fit, or how many would have to go on the train? Our car will only hold 5 people, but with so many suitcases, would more than 2 fit in? The answer is NO! And, not all the suitcases fit, either. So after twisting them every possible way, Gordon got in all he could but there were still 2 suitcases that had to come on the train with the team, as well as their carry-on luggage. So, we said good-bye to Fatima and Joseph and the team and left for home. The team with Diana went to the railway station to catch their train. Again, interpreters are so important to us, as the team would not have known which train was their's as all announcements are made only in Russian or Ukrainian at the stations. We made it to Zaporozhye in good time, and had our suitcases unloaded at home and the team's suitcases unloaded at the apartment where they were staying before the train arrived. We were all a tired bunch, and maybe a little confused as to the outcome of the camp, but we knew that God is in contol and he understands our feelings and is leading us. This was not the way we had planned for the camp to end, but God lead us in all of it and the team was able to see where we live. The 5 days they were here with us were very enjoyable for all as we showed them around the town, how to shop for food, souveniers, etc. while we tried to put our house back in order.

On Friday, August 7, we got up early (5a.m., I think) to see the team off to the train station to start their trip back home. They went from Zaporozhye back to Simferopole to fly back to Kiev and on to their overnight stay in Amsterdam, Holland, before arriving back in the U.S. on Saturday, August 8.

Waiting for the train. (That bag

Don is holding is their lunch!)

On the train ready to return to

Simferopol.

Thank's to all of you who were praying for us during this time. We appreciate your continued prayers as we adjust to life back in Ukraine, and the for the team members as they adjust back to life in the U.S.

Facts About Ukraine

2008-12-02T15:37:00.004-06:00

All statistical figures are quoted as according to The Economist: Pocket World in Figures, 2004 Edition

General
Area: 603,700 sq km
Arable as % of total land: 56
Capital: Kiev
Currency: Hryvnya (UAH); 1 USD = 5.5 UAH

People
Population: 49.1 m
Population per square km: 81
Average annual growth in population, 2000-05: - 0.78% (negative growth)
Population under 15: 17.8%
Population over 60: 20.6%
Number of men per 100 women: 87
Life expectancy (men): 64.7 yrs
Life expectancy (women): 74.7 yrs
Adult literacy: 99.6%
Fertility rate (children per woman): 1.2
Urban population (per 1,000 population): 68.0%

Trade (Principal imports), $bn fob
Fuels, mineral products: 6.5
Machinery & transport equipment: 3.4
Chemicals: 2.0
Food & agricultural produce: 1.1
Total including others: 16.9

Health
Doctors per 1,000 population: 4.6
Hospital beds per 1,000 population: 9.2

Society
Number of households: 18.7m
Average number of household: 2.5
Cost of living (Dec.2002, New York = 100): 65

Ukraine In World Rankings

The largest countries, '000 sq km:
1. Russia: 17,075
2. Canada: 9,971
43. Ukraine: 604

Slowest growing populations (2000-05), average annual growth %:
1. Estonia: -1.10 (negative growth)
2. Latvia: -0.93 (negative growth)
5. Ukraine: -0.78 (negative growth)

Lowest fertility rates, average number of children per woman (2000-05):
1. Hong Kong: 1.00
2. Bulgaria: 1.10
9. Ukraine: 1.15

Highest median age, Years 2000:
1. Japan: 41.3
2. Italy: 40.2
24. Ukraine: 37.3

Highest population aged 60 and over, % 2000:
1. Italy: 26.4
2. Greece: 18.1
16. Ukraine: 20.6

Lowest economic growth (1991-2001), average annual % change in real GDP:
1. Moldova: -8.5 (negative growth)
2. Georgia: -8.2 (negative growth)
4. Ukraine: -6.6 (negative growth)

Lowest growth in industrial output, average annual real % growth (1991-2001):
1. Tajikistan: -10.7 (negative growth)
2. Moldova: -9.8 (negative growth)
6. Ukraine: -7.9 (negative growth)

Lowest growth (Agriculture), average annual real % growth (1991-2001):
1. Moldova: -10.3 (negative growth)
2. Hong Kong: -6.9 (negative growth)
8. Ukraine: -3.1 (negative growth)

Wheat, Top 10 producers, '000 tonnes:
1. China: 94,000
2. EU15: 90,500
7. Ukraine: 21,000

Coal, Top 10 producers, million tonnes oil equivalent:
1. United States: 590.7
2. China: 548.5
10. Ukraine: 43.6

Highest % women in labour force, 2001 or latest:
1. Belarus: 52.9
2. Cambodia: 51.6
8. Ukraine: 48.6

Highest rate of unemployment, % of labour force:
1. Macedonia: 55.5
2. Rйunion: 39.7
32. Ukraine: 11.8

Most rail passengers, Km per person per year:
1. Switzerland: 1,923
2. China: 1,896
6. Ukraine: 1,062

Highest death rates, number of deaths per 1,000 populations (2000-05):
1. Sierra Leone: 29.3
2. Zambia: 28.0
38. Ukraine: 14.2

Largest death by Intentional injury, deaths per 100,000 population:
1. Colombia: 65.1
2. El Salvador: 61.9
8. Ukraine: 36.9

Lowest population per doctor, latest population per doctor:
1. Argentina: 52
2. Italy: 169
5. Ukraine: 217

Prisoners per 100,000 population, latest available year:
1.United States: 707
2. Russia: 638
9. Ukraine: 406

Why Zaporozhye?

