NO PROBLEM by Jack Gilliland.

ON-LINE WITH PASTOR DALE
A Monthly Magazine

FEBRUARY 2001 ISSUE

"NO PROBLEM"
Matt. 16:18
"...and upon this Rock, I will build my church" . . .

One vivid impression of the Ukraine '96 mission trip with Bro. Dale Freeman was working with Pastor Boris Kotyk. Boris was a young man about 26 years old living in Kamanents Podolsky. Terry Sparkman, Clint Calvert and I were assigned to minister in his region. He and his wife Alla were very gracious and hospitable hosts. Alla took care of the food needs of this rather large trio, while Boris handled all the chauffeuring duties to various villages around the Kamanents area.

On one excursion of sight seeing Boris took us to the village where he pastored so we could see his new church building. Actually it wasn't there yet, but that's where this story begins.

Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 ". . .upon this Rock, I will build my church. . .". We saw that day a graphic illustration of God at work in the life of one young pastor living out the meaning of that verse. Jesus, of course, was referring to the rock of faith in Him, the Christ as the salvation of all who trust in Him.

Pastor Boris has that kind of faith. It's a faith that believes the Lord is indeed the builder of His church. But for some mysterious reason, He has allowed us, His children, to join Him in that endeavor. How? For pastor Boris that question is always answered in his favorite English phrase "no problem".

On this particular day we hiked into a rock quarry and saw an ordinary pile of rocks broken out of the small hillside. We asked the reason for this part of the trip only to find out this was the foundation material for the new church building. "How do you get them out, Boris?" we asked. "No problem." he answered as he pointed to a six foot steel bar that he used to bust out the rocks one at a time onto the monstrous pile. From there he carried them to his little car and piled several into the trunk and drove up to the little orchard where the foundation of the new building was in progress. I don't remember how long he had been doing this, but it was more than just a few days.

Terry, the Texas highway department workman, and I seemed to have the same thought while standing on that rock pile. What could this pastor do with a backhoe and some dump trucks? We both seemed to realize the Lord's answer to our question immediately. No. It's true that sometimes the Master builder chooses to use bond proposals, pledges, and special offerings to accomplish His work. Other times, however, all He needs to touch the hearts of some of His children is a young pastor and his wife with a willing heart.

That building is now standing upon those rocks, but the faith of that congregation is set squarely on the solid rock of "no problem" in Christ Jesus.

Jack Gilliland is a wonderful artist and teacher. He taught Art at Ozark High School and Yellville-Summit High School in Arkansas from 1973 - 2000. Not long after he went with me on a journey to the Ukraine, he retired and the Lord called him to serve as pastor of the Rea Valley Baptist Church. He serves there to this day, and still has a heavy burden for our wonderful friends in the former Soviet Union. Some of his artwork will appear in future issues of this On-Line Magazine.