News from the Ukrainian mission field

 I received this letter from Denis, a student leader in Odessa. It gives my heart so much joy to see how they are working  to expand God’s kingdom!

"This summer our leadership team has grown – instead of Katya and Alyona who decided to become full-time missionaries, Nastya, Vadim and Valentin joined us in reaching out Odessa students. We have a goal – to give students who are interested in God and the Gospel an opportunity to spend time with true followers of Christ and grow in faith. 

Prayer has always been a priority in our ministry, so we continued to meet every week to pray for God's blessings and repentance of Ukrainian students.

After the English Club and the hiking trip in the mountains we had some students who are interested in God and spiritual growth. For example, Max - is a student, studying to be a sailor. At our meetings he realized that he needed to study the Word of God and be discipled. Max attended our discussion Bible study groups where we read the parables from the scripture together. We were all meditating on it and thinking about application in our lives.

We continued to organize events for students - discussing spiritual parallels in the movies we watched together, scavenger hunt game in the center of Odessa and the talent show for students. At many of these events we were able to build relationship with students, talk about spiritual things  and learn more about their needs.

I was very glad to see that students were eager to participate in the movement, even in the difficult period of the passing the exams they felt that the time spent with Christians was unique.

I want you to meet the 2nd year student - Vika! Vika came to us for the first time to the English club this spring and was very surprised and interested, because it was the first time surrounded by Christian peers. She immediately felt that they were different from all her friends. She wanted to learn more about the cause of this and started going to a Bible study discussion groups where she could hear and read the Bible. Now her life is changing and it is getting closer to the main decision in her life.

This is what Vika wrote about our ministry: "I am convinced that every time I'm with you it’s the right place for me to be”. It’s true. When I leave any kind of a CRU event (discussion club on Wednesday or a baseball game on Thursday) I feel so inspired ... maybe even happy. It seems to me that this week's immersion in a positive environment of your movement gives me more spiritual strength. Anyway, you play a very important role in my life and I want to spend more time with you! "

Despite the fact that Vika came to us just recently, she already takes the initiative not only in spiritual study but even in the organization of projects! For example, she takes an active part in the preparation of our future volleyball tournament.

Sport is a good strategy to reach many students. Thanks God, we have 2 teams, football and baseball! On Saturday, June 28, we have organized the first football tournament. This is a good opportunity to meet new students and introduce them to a Christian movement.Recently we had a baseball tournament! We went to Berdyansk.  The goal for the tournament was to pass on our experience to local leaders and promote the development of CRU in Berdyansk. There were 4 teams including our own. In Berdyansk our students loved the Christian family that we stayed with. The tournament itself and the time on the road gave us a lot of opportunities to interact with students. The part of our program was  visiting the local Baptist church! It was the first time for most of our students to visit a protestant church.

Alina was also with us on this trip, and she was just thrilled to be at the tournament  and to meet Christians. Alina is a very proactive law student. She actively attends Bible study groups, trying not to miss any of our meetings and is even going to our summer project!

Dasha was on this trip with us as well. She met with us through baseball.  She herself contacted us and after the first meeting she decided that CRU company is a company for her.=)

We had a great time in Berdyansk. Students  once again realized that Christian life and atmosphere is unique. We thank God for such a trip, where we could break down stereotypes about Christians and learn more about the students to share with them about the Gospel.

Now many students are passing  final exams. Soon we will have a summer project with a goal to start a new student ministry in Cherkasy." 

Please join us in prayer during this time:

-          For all the students who come to Bible studies. May the Word of God leads them to repentance and life changing relationships with God

-          For our summer project in Cherkasy where we will help the local church to reach out to students and start a student ministry.

-          For Alyona, Elena and Kate who are raising support as new staff. May God meets all their needs and they are able to join the ministry in August. They are still 75-100$ short for monthly givings.