And it’s off!

Monday marked the first day of the Talbot extension program at Kiev Theological Seminary. It was a very busy – and very good – day.

For the kick-off, we invited all the students and their wives to come stay at the seminary. While the students went to orientation and their first class, we put on a mini-conference for the wives. Several dignitaries from Talbot West (i.e. the main campus) were in town, including Karen Dirks, the wife of Talbot Dean Dennis Dirks. Karen has been involved in ministry to seminary student wives for 25 years. I learned a lot from watching and listening as she spoke to the women.

The day was more challenging than we expected when we started planning six weeks ago. Bonnie Saucy — wife Mark Saucy, the director of the extension program — had a vision and a passion for this event. She did loads of work planning it and making sure that it would equip the women as they minister with their husbands. But just a little more than a week ago, she had to return to the States for medical reasons. We tried our best to pass along her vision, her passion, her spirit, but we felt inadequate.

There’s a Russian phrase that I think captures how Bonnie’s absence was felt. When we returned in November from our time in the States, I asked the youth at our church how things were going. They told me, “Without you, badly.” I knew that the group was doing just fine, so I didn’t understand the nuances of that phrase until Monday. I think we can all confidently say that the conference went really well. But, without Bonnie, those of us who worked with her know that something major was missing — so, in that respect, it went badly.

One other challenge: Dietrich won’t take a bottle, so we can’t leave him with a babysitter yet. Eric took him for most of the afternoon, but I had him with me in the morning. This was very difficult. My attention was divided; my brain did not have the capacity to handle all the logistics of the day, plus the baby, plus speaking Russian. I will never again sign on for something of this scale unless I know someone else can watch after our little guy for the day.

Thankfully, there were also joys.

First, we’ve heard that the wives loved the day, and felt special and pampered. That was our hope, so it’s encouraging hear happy feedback. Our next step: To figure out a good way to continue to minister to the wives, who live all over Ukraine.


We wanted to pamper the ladies, so two of our teammates who used to work as beauticians in the States came and taught them how to do a manicure.

Second, one of my responsibilities was to introduce a method of reading/meditating on the Scriptures called Lectio Divina. Bonnie had prepared most of the lesson; I just added a few thoughts. Her husband was our main speaker for the day. I was impressed by the way Mark and Bonnie had worked together to pass on a unified message. One thrust of Mark’s talk: Theology is not just for pastors or church leaders or men — it’s the responsibility and joy of all believers to grow in their knowledge of God, and to be changed. Bonnie’s lesson on Lectio Divino gave the women a practical way to, through the Scriptures, grow in their knowledge of God and to be changed. It was a joy to see husband and wife minister together in such a unified way.


Mark Saucy teaching the wives of the Talbot students.

Third, I tend to be a “do-it-yourselfer.” I don’t like to ask for help, especially when I know everyone’s really busy. And, in this case, I was so overwhelmed that I sometimes didn’t even know what to ask for. But several of the ladies from our team here — ladies who hadn’t been part of planning of this event — at the last minute stepped in and handled many logistics: Driving all the supplies to the seminary, making food for the tea we served, stocking the apartment the Talbot team was staying in with food, lining up someone to clean that apartment, helping us pack up after the conference, and so on. I’m thankful we don’t serve alone.

The wives are back home, but the students will be in town for two weeks. This week, they are getting a crash-course in Biblical languages.

When I welcomed the women on Monday morning, I said, “This has been a long process, but we've seen how God has worked, how He's created this program, how He's gathered the students and the teachers. Probably, we all could give a testimony about how God has already blessed us through this program. We praise Him!” After seeing how God worked on Monday, we praise Him all the more.


Frequent readers of this blog know that I was in charge of decorations. Here’s an overview of the room.


And here’s a closeup. We also had candles placed on the tables, and we lit them while the ladies read and meditated on Ephesians. The flowers are balanced on the oranges. I’m glad I didn’t stick the flowers directly into the fruit as I’d planned, because at the end of the day the ladies took flowers, and this would have been a sticky endeavor if they’d sat in orange juice all day.