My Dear Praying Friends!
I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!! I thank God for your faithful prayers for me over the last 20 years. God has done AMAZING things in the lives of many adults, youth and children because of your prayers.
I look forward to the New Year 2017 with anticipation of the many great things God has in store for each one of us. His grace and mercy are new every morning. May you know the wonder of that first Christmas this year as you celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Grace and peace to you and your family,

Denise

Pray for Natasha, Ira, Alonya and Lena who are experiencing many trials in their lives. Pray for them to grow spiritual and to learn to trust God in every situation.
Pray for our children's leaders as they prepare each week to share Jesus with our sweet children. Pray they will show Jesus' love in all their words and actions.
Pray for our new youth ministry we started in November. Pray that our team will be so filled with Jesus' love that we will love these dear young people to Jesus.
Pray for those living in east Ukraine near the war zone to come to know true peace found only in Jesus.
Pray for my home assignment from February 1 - March 20. Pray for me as I will be sharing in churches and with individuals about the great things God has been doing in our church in Petrovka.
Pray for our new believers Marina, Julie, Monica and Kolya to grow in the Lord.

Praise for our wonderful summer camp and for the 149 children who attended and for our leaders and cooks. Pray that seeds that were planted will bear fruit. One of our young boys, Kolya, repented in October.
Praise for our Children's Bible Club and the opportunity we have to share Jesus every week with our children.
Praise for our second baptismal service in our church.
Praise for the mom's who are growing in the Lord and for several who are asking questions about salvation.
Praise for the many Ukrainians who have come to know Jesus in east Ukraine this past year.
Praise to God for each one of you who support me through your prayers and giving.

December 14 - 28 I will be spending Christmas with my sweet daddy. This is my first Christmas without my mom and my dad's first Christmas without his wife of 65 years.

January 7 is Ukrainian Christmas. My dear friend, Sveta, is making angel costumes for our children's choir. We are inviting their parents to attend our Christmas program entitled "Christmas with the Angels".

February 1 - March 20 I will be in the States on Home Assignment. I plan to be in Florida from February 20 - March 6. I look forward to connecting with my churches and dear friends.

Christmas Fun

On December 3, we had our last Children's Bible Club for the year and it was a Christmas celebration. Our lesson was about the birth of our Savior, Jesus. We had two Christmas crafts for the children and it was a really fun time. Who would have thought that the children would love making snowmen masks and wearing them??? We were able to give a Christmas Children's magazine, candy cane, stickers and a bookmark to each child and again present them with toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss thanks  to Jenna Hoekwater and Marv and Dawn Snedeker who sent boxes filled with these gifts.

Igor and Oleg Preparing Gifts for our Children

Super Book Christmas

Marina and Igor with our Little Children Enjoying Cupcakes

Our Snowmen

More Snowmen

And More Snowmen

All our Snowmen

Ukraine Refugee Ministry in East Ukraine

Praise the Lord for the opportunity I had to travel to east Ukraine in November with one of my teammates and with my TEAM Donor Relations colleague, Doug. We were able to see first hand the wonderful ways God is at work in the lives of the refugees and how God is using His church to reach out to help those in need. We were greeted by a pastor and his wife who immediately became like family to us. We visited orphanages and churches and met with pastors and church leaders who minister within the war zone. We were able to provide food and medicine for the refugees and orphans. Please continue to pray for those who are living close to the war zone because they hear bombings every night and it is difficult for them to sleep. Pray for peace for these people and that they may come to know the Prince of Peace, Jesus. We visited one church where one year ago there were only 10 people and now over 100 attend and many have repented and have been baptized.

Our New Adopted Family

Doug and I with the pastor's daughters and their friends

Doug preaching and Denise translating

Sweet Children at an Orphanage

Floorball Sport Competition

On November 5, our Petrovka floorball teams were in a competition with other churches in our region. Our children and leaders worked really hard getting ready for this big day. Our younger team came in third place and our older team won FIRST PLACE!!! Praise the Lord for this sport ministry that reaches out to the young people in our community and gives them an opportunity to hear about Jesus.

3rd Place Winners - Valentin, Sasha, Dima, Olga, Radik and Kolya

1st Place Winners - Vlad, Alina, Oleg, Sasha, Donna and Igor

October Fall Camp

We had a wonderful opportunity to host a team from the Odessa Bible Institute where one of my co-workers studies. This team wanted to have a fall camp for our older children and help them to get deeper into the Word of God. The theme was "Not That Way, Jonah!" Our children became journalists for the week and we all had an AMAZING TIME!!! All of our groups had to interview someone in our town and ask questions about obedience to authority and to God. Our young children needed to interview the Director of the Technical College. When they showed up there were real journalists from a local TV station and the children got to meet them and were able to do their interview. One of our older groups interviewed the school principal and our last group interviewed the mayor of our town. We are so thankful for the team who came and served us and we ended up being helpers. Our children grew in the Lord and many were convicted of their own disobedience to parents and those in authority.

