Passion 2012: Volunteer experience

So, this year, again, by the grace of God and generous help of one of our very good friends in the States we were able to attend Passion 2012 conference in Atlanta. It was an answer to our prayers and prayers of many friends in Ukraine, the States and around the world. In this post I wanted to write a bit more about the conference and what we've experiences there.

Christmas in Mississippi...

We've celebrated Christmas at Pinelake church at Starkville, MS

This year we got to celebrate Christmas in America for the first time together as a family (me and Katya) . And it is now NOT a cold and snowy Maine (which would be usuall for us), but rather warm and sunny Mississippi!:-) We were invited to the States by a good friend of ours Chuck, whom we've met at Passion conference in Atlanta back in 2010... eversince, we've become really good friends and we've visited Chuck in US before and he came to visit us in L'viv Ukraine. One other reason we've came to the States is to participate in Passion 2012 conference in Atlanta, Georgia. We are looking forward to that VERY MUCH, cause this year we will be volunteering. Here are some pictures from our trip for now:

Celebrating Christmas with Lovorn's family

Productive day in KYIV: US VISA, new boss, appartment to live in



Well, yesterday was a very LONG but one of the most productive days in my life for past couple of months. May be I should rather say the day when many things, that have been happening on the background (preparations, thoughts, prayers) just fell into place and I have seen the physical results of those. To summarize all that 18 hours long day I have got my VISA to US, received approval for my Christmas/New Year vacation from my new boss (which means we can come to Passion 2012 and spend Christmas with our friends in US!!:-) and, I think, I have found an apartment to live in when we move to Kyiv. So, now so many questions that we had in our heads cleared up and we can continue on with our move to Kyiv and plans for next 4-6 months of our life.

I have got my US VISA , received approval for Christmas/New Year vacation and found good apartment to live in.

Funny story from that morning... I came to US consulate around 7:45 (as was written at the web site) and there was already a huge line there. Maybe around  25-30 people in front of me to get their visas! I was last in that line... ok, I thought to myself I will wait.How surprised I was when one of the guards asked "Is Mr. Shekhovtsov here?"... I said "Yes, its me". "Please follow me and stand here" - he said to me pointing

Passion Ft.Worth: Day 2

Francis Chan at Passion 2011 Ft. Worth Yellow Community Group

This day at Passion Ft. Worth was the ONLY full day of the conference. I sort of expected the speakers to continue to talk on Philippians, but this second day of the conference continued exactly the same trend as the first day did and both Fracis Chan and John Piper continued to speak more directly from their hearts rather then researching the book of Philippians verse by verse together with us, and it was GREAT!

Francis spoke about the importance for everyone of us to EXPERIENCE God in a personal and real way. That no one can make us or force us to experience the Lord intimately and personally!! Therefore, we all should seek the Lord wholeheartedly – and He will reveal Himself to us. This was a great reminder of another sermon I’ve heard long time ago… my favorite phrase from that sermon was: “If each generation does not experience God first hand, all we’re going to be as Christians is just another social club, where we’re interested in Jesus instead of football, knitting or model cars!”

We’ve also started getting to know each other more in community groups. Funny, but this year, as another proof that this world is a small place, in our community group we’ve met a girl, Lauren, who happens to be in the same church with a Ukrainian girl, Anya, whom we know through Passion… It was great to talk with her and other group members about different things in our lives.

And then in the evening we had John Piper. His sermon topic was “What Is The Bottom of Your Joy?”. It was an AMAZING sermon, probably one of the most influential sermons I’ve heard in past 3-5 years. I will write about it in a separate post.

John Piper preaching on "What Is The Bottom Of Your Joy?"

Not only we had a chance to hear him preach, but Passion guys have invited us to pray with their whole team before the evening sessions started. It was quite an amazing experience to be there together with all those guys, who organize and lead Passion movement and to see how important prayer is for them. Here were those big man and women of faith leading such a large movement, yet completely aware of the fact that without His power NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN!! We were there with other guys, who were at Passion from other countries (Canada, Brazil, Ireland) and Louie introduced us to the whole crowd there, as people, who work with students in other countries of the world… It was really special!! Me and Katya have got a felling that being at Passion we are indeed a part of ONE BIG FAMILY – carrying the name of Jesus to the students around the world.

