Search
Close this search box.

My European Tour: A Travelogue

I’m sure you’ve noticed I haven’t posted much this month. Most of that is due to being out of the country for ten days. In fact, I returned this past Thursday. Accompanied by two other men from my church, I traveled to L’viv, Ukraine, to lead a conference for local church leaders. It was the first time for me to go overseas and I enjoyed it immensely. I hope to blog about things I’ve learned but for this post, I simply want to sketch out where we went and what we did.

For starters, our initial flight was essentially cancelled. Chris, a lay leader from our church who also happened to be our trip guide and Ukraine veteran, worked it out where we could fly from Houston to London to Munich where we would spend the night and travel to L’viv the next day. Munich was absolutely stunning. Nicest airport I’ve ever seen – clean, efficient, pretty. Shortly after arriving we darted downtown to take in the sights. Even though our new schedule called for us to arrive in L’viv a day later than originally planned, our brief stay in Munich was worth it.

L’viv is a very old city in a very young country (Ukraine gained its independence only twenty years ago with the collapse of the Soviet Union). The people are gracious, approachable and carry with them a rich history. The church has her challenges. Less than 2% of Ukraine is evangelical. And for those evangelical churches there are mountains to climb: certain traditions which inhibit gospel growth, pervading assumptions about church-in-culture and a general lack of theological and pastoral training for far too many leaders. I can only hope that our time there moved the ball down the field in helping the Ukrainian church make disciples.

After Ukraine we traveled to England to spend time with Steve Timmis, pastor, author and Director of Acts 29 Western Europe. Steve’s book Total Church was one of my favorite reads last year. His approach to making disciples is biblical, balanced and thought-provoking. He is also a brilliant thinker, keen theologian and genuine follower of Christ. I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with Steve while he was in the States but it was even more special to visit him in his backyard…literally. Steve and his wife Janet opened their home in Sheffield to us as we spent the day with him talking about making disciples, gospel ministry and the benefits of listening to really good hip-hop. It was a time of great food, laughter and fellowship with our beloved brother from England.

All that and more. This post was simply to let you know where I’ve been. Hopefully future posts will share what I’ve learned.

Yancey Arrington
Dr. Yancey C. Arrington is an eighth generation Texan, Acts 29 Network and Houston Church Planting Network fan, and Teaching Pastor at Clear Creek Community Church in the Bay Area of Houston. He is also author of Preaching That Moves People and TAP: Defeating the Sins That Defeat You, and periodically writes for Acts 29 and The Gospel Coalition.

7 thoughts on “My European Tour: A Travelogue”

  1. Thanks for the update Yancey. Glad you had a great time with friends – I want to visit Ukraine one day. Shai Linne is releasing a new album you might wanna pre order soon!

  2. Awesome travelogue, Yancey!:) I like the pictures :))))
    It was so great to meet you, Karl and Chris here in Lviv ๐Ÿ™‚
    You guys were a biggest blessing for us!!!
    And thank’s for your message at this leaders conference! It was really really helpful !!!:)
    I learned a lot of useful stuff for my ministry and for life ๐Ÿ™‚
    Thanks for a great motivation !
    Blessings to you ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. Hey Yancey,
    I just met a friend of yours on a trail in Oregon named Scott James. He forwarded your link to me so I thought I’d say hi. I’m currently getting a book published and he told me about Tap. Funny enough, I’d seen that book earlier in the year and wanted to get it. I’ll probably pick it up soon. Anyways, you hung out with a buddy of mine, Steve Timmis. I co-founded New Breed with Dai Hankey, and we’re now in partnership with Acts29 under Steve. I’m setting up New Breed in the States now…so am based in California. Anyways, maybe our paths will cross someday. We seem to run in the same circles. Keep up the good work! Peyton

  4. Glad you’re back! I’m stoked to hear what you learned in Ukraine and your thoughts on how to train the pastors and bring the gospel there.

  5. How did you get from Munich to L’viv, and how long did it take? We will be traveling next week from L’viv to Munich…WizzAir is not flying out of L’viv right now, and I’d like to know how long it would take to go from L’viv to Munich by train, or if there is a faster route to fly. Thank you so much!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MORE ARTICLES