Bob MacDonald Ministries
Laying Apostolic Foundations
Bob MacDonald Ministries
Saskatoon
Canada
bob
Ukraine Missions
Coming - School for the Apostle & Prophet (Level 2) in Ukraine - March 2011.
For information - contact me by clicking here.
Ukraine November 2008
In November 2008 my wife and I went to Boyorka (suburb of Keiv) and Krasnoarmeysk (11 hours drive from Kiev). We were there for 2 1/2 weeks teaching and prophesying.
In February 2009 I went returned to Boyorka and Krasnoarmeysk. I also went to Dnepropetrovsk ( a city of 2 million). This trip was 3 weeks long full of teaching, prophesying, mentoring young leaders and ministering to church leaders.
In November 2009 I am planning to go to Kazakstan and Moscow. I have been invited to minister there with Ralph Howe. We have had many invitations from Russian speaking countries to minister there.
Ralph and I are planning on teaching an Apostolic School in the Ukraine in January 2010. If you would like more information about this school, click here and send an email.
The Church Alive in Ukraine
What an awesome privilege it was to go on two missions trips to the Ukraine. In November 2008, my wife Irene, Ralph Howe and I went to two cities in the nation of the Ukraine. We held 2 weeks of meetings in Boyorka (a suburb of Kiev) and Krasnoarmeysk (11 hour drive from Kiev). In February 2009, Ralph Howe and I returned for three weeks of meetings in the cities of Boyorka, Krasnoarmeysk and Dnepropetrovsk (a city of 2 million people).
In both of these visits I was greatly impressed with what God is doing there and how the people are responding to God’s movement. The churches are alive and the people are excited about God. I came back from both trips greatly encouraged. I believe there’s a major revival about to happen in the Ukraine and in other Russian speaking countries.
Someone recently asked me, “Is God doing more in the Ukraine than He is here?” I thought about that question and responded, “It’s probably not that God is doing more there, but the people are certainly responding more to what God is doing.”
These are some of the ways that I saw the people responding to what God is doing. Here are some of my reasons why I think revival is about to happen there.
- The worship has lots of celebration and people give themself to worship. It’s quite common for worship to go from three quarters of an hour to an hour and a half in length. Everyone continues to worship during the entire time. People really enjoy worshiping God and everyone is engaged in giving God glory. Their worship is a joyful experience. They celebrate until the presence of God comes among them, then they worship Him.
- It is primarily the younger people who are responding to God. The youth seem to desire a fresh and real move of God. Large numbers of youth are turning to Jesus Christ for salvation. In most of the churches we visited, the majority of the people attending were teenagers, young people, young couples and young families. As a result of this “youngness”, there was a lot of energy and excitement in the church. Most of this younger generation do not have a lot of religious hangups, traditions or other bad church experiences to work through. This allows them to be open to what God is doing and to willingly respond to Him.
- People are hungry for the experience of God’s presence. They are quite willing to spend three to four hours in a church service. Worship and teaching of the Word are a high priority to them. They do not consider long services an inconvenience, in fact they enjoy staying for long services. They also take days off of work without pay to attend special meetings. On the days that we were there, we would start at 10:00 in the morning and by 11:00 at night we had to ask people to please go home.
- The people of God really enjoy being together. They like each other and they spend time together. They encourage each other in the church and seek to encourage each other to continue on in the things of God. When we were prophesying over others for many hours, the majority of the congregation stayed and were happy that one of their friends was receiving a prophetic word. When they would break for one hour between sessions, they would eat together and there would be much laughter. For them, going to church was more than just about singing a song and getting some information. They went to church to be with their God to be with their family.
- They have a respect and acceptance of the fivefold ministry leadership. Though they had some honest questions about the ministry of apostles and prophets, they did not seem to be hung up on whether they were valid or whether apostles and prophets should be trusted. They accepted that Jesus Christ had placed apostles and prophets in the church to equip them to do the work of the ministry. They also accepted that among themselves some were called to be apostles and prophets and should be raised up. We had the privilege of calling out many apostles and prophets in the various churches.
- They are learning respect for the authority structures that God is placing in his church. Based on my limited understanding of the history of their society, it seems they have lots of reasons to not trust authority. From many unfortunate religious situations in their country, they have reasons not to trust authority. However, God is working in their hearts and they are seeing that authority from God based in the heart and love of God is essential for them to move forward. They are having a healthy respect for servant leadership in the Church.
- They are willing to completely and immediately obey their prophetic word. Sometimes we were surprised how people were taking action within hours of receiving their prophetic word. To our great delight, we saw some who were called out to be apostles who wanted to travel with us to the other cities to be mentored and to learn. They set aside their plans for the next few weeks, grabbed a few clothes and traveled with us to the next cities where they ministered alongside us. They allowed us to publicly speak into their lives and give them instruction as they were learning to prophesy in front of hundreds of people.
- They realize they need training and input. They recognize they are a relatively young church. They eagerly received the teachings we gave. Many of them came to ask some very good questions. They came to all of the teaching sessions. We received many invitations from other nations and other cities to come and teach in their area. They are hungry to learn about God and what God is doing so that they can more fully obey him. They want to stay at the leading edge of the things God is doing, and as a result God is doing more as they learn and respond to him.
- Because of the social and economic situation in their country, they do not have much else to hope for in life other than God. There is very little security than what God can give them. They do not have employment insurance in this time of high unemployment. They do not have a welfare system and so they must work when they can and trust God for their daily provisions. I spoke with one young person and commented how much people seem to be going after God. His response was, “Without God we can’t make it here”. They seem to have less that distracts them – things such as riches, possessions, homes. If those distractions do exist, they do not let them take away from their priority of seeking after God and thirsting for him.
- They openly share their experience with God. Witnessing and giving their testimony is a common activity for them. As a result many more are coming to know Jesus Christ as Savior because of the witnessing of the Christians. The church is growing as more and more people repent and give their lives to Christ.
I’m very excited as to what God is doing over there. I’m very pleased that the Lord has spoken over my life prophetically that I’ll be spending more time in the Ukraine and surrounding regions. The prophetic word said that I will be in the Ukraine so often that it will even be considered my second home. I praise God and look forward to Him opening the opportunities to serve him in this way and for Him to make it possible.
God is working among the Ukrainian people who are hungering and thirsting after Him. Let’s learn from our brothers and sisters and respond to what God is doing among us so we can see more of God’s good plans for us.
Bob teaching in Ukraine.
Bob MacDonald Ministries
Saskatoon
Canada
bob
