Primitive Camping and Music Festival

Our family and about 10 kids involved in our college age ministry spent last week at the beach in Crimea, Ukraine camping and attending a Christian Music Festival called "White Nights." The camping was quite primitive and the mosquitoes were terrible, but we all had a great time despite the things that we did not like so much. Our favorite band was "Unbelievable" and the three band members are active in our campus ministry. The music was good and our group spent a lot of time together, encouraging each other and getting to know one another better. Many of the students also attended the teen retreat in Berdyansk a few weeks ago. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Teen Retreat in Berdyansk

Last week we were in the seaside city of Berdyansk with our teens for our second annual retreat. Our theme was "Be Happy - Living the Blessed Life" and we studied the beatitudes. There were twenty five of us and everyone had a great time. We had a couple of classes each day along with an evening devotional around the campfire, craft time (which is always a hit), good meals, morning and evening games, annual talent show (with a loose definition of talent), and a lot of beach time. As a special treat we rented a Sea-Doo for a couple of hours and let the kids ride - it was their first time riding one. We are so thankful to have such a good youth group.

ABC Update

Today we bought and delivered Pampers and supplies for the children at the Baby Hospital. Although we arrived at nap-time I was still able to get some good pictures of the kids.

We had a nice visit with the head nurse who told us about one of the children who was adopted from the baby hospital about 8 years ago by a Ukrainian family. The family is interested in adopting another child and they recently visited the baby hospital. The little girl was so overwhelmed by the precious children that she told her mother, "We just have to take one of these children home!" This girl, who is now about 10, does not know that she is adopted (many Ukrainians think it is better for adopted children not to know about their adoption). It was almost overwhelming for the head nurse to see the strong emotion and desire to help from a child who herself was in the same situation not too many years ago. It reminded me that we are all blessed so that we will become a blessing for others.

Thanks to all our sponsors who make it possible to bless these precious children.

Service Project

For our service project two weeks ago on Friday Fun Day we recovered chairs in the worship room. The kids took the chairs apart, washed them, covered them with new material and then reassembled them. They also worked on their scrapbooks for the summer. We are truly blessed with a great youth group.

Friday FUN Day!

Summer is in full swing again and the teens are having a blast at Friday FUN Day. From 11 to 5 every Friday the teens have a Bible lesson on the beatitudes of Jesus, sing, play, do a service project, eat lunch and snacks, attend a fun activity and just enjoy being together. In the past two weeks we have cleaned up the neighborhood, made get well and thinking of you cards for Babushka Clava, visited with Babushka Clava, gone to the ponds to ride the paddle boats and gone bowling. Thanks to our donors who make it possible for us to provide this great activity for the kids.

Weekend Activities

We had a great weekend full of worship, classes, and game night. Our high school and college age girls are doing an intensive study called "Breaking Free" which involves daily homework. We reward those who do their homework with chocolate and we also had a fondue party after class on Saturday.

For game night we had an evening or tournaments; games included "Paper, Scissors, Rock," "Thumb War," ping pong, air hockey, Mario Cart Racing, etc. We had a worship set led by Pasha, Leanna, and Ignat. It was an evening of food, fun, and fellowship, enjoyed by all.

Gifts for the Children at Hope Orphanage

Today we took duffel bags loaded with flip flops, a large towel (one kid said, "Wow, it is so big."), a package of underwear, a toothbrush and plastic case, toothpaste, and soap with a plastic case. The kids will all attend camp this summer and this was a great start for their packing. The kids were all excited and could not hide their smiles. It was a little heartbreaking to see them so excited about towels; my kids take towels for granted. Thanks to our sponsors who generously share each month so that the children can have these blessings. It was quite humbling to see the kids so excited about these basic items and it reminded us that Jesus was right when he said it is blessed to serve "the least of these." One girl, who is not yet sponsored, asked us, "Will everyone receive a bag, or is it just for these children?" That was heartbreaking. We still need 25 more sponsors. If you have friends who might be willing to sponsor a child, why not ask them and share your joy to be a sponsor with them.

Neighborhood Clean-up

For the past week the weather has been wonderful in Gorlovka and we have made good use of it. We have removed old bricks from the garden, hauled them off and replaced them with three hundred new ones. We also spread eight tons of topsoil in the garden area and created a new flower bed. We moved eight tons of sand to create a volleyball court in the area adjacant to the playground and fill up the playground sandbox. We hauled and spread twenty tons of gravel all over the premises and tonight another twenty tons was delivered. We have our work cut out for us tomorrow. Thankfully there are a lot of neighbors and church members who help out with these projects. Also our teens and every little kid in the neighborhood help as well. Sometimes we have to be patient with the little ones, but it is important that they learn the value of serving in the name of Jesus.

Sparrow's Hope Store

Yesterday we restocked the Sparrow's Hope store at Hope Orphanage. The kids can shop at the store several times a month using the credits they earn from doing their chores and other work. Several of the kids helped us haul all the supplies to the store which is on the fourth floor of the orphanage. They all hung around to watch as we filled the shelves. They also asked for a "sneak peak" of the new items so that they would know in advance what they may want to purchase. It has been fun for us to shop for items to go in the store. Every time we go shopping we are on the hunt for good things for the kids. It is also fun to see the kids shop at the store - they are so grateful for the opportunity. Thanks to all our sponsors who make it all possible.