December - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

372The Free Presbyterian Magazineby someone we have employed; it is an improvement on the previous oneand at the same time frees us from a particular restriction attached to theoriginal translation. This further print run brings the total number of copiesproduced thus far to 20 000, the first 15 000 having already been distributedto interested parties. How much this mission work needs to be accompaniedby the Holy Spirit, who alone is able to open the minds of sinners to theBible-based doctrines of The Westminster Confession.A number of months ago a Baptist conference was held in Odessa to exposewhat they called the heresies of Calvinism. Attendance was by invitation onlybut, had it been possible for Mr Igor Zadoroshnyy to be present, he wouldhave witnessed against these mistaken views.It is also our intention, God willing, to produce a short work on the fivepoints of Calvinism as well as to provide a correspondence course based onthe chapters of The Westminster Confession of Faith. All this takes timebut we aim to add to the ever-increasing numbers of Scripture-based bookscirculating in the Churches in Eastern Europe; these include John Calvin’sInstitutes, Matthew Henry’s Commentary and Thomas Boston’s FourfoldState. The Shorter Catechism is much in demand, one pastor requesting 400copies. This marvellous summary of Bible doctrine has proved a wonderfulblessing to many people in our own Church and far beyond, and we hope itwill be so in Eastern Europe in particular.The vehicle we have been using for transport, including bringing peopleto church, is now in poor condition and has to be replaced. We are at presentlooking into obtaining another vehicle and, depending on the availability offunds, it will be purchased as soon as possible. During our visit we organisedthe completion of the forecourt of the Mission building, where it was necessaryto lay small concrete blocks, and also around the building, to preventfurther frost damage in the areas already concreted. Some other small jobsremain to be done in connection with the building and of course there willalways be ongoing maintenance.Happily, we were once again in a position to have a communion season.Normally we have a service each day, with two services on the Lord’s Day.As yet we have not had a Fellowship Meeting. Five communicants belongingto the congregation sat at the Lord’s table. Just as in other parts of ourChurch, the Lord’s table was fenced. The sermons were preached in English,with Mr Dmytro Levitskyy interpreting. The attendance at these serviceswas slightly higher than the previous year. A few of those attending are fromother churches; some of these people come a long distance and therefore cannotwait for the evening service. As well as attending at communion timesthey also come on some other occasions.