Gaining New Ground

This summer marked our 9th CMO project! When we first embarked down this path back in 2006, I had no idea how far the Lord would take it. Each year, He continues to bless this outreach, bringing new laborers into the field and new fruit for His glory.

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One of the things I look forward to most during CMO is visiting new cities. While our team always spends a fair amount of time ministering in our home town of L’viv, we are focusing more and more on branching out to establish beachheads in other towns.

Before CMO began this year, we had our eye on a mid-size city called Khmelnytskiy. This city, with its population of nearly 300,000 people, is an oblast center located about four hours west of L’viv, and one that we’ve not previously visited. When I checked our database at the beginning of the summer, we had one student in Khmelnytskiy. Now, after conducting a three-day literature campaign there in mid-July, we have five.

But what are five people among 300,000? Maybe not much in terms of numbers, but they are a start. Over the years we’ve learned that we don’t necessarily need to reach everyone up front. We just need a foot in the door, so to speak. Once we establish a presence in a city or village, there is significant potential for our student base to grow.

Year after year, our stats continue to demonstrate that around 40% of all our Bible students enroll via word-of-mouth recommendations. These are people with whom we never had any direct contact who are now reaching out to us with a desire to study the Word of God. And as Paul reminds us in Romans 10:17, “…faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

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New Fronts

In addition to the growth we are seeing in Ukraine, there is another type of multiplication that we are equally excited about. The men who come to CMO each summer are going on to establish their own ministries in the US and even in other countries.

For example, James Slice, who served with us last year, has just returned from several months of Gospel ministry in Egypt. In addition, he and his brother are operating their own Bible First course in their home state of Georgia.

Men from the CMO 2015 team are also moving forward in ministry. Emanuel Schrock has already conducted literature campaigns of his own since returning from Ukraine, and he is currently studying linguistics in preparation for mission work overseas. Adam Hall is getting ready to spend a year in northern Africa with a mission work that’s previously been established there. The Henderson family continues to build their Bible First course in Minnesota, and they’ve been involving other believers in outreaches in their community.

{: .article-image .article-image–has-caption} The CMO 2015 team. From the left: Isaiah, Emanuel, Caleb, Ben, Nathan, Joshua, Joe, and Adam. {: .caption-text .article-image__caption}

As always, your prayer support is greatly needed! Pray not only for our team here in Ukraine, but for these who are entering new fields, proclaiming the Lord to men and women who do not yet know Him.

How You Can Pray

• Praise the Lord for new ground gained this summer in the advancement of the Gospel!
• Pray for the CMO men as they continue their ministries in the US and around the world.
• Pray for the Day family as they prepare to travel to the US for the birth of their third child.
• Pray our staff here as we deal with the large quantities of mail we are receiving from our Bible students.

{: .article-image .article-image–has-caption} Nathan Day and Adam (a young man from the east of Ukraine) distribute Good and Evil books in a gypsy village in the Carpathians. {: .caption-text .article-image__caption}

{: .article-image .article-image–has-caption} One of our larger film showings this year in the mountains {: .caption-text .article-image__caption}

{: .article-image .article-image–has-caption} Preaching the Gospel after the showing {: .caption-text .article-image__caption}

{: .article-image .article-image–has-caption} Happy to have a Good and Evil book! {: .caption-text .article-image__caption}