2008-12-02T14:56:00.001-06:00

From the beginning of our lives together, cross-cultural missions has never been very far from our minds. When pastoring our first church in Whittier, CA, we took Spanish courses at an adult education facility thinking that we might some day need the language for missionary work. In the mid-70s we talked to the World Mission office about going to Bolivia. That discussion led me back to Bible college at Ozark Bible College to supposedly just take some missions courses. And in 1979 we visited Bolivia to try to determine whether or not going there was God's will for our lives. Again in the mid-80s, when some missionary openings in the Caribbean presented themselves, we talked to the mission board about those. And in 1986 we moved to Jamaica.

While our stay there was not long, when we returned to the US in 1988 we both sensed that our time as missionaries was not over. So while we were pastoring the church in Lamar, CO, we were also placing ourselves before the Lord for future overseas ministry. As a part of that I enrolled in Columbia Bible College and Seminary's Extension department to begin to prepare myself academically for teaching in an overseas Bible college.

It was during our time in Lamar that the Iron Curtain collapsed, and the door was opened for ministry in the new CIS. A friend of mine who is very involved in missions said to me one day, "Gordon, I just came from a meeting where they were looking for 110 people to go to Russia to teach English using the Bible as a textbook. Some of them will be teaching English to top Soviet generals. And I would love to see you tangle with a Soviet general. Would you be interested?" I told him that I would be, except I had no training to teach English. And if I were going to do it, I wanted to feel prepared.

Sensing that teaching English might be a part of what God had in mind for us, I went back to the Columbia Bible Seminary catalog and discovered that they offered an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. So I added that degree to my "must do" list, and continued taking classes. In 1993 Nancy and I felt the time had come to make the move from an extension student to the resident program. I had completed all the courses that the degree requirements would allow by extension. So in July 1993, we moved to SC. The 1993-94 year I completed the requirement for my MA Old Testament, and 1994-95 I completed the requirements for my TEFL degree. But there was still one big problem: we had no idea where we were going.

By this time the opportunities I had targeted earlier in Russia were no longer an option. I compared my qualifications to the needs of the work in Bolivia and even made some additional inquires concerning that possibility, but Bible college teaching did not seem to fit the needs there. So we prayed and waited. I made some inquiries to various agencies that visited the seminary, but the door was always shut.

Then in February 1995, the Lord cracked the door. During February each year Columbia International University (the new name for Columbia Bible College and Seminary) hosted World Christian Week. Classes were dismissed for 2 days, and those days were given to seminars sponsored by the various mission agencies that came to campus for the week. Being in the TEFL program, I naturally attended the sessions where opportunities to teach English as an evangelistic tool were discussed. The speaker who got my attention was a lady by the name of Bea Crane. She and her husband Don were representing Greater Europe Missions and, in particular, the needs of Eastern Europe. My heart was touched as I heard of the opportunities to use what I was learning.

The next day was given to regional seminars, and Don Crane was to speak on Eastern Europe. I went, and was just as touched by the plea for Bible teachers as I had been by the plea for English teachers the day before. They particularly mentioned a need in the Czech Republic for someone to use English to reach the unsaved during the week and then set up Bible institutes in local churches on weekends. It sounded just like what I was looking for.

Although not very optimistic about the chances of it working out, I visited with the Cranes about my dreams. I told them who I was, what church I was affiliated with, and what my qualifications were, and asked them if there was any chance that Greater Europe Mission would be open to talking with our World Mission Department about a cooperative effort. They said that they felt that GEM would be open to that and took some information from me. I did not know at that time that the Cranes were regional directors for GEM in Eastern Europe. I also did not know that they were not even supposed to be at that conference. They were supposed to have returned to Europe earlier in the week, but GEM had no one else to send to CIU for the week, so their headquarters paid to change their tickets so they could be at CIU. For me it was a divine appointment.

A month later I contacted the GEM Human Resources Director. He had not heard of me yet, so we went through some of the same questions I had discussed with the Cranes. After a while Dave Zehr said to me, "Gordon, I really like what I'm hearing from you. I'm going to be in Columbia in a couple of weeks. Let's get together and talk some more." We did, and at the close of one of our meetings Dave said, "Gordon, if your mission is willing to work with us, we are willing to accept you." I could not believe it! I was so thrilled, but I also knew that there was a very big "if" in that statement. And that was the next step.

I remember so very well calling our pastor, Amos Hann, into his office one night and telling him about my "idea" and asking him if he thought it had a chance of success. He encouraged me to proceed, and so with great fear and trepidation I wrote Rev. William Hayton, the Executive Secretary for World Missions of our church, outlining my proposal, and asked if the World Mission board would be interested in discussing the matter. To my total surprise the answer was, "Yes." I knew that God had something in the works.

