Our Precious ABC (Abandoned Babies and Children) Kids

One of the most rewarding, and most emotionally draining, aspects of our work in Gorlovka, Ukraine is the care we provide for the abandoned and orphaned children. Walking through the hospital halls and into the rooms of the children is usually a joy and there is a sense of anticipation about seeing the children. Then you hold them, feed them, pray over them, and think about their situations. You want to “bring them all home” but you know you cannot. The walk away from the children can be absolutely depressing.
And yet… I remember when the children laid for hours in their beds without good diapers, without much food or drink, and, sadly, without nurture and interaction. Children who were two and three years old could not walk or talk. The children were “frozen” at the point of their abandonment – and their lives, not to mention their souls, withered. But thanks to the help of many Christians a new day has dawned in their lives. They now receive good meals, pampers, lots of love and attention and the facility where they live is suited to their needs. Your help in providing for these precious children is greatly appreciated. While we do not talk about the babies all the time, they are benefiting from your generosity 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. When you look in their eyes, you see all the thanks you need to keep you working for the children!

Yalta Retreat

Thirty folks from our church spent a week in Yalta July 1-8, 2006. Our theme was "Walking with Jesus." Our teens worked hard to produce the Children's Bible School and worked even harder on the community improvement projects in May and June. The time in Yalta was a well deserved rest and a time of great spiritual focus. Six of our young ladies were baptized in the Black Sea (believe it or not it was extremely cold!) on Friday July 7. The chaperones included the Payne's, Ira and Igor, and Kostya and Olga Farkovets.

Children's Bible School

We closed out our 2006 Children's Bible School with a bang. We had parents night - inviting the parents to come for the drama presentation at the end and stay for supper. We fed 160 people! It was a great event for our church family and the community around us. Thought you might like some more pictures...

The Foster's Visit to Ukraine

Our friends, Randy and Amy Foster, from the Palo Alto church in Panama City were recently with us for a couple of weeks. They painted a room at the Baby Hospital, worked on the beautification projects in our neighborhood and helped with Children's Bible School. Thanks Randy and Amy for blessing our lives with your time and talents.

Children's Bible School

We just finished our third night of Children's Bible School. We have more than 80 kids coming each night, being taught by our 30+ volunteers. Our theme is "Walking with Jesus" and we built a large Bible to serve as the backgrounds for our Bible stories. We are having almost all of it outside in the playground so that people in the community can see what is going on. We have had a lot of adults peering in at the learning centers and watching the drama. Hope you enjoy the pictures...

Pushkin Gardens

Our teens have been working hard the past couple of weeks on community improvement projects. To earn their spot for the Yalta Retreat the kids have to work in the neighborhood around the church and make a difference in the appearance of our community. Today we completed a great project that took a lot of effort. Unfortunately I did not take "before" pictures, so those who have never been here cannot imagine what it may have looked like. Let me assure you this is a great improvement and all our neighbors can't believe the beautiful garden we have created. People walking by stop and comment about it wondering why this is not happening at their buildings. Some folks from a nearby building have started asking if we want to buy an apartment in their building.
One great result of all this work on our common space is that many neighbors have pitched in to help. Probably the greatest surprise has been the enthusiasm of two couples who used to complain constantly about the church meeting in their building. They are outside everyday inspecting what's new and getting their hands involved with the work! Pray that our gardens will prove as effective in touching the hearts of our neighbors as the playground has been.

Family Care Center Update

The work at the Family Care Center is finally moving in the direction of positive construction! All the demolition is complete and we are working hard to complete two second floor apartments. The bedrooms have been created with metal studs and most of the sheet-rock is up. The electrician has done the wiring and the heating pipes and radiators have been installed. It is so exciting to visit and be able to discern the layout of the apartment. The bathrooms have been studded and the plumbers are almost finished with all the plumbing there - each apartment has two bathrooms! (This is an extreme luxury in Ukraine). In the larger bathroom there is also going to be a washer/dryer combo. The kitchen and living areas are also moving along nicely. Soon we will begin building the balconeys. We hope to have these two apartments completed in about a month. Please keep the project in your prayers.

Painted Playground

The teens have been busy with community improvement projects during the past week. For two days we cleaned and painted the playground. While the little children were sad for the playground to be closed while the work was being done and for several days for the paint to cure, they were so excited on Saturday when it opened again and was all bright and shiny - like new! The pictures are of the "best paint crew" in Ukraine.

