True Hope Ukraine

We are continuing to have big projects, events and celebrations and one of our largest celebrations is coming up this week. The first day of school is fast approaching, or as it is called in Ukraine, First Bell, and so on Sunday, August 28th we will be doing a Back to School Celebration. We are  inviting children from the orphanages and several villages, as well as reaching out to children who are living on the streets.

During this celebration, we will have singing, dramas, puppet skits and Bible stories. Our main goals are to both love on the kids and to share the Gospel with them. Additionally, we want to encourage the kids not only to come to church, but also to return to school and that learning is important. Also this year, we will have the opportunity to feed some of the children from the streets and the villages while they are at the church.

This is a huge celebration, the largest one for kids in our city, and as such it is a great witness to both children and adults. In the past, we have had over 900 children attend this event. We are praying and believing that God will provide as we want to bless all the children with a gift before they return to school. They will each receive practical gifts that include notebooks, pens and other items that kids need for school as well as some fun treats like candy and toys. This year the cost per child is $3 which includes both the gift and transportation. This is less than last year as we have made some good friends who are giving us great discounts. Even though prices have gone up, God is continually blessing us!

If you would like to support this celebration, donations can be sent to:

True Hope Ministries

145 Turnberry Trail

Big Lake, MN

55309

 Thank you so much for your help, every little bit makes a  huge difference. Also, please pray with us for the Back to School Celebration taking place this Sunday, that many children will experience the love of Jesus and their lives will be forever changed.

Thank you for your prayer and support!

 

Waiting for the kids to arrive…..

Please keep watching the website for exciting new updates and pictures about the completed bathroom renovations at Dorm #86!!!

 

For the last couple weeks, we have been hosting a team of young people from Holland. They have been an incredible and passionate team participating in a lot of ministry and events. Every single day God has been doing miracles and we were honored to be a part of it. We saw His hand move in places like:

Villages-where people got saved

Handicap facilities – where people were baptized

Orphanages – where kids felt loved

Services – where people were fed with the Word of God

and many other places …

God is always at work and it is incredible to be a part of what He does!

We recently hosted a team from Minnesota that was a big help here in Krivoy Rog. They jumped right in and enthusiastically helped out at a summer camp we were running at a Boarding School and assisted us with one of our monthly birthday parties as well. We would just like to say a huge thank you to this team!

This was just the first of many teams that will be coming this summer and the first of our summer camps as well. We have much more stuff ahead of us in the coming months and would really appreciate it if you could keep us in your prayers.

Last week I was going to a birthday party that we were giving at one of the orphanages, and I stopped at a grocery store to buy some things for the party.  While I was walking in, out of the corner of my eye I saw a girl standing at the entrance begging.  On my way out of the store, I stopped to talk to her and find out why she was there.  She told me her name is Natasha and that she is 25 years old.  Yuri, a graduate from one of the orphanages, was with me and as we talked we found out that they had lived at the same orphanage.

 Sadly, Natasha’s life after the orphanage has been very hard.  She didn’t finish technical and has no degree.  She’s currently living with her two kids and boyfriend in a village about two hours from where she was begging.  Her boyfriend is abusive to her and the kids, but she has no job and nowhere else to go.  Every morning she leaves her kids at 5 a.m. to take a bus to the closest supermarket, to do the only thing she feels like she can do, beg.  She told me with tears in her eyes that when her kids ask her where she is going, she lies and tells them she is going to work at the market.  Natasha is also 4 months pregnant with her third child.  My heart was broken for her.  Yuri and I went into the store and bought bags of food, enough for a week and then helped her take it to the bus. 

 Before she left, we asked if we could pray for her.  She was more than willing to receive prayer and said she knows God and prays ever day for God to forgive her, but she wanted to pray for forgiveness again with us. 

Natasha gave us her address and we plan to visit and hopefully find her a place to live in the city and away from her abusive boyfriend.  She is a really smart girl and I know that there is a better future waiting for her.  I wish Natasha’s story was an exception, but unfortunately the same thing happens to lots of kids, girls especially once they leave the orphanage.  We want to see this cycle broken. 

 Please pray for Natasha, that God would pour his love out on her and her kids, that he would open doors for a home and a job, and for the health of her unborn baby.   I’m so thankful that God never overlooks us no matter where we are.  I know that he has good things planned for Natasha and her family.