Great Weekend in Gorlovka

The weekends in Gorlovka are full of classes and other events and this weekend was no exception. Lora and Leanna Payne teach a young children's for about ten kids; they are learning both the English alphabet and language and Bible stories. Of course, there are crafts, snacks and playtime! The young teens have a class at 2 PM taught by Ira Grabko and then at 4 PM another class tuaght by Kenny Payne. They also have a class on Sunday at 2 PM taught by Kenny Payne - they just can't get enough of being together as a group. The older teens and college age meet on Saturday nights at 7 PM.

This weekend we also attended an event for older teens/college age called Exit. Our college age girls made presents to give to everyone - a candy bar wrapped in a decorated wrapper with Jeremiah 29:11 handwritten on each bar. Exit was a great event that focused on the meaning of love - hosted on Valentine's Day. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Game Night

Sunday, January 17, we hosted a game night for our college age group and a group from another local church in Gorlovka. (They had previously invited our group to an event at their place). We had about 35 teens and young adults present for singing, playing interactive games, sharing a meal, and playing Wii, ping pong, air hockey, etc. It was great for both of our groups to realize that there are other Christian teens in the city who are seeking to live as disciples of Jesus. Enjoy the pictures.

Church Christmas Party

Ukraine follows the Eastern Orthodox calendar so Christmas is January 7, not December 25. We had a great Christmas party on Christmas Eve for the church family. There were over 50 folks present and we shared a great meal, had a talent show and exchanged gifts by playing Dirty Santa. No one wanted to go home and the party didn't end until about 10:30. Enjoy the pictures.

College New Year's Party

Recently we had a New Year's party for our college age (and a couple of late high school age) students. We decided to have a "Crazy Hat Party" and go bowling. Like everywhere, kids here do not like to be embarrassed - so we thought it would be a great idea to make their crazy hat the ticket to go bowling! It was a great time which ended with supper at our house followed by a rousing game of Dirty Santa (and then lots of Mario Cart Racing!).

Happy New Year

Today the teens created 24 fruit baskets and distributed them to members of our church and other folks in our neighborhood. It was a great time of fun, giving, and sharing love with the elderly people who live around us. We sang to each person and Kenny and Lexi dressed up as Deed Moroz (Russian "Uncle Frost") and Snigorichka (Russian "Snow girl" his niece). Everyone enjoyed the visit from the kids and sang along and one babushka even danced along! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Winter Has Arrived

We have enjoyed unseasonably warm weather this fall - until about 10 days ago. It snowed a little and stayed cold. Then last night during Bible study time it started snowing and has not stopped yet. It is a winter wonderland or a nightmare, depending on whether you have to be out in it, or if you just want to get out and play. Many schools have closed again due to a recurrence of the flu epidemic. I took some pictures while I was out today of the main street in town covered in snow - I was surprised that the authorities had not been able to clear the streets! Enjoy the pictures...

ABC Update

I visited the Baby Hospital today and saw our precious kids. It was shortly after lunch and right before they fell asleep for their afternoon naps. It is always an emotional experience to visit the kids because you want to take them all home and give them all the love they are missing, even though that is not possible.

We currently have 20 children in our care. Please keep them in your prayers that God will bless them with forever families. Also please keep the staff at the hospital in your prayers as they continue to provide care and love for these precious children.

At the end of this month we will complete our tenth year in providing for the children. Some of you have been sponsoring children the entire time, others have just recently begun providing support - either way, thanks for giving so that the children can have their basic needs provided. Your sacrifices are making a tangible difference in their lives.

Update and Happy Thanksgiving

As you may have seen on international news, Ukraine has been under a quarantine to attempt to halt the spread of the flu epidemic. The kids were out of school for three weeks and all large public gatherings were banned. We are working on renovating an apartment for storage and guests who visit and decided to let the kids help us with some wall removal. They worked really hard for a couple of days and wanted to be rewarded with a lock-in. Last Friday night I gave them their wish. We all had a great time together and did not get much sleep (because the kids wanted to talk all night long). The quarantine is finally over and the kids have returned to school (much to the joy of their parents)!

Our church family is doing well despite several folks who have had the flu. We began a new mid-week class on Christian Identity in a Pagan World (Lessons from 1 Peter). All our children's and teen/college age classes are going well, too. If you are celebrating Thanksgiving today (as we are) we hope that you will praise God for the many blessings he has given to you and your family. Thanks for being such faithful ministry partners.

Halloween Party

We had a great Halloween Party tonight. We had a hayride, played lots of games, roasted hot dogs and had a haunted house. The weather turned cold this week forcing us to have most of the activities in the worship room rather than outside as originally planned. There were a lot more kids than workers so we did not even manage to get a good count of those who attended. It was a wonderful time and everyone had a lot of fun and got a bag full of candy and prizes.