I am not a pastor, a member of a missionary committee or someone who has gone overseas on a mission trip. Maybe I am not typical of the people who generally attend the Radstock Round Tables. I am, however, a member of a church that is committed to mission and I do support it practically. I was invited to attend Radstock's Round Table in Kiev in October by one of the Radstock directors, and after lots of discussions at home, I found that any objection that I could think of simply faded away. God had decided that it was a good idea, and so I said yes.

Arriving, I was a little apprehensive, as I only knew one person and I knew he would be busy. In no time at all I had met fantastic people from Albania, America, Iceland, Britain, Belarus, Ireland, Mongolia and not forgetting Ukraine. The common language is English, so communication was not a problem until it came to trying to read the Ukrainian signs that are written in the Cyrillic alphabet. Underlying all of it was God and the fellowship He engenders. It did feel like I was with my brothers and sisters. We may not have been able to discuss the finer details of theology because of the limitations of our language skills, but we were able to share a joke, understand the challenges we face and to encourage each other.

Radstock’s aim in a phrase is “Churches connecting Churches to plant Churches”. The Round Table does this in two ways. It has the formal face, which is based upon people talking about relevant topics and others reporting on plans and developments, all backed by prayer, Bible reading and worship. The informal face is the coffee time, the discussions over dinner and the one to one conversations in the corners of the room at odd moments. During this Round Table, we were able to visit the city centre in small groups where a delightful lady from the hosting church explained the recent events that have rocked the Ukraine. Being in a small group, we were able to get to know each other much better while we contemplated the recent history.

From my perspective, God gave me thoughts and concepts during the expositions and allowed me to explore them further during discussions over coffee or a meal or whenever. He encouraged me by the reports of faithfulness shown by the people who are out there reaching out, and He allowed me to encourage others by listening and praying. Even though I am not a typical Radstock Round Table delegate, I had a thoroughly enjoyable time learning that God is the God of all, no matter what language happens to be used. He cares about everyone – those who call Him Saviour now and those who don’t know Him well enough to just yet.

Would I recommend you go? If you want to learn God’s will for you and your Church in relation to mission, I’d say yes!