Expanding Kingdom

We were thrilled last Sunday when Ira Grabko's parents, Vladimir and Svetlana, were baptized. They have been watching Ira's life closely, especially for the past few years, and they have seen her live as a faithful disciple of Jesus and they have noticed that God is blessing her life richly, through growing children, her marriage to Igor, and their adoption of Katya. Last week they watched "The Passion of the Christ" together and it gave Ira a chance to share the gospel message to them in response to their questions raised by the movie. They were moved by the love of Jesus and his willingness to suffer himself in order to help them. The power of the gospel is truly amazing. Nearly fifteen years of prayers were answered "YES" when I baptized Ira's mother and father last Sunday. The pictures are from the baptisms and show a happy church family.

Teens Cook-out at the Ponds

This week Kostya and Olga Farkovets took our teens to the ponds and treated them to a cook-out. I thought you might enjoy some pictures.

Sergey Korotya Update

Dr. Sergey Korotya, a member of our church family and the head doctor on the first floor of the baby hospital, had a heart attack in early April. Because he was not recovering in an acceptable way we decided to bring him to the United States for treatment. He arrived, along with Ira Grabko our translator, in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon, April 30. We had an appointment with Dr. Tompkins in Luverne on Monday and it was determined that Sergey needed to see a cardiologist. We had an appointment on Wednesday, May 3, with Dr. Crum in Montgomery who scheduled a heart catherization on Thursday afternoon. The catherization revealed blockage and Dr. Crum treated it with angioplasty and a stint. Sergey remains in Baptist Hospital South in Montgomery because his platelets are a little low. He should be released on Sunday or Monday. Thanks for your continued prayers.

Mission Completed

I talked to Lora a few minutes ago and she told me they completed the adoption this afternoon. They will begin travelling back home Wednesday night (our time) and will arrive in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida at 4:20 PM on Thursday, April 13th. Please keep them in your prayers.

Cross Culture Interns

We are thrilled to announce that two of our students in Gorlovka will now be interns with Cross Culture to work with the church and community in Gorlovka. Vanya and Dasha have been leaders in our youth group for years and they are both excellent students at the Language Institute in Gorlovka. Two years ago Vanya started working with visiting teams from America and due to his good skills and personality he has become in demand. Dasha has also started traveling some to help with visiting teams. We realized that if we wanted all our work of training these two disciples to be put to use to benefit our ministry we would have to staff them before they spend all their time "on the road" with other groups. Starting April 1 they are being given responsibilities for teaching in our youth program and working with community outreach programs. We are so thankful for how God has worked in the lives of these two "kids" (they were both in their early teens when they started attending our classes and youth activities)! Please pray for their new work and for them to continue to grow and bear fruit for Jesus.

Teen Devo in the Rain

Lora and the kids decided to "beat the winter blues" by having a bonfire devotional at our favorite place by the ponds in Gorlovka. So despite a slight drizzle they bundled up, grabbed some snacks and some songbooks (and wood for the fire) and headed out for an adventure. Vanya was kind enough to send me some pictures made from his cell phone (Lora forgot to take the camera). The teens are really enjoying Lora's visit. They had a sleep over at Lora's on Friday night - and didn't go home till nearly 2 PM on Saturday. Then they did the bonfire Saturday evening. Tomorrow afternoon they are all getting together again in the worship room. I am sure a trip to the bowling alley is imminent. Stay tuned...

Update on Lora and crew

After only a week away from the States Lora and the Barnes family are making remarkable progress on the adoption. All the paperwork preceding the court date is complete and they will have their court hearing on Friday morning. After that there is a waiting period (10 days) then they can complete the process in Kiev at the American Embassy and the National Adoption Center of Ukraine. They hope to be back home in the States on April 13th.
They are also checking on the progress at the Family Care Center. The weather is finally changing to spring so the pace of work will pick up shortly. The electrician has begun collecting supplies (an even bigger job than actually doing the work!) and he is set to begin installation soon. The plumbers have been hard at work for months and are approaching the end of their job. We should be ready to start the actual renovation of the apartments in the next six weeks.
The parliamentary elections in Ukraine happened last Sunday without incident and they are still tabulating the results. No one had an overwhelming margin so a coalition government will be formed. There is a lot of discussion currently about who will make up the coalition and what concessions will have to be made to form the majority. Please keep the political situation in your prayers.