President Haynal and AAA Team Visit Ukraine

The AAA team poses in front of the Euro-Asia Division apartment
complex with the UACHE administrative team.

CUC President Mark Haynal was part of an Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA) team that recently visited Ukrainskiy Adventistskiy Centr Vishchoi Osvity (Ukrainian Adventist Center of Higher Education or UACHE) in Bucha, a small town on the outskirts of Kiev.  "In countries where regional accreditation is not well-established, accreditation with AAA is a very useful tool for demonstrating academic credibility," explained Haynal.

Ukrainian Adventist Center of Higher Education is the umbrella organization governing two separate institutions that share the same campus.  Ukrainian Institute of Arts and Sciences (UIAS) was established in 1999, with an enrolment of 310, grants bachelor's degrees in seven disciplines.  The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary in Ukraine offers its 183 students a Bachelor's degree in Practical Theology and the Master's in Divinity in Children and Adolescent Ministry.

"I was deeply moved by how much the students love their school," said Haynal.  "I was surprised that one of several reasons they gave was that the teachers do not demand bribes from their students in order to pass the course!"

Many know that Dr. Haynal thoroughly enjoys eating all sorts of ethnic foods.  "While much of what I ate in Ukraine would not be on the CHIP diet, it was delicious food," explained Haynal.  "Because the work was intense and the days were long and filled with interviews and writing reports every meal was a special treat for me!" 

 

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Canada was well-represented during this visit.  The team leader was former SDACC Director of Education, Dr. Mike Lekic, now with the General Conference Office of Education.  Also on the team was former Treasurer of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Conference Brent Burdick, who is now treasurer of the Euro-Asia Division.

Dr. Haynal's maternal great-grandfather, Theophil A. Babienco, grew up in the village of Tarascha, about 140 km south of Kiev.  There he began keeping the Sabbath as a result of his own Bible study.  Because he was convincing many others to keep the Sabbath the Orthodox Church had him banished first to Starvropol in northern Caucasus and later to Huresy, near Mount Ararat.

It was while exiled in Starvropol that Babienco learned of Seventh-day Adventists and officially joined the church.  During his time in Starvropol, Babienco sneaked back to Tarascha and established there an Adventist church.  "I was surprised to find many of the people I met while in Ukraine knew the Babienco name and about the work my great-grandfather did," said Haynal.  The SDA Encyclopedia entry on Babienco can be viewed here.