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NEW NEW NEW Pastor Paul Alexander My granddaughter, Heather, and I celebrated the fourth of July by flying across the Atlantic. We were on our way to Odessa, Ukraine, where we spent three weeks ministering to needy people there. It was a special pleasure to have Heather with me and I believe it was a healthy display of the “covenant at work” showing how successive generations carry the gospel to the nations. I enjoyed hearing Heather call me “grampa” in that unusual setting. Heather’s parents are Junia (our daughter) and David Haas, long time members of our churches in St. Louis, Missouri. David has been teaching math at Westminster Christian Academy there for 25 years and Junia has been active in leading music programs in the churches. Heather grew up in a family that loves the Lord and that spends all day Sunday involved with the body of Christ in the church. Heather is a 22 year old senior in the Wheaton Conservatory of Music. Her focus was on ministering to orphan children in a variety of settings. In the city of Belgorod-Dnistrovsky, for instance, she helped in a Vacation Bible School that ministered to orphanage children in the morning and then to children from our church in the afternoon. She also assisted the children’s choir in our key church in Odessa. She trained the children in their singing and then with her partner (from Covenant College) she led the children in their performance in the worship service. Meanwhile, I was spending time consulting with our Christian School board in Odessa and preaching/teaching in different congregations each Sunday. Heather traveled with me when I preached first in Belgorod and then in Izmail. She played the piano in both of these congregations and built strong relationships with young leaders in those churches. On our last Sunday in Odessa, I preached at our Odessa church. My sermon on family worship was the same for each church (so hapless Heather had to hear it three times). By the grace of God I was trying in that message to meet a profound need in our Ukrainian churches. Seventy years of Communistic atheism devastated the family, leading me to preach the wonderful good news of how our dear Lord restores families through the simple habit of worshiping Him daily around our meals. If I can learn how to post that sermon on this web-site I am going to do it – hope it will be a blessing as you read it and pastors have my permission to plagiarize at will. click here. . Sunday afternoon our Odessa mission team met at 5 for what we call TEAM WORSHIP. With American visitors present, we had nearly 30 participants and I was asked to preach. It is always a great joy to sing and pray together with comrades in our spiritual warfare for the Kingdom of God. We enjoyed a wonderful Sabbath together and were refreshed for the battle. Monday morning was panic time for getting suitcases packed and last minute consultations finished. Heather, nevertheless, had time (with her friend, and fellow-worker, Jenny Brown) to visit an early morning worship service in an Orthodox church. This is a most interesting for newcomers to Ukraine. The singing of both the priest and the choir are beautiful and the colorful liturgy is impressive. While their philosophy of ministry is quite different from our own, reverently observing their worship can be a valuable experience. Heather and I succeeded in cramming everything into our suitcases just in time for the taxi to pick us up at 12:30 and get us to the airport on time. It had been life in the “fast missionary lane” for three weeks and we were pleased that our trip home was uneventful. Who needs events on an airplane? Heather and I were convinced that the Lord had been with us throughout our time in Ukraine and that He was continuing to bless us as we returned to a variety of ministries in our own land – she to studying and practicing the piano at Wheaton College and I am preaching in conferences and seeking resources to develop our education programs in Ukraine. Pastor Paul Alexander.
This is our director Paul Alexander in Atlanta	PARTNERSIP DIRECTOR’S TRAVEL and SPEAKING SCHEDULE December, 2006 – December 2007, Pastor Paul H. Alexander Please notice that January through early March is full. There are some open dates from mid-March to Mid-June and then travel to Ukraine in July and again in October - November. Remember that I have a responsibility to COVENANT PARTNERS to raise funds for our Christian Education ventures in Ukraine – both a traditional classroom school and a variety of alternatives. Note on this web-site also the variety of conferences and seminars that I lead for our churches. 1. December 31, 06’ Sunday - Teach at North Hills PCA, Huntsville, Alabama 2. January 7, Attend Teach at North Hills PCA, Huntsville, Alabama 3. January 13-14, Lead Missions Conference at Covenant Presbyterian, Tullahoma, Tennessee 4. January 19-21, With Henry Krabbendam in Missions Conference at North Hills PCA, Huntsville. 5. January 28-29, Lead Officer Training Seminar at Riverwood Presbyterian, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. 6. February 4 – Open Sunday 7. February 11, Sabbath Seminar at North Hills Presbyterian, Huntsville. 8. February 18, Mini-Missions Conference in Westminster Presbyterian, Elgin, Illinois 9. February 25 – March 4 Lead Missions Conference at Covenant Presbyterian, St. Louis, Missouri 10. Tentative inquiries but dates still open through Mid- June and General Assembly Travel for raising funds to finance Christian Schooling ventures in Ukraine 11. June 20-24: Johnson Family reunion in Minnesota 12. July: Travel to Ukraine a. Pastoral visits in Belgorod, Izmail and Nikolaeve b. Sabbath and Miracles 8 day conference in First Presbyterian, Odessa c. Consultations with Odessa Christian School and other Christian Schooling ventures d. Lead GRACE-BASED PREACHING seminar for variety of denominations, First Pres., Odessa 13. Return to U.S.A. in early August for conferences and fund-raising activities 14. Return to Ukraine in early October until Mid-November for: a. Ukrainian Presbytery b. Pastoral visits to several churches, perhaps in Kiev at some point c. Consultation with Variety of Christian Schooling projects d. Conference with Ukrainian Church Leadership, possibly Ron Shaw leading again 15. Return to USA for Rest and Recovery 16. Open dates through Christmas for conferences, preaching/teaching in our churches
News Today DAWN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL in Odessa, Ukraine, is the first and only Christian School that MTW has been able to establish in Ukraine. It is kindergarten through fourth grade at this point, and we hope to add a grade each year. DAWN is a traditional classroom school and is, therefore, quite expensive. It expects to enroll 40 students next year. The budget for the grades is $50,000 and for the kindergarten is $12,000. This is the budget supplied by American donors. Parents will be paying $400 per student or about $16,000 in the 2006-2007 school year. Tuition has been increasing on a yearly basis, with the expectation of becoming self-sufficient in time. Our parents and children are highly pleased with the school. Most of our teachers are members of our own church and all are well-trained in teaching from a Biblical perspective. Our hope is to start more Christian Schools in Ukraine associated with churches like we already have in Odessa. It is not likely, however, that these new school starts will be so fully funded as the Odessa school. Perhaps DAWN can remain as a model, especially in teaching philosophy and method, but we will be using those “innovative” methods mentioned above. That means we are not likely to have our own building in these new sites. We have two churches discussing the possibility of starting schools through Covenant Partners. We will continue those discussions and see where the Lord may lead. We want to see the initiative come from our native congregations. Then we can offer help but not try to fund the full operation. Here are three of about 20 families that are presently benefitting from DAWN school in Odessa: Valera Babuinen is senior pastor of our church in Odessa. His wife, Galya is a frequent volunteer for DAWN school. Their daughter will be enrolled in a year or two. Valera Zadorzhny is associate pastor of our church in Odessa. His wife Valia has been an employee of the school. Their daughter is in the third grade. Denis Dudkin plays a vital role in DAWN school. He is president of our school board. His wife is a frequent volunteer for the shool and their daughter is in the second grade.

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