A meeting was set up for Nancy and I to visit with the board, and Dave Zehr from GEM was also invited so that everyone would be present to ask and answer questions. Then, about a month before the meeting Dave Zehr called to tell me that there was an urgent need at Zaporozhye Bible College in Ukraine and that he had discussed the matter with Don Crane and they both agreed that I would be best suited for that job.

To back up a bit, during that summer we had met a couple named Mark and Joanne Mackey through another person in our office, Ernie Hack, who knew that Nancy and I were interested in serving in Europe. Mark and Joanne were directors of a Bible college in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. In one of our talks with them about GEM Mark said, "I sure wish I could get you to switch from the Czech Republic to Zaporozhye." I just smiled and went on with what I thought was God's plan. But when Dave called, he told me that both Mark and Joanne had been diagnosed with serious medical problems that would require surgery in the US. They were afraid that Mark's was cancerous; so they did not know when or if they would be able to return. Would I be willing to take their place if my board agreed to send me? I thought back to Mark's comments, and I said, "Yes, Lord, I get the point!"

So that was the proposal that was discussed at the "big" board meeting in September 1995. (Actually the Mackeys were able to return to Ukraine in just a couple of months, so that when we came to Zaporozhye it was as part of the staff and not as director as had been envisioned.) After some pertinent questions were answered, the issue turned to money. While they were interested in my proposal, the board did not feel they were in a position to financially underwrite the expenses for the project. But they did make a counter proposal. If Nancy and I could raise 50% of our own support, they would be willing to provide the rest.

I don't think I ever doubted for a minute that it would happen. We made some contacts, and in March 1996 I came alone -- a very different arrangement to us -- to Kansas City for a board meeting, and on to a month of nightly services in Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado, and Kansas. And God was in it! In that month I was able to raise virtually the entire amount that was needed. So in April I returned home to South Carolina, and Nancy and I began the task of preparing for the move to Zaporozhye.

Sometimes people talk about the difficulty of young people finding the will of God for their lives, and it is true. But sometimes older people find themselves in circumstances where they don't know what to do next either. And God is just as faithful to help us in making mid-course corrections in our lives as He is to send us out in the beginning. If that were not true, Nancy and I would not be in Zaporozhye today.

How It All Began

2008-12-02T14:49:00.001-06:00

Sometimes life presents us with opportunities for which it seems we have been preparing all of our lives. And when those opportunities come you say, "This is it." For Nancy and I, Zaporozhye Bible College has been such an opportunity.

Nancy was raised in a working class home in Joplin, MO. She and her family, which included a younger sister, Judy, and two older brothers, Don and Walter Gene, attended the Church of God (Holiness) at 9th and Murphy from the time Nancy was five years old. Nancy's father, like the Apostle Paul, was a tentmaker, and her mother a homemaker. The family was very active in their area church community. Nancy graduated from Joplin High School in 1963, and from Jasper County Junior College in 1965, after which she went to work for the Social Security Administration. She worked for SSA until 1971 when she moved to Kansas City to become the accountant for Kansas City College and Bible School.

Gordon was raised in a Wesleyan Methodist Church parsonage in Indiana. At the age of ten he and his family, which included his older brother, William, moved to Tennessee. There they were actively involved in the Bible Methodist Church. Gordon received his first license to preach when he was 16 years old, and served as associate pastor of Scarbrough Memorial Bible Methodist Church in Harriman, TN, until he graduated from Rule High School in Knoxville and moved to Overland Park, Kansas to attend KCCBS, from which he graduated in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

After their marriage on June 17, 1972 (incidentally, while the Watergate break-in was in progress), they embarked on a life of ministry, serving pastorates in California, Missouri, Iowa, and Colorado. Along the way Nancy served in various secretarial positions, and Gordon worked in the hardware and construction businesses. In 1976 Gordon enrolled at Ozark Bible College in Joplin, MO, where he earned his bachelor of theology degree in Preaching Ministry. While serving as home missionaries in Ft Worth, TX, in the early 80s, both Nancy and Gordon earned their Texas real estate licenses and received numerous awards for excellence in real estate sales.

In 1986 their lives took a different turn as they moved to Glen Islay, Jamaica, to serve the Church of God (Holiness) as missionaries. Their work there included leadership roles at Venture High School and Bible College and as an evangelist among the churches of the island. This two-year experience confirmed their call to mission work and put them on a course that ultimately led them to Zaporozhye, Ukraine.

While serving as pastors of the Church of God (Holiness) in Lamar, CO, from 1988-1993, Gordon began taking extension courses from Columbia Bible College and Seminary in Columbia, SC, with a goal of earning a master's degree in Old Testament to further prepare him to teach at the Bible college level overseas. In 1993 they resigned the church in Lamar and moved to South Carolina where Gordon completed both his MA in Old Testament and an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. While in Columbia they were privileged to attend Covenant Community Fellowship, where Amos Hann pastors, and be actively involved in the ministry there.

It was while attending Columbia Bible College and Seminary, which became Columbia International University while they were there, that the door opened for ministry at Zaporozhye Bible College. And in September 1996, they departed from Columbia airport to begin their new life in Ukraine.