Aleksei Yuditsenko: Receive

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And he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Acts 3:5

“I found Seven-Day Generosity Challenge very compelling and encouraging. I loved the biblical view on finances and generosity in general. I feel like I was already living that life of generosity, but when you serve people all the time and give, you need to receive as well. And I received an encouraging message from the book. God spoke to me and helped me understand the depth of why I serve others. Ultimately, it’s all from Him and for Him.”

Aleksei Yuditsenko is the pastor of Heart for Christ MB Church in Berdyansk, Ukraine.

This testimony was collected by Mission Eurasia after Aleksei went through the Seven-Day Generosity Challenge by Jon Wiebe, my friend and fellow stewardship author and administrator at MB Foundation.

In today’s Scripture, the beggar was “expecting to receive” something from Peter and John. Do we have that posture? Without receiving we cannot live a lifestyle of generosity, for we will have nothing to give.

Along these lines, Yuditsenko makes a powerful point. Likely, he is a mature believer who shares and serves generously. But in doing further study, he learned they “why” behind all that he has received. Everything is from God and for God.

Because this is true, this entire trip is also from God and for God. So, as is my custom when entering a country for the first time, we got up early, went to the heart of Kyiv (pictured above at sunrise) and prayed Psalm 2:8 in English, Ukrainian, and Russian, and asked God for Ukraine, not for us, but for Him.

Then, this morning Dr. Mykhailo (Michael) Cherenkov, Mr. Denys Gorenkov, and I attended the National Day of Prayer Breakfast in Kyiv. Church, government, and community servants came together to pray and God united and empowered us for collaborative ministry.

It was an awesome event. It gave me a glimpse into the joys and sorrow in the history of Ukraine. They celebrated 30 years of independence and the 9th national prayer breakfast. I met many people and, remarkably, even met the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, and snapped a selfie with him. I will post that on Facebook.

I am 9 hours ahead of Denver so I updated this post at lunch. This afternoon we will go to Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary where I will speak (with Russian translation) at on “Nurturing Generosity and Sustainability: Four New Testament Insights for Global Application.” This topic ranks among the top needs.

Tonight, we will meet with key church workers in Irpin. Pray for a heart to receive and understand their challenges and insight to know what to share in response. Pray also for stamina as it will be a very long first full day in Ukraine and good sleep.

Reply if you want to receive a copy of my teaching handout in Russian and English. And click here to make a charitable gift to GTP to assist with trip expenses for bringing generosity and sustainability teaching to enthusiastic Eurasian fellow servants.