Our children with real journalists who showed up at the Technical College

One of our Older Groups Interviewing the School Principal

A Wild and Crazy Game with our Children Chasing these Guys for Sweets

Every Morning our Children Had Fresh Baked Goods! Yummy!!!

Harvest Celebration and Jim's Visit

We are so thankful to the Lord for our brother, Jim, who was able to visit with us again in October. He was a blessing to all of us by his sweet spirit and generous heart. Jim especially has a desire to bless the widows and orphans and he was able to fulfill that desire. Jim has also been our summer camp sponsor for the past two years and we thank God for him and his love for Ukraine and our church in Petrovka. We love you Jim!!!

Denise, Jim and Igor Purchasing Food for Widows

Our Sweet Girls Singing

Our boys reciting poetry about Jesus being the "Bread of Life"

My Children's Choir

SUPER BOOK

On September 17, we started the new school year with our Children's Bible Club. We are using the Super Book materials which has a children's film with a robot and two children who go back in time and experience Bible stories in person. We had 80 children attend our opening. We have several new leaders this year who have made a commitment to serve with us. We thank the Lord for Natasha who was baptized last year, for Sasha and Natasha - a couple from another church and for Marina, who repented in our church on September 11. We love our children and are thankful we have the opportunity to share Jesus with them every week!

Christina and Dasha

Igor, Dima and Kolya

20 YEARS IN UKRAINE

On September 2, I celebrated 20 years of serving in Odessa, Ukraine. I am so thankful for all of you who have financially and prayerfully supported me all these years. Thank you for partnering with me in the ministry. I was able to be with other TEAM missionaries on this day and we celebrated with a Chocolate Mozart cake!

Amanda, Kayla, Rochelle, Sierra, Elijah, Anna and Kurt

Baptismal Service

On August 21 we had our second baptismal service in our church. There were five people who were baptized - Natasha, Ira and Alonya from the mom's Bible study and one other lady, Lena. We also had  one young man, Eugene, who was from another small church. Please pray for the ladies from our church who were baptized and who are currently facing many trials in their lives.

Eugene, Ira, Alonya, Lena, Natasha

Summer Camp 2016

We want to thank all of you who supported our summer camp in July! It was the best camp we have ever had at our church. We had 149 children registered and 30 leaders and helpers. Our biggest day we had 127 children. At the start of our camp our children had to visit the heart doctor, ear doctor, eye doctor and throat doctor and have their medical card signed that they could participate in our camp. The doctors and nurses from our hospital came and participated with us at the opening. We had special classes with a dental hygienist who shared how to properly brush and care for your teeth. Some of my supporters had helped with preparing bags with toothpaste, toothbrushes and floss that we gave to all the children at the end of the day. We had a sports instructor who taught our children about exercise and they actually had a workout. We also had one day that we shared about personal hygiene and we presented the children with shower gel and shampoo. We are so thankful for our cooks who fed our children and leaders every day. They were awesome!!! The main theme was that to be spiritually healthy you need to know Jesus!!!

If You Want to Be Healthy

Checking out Misha's Heart!

Time to Pray

Having Fun in Happy Jump!

Our Cooks!!! Two of the ladies are from My Bible Study Groups

Best Ever Summer Camp in Petrovka!

Pray for Me

Have a Happy Summertime!!!

My Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayers for our ministry in Petrovka. God has been answering your prayers and we have seen many people growing in the Lord and many who have come to know Jesus as their Savior. Thank you for persevering in prayer for the people in Petrovka and especially for the young moms who attend my Wednesday Bible studies. There are currently five moms from my group who are planning to be baptized on August 21. Please pray for Ira, Alona V.,  Victoria,  Alona and Natasha. Alexandra and Lena are two other ladies who are preparing for baptism as well. Pray for them as they make this important step in their lives to walk with the Lord.
Please pray for me as I have extra responsibilities this summer and I am feeling really tired. Just yesterday I opened up an e-mail and the title was "I Will Give You Rest". I was reminded of the verse from Matthew 11:28-30 - "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Pray that I will make time to BE STILL before the Lord and renew my strength. My word for this year is ABIDE. Pray that I will abide in Him and bear fruit for His glory this summer.
Please note that my mission board has a new mailing address for contributions:
TEAM, P. O. Box 1986, Grapevine, TX 76099-1986
May God give each one of you a fruitful and restful summer.
With much love,
Denise

