Retrospective (May)

Aviation camp has gone well. Arkadiy had 4 Romanians as his roommates and it was a lot of fun. One of them spoke good English, another one could knew 20% English, the other one knew about 40 words in English and the forth one did not speak any English at all. So that has definitely spiced up the adventure. God gave Arkadiy an opportunity to share Christ with them on few different occasions in private conversations. That has been a blessing! Thank you so much for praying for the opened doors! God layed Velu (name of the guy) on Arkadiy’s heart throughout the camp. He is a fine young man who studies psychology and who came to camp to prove to his friend that it won’t have any affect on him. Well, he was wrong. He went back home a different man who started seeking God purposefully. Isn’t God amazing! Overall camp was full of opportunities.

We took a trip to Arkadiy’s hometown recently to apply for a new international passport for Arkadiy, to remove Anneke’s wisdom teeth (there were two left) and to check Arkadiy’s right eye. It has been bugging him for a long time. It was a good trip and we were able to accomplish all things within a very short period of time! God is good! Concerning the eye issue things aren’t that great. There is a stitch that did not dissolve. And it irritates the eye. They told us that we basically have two options: 1. Live with it 2. Or have another surgery done. So we are praying and thinking about it.

Orphanage Ministry

Orphanage ministry is going well and the Lord is using it to His glory! There are some major changes taking place there. The previous director, who is a believer, was fired and now there is another director who is a sweet lady but an unbeliever. The latter one tries to change the staff, fires the previous staff and hires the new ones. So far the new director has been very nice to us and doesn’t mind us sharing the Gospel with the kids. Praise the Lord for that. Keep praying!

(Photo: Anneke getting ready to act out Paul, see Acts 16:16-34)

Summer Camps

The time of summer camps is coming and we are excited to see what the Lord will do this summer. God has provided good teams and we are now looking for campers. With every coming year it becomes more and more of a challenge, since people get busier and busier and to set apart 9-10 days during the summer becomes a little bit of a problem. Another thing is the economy of Ukraine is in a pretty pathetic stage. The inflation rate has been about 13,2% since the beginning of the year. So everyone became 13,2% poorer. So everyone is trying to find some opportunity to make extra money. That makes recruiting rather complicated. But our God is still God and He will bring His will about. (Photo: A look back on some of the faces we saw last year, keep praying for them and new people)

Bible Study Group

We got through the 1st book of John with the group of students who come to the Bible study. It was an interesting, challenging and encouraging adventure for them as well as for us. We will continue with the Bible Studies through the month of June. It is a joy to study the Bible together with brothers and sisters and to watch them grow, and at the same time, we grow as well.

One on One Discipleship

That has been going good as well. However one of the biggest struggles that Anneke and I face doing that is the fact that people’s schedules work very differently from one week to another. But we are trying the best we can with what the Lord has given us and trust Him and Him alone for the results.

Soccer Championship

On the 31st of May one of our ministry partners ran a soccer championship. Six teams were invited to come and compete. Most of them were unbelievers. As part of championship we had a Gospel presentation where Arkadiy shared the Gospel with the teams and people who came to watch it. Photos: Top to bottom: 1:Arkadiy preaching 2:Arkadiy in action! 3:Anneke takling with Marina 4:The church's team

Prayer requests for June:

*For Arkadiy’s eye and wisdom to make the right decision.
*For the orphanage ministry and the Lord to turn not only the hearts of the kids but the hearts of the staff to Himself.
*For the summer camps’ preparations and for recruiting the campers.
*For Velu from Romania, that the Lord will continue to keep working in his life, drawing Velu closer to Himself.
*For about 60 people who heard the Gospel at the Soccer Championship that God would work in their hearts and draw them closer to Himself.