NPC friends of ECMI continue to work with local ECMI board members and ECMI partners Vienna Presbyterian, Reston Bible, and Heritage Presbyterian to expand contacts ECMI has in the Washington, DC area. Some of these activities will take place in private homes or at the churches. Anyone at NPC interested in assisting ECMI with expanding its Washington, DC network is invited to contact ECMI supporters at National Presbyterian. NPC friends also work with several churches outside the DC area on trip planning and other ECMI-related activities.
Roman, Iryna, and Dimitrie speak at Vienna Presbyterian, January 28, 2024
At Vienna Presbyterian's Missions Hour on Sunday, January 28, Roman Matviyiv and Dimitrie Todorov provided updates on their ministry work. Roman and his wife Iryna talked via video about the relief work their team in Lviv, Ukraine is doing among refugees and about their summer camp outreach. Dimitrie, who was at VPC that day, discussed his team's work in Burgas, Bulgaria among Roma, the team's sports ministry, and their work for refugees -- now both from the Mideast and Ukraine.
Roman and Iryna talk about their ministry
Dimitrie discusses his team's work.
Developing Ties with the NPC's Children's Ministry
During the 2019 trip to Burgas, NPC participants initiated the idea of developing ties between the Pomoriye community (see the 2019 Trip Report) and the NPC Children's Ministry. The children at the Pomoriye church expressed strong enthusiasm for this possibility and since 2021, the NPC Children's Ministry and the Roma children of the Pomoriye church have been exchanging cards, photos, and prayer messages and videos through the ECMI Bulgaria leadership. If you would like to be involved, contact Howard or Miley Tucker-Frost.
NPC's Proclaim Team provided 2020 Flex Funds to ECMI Bulgaria to support the children's feeding program the Bulgaria team operates. This much-appreciated support was a valuable way for NPC to help with both the significant spiritual and humanitarian needs these children have (see the 2019 Trip Report).
Bulgaria Country Director Dimitrie Todorov describes his team's outreach to Roma community children in this June 2 discussion with Vienna Presbyterian.
Trip Possibility for Ukraine
Growing from a spring 2019 visit of ECMI Ukrainian representatives Roman Matviyiv and Oksana Matviyiv Savka to DC (see “April Visit” in the 2018-2019 section), friends of ECMI at National and other churches were considering a mission trip to assist the ECMI ministries of Oksana or Roman. Because of the dangerous conditions on account of the war, these plans are postponed until travel is safe. Once conditions improve, one possibility would be oriented around the Orphan Care Camp at Volnyn, Ukraine (near Lviv), and the other around Roman's ESOL camps in Lviv. The trips would probably involve 6-10 volunteers each.
Generally, mornings would include devotions, singing and prayer with children, then ESOL sessions in Roman's camps, and music, crafts, and sports in Oksana's. Afternoons would include sports and camp-wide games for children. Evenings at Roman's camps would include an ESOL time for parents. Evenings at Oksana's would involve devotional programs and a campfire for foster parents and children to share testimonies, songs, or a play. At Oksana's camp, there would also be a late-night fellowship time for foster parents to share experiences, struggles, successes, and prayer. ECMI-Ukraine has sponsored many of these camps. Normally about 200 children attend, and often ECMI uses volunteers from several churches to provide enough workers for the camp.
