Thank You to All!!!

My Dear Friends,
I thank God for your faithful prayers and support of my ministry in Ukraine. It has been a difficult year with the continuing war going on in the eastern part of the country. People are living in fear and are having a hard time making ends meet with the inflation of the grieven and food prices soaring. Please pray for the people in Ukraine to turn to God in repentance and that they would know the peace that only God can give. It is a privilege for me to be able to serve here during these uncertain times. I pray that each one of you may know the peace of God in your lives and that you may experience His blessings in your ministry for His Kingdom.

Grace and peace to you!

Denise

Summer Prayer Requests 2015

On June 6, we will be taking the older children on a field trip to Odessa for those who had the most attendance in our club. We will be taking them to the zoo and to McDonalds for lunch. Pray for safety as we travel and for the children to have good behavior.
June 20-July 11 we will be having a special missionary emphasis in our children's program. We will be sharing the lives of Amy Carmichael, Gladys Aylward, Erik Liddel and Jim Elliot. Pray for the Spirit of God to work in the hearts of these children to maybe one day give their lives to serve God in missions.
July 21-26 we will be having our summer VBS/Camp. We are expecting at least 100 children to attend. Currently, we do not have enough leaders to run the camp successfully. Please pray for leaders and helpers to agree to be a part of our camp. Pray for our team as we make preparations for this event. Pray that God will work in the hearts and lives of our children in Petrovka.
In August, we will be having our first baptismal service for new believers. Currently there are 10 candidates preparing to be baptized. We thank God for these 10 people! We need prayer for all the preparations for this special event in the life of our church. We need a pool or basin that can be set up on our property for the service. We thought about traveling to the Black Sea or a nearby lake, but we believe we need to have this service in our town so that neighbors and friends can attend.
Praise the Lord together with us that one of my supporting churches and four personal supporters provided the funds for the 25 chairs we need. Thank you so much!!!
Also, we thank the Lord for the remodeling project that was just completed in our children's Sunday School room and our kitchen. Thank you to all who had a part in this project.

May - Update on Young Mom's Bible Study Group

Praise the Lord for a wonderful year with the young moms in Petrovka. In May, one of our moms invited one of her friends named Louba. In March, we heard about a needy mom from Petrovka who had just had a baby and was in the hospital in Odessa. We visited her and took some needed baby items to her. In May, I saw her and her husband walking to the children's playground and I invited her to come to our group on Tuesday. Her name is also Louba. She has come two weeks in a row and also came for the Sunday service. This past week I gave her the book we are studying called, "Wisdom for Mothers". She asked me for a Bible and at the same time the other Louba also asked for a Bible. It was the first time they opened a Bible and I showed them how to find the books in the Old Testament and New Testament. One of the moms called me later in the day and asked again how to find the passages listed for our homework. Her baby was sleeping and she had time to work on her lesson! What a great blessing these moms are to me! There are 12 moms who attend our group and nine of these moms have repented. Please pray for God to work in their hearts and give them strength for caring for their families.

Louba, Nikita, Bogdon and Louba
My Precious New Moms

April 12 - Easter Sunday in Ukraine

We had a joyful Easter celebration which included our children and team singing praises to our risen Savior! One of our brothers, Oleg, who came to know Christ last October recited Psalm 119 from memory. In Russian it is Psalm 118. After the service we had a special lunch and then visited our neighbors and presented Easter cakes and congratulated them with the greeting, "Christ is risen"!
We praise God that we serve a living Savior!

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Our sweet children singing about Jesus' resurrection

Oleg reciting Psalm 119 in Russian

April 4 - Annual Easter Egg Hunt

It rained every day for two weeks before our Easter Egg hunt. I asked people to pray that the rain would stop for this one day. Praise the Lord - we had sunny but very cold weather. We had 87 children attend our hunt this year. We shared the Easter story using Resurrection eggs and also a special story from the Bible about Easter. We had special refreshments prepared by my missionary friend, Pam. After the hunt we had gifts and a Christian magazine for the children. We had 100 people total for this event which included our leaders. A big thank you to my parents for the baskets and eggs.

87 Children Attended our Easter Egg Hunt

...and they are Off to the Hunt

Cupcakes for 100

Older Group

Younger Group

February 22 - Ordination Service for Pastor Michael

On February 22 we had the ordination service for Pastor Michael Vatan. We had 78 people in attendance and special visitors from Odessa to conduct the service. Pastor Michael Pishtoy, senior pastor of the Odessa region and Vladimir Pormoskov, President of the Odessa Theological Seminary, ordained Pastor Michael. It was a great day in the life of our church in Petrovka. I am so thankful for Pastor Michael and his wife, Tanya, who are committed to serving in our church and serving and ministering to the people in Petrovka.

Tanya and Misha with Pastor Michael Pishtoy

Pastor Michael, Pastor Sergei and Pastor Vladimir Praying for Michael

Our Church Family and Guests

January to April - Help to Ukrainian Refugees

Thanks to the gifts of some of my supporters we were able to serve the refugees in the surrounding towns of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine who have fled the conflict. We were able to give food and needed items such as warm clothes and shoes and Christian literature for adults and children. We helped with food for children in orphanages and for invalids and we purchased medicine for sick children, babies and elderly adults. We were able to help more than 14 towns and villages and 1,660 individuals and families. We helped churches who are feeding 100-150 people two times a day every day. We received a great blessing to be a part of this ministry. If you would like to help the refugees in Ukraine, please send your gift to the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis fund through my mission board, TEAM. The mailing address is: P. O. Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60187-0969

Buying Food in Bulk for Refugees

Refugees having a meal at a church

Grandmothers receive food

Families Receive Needed Food