Ukraine Prihoda - VBS 2009

Today nearly 50 volunteers depart America traveling to Kyiv, Ukraine. There they will begin their prihoda (adventure) for spreading the gospel message in 12 congregations of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. The volunteers depart from Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit as well as some coming from more distant locations. The group arrives in Kyiv at about 4:30 on Wednesday and will be taken by bus to the Dubek Conference Center. Thursday will be a day to tour Kyiv. After dinner on Thursday there will be a worship service with communion led by Pastor Yuriy Fizer. Friday will continue the orientation for the VBS sessions including a presentation on church history in Ukraine by Bishop V'yacheslav Horpynchuk. Later in the afternoon or early evening they will depart to the 12 congregations all across Ukraine by car, van, bus or train.

There will be six days of VBS lessons culminating in the worship service on Sunday July 12th. The volunteers then return to Kyiv for another day of sightseeing and shopping. They return to the US on Tuesday July 14th.

As long as we can find access to the Internet, VBS updates will be posted on this website.

Please keep the volunteers, the Ukrainian host congregations and all of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church in your thoughts and prayers.

Ordinations in Plzen, Czech Republic

Ordination of the First Czech National Pastors: The two Czech seminary students, Martin Vršecký and Petr Krákora, finished their seminary studies in May. Their ordination service was on Sunday, June 7, at St. Paul’s Church in Plzen. The children from the school and the adult choir presented special music. The Ladies Club hosted a reception following the service. Several pastors from the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Germany, as well as several ELS pastors participated in the service. Petr and Martin have been studying for the Holy Ministry since 2001. Their seminary preparation has been thorough and, in addition, they have had many years of “practical” preparation…writing sermons, conducting worship, making sick calls, teaching Religion and Catechism classes in Martin Luther School, etc. Keep these two men in your prayers as they begin their service as shepherds of God’s people in the Czech Republic!

Mission Director, Rev. Mark Grubbs, conducted the rite of ordination.


(Left to Right) Rev. Martin Vršecký and Rev. Petr Krákora



Pastors participating in the ordination ceremony.

European CELC Meets in Latvia

From April 30th to May 2nd the Confessional Lutheran Church of Latvia (CLCL) hosted the Europe Regional Conference of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). The Conference was held in Saulkrasti, a town on the Baltic Sea coast not far from Riga. There were 26 representatives from various Europe region churches including Latvia, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal and Russia. The theme for the Conference was “Thy Will be Done.”

In five papers presenters from our sister churches addressed the issue how the will of the Lord is exercised. The essays were well prepared and also demonstrated an original approach to the theme how God generously provides for both the spiritual and the material needs of the world and of His believers. Particularly, the ever-growing request for wealth and comfort was
discussed from a critical perspective as opposed to the words from the Bible that encourage modesty and content.

There were also discussions on the stewardship of the Word and the Means of Grace with regard to mission outreach for the Christian church. The power and self-sufficiency of the Word of God was emphasized as opposed to methodology. The world today is preoccupied with economy problems. Interest of the society in which our churches live is not in the Christian message. Even so, the overall spirit of the Conference was quite optimistic. The Lord has not promised that there will always be a rich harvest in terms of numbers. But, what is required from our churches, as well as from every church, is faithfulness to the Gospel message.

Thoughts of Faith Board of Directors

Board of Directors – Thoughts of Faith - April 3, 2009
Pictured here are, from left: (back row) Rev. Wayne Borgwardt, Leroy Meyer, Dan Browning, Mark Schwan; (middle) Dave Ewert, Tom Conzelman, Keith Wiederhoeft, Kermit Traska; (front) Rev. John Petersen, Paul Fick, Rev. George Orvick, Rev. Paul Schneider, and Rev. Erwin Ekhoff.

The Thoughts of Faith (ToF) Board of Directors meets three times a year to review, discuss and direct the administrative and mission activities in Central and Eastern Europe. We thank these men for faithfully serving ToF and its missions.

Easter in Sevastopol Ukraine

Little Angels with real Ukrainian Easter Eggs



The members of the congregation from the Ukrainian Lutheran Church in Sevastopol took time to pose for a picture on the front steps of their church after the Easter service on April 19th. The Ukrainian Lutheran Church follows the Eastern calendar resulting in Easter for 2009 being one week later than we celebrated in America. Pastor Viktor Pashchenko, in white robe, serves the congregation in Sevastopol.

Special Graduation at St. Sophia Seminary

(Left to Right) Rev. Oleh Yukhymenko, Prof. Kenneth Cherney, Rev. Andriy Honcharuk, Prof. John Vogt

Seven years of postgraduate study received their reward on March 25 at St. Sophia Seminary. Andriy Honcharuk, who has served the ULC as pastor and currently is teaching part-time at the seminary, was granted the Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS). Professor Kenneth Cherney of WLS presented the diploma.

In his remarks at the presentation ceremony, Prof. Cherney said that this day was also a milestone for the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. The ULC looks forward, Prof. Cherney commented, to the day when it stands on its own feet and is no longer dependent on help from sister churches in other parts of the world. Honcharuk’s STM degree is a step toward that goal. It signals to sister churches in our worldwide CELC fellowship that the ULC has gained another man who has the education and degree to teach theological courses on the seminary level.

Pastor Honcharuk’s credits for this degree were earned through several trips to the U.S. to attend summer quarter classes at WLS. Credits toward such a degree can also be earned through courses in St. Sophia Seminary’s summer quarter each June. In June 2008, a total of 27 pastors and theological students from throughout Central and Eastern Europe and Scandinavia attended St. Sophia’s summer quarter.

Thank You Pastor Mack

(Left to Right) Kermit Traska, Pastor Mack, Pam Schultz

For the past several years, Pastor William Mack has come to the ToF office in Oregon, Wisconsin to lead a devotion on Wednesday mornings. He has recently accepted a call from a congregation in Illinois to serve a mission congregation in Carlsbad, CA. Pastor Mack was presented with a handmade cross from the Carpathian region of Ukraine. We thank Pastor Mack for his interest in and service to Thoughts of Faith.