Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

as eroded as Westerners have begun to prioritise aid to other parts of the world. How can churches and organisations finance their own ministries? Some charitable organisa- tions seek to develop a sense of responsibility for their ongoing exist- ence among local churches. They have had some success, but cash-poor Christians have money worries of their own. What is the most effective, faithful way to develop the ministry of giving, or encourage income- generating initiatives? How does a Christian institution combine faith in God's provision with people's actual potential to give? Social problems are interrelated, and evangelical institutions are finding that addressing one issue compels them to address others as 221 well. For example, some children who lived in Christian shelters or orphanages in the 1990s have now grown up and had children of their own, often repeating their parents’ mistakes. Does the institution have continued responsibility for them? What can be done to help keep families together before they abandon their children, or to restore families whose children are now in institutions? Moreover, new social challenges are appearing all the time. For example, will the evangelical churches have anything to say about the AIDS epidemic, or will they - pass over that issue in silence? 11. Many leaders of Christian charitable organisations are women. Will that eventually affect the position of women in evangelical churches? 12. Where might social service ministries lead in the future? A quiet invi- tation was made to church leaders by the Ukrainian government in 2005 to recommend honest, educated people for government service. Will some of the people now managing charities go into politics? This list is far from comprehensive, and clearly, all these issues are inter- twined. Nevertheless, involvement in social service ministries has the poten- tial to change the way society regards Ukrainian evangelicals, bring them into the mainstream, and compel thinking outside of their theological tradi- tion. Whether or not those are necessarily good things remains to be seen. Conclusion Charitable activity changed from visible to invisible after the Bolshevik revolution. During the Soviet period, church activity was strictly limited and private charity as it was practised in the second half of the nineteenth century officially disappeared. Evangelical Christians cared for their own poor, but could not minister openly to the wider society. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, social service ministries have become a significant part of evangelical activity and identity in Ukraine. What was a despised subculture in the Soviet period now creatively responds to the needs of a demoralised and confused society. The change is striking, yet it is not surprising that the people who pick up the pieces are those whose worldview does not change when earthly kingdoms fall. In general, evan- gelica