CCI Update

Dear Cross Culture family,

Kenny spent most of March in Kiev, flying out, as a precaution, just before the presidential election. I am happy to report that there were no problems with the presidential election, and the new president should be inaugurated sometime in late May. Please pray for a peaceful transition of power. 

Kenny, who is back in Kiev now, will spend the rest of May through mid-June in Ukraine. My schedule for teaching at Borys Grinchenko University is already filling up. My plan is to share with the students the topic “Living a Good Life?” – a discussion of how Jesus leads us to live a life that makes a difference in the world and how you can measure if your life is good. I already had one session on Friday which went well, with great interest and insightful questions from the students. 

I will also be meeting with the Teen small group each Friday night and the Young Adults on Sunday evenings. These meetings are a time for sharing a meal, reading a Bible story and discussing it, and catching up with one another as we play games. Time together always provides an opportunity for disciples to grow in their faith, and for seekers to learn more about Jesus. 

I continue to preach each Sunday via Skype to the church in Gorlovka. The war continues there with daily surface to surface missile exchanges between the Ukrainian Army and the Russian Insurgents. Each week the ladies give me the report of how the “shelling” was that week. Not the normal topic for conversation at worship! Please keep these faithful and precious women in your prayers each week. 

We are still short about $30k for our 2019 funding. Kenny is arranging trips in late June and July to speak to churches and other groups who are interested in our work. If you think your church might be a good place for Kenny to share the Cross Culture story, please PM me and we can talk about it. If you are not currently supporting Cross Culture financially, but have been blessed by our ministry, please consider becoming a monthly support partner. You can donate through our website (www.crossculturegorlovka.blogspot.com), mail a check to PO Box 505 Luverne AL 36049, or send me a message for other options. 

On a personal note we are in the process of completing our move to Franklin, Tennessee. We moved one truckload of storage items to Franklin and unloaded it at our new place, Lora is working through it all now. We hope to get the second load in late June completing our move. It will be nice to have a landing place when we are in the U.S. 

Thanks for being such faithful ministry partners. Please continue to pray for us and our ministry of “sharing the love of Jesus with the people of Ukraine!”

Grace and peace,

Kenny Payne D.Min.

Director, Cross Culture, Inc.