Anyway, that was Day 2 of Passion Ft. Worth 2011 – full of impressions, full of transformational truth, full of encouragement, new friends and fellowship with God’s family.

Passion 2011 Ft.Worth: Day 1

First day of Passion 2011 at Ft. Worth just passed by and WOW - what a start! The main verse that Louie spoke on this evening was from Philipians 1: " For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain!" Powerful, powerful words!!

The conference has started out kind of slowly (most people started getting registered around 18:00), but sure enough by the start of the first session we had a room full with over 10,000 students in it. The worshp time was great, as always, even though sound was not the same as usual. But when we opened the word of God the Lord has really started opening up what the conference will be about.

"Has the TRAJECTORY for your life been set?"

Louie was reading from Philipians 1 and then from Acts 9:1-5, 9 and talking about how it is important for us as Christiains to first and forewmost to be the "servants of Jesus Christ" (that's how Paul introduces himself and Timothy in the beginning of the book). It is important that people know us in that role first of all. Then he contiued talking about why Paul always introduced himself like that - at some point in his life he went through a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ. and he just could not be the same (Acts 9:1-9).

That meeting on the road to Damascus for Saul (whom Paul used to be) has set a TRAJECTORY for the rest of his life. A change that he went trough was enormous and inreversable. "Can we all confidently say that in each of our lives we went trough that change?" If we didn't and just pretend being a Christian, the we will not be living out the words of Paul, where death would be gain for us, but to continue living in this world is Christ.

"We often turn Paul's word upside down! "We live to gain, and when we die then we will be with Christ (even though truth be told, we really do not want to die)"

It was interesting, that even though the book of Philippians is mostly about joy, from the very first session of the conference the keynote was seeming to be on transformational change that takes place in our hearts, when we experience God face to face for the FIRST TIME. The question, which Louie was getting at that first evening was: "Have you ever really experiened that transformational change, that only God can bring in your life?"

Then in the evening before we went to the David Crowder live concert we went to the prayer area, which is called "Kneel" to pray for around an hour: for the conference, for our nation, campuses and the world. It was an incredible experience, even though I'm usually not the most endurant person when it comes to prayer:-( However, this time it was such a blessing both for me and Katya to go through...

Well, I think this is enough information for this post, even though that first day of Passion was that and much more (as it usually is at Passion conferences). Good night, will update more later!!

Here We Go: Roadtrip to Passion 2011 Ft.Worth starts...

Today our trip to Passion 2011 STARTS!! We are leaving L'viv and taking an overnight train to Kyiv. Expexting great time with Katya's sister and my parents and then in the early morning of March 30th we are taking our plane to the States. KYIV-AMSTERDAM-DALLAS/FT.WORTH.

Praying, expecting and hoping for much to be revelaed... from the Lord, from the Word and from all the great people we're going to see. So sorry we can not see everyone of you who's supported us for this trip. Gene&Diana, Dough&Fran, Clay&Karen, Jim, Zarat&Damian, Mike&Jane, Al&Alice - we so wish we can see you while in States!!:-( But very much looking forward to see the rest of you guys Chuck, Rod&Sheila, Tim&Heather, Marc&Leigh during our trip.

Will keep you updated as things envelop... To God be the GLORY!!

UPDATE #1: Yesterday we have safely arrived to Ft. Worth. The trip was very smooth and we had great transatlantic flight. Still, very tired upon arrival so we went to bed right away. Slept through most of yesterday, ordered food to the room, and then slept again through the night. Today (March 31st) is a bright morning in Ft.Worht. Ready to eat breakfast and then do the morning Bible reading. Thanks everyone for praying. Will write more later.

Going to Passion 2011 Ft. Worth: THE POWER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

Well, OK, this is more a POST SCRIPTUM to things that have already happened... not a FRESH NEWS.

