Having many years of experience in different kinds of social ministry and missionary initiatives, I have noticed that the Church has learned to serve marginal groups, but often it does not know how to approach the average Ukrainian. And even though almost 70% of the population lives in cities, the Church has the hardest time reaching urban people. Therefore, I decided that the program ‘Mission in the City’ could help me learn to do what the Church needs to do better.
The first thing that caught my eye was that the program was well-thought-out: books on urban mission have been translated and published for the program, research assignments are given that are practical for developing one’s ministry, rather than distracting from it. The program clearly respects my time and, I would say, helps me pragmatically, and this played an important role in my decision to enroll.
Considering the first module, let me say the following: when one wants to set up a business, he or she studies the market. However, when we start a ministry, we often pay too little attention to research the needs, or we just do superficial research.
I have observed that we are effective in ministry to the extent that we do our preliminary research well. I am especially thankful for the courses in the first session which answered many questions, in particular what and what not to get involved in doing in ministry. Prior to offering something to people, we need to realy ask if they need it.