You Can Share In Our Work


By Dr. Merle Messer



My wife and I recently took a trip to Hawaii to celebrate her graduation from Nursing School and her birthday. (I cannot tell which birthday.)

Before the Gospel reached the Hawaiians, the Hawaiians would quite often have wars with other islanders. Here is how their battle strategy worked. When boats from an island would land on another island, the natives of that island would get their warriors and go down to the beach to greet the ships. If they were friendly, that was fine, if they were not friendly, they would just start fighting. It was chaos, no battle plans, no strategy.

Isnt it wonderful that our God is not that way. He is a God of order, discipline, plans and strategy. We have seen this God of order at work in Ukraine and especially in the Donetsk Region. RITE formed with a commitment to follow the leading of our Lord Jesus Christ through the operating power of His Holy Spirit. Our Lord formed RITE and the International Reformed Seminary of Donetsk and He has been directing our paths for three full years.

Since our Lord is directing and causing all these things to come about, does that mean that His people have no responsibility towards supporting this work? Since Ephesians 1:11 says that Christ works all things according to the counsel of His will, what is our part? Lets face it, normally God works in and through His people to do His will.

Each person reading this newsletter (&even a few others) can share in the work of the seminary in Donetsk and have a part in building the Reformed faith in Eastern Ukraine.

You can pray diligently for this ministry, you can help recruit good professors to teach and you can contribute financially. Think of prayer, the Bible says that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. If you can commit to praying regularly for RITE, please drop me an email stating your willingness in this area. Think of recruiting good professors. Each person reading this newsletter undoubtedly knows a good pastor or professor or teacher who would both enjoy the opportunity to teach in Donetsk and would be good for the students. If you can help recruit, please drop me an email stating your willingness in this area. Think of financial giving. The Bible teaches about returning unto the Lord a portion of what He has given us. I do not know of any ministry where every dollar that is raised goes directly to supporting a ministry the way it is used with RITE. No American gets any type of pay or remuneration even as a reimbursement for expenses. Every dollar raised goes directly for student stipends, rent, salaries of Ukrainians hired to work for the seminary or for food for the professors while in Donetsk. If you can contribute financially, please drop me an email stating your willingness in this area.

It is true that God is working out His plans with RITE and the International Reformed Seminary in Donetsk. Yet, even in His sovereignty He is looking forward to His people rising up and helping to advance this ministry.

When the Gospel reached Hawaii, the wars between the islands stopped and a new order was in place. In the Donetsk Region of Ukraine, the Reformed faith is bringing order where there has been theological chaos. If you can either pray, recruit or give, or do all three, please join in our efforts to replace chaos with the Reformed faith.

Email: merlemesser@bellsouth.net Cell 24/7: 601-573-8973

OUR SECOND GRADUATION

By Dr. Van Lees

This June we had our second graduation in our school. Seven students graduated, five from the bachelor of divinity program and two from the certificate program. The bachelor students are required to write a final thesis paper of approximately 50 pages in length. Part of my work in Donetsk is to supervise and assist our students in writing their final papers. This consisted of helping with initial outlines and suggesting sources as well as interacting with them during the writing process. When I was there in June, Natasha Seleznova, our translator and administrator, translated and read their papers to me. All of the students wrote on various topics of Reformed theology and did good work. Two of the papers were especially good. One dealt with Gods sovereign providence and issues of suffering the other examined the doctrine of sin and total depravity. Each student gave an oral presentation of their work to the class and then answered questions from me and my teaching partner, Rev. Jim Carmichael. After we finished questioning them, some of their fellow students asked questions. It was especially gratifying to see a strong commitment to Reformed theology reflected in these papers. Their work demonstrates a growth in understanding and theological maturity that has been cultivated through their time of study in our school. Four out of the five B. D. graduates were admitted to our masters degree program.

Besides our graduation, I did part two of a class on covenant theology and taught a class in Koine Greek to our masters degree students. We have Machens beginning Greek grammar in Russian in our school library. It corresponds well with the English version so this facilitates teaching through translation. I began the class on covenant theology with the B. D. and certificate students only a somewhat simpler level. As always, the students are attentive and eager to learn. They hang on every word that is spoken in class and give good interaction with the material. It is always encouraging to see what God is doing in his church in that part of the world.

Teaching Report
By Rev. Dennis Royall

When I had been asked to return to Donetsk again by Rev. Merle Messer (the President of R.I.T.E.), I understood that there would be two sections of classes to teach, but thought that the way we had done in previous years would continue, namely, that each professor would teach one section for two hours and then the other for two hours, teaching for a total of four hours per day. Rev. Ferguson and I were surprised to learn our first day that we would each be expected to teach all day - 4 hours for the "Certificate" class and then four hours for the "Seminary" class. An EIGHT-HOUR teaching day! We would teach from the same material in each group, but as the Certificate students are not as advanced in their education as the Seminary students, we would need to adjust the quantity and depth of our teaching between each group.

First There Was One, Then Two, And Now Three
by Dr. Merle Messer

When we started, year one, we had one class in Donetsk that was taught on a Bachelor’s level to existing students of a previous seminary. Then, in year number two, we added a second level of studies, called the Certificate Class. Now, in year number three the RITE Board has approved adding a third level of classes on a Masters Level.

The reason for adding this new class was because some of our students showed a concern almost immediately after starting classes about continuing their education on a higher level. When new students come to the International Reformed Seminary of Donetsk they are not reformed in their theology. Most of them change during their time of studying with us. When they change their thinking about Scripture, their thinking about church and life also changes. For some, the change starts early, for others it is later. This leads to why the RITE Board voted to have another program. Five of our graduates want to continue their studies on the Master’s degree level and they are uniquely suited to do so. On this level we will be requiring a lot of research to be done by the students between classes. Each professor who goes over to teach on this level will assign at least one research paper to be done before the professor arrives. We will give each of these students enough good reformed books to do this type of work. Each professor will be given a list of the books the students have so that the research assignments can be done with the tools the students have. The lectures will be on an advanced level as well.

AN EXCITING TIME IN OUR SCHOOL
By Dr. Van Lees

April was an exciting time in our school in Donetsk. Our first five graduates presented their final thesis papers. Our students are required to write a fifty page thesis paper as the final project of their work. During my last three teaching trips, I’ve been meeting with each of these students helping them with their project. Last year I met with each one individually and they presented the topic on which they wanted to write. I assisted them with direction and sources they could use. In subsequent trips, I met with them and went over their projects with them. All of the students made good use of the limited theological resources in Russian and wrote excellent papers. On this trip, Natasha, our translator and administrator, translated and read the papers to me and John Farrar. One afternoon each student made an oral presentation of their topic to the class. They then answered questions on their work from me, John Farrar and from the other students.