UBI Begins its 28th Year!
New students, preparing for winter, and a wedding announcement
Great Beginnings
September has brought an end to the summer season for UBI students and staff, and with it comes the beginning of an exciting new school year—UBI’s 28th!
Over the summer our continuing students from the previous school year were active in their various congregations and ministries in the cities where they live. They also remained active in their studies by taking UBI’s Minor Prophets course via prerecorded video, each studying according to their own schedule and pace over the course of the summer months. Meanwhile, UBI’s staff was busy with administration work, humanitarian aid help, and praying and planning for the coming new school year.
Our New Students
As the gospel of Jesus grows and bears fruit in individual lives and in the fellowship of congregations, so too does the need for Christians both old and new to be trained, equipped, and inspired to grow in their faith and their ability to minister. It is always exciting to see which disciples the Lord has been preparing to study with UBI, and this year has been no exception.
Among the UBI administration we’d been talking and praying about the possibility of 15 new students to begin the fall semester and join our returning students from the previous year. We challenged our students to spread the word about UBI among congregations and at events such as Amerikraine. Applications seemed to trickle in over the summer, but by the time we began our new student interviews in late August, the Lord had brought exactly 15 new students!
These new Ukrainian students are joining us from cities across Ukraine as well as from Poland. Among them are some who have already been active in their Christian faith for years but who are seeking to gain new understanding and depth in their faith and teaching. Others are comparatively much newer in their walk with the Lord, and are eager to explore God’s word for the first time.
These first-year students have now completed the first class in the UBI curriculum, Survey of the Bible which was taught by Rob Hindman. Today they are two weeks into their first three-week term, which consists of Bible History 1, Introduction to Exegesis, Introduction to Preaching, and Spiritual Formation.
Our Returning Students
Meanwhile, we have a great group of second-year students who are continuing their studies from last school year. This month these students completed Letters of Peter and are studying Letters to Timothy and Titus, Old Testament Sacrificial System, Preaching from the Old Testament, and Spiritual Formation.
Although Ukraine’s suffering and heartbreak from the ongoing invasion has not subsided, the Lord’s goodness and mercy are greater. Our students and graduates are a shining example of this as they overcome the challenges in their day-to-day lives to seek out what is of lasting importance. They are gaining not only knowledge of God’s word, but determination in their walk with Christ and ability to use their faith to bless their families, congregations, communities, and nation. May we all continue to encourage them and pray for all that the Lord is doing among them.
We are once again approaching the winter months with some trepidation. Attacks around Ukraine, specifically against its infrastructure, make us wonder how difficult this winter will be. Our first concern is of course for our students’ safety and wellbeing, but we also must be prepared for disruptions in our studies.
At our offices in Kyiv, we are ready for planned and unplanned power outages. We have two large backup batteries which are able to keep our wireless routers and multiple computers connected. This ensures we are able to always have our translator online for our American teachers and also that we are able to record every single lesson each day. Recording our classes is not only good for those who want to take these courses in the future, but it’s also necessary for our current students who are never sure if they can join us day to day because of their own electricity problems in the cities where they live.
Matvei, our office manager, has a lot to juggle each day. He is responsible for recording every class, editing those files, uploading them to the internet and making them available to our students. This happens every single day so that students who can’t join due to connection issues can watch the day’s class when they do get electricity.
At the end of October we have a student retreat planned a few days before we will have another Serving Those Who Serve retreat for our humanitarian aid partners. We look forward to these events, but we approach all our plans with the expectation that they might need to be cancelled at a moment’s notice.
Until Next Time
We thank you all so much for your participation in this very important ministry. We have a great staff, eager students, and wonderful partners in our humanitarian aid ministry network. But without your constant and committed help, we would not be able to what we do or grow as we are growing.
Please be praying for this semester at UBI. Pray for our students’ spiritual growth and their influence on their own congregations and ministries. Pray that as leaders of this school we will lead well. And pray that this terrible war in Ukraine will come to an end soon.
To close I want to share with you some good news. One of our graduates from last year, Larissa, was recently married to Vitaliy, one of our first-year students. Some of you know Larissa and know about her very difficult life before she came to Christ. It has been an honor and a blessing to watch her grow and mature, and we rejoice with this couple and congratulate them on the beginning of their marriage.
Since graduation, Larissa has returned to Kyiv and is now leading a half-way house for women coming out of prison. She and Vitaliy (who has since stepped away from his studies so he can get a job to support the two of them) are actively involved in the Obolon congregation in Kyiv.
Praise God for all of you. We’ll talk to you next time.
—Brandon Price and Rob Hindman