Praises and Prayer Requests

- for wonderful Ukrainian Christmas celebrations and for three young husbands who attended our New Year celebrations with their wives who come to the young mom's group.
- for five moms who had their children blessed in our church this year.
- for new babies, Sarah and Vova.
- for the 102 children who attended our Annual Easter Egg Hunt.
- for a great visit with my friends from Calvary Church, Marv and Dawn Snedeker.
- for the salvation this year of Lera, Sasha G., Dima, Sasha, Radik, Valik, Victoria, Lena, Alona, Lida, Ira and Igor.
- for Oleg and Alona's marriage being blessed in our church.
- for new people attending our church thanks to the dental ministry for our children in Petrovka.
- for the new sport, Floorball, which is drawing new youth to our church.

Pray for Sergei, Vova and Dima to be open to the Gospel. Pray they would have a desire to attend church with their wives who have come to know the Lord.
Pray for God to provide a babysitter this fall to watch our small children for our young mom's group.
Pray for my daddy to know God's will about his future living situation which could mean a possible move to be nearer by sister and her family in Florida.
Pray for some of our adults who are starting to have dental work done.
Pray for my summer intern, Courtney Hoekwater, as she ministers to our children, youth and adults.
Pray for our summer camp coming up July 26-31. Pray for God to work in the lives of our children and that they will be open to hear the Gospel and come to know Jesus.
Pray for the seven ladies who are preparing to be baptized on August 21.
Pray for wisdom for our church plant team as we are praying how we can minister to the adults and children in the village, Alexandrevka, which is near Petrovka. We will be picking up 12 children from this village to attend our summer camp. Pray for fruit from this effort to share the Gospel with children who don't have a church in their town.
Pray for God to provide new teammates as our ministry continues to grow.

Summer Camp 2016

Please pray for our team as we make preparations for our summer camp coming up on July 26-31. We are expecting approximately 120 children this year. Our theme is "If You Want to be Healthy". We plan to have a dental hygienist come and share how to care for their teeth and someone will share about personal hygiene. The first day of camp is about the epidemic of sin. The second day is a vaccination against laziness. The third day deals with pricks of envy. Day four is therapy for disobedience and the fifth day is x-ray for pride. Please pray for our leaders, helpers and cooks as we minister to our children in Petrovka. We are inviting children from a village close to Petrovka this year. The children in this village don't have a church and some of them may be hearing about Jesus for the first time. Pray for God to work in the lives of our children and that they will be open to hear the Gospel and open their hearts to Jesus.

Courtney Hoekwater - My Summer Intern

A big welcome to Courtney who is from one of my supporting churches. She has been to Ukraine at least six times on short term mission teams. Courtney has a special love for Ukraine and expressed a desire back in December to return to Ukraine for ministry. Praise the Lord that she arrived on July 7 and will be here ministering with our team in Petrovka for almost seven weeks. So thankful for her sweet spirit and willingness to help out in any way. Pray for Courtney as she adjusts to the Ukrainian culture. Pray that God will use her as she ministers to children, youth and adults.

Courtney

Courtney

Floorball Competitions in April and June

Praise the Lord for our new sport ministry Floorball. We have about seven new boys attending our church thanks to this outreach. In April our youth were involved in a competition in a nearby town and our young people came in first place. In June we had a Floorball competition in Petrovka and three professional floorball players from east Ukraine came to lead the competition. The director of our public school in Petrovka gave us permission to use the gymnasium and she asked one of the cooks to prepare lunch for the 85 students who were competing. We are so thankful for her willingness to open the school up for us. Our older team came in first place and our young team came in fourth place. It was an exciting day for our youth. Please pray that God will use this sport ministry to reach young people for Christ. My teammate, Oleg, leads this group and he starts training off with a message from the Bible using character traits of a believer.

First Place Winners on April 23

Our Petrovka Team

Professional Players in White - Denis, Andrew and Michael

Our Two Petrovka Teams

Dental Ministry to Children and Adults

My teammate and I became concerned last fall when we began to notice that a lot of our children who attend our Bible club have serious problems with their teeth. We were able to contact a children's dentist who agreed to help us fix their teeth. We have one mother and another young family who began attending our church services due to this new ministry. At our church camp this summer we will be having a dental hygienist come and talk to the children about how to care for their teeth. A big thank you to Jim Winslow, Marv and Dawn Snedeker and Jenna Hoekwater who prepared dental packets with toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss for the children. We are starting to work with some of the adults in our church who also have serious dental problems.
Pictured below are some of the children who have had dental work done:

Olga

Nicolai

Dima

Inna

Radio

Eugene