Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

g- nised officially with a larger role? Evangelicals in charitable institutions have had to make their peace with the social sciences, especially psychology. For example, when they began work in 1997, the staff of Good Shepherd Children’s Shelter believed that the Bible contained all they needed to know to care for neglected children. A few years later they concluded that they needed other tools as well to deal with the serious psychological needs of some of the children they encountered. Likewise, the director of a rehabili- tation centre for released prisoners in Makiivka, sponsored by Light of the Resurrection Charitable Fund, recently noted that his greatest needs included contact with similar institutions, further education, and general systematisation of knowledge for work with former prisoners. More and more staff members of new evangelical institutions see the need for formal study, especially in the areas of pedagogy, social work, psychology, economics and law. Theological schools such as Donetsk Christian University are seeking to incorporate at least components of some of these subjects into their degree programmes. Will specialised 10. education eventually challenge the strong faith motivation of Ukrainian evangelicals? Through engagement in social service ministries, Ukrainian evangeli- cals have developed new relationships with state authorities. Complex, numerous and often conflicting government demands can create hostility, an “us” against “them” mentality. However, in many cases attitudes have also improved. In some places, authorities have recog- nised their need of the services Christians provide and evangelicals have acknowledged the governments good intentions. Meanwhile, Christians have to answer many questions. What is the best way to deal with government structures? Specifically, how much should one report to the authorities (health and fire departments, etc.)? One irony of social service work, particularly with children, is that no one cares about the children on the street, but once under a roof, they officially have to be accounted for to numerous government structures — a time- consuming, nerve-wracking process that Christians may be tempted to short-circuit with bribes. Some evangelical organisations choose to work as quietly as possible to avoid entanglement in government regu- lations. While doing charitable work and forming new organisations, Chris- tians have had to develop new ways to work together, including conflict management, appeals procedures, and methods of communication. They have dealt with questions that never arose in the Soviet Union. How does one handle hiring and firing? Wages? Promotion? Should a Baptist group hire a Pentecostal? Should Christians hire an unbe- liever? The most vexing question of all is sustainability. How can social service work - particularly the resource-consuming institutions — be kept func- tioning? Support from the West h