In Step with a Land of Borders

By: Christopher Martin with Olga Zaitseva

Wedged in between Poland, Romania, and Moldova on the west and Russia on the east, Ukraine translates literally ‘borderland’. A centuries-old crossroads of trade between Asia and Europe, it has also in the last century been a ‘borderland’ between the Soviet Union and a free West. Today Ukraine remains divided between a heavily assimilated Russian East and fiercely nationalistic Ukrainian West. Throw in more than a hundred nationality groups, a dozen political parties, the battle against corruption on every economic level, and it’s easy to see why this Texas-sized nation has learned to survive within a ‘border-land’ state of enclosure and division.

Greater than sociopolitical divides are the borders walls too many Ukrainians have built within their hearts and minds against the liberating truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. BCM Ukraine missionaries Sam and Nina Hanchett and Olga Zaitseva are committed to bridge this spiritual divide. Their passion is changing lives through the effective conveyance of God’s Word, especially to children, the future of the Ukrainian church, as well as a key ministry focus of BCM across the Ukraine through Bible Clubs and camps.

How to effectively reach children has been the question. Many excellent Bible-teaching curriculums became available from the West since the fall of Communism opened those closed borders. But these were often expensive for local budgets and churches struggled to find faithful children’s ministry leaders who could teach God’s Word on a child’s level. Available children’s ministry seminars in Ukraine and Russia emphasized following a prepared lesson plan rather than the teacher’s own spiritual walk and quality of relationship with the children.

Enter In Step with the Master Teacher.

In Olga Zaitseva’s opinion, ISMT can be rightfully called “children’s ministries A to Z”. Developed by BCM International, In Step with the Master Teacher is a comprehensive 22-hour teacher training course consisting of four core sessions and 18 additional workshops, packaged in a convenient CD format.

Its goal is to prepare proficient children’s ministry leaders by developing them in four major areas: Developing/Modeling a Biblical Attitude, Building Relationships, Teaching for Response, and Using Time Effectively. Discipling teacher as well as child, it trains leaders to develop their own lesson plans from the Bible within the context of their own culture and using resources and visuals available to them locally.

ISMT was first introduced in Ukraine when it was translated into Ukrainian by New Hope International, a Christian ministry partnering with BCM, which partners with BCM. It wasn’t until 2004 while on home assignment that Nina Hanchett translated ISMT into Russian. Her husband Sam, the BCM field leader for Russia and Ukraine, did the layout for several of the lessons. As they worked on the translation, the Hanchetts soon recognized the potential impact ISMT could have on the largely Russian-speaking population in east Ukraine.

Upon returning to Ukraine, Nina Hanchett contacted Olga Zaitseva, another BCM missionary. Together they attended a Train the Trainer seminar taught by Bob and Sandy Barber in Western Ukraine. The classes were highly interactive, using small group assignments to find solutions to realistic problems the trainees experienced.

Excited, Nina and Olga arranged to teach ISMT to Bible teachers at Hope Church in Donetsk. The trainees, ranging from 13-50 years of age, were already accustomed to working with children and not initially enthusiastic about learning a new way to teach lessons. The two women didn’t allow discouragement to prevent them from teaching the sessions, and teachers came away eager to apply what they’d been taught.

March 2006 found Nina and Olga traveling to Volgondonsk, Russia, to teach ISMT in a Baptist church pastored by BCM missionary Vladimir Antonov. All thirty who attended the seminar were actively involved in teaching children, some in a Christian school, others as Sunday school teachers, youth group leaders, volunteers in government orphanages, or in children’s outreaches in surrounding towns and villages. Passionate about children’s ministry, they were all enthusiastic about the seminar.

“I expected ISMT to be boring,” reported one. “But my expectations failed!”

“I thought I'd hear everything I already know,” said another. “But ISMT gave me new good ideas on how to make my lessons more exciting. I’d had problems because I wasn’t good at certain things. During small group assignments, we even tried to solve these problems. We used time effectively; you wouldn't be able to sleep during the sessions!”

This success inspired Nina and Olga to continue seeking opportunities to teach ISMT. Such an opportunity came on September 2006, when they were asked to teach a 10-week course at Donetsk Christian University to children’s ministry workers from the surrounding area. After 8 weeks, participants applied what they’d learned by presenting a Sunday school lesson they’d prepared to fellow trainees. On December 9, 2006, forty trainees received graduation certificates.

The positive feedback was fresh affirmation to Nina and Olga. Vita, one of the trainees, expressed deep appreciation for ISMT’s emphasis on modeling a biblical attitude. Now she understood just how vital it was to be a godly example to the children. Anya, whose parents recently adopted a special child, especially appreciated the session on working with mentally disabled kids, information she hadn’t been able to find elsewhere.

Even experienced teachers shared that they’d found the seminars extremely helpful. A teacher accustomed to the ins and outs of children’s ministry, Ilona admitted she’d seriously doubted the ISMT seminars could provide her with insights she hadn’t already acquired in years of children’s ministry. But she walked away from the course with a fresh outlook on lesson teaching. ISMT had taught her how to craft her own lessons from scratch without having to rely on the teacher’s manual.

This is only one of ISMT’s many strengths. Trainees agree that one of the program’s greatest strengths is its flexibility to integrate many diverse styles of teaching. Another is its emphasis on a teacher’s personal spiritual growth and attitude. Several sessions specifically address personal spiritual nourishment and the importance of prayer and being an effective role model.

Ultimately, no program or seminar will replace the Holy Spirit’s role in renewing and enlightening the believer’s mind concerning the truth of God’s Word. Like all things which haven’t yet proven the enduring test of time, it isn’t possible to see the long-term impact ISMT is having on both Ukraine and western Russia. However, fruit is already being produced through the impact teachers have been able to make using their training.

And now that the material is available in Russian as well as Ukrainian, the next step for ISMT in Ukraine and Russia is an exciting one. Bob and Sandy Barber, who trained Nina and Olga to teach ISMT, have agreed to hold a Train the Trainer seminar through Donetsk Christian University. The school hopes to invite Sunday school directors to attend from Eastern and Central Ukraine, as well as from western Russian. For a country that has long been the dividing ‘borderland’ between Russian and Ukrainian cultures, this unity between two parts of the body of Christ would be a tremendous success for the advance of Christ’s Kingdom. After being trained to teach, people can return to their churches and mission agencies and multiply the ministry a hundredfold.

Please continue to pray for the pioneering ministry of BCM missionaries like Nina and Sam Hanchett, Olga Zaitseva, and Bob and Sandy Barber as they continue to transcend spiritual walls within this land of borders.