This translation is not completely accurate as it was automatically generated by a computer.
Powered by
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
4:00 P.M. ET July 10, 2012
The Rev. David Goran, shown here being commissioned as a missionary
during a 2009 ceremony in Stamford, Conn., was injured while serving as a
student ministry director in L’viv, Ukraine. A UMNS file photo by
Cassandra M. Zampini.
View in Photo Gallery
A United Methodist volunteer from Texas and a Ukrainian student were
killed July 10 and a missionary seriously injured when a building’s
roof collapsed in L’viv, Ukraine.
The fatal accident, which occurred while repairs were being made to a
church-related facility, was confirmed in a news release issued by the
United Methodist Texas Annual (regional) Conference and United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries. A mission team representing
members of both First United Methodist Church in Sugar Land, Texas, and
Lakewood United Methodist Church, Houston, were making the repairs.
David Nevotti, a member of the Sugar Land church, and Illya
Onoprienko, a member of the student ministry of the University of L’viv,
were fatally injured during the collapse.
The Rev. David Goran, a United Methodist missionary serving in L’viv
as a student ministry director, was seriously injured and plans were
being made to move him to a hospital in Kiev.
The mission work in Ukraine, an outgrowth of student ministry, is part of the United Methodist Russia Initiative.
The L'viv United Methodist Church serves a largely downtown
population of young people. One of its ecumenical ministries, “Youth
for Jesus,” includes Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant students, with
the goal of uniting and organizing "young people to understand,
practice and grow in living Christian faith."
Goran and his wife, Shannon, were commissioned in 2009 by the Board of Global Ministries and Goran was ordained an elder last month by the Ukraine/Moldova Annual Conference. They have two young children.
L’viv has about 150,000 college students, but the schools do not
have traditional campuses. For several years, the Gorans had run their
ministry from a fourth-floor apartment in a downtown building. There,
they offered tea and cookies, free Internet access, a clean bathroom
and a place for students to hang out, do homework and take part in
Bible studies.
But, more space was needed, says Jan Snider, a United Methodist
News Service producer who visited Ukraine early in the spring of 2010.
This year, work was initiated on a new space a couple of blocks from
the old apartment. In a May 14 post on their blog, Shannon Goran reported that remodeling had begun.
The Gorans had appreciated the continuing assistance from United
Methodist Volunteer in Mission teams in realizing their mission dreams,
Snider said. “They were always inspired to have those VIM teams come
in the summer and help them.”
Nevotti, a member of the Sugar Land church for 16 years, was one of those dedicated team members.
Kip Johnson, the director of missions and children/student choirs at
the church, called him a “kind and gentle” spirit. “He always was
thinking of other people, and if he knew of something (difficult) that
was happening in somebody’s life, he would come and talk to the pastors
and say, ‘Let’s see what we can do about this.’ He just loved people.”
The Sugar Land congregation, which has about 3,700 members, has
planned trips to Ukraine since 2006, but this was Nevotti’s first
mission experience outside the United States.
“He just felt called to this mission field,” Johnson said. “In fact,
a year ago, we weren’t able to field a team, and he was disappointed.
So this year, he and his wife, too, were very excited to go on this team
to Ukraine.”
‘Gentle spirit, humble attitude’
Back in L’viv, Onoprienko was a member of the United Methodist
ministry’s leadership team. He helped coordinate the Thursday night
worship service and played in the worship band. The Gorans appreciated
“his gentle spirit, his humble attitude and his love of the Lord.”
He was featured in a short video about the ministry in Ukraine shown during the 2012 United Methodist General Conference this spring in Tampa, Fla.
Houston Area Bishop Janice Riggle Huie and Thomas Kemper, the
mission board’s top executive, expressed their “deep sorrow” over the
accident.
“We, of course, mourn this loss of one member of our church family,
but also the loss of the young man from Ukraine, who was our partner in
mission,” they said in a statement. “May God be with his family and
the Nevotti family to surround them with love.
“We also pray for healing for our missionary, Rev. Goran, and for
all those who are suffering as a result of this tragedy, including the
communities at the University of L’viv and First United Methodist
Church, Sugar Land, and Lakewood United Methodist Church.”
Others now serving in L’viv through the Board of Global Ministries are
Michael B. Airgood, a missionary assigned as a church planter and youth
ministry developer; Nicholas L. Haigler, a mission intern working as a
service and outreach coordinator at the L'viv United Methodist Church;
and Katharine “Katie” Steele, a mission intern assigned as service and
outreach coordinator of Youth to Jesus, an interdenominational
ministry linked to The United Methodist Church there.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York. Follow her at http://twitter.com/umcscribe. UMNS multimedia reporter Heather Hahn contributed to this story.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
About UMC.org
RSS Feed
Press Center
Contact Us