Ukrainian student conference Liz McClenaghan and Ben Saunders report on a novel alternative for a bank holiday weekend their way to a new adventure in Ukraine. O
Ben Saunders and Liz McClenaghan attended the third Ukrainian Medical Youth Conference. They were involved in encouraging the leadership of the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine (CMAU) and getting to know the local students, as well as seeing how medical ministries are growing in Ukraine. Two of the organisers, Alexandr and Vitalina had attended the International Student Preconference in February 2011 which gave them essential skills in leadership and evangelism.
LIZ: Earlier this year I had the privilege of organising the International Student Preconference (ISP) as part of my internship for CMF. While running that I got to know Alex and Vitalina, so when they invited me to attend their national conference I jumped at the chance. To be honest before I went I barely knew
anything about Ukraine, let alone anything about the Christians there or how the gospel is spreading, but when we arrived I was amazed at how God had used the ISP over the years – Rostyslav attended it a number of years ago and now is heading the medical student ministries there.
The ministry among medical students in Ukraine has been growing exponentially over the last few years – from just 15 christian students in 2008 to 350 now. It is set to
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n the 29 April 2011, while the whole world stood still to watch the Royal wedding, two CMF students were on
Ukraine (for those who don’t know!) is located just north of the Black Sea, bordering Russia to the north-east, Belarus to the north, and several eastern European countries to the west. The capital is Kyiv, and the population is about 46 million, slightly less than that of England, but in a land area more than four times the size. Ukraine may appear rather more in the news in 2012 as it hosts the European Football Championship finals along with neighbouring Poland.
continue as the team of people involved grows in number and in love for the Lord.
BEN: The students at the conference were mainly from Ukraine, but there was also a large international contingent, from countries as diverse as Ghana, Nigeria, Syria and India. We listened to lectures from both Ukrainian healthcare workers and expatriate
medical missionaries, on a range of subjects.
The conference was titled ‘Biblical principles for preventative medicine’. While CMF conferences in the UK have Christian topics with a medical perspective, this conference had mainly medical topics with a Christian perspective.
SUMMER 2011
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