Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

For Unto Us is Born This Day in the City of David A SAVIOR, who is Christ the Lord!

Dear Praying Friends!
I want to express to all of you how grateful I am for your faithfulness in supporting my ministry in Ukraine the past 22 years. You are truly partners with me in the Gospel to reach Ukrainians with the good news that Jesus Christ was born to save us from our sins.
I pray you all had a Blessed Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends. I thank the Lord that I have been able to be in the States and spend time with my father who is 88 years old. We have visited with family and are enjoying our time together.
I pray that God will bless you all during this Christmas season and in the coming New Year 2019.

With love,
Denise

Praise for my churches and individual supporters that continue to faithfully pray and support our ministry in Petrovka!
Praise for our new couple, Dennis and Rosa, and their daughter, Karina, who have joined our church plant team. We are so blessed to have them!
Praise for the completion of the Yellow House and the joy of using it for our ministries.
Praise for the five girls that came to know the Lord this past summer in our youth camp.
Praise for our three young boys and three young girls who are serving with us in our Children's Bible Club on Saturdays.

Pray for our Sunday Services that the Spirit of God would move in the hearts of those who aren't believers.
Pray for new people to attend our New Year's and Christmas celebrations in our church.
Pray for a special Christmas Party I plan to have on December 27 for the ladies in Petrovka. Pray for me as I share the Christmas story.
Pray for six of our youth that want to be baptized next summer. Their names are Olga, Sveta, Diana, Valik, Kolya and Sasha. Pray for them to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and to be witnesses for Him in their schools and at home.
Pray for the new ladies' meetings I will begin in January. I will be using Lectio Divina - a practice of Scripture reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word.
Pray that God will give us wisdom and clear direction in our new building project and pray that all the finances will be provided to complete this project.

Building a New Church

On October 9, I received a letter from a foundation asking if I had a project. At that moment, I didn't have a project, but God gave me a new vision for our church to be able to expand. We found out that the property right next door to our Yellow House was for sale. Jim Winslow was with us when we looked at the property and he felt led to give $1,000.00 for a downpayment on the property so that we wouldn't lose it to another buyer. Please pray with us that all the funds will be provided to purchase the property and for wisdom in how to move forward in this special project. God has blessed us with an architect who has drawn up plans for the new church building. If you would like to make a donation to help us build our new church please send your donation to: TEAM, P.O. Box 1986, Grapevine, TX 76099-1986. We are believing God for great and mighty things in the New Year 2019!

The New Property

Our New Church

Harvest Celebration

We had our Harvest Celebration on October 28 and gave thanks to our Great God for all His many blessings to our Petrovka Church this past year. Our youth choir sang a song about God being merciful to our country, Ukraine. We had many visitors who heard the Gospel and we are praying for their salvation. Pray with us that our church members will reach out to new people and invite them to come to our church.

My Youth Choir

My Children's Choir

Ministry with our Brother in Christ, Jim Winslow from Zeeland, Michigan

On October 19, our dear brother, Jim Winslow, came to Petrovka to help us in our ministry. His ministry is especially to widows and orphans but he was a great blessing to everyone! He helped in our Children's Bible Club and our Harvest Celebration. Thank you Jim! We love you!!

Jim Winslow

Bibles and a Christian Magazine for our Children

100 Gifts

100 Bibles and Gifts Given to Our Children

Year of Remodeling - August 2017-September 2018

In August 2017 we started with remodeling our main worship hall in our church. On August 24, we were able to purchase the "Yellow House" right next door to our Petrovka Church. We started to remodel this house in October 2017 and we completed the work on June 13, 2018. We purchased this home in order to have more classrooms for our children's Bible Club and a place for our youth meetings and ladies' meetings.

After this work was completed we needed to dismantle our children's playground in order to purchase treated wood and repaint everything and then assemble it back together. The playground was in poor condition. The wood was rotting and had to be replaced due to broken boards. Praise the Lord we completed this work at the end of September.

Vadim,  My Builder with His Wife, Nelly

Check out our beautiful "Yellow House" video below!

Our Refurbished Playground

Playground

Our Beautiful Playground

Short Term Team from Bethel Mennonite Church and Sharing Easter

We had a team of six people from Bethel Mennonite Church in Sarasota, Florida come to minister together with us from March 31-April 9. They helped us remodel our church kitchen, helped on remodeling the "Yellow House" and helped with our Annual Easter Egg Hunt for our Children's Bible Club. They were a tremendous blessing to our Petrovka Church. We are so thankful for Scott, Jeanie, Terry, Todd, Barbara and Abby.

Abby, Barbara and Jeanie Preparing for Easter Egg Hunt

Our Delicious Cupcakes Made by my Missionary Friend, Pam

Bethel Team

Ukrainian Refugee Ministry in East Ukraine

Our ministry to the refugees continued this year. We were able to visit in March and September and help refugees with food, medicine and clothing. We are so grateful for all who have given gifts so that we can help those in need. We were able to share the Gospel with many churches and groups and show them the love of Christ. Pray for peace in Ukraine as our government has declared martial law because of the recent skirmish in the Sea of Azov.

Our Team of Ukrainians and Russians Involved in Refugee Ministry

Saving a Life

Praise the Lord for the opportunity to share the Sanctity of Life with my young moms. One of my moms came early one morning over a year ago and was extremely upset. She told me that she was expecting and that her husband had told her to get an abortion. He said if she didn't get one he would leave her. That same morning I had received a video clip on Facebook of a baby growing in a mother's womb from conception to full term. I showed this clip to Luba and she began to cry. She said she didn't have a choice. I told her that you always have a choice with God and that he would help her even if her husband left her. Praise God that Luba chose life! Praise Him that her husband didn't leave her. Please pray for his salvation.

Our Sweet Angelina

Ukrainian Christmas 2018

What a blessing to be able to share Advent with my mom's group this past year! I shared the meaning of the advent candles and the true meaning of Christmas. Pray that these mom's would come to understand that Jesus was born to die for them.

Sharing Advent

My Mom's with their Children

Our church celebrated Ukrainian Christmas on January 7 of this year. Our youth choir shared a special program entitled, "A Family Christmas." We had a fireplace, stockings, cookies and hot chocolate and our youth shared in song about the birth of Christ.

Our Family Christmas