However, I wanted to share this since this fall was a special period in our lives, as (for the first time in our life as family) we were involved in a small fund raising project to find finances for a trip to Passion 2011 conference in US.

In 2010 we went to Atlanta upon Passion Conferences invitation and were immensely blessed by what we've experienced there. The people we've met there, the atmosphere, the speakers that spoke - everythings there extremely blessed our hearts and we felt like we've got a HUGE boost to continue growing in our relationships with the Lord and in work for His Kingdom. In more details about our experince I have writeen in posts: Passion 2010: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.

"We decided: if we had the needed money - we would GO, if not - we would NOT GO!"

Now, back to the process that we went through this fall. It was truly a journey for us, as we basically wanted to find out, if it is God's will for us to be at this conference... We definitely knew that we wanted to go, but with our car beign stolen only 6 month ago and having to pay monthly rent and land loan to the bank we simply didn't have extra $2,000 to spend for a trip to US. So, we decided to write to many of our friends and ask for support... and, if we had the needed money - we would GO, if not - we would NOT GO!

What happened after that was a total surprise for us as people started helping us and in a little over 4 weeks - we had the money we needed to go to the conference. Here's how it worked:

A snapshot of how our "Passion 2011: Fund Raising THERMOMETER" looked each step of the way

We came up with what we've called "Our fund raising thermometer" and decided to let, those who, were thinking about supporting our trip to see the progress.

In a little over 2 weeks we had first $500, then - another $500, then - over a thousand... and then one of our friends (if you can imagine this - a person, whom we've met at Passion 2010 in Atlanta last year), have said that he wants to cover "the rest" of what we had left to raise. WOW!! That was really a great end to this small project. We've got the FULL AMOUNT RAISED!!

Through this process, we were once again humbled by people's readiness to GIVE and "invest" into our lives, by the generosity and trust in God on each of our friends' side. It is a HUGE ENCOURAGEMENT for us and a learning experience, that though we all, as Christians, might live at different parts of this Earth - through CHRIST we are united into ONE BODY and can count on each other.

Me and Katya wanted to THANK EACH and everyone, who's supported this quest of ours either financially or through prayer... You are a TRUE BLESSING and a great example to us of obedience to the Lord.

"We all, as Christians, might live at different parts of this Earth - through CHRIST we are united into ONE BODY and can count on each other"

P.S. And you know what, we were especially impressed by one family, who said, "We are tight on finances now, but we'll see what we can do?" - that family ended up praying for us and giving $25 towards our trip... BUT we were immensely blessed and amazed by the attitude they've shown. I thought to myself, that indeed it doesn't matter that much how much you give, but that YOU DO GIVE, what you can, if you want to support someone. Guys - you have blessed us tremendously - even through this small gift!:-) We praise the Lord for you and pray for your family and little son regularly...

We are going to PASSION 2010!! Only by the grace of GOD...

Wow, wow, wow... What else can I say!! Something we have prayed about for almost 5 month now, and have been seeking God's will in, has finally happened. Couple of days ago we have found out that we will be able to go to Atlanta to participate in PASSION 2010 conference. The Lord is so good!!

It was totally unexpected, exciting, thrilling and breathtaking to receive that news. We knew about the conference for over a year now, and after encountering Passion in Kyiv (and working together some with people, who organize it) always wanted to participate in it. However, there was one obsticle, that often prevents people from doing things - we didn't have money for the trip:-) ... but, since nothing is impossible for our God, we've started praying. Not as much for the money, but for Him to show us if we were supposed to go to this conference all together. Off course we've also started to prepare for some fundraising activities... Well, it wasn't needed!!

One day we've just got a letter from Passion Conference organizers, where they were inviting me and Katya to visit the conference offering to cover all expences for the flight, boarding and conference fees... as you can imagine - we were speachless. In moments like this you realize, how BIG is the God we serve, and how small we are in our effiorts to reach something with our own strength.

So, to make the long story short, now we're planning the trip to Atlanta and are positive that the Lord will do some great things at that conference. Have NO idea what, though... at least, for now.