Nobody likes to lose. If you ask anyone on the street whether he wants to be a winner, almost certainly he would answer in the affirmative. Maybe today there would be those who just don't care whether they win. But we can say with confidence that no one wants to lose ...

 

True, the Christmas celebration lasts only for a day, and many children are waiting for the festivities. We held our most recent Christmas program in a boarding school in the village of Varvarivka. February is almost here, but we will still fulfill our pre-Christmas promise to hold a celebration. Children always remember those who promise to bring gifts, and eagerly await the fulfillment.

Dear Christians! It is the 21st century now. Outside our windows the world is cruel and cold. In fact, we probably can't even guess how bad it is. But it is bad, and painful and hard...For the sake of a few minutes of warmth the people out there are ready to give anything. They are ready to pay, and pay dearly for things that will give only a moment of happiness. New goods, new prices...Today the former pleasures are not enough. The demand is always for something new, otherwise the cold will pierce you through.

Proverbs 18 There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: 19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.

I don’t know who suggested the first line of the poem by Ukrainian poet Vladimir Sosyury as the title of the seminar, but these words are very well suited to our purpose. This is the sixth year in a row we have held this seminar in our church. It’s worth noting that the number of visitors did not decrease. Love is a topic that people always have and always will be ready to discuss.

Every year we have a children’s Christmas party at our church. This year we decided to do something different. Members of our church purchased and made gifts for the children.  They were especially motivated by the fact that the children were disadvantaged.  The children of our church went with their parents and happily walked from one store to another buying toys and other gifts!  We put the gifts into boxes from the mission organization "Spiritual Rebirth".  Each of the boxes was decorated with Christmas symbols and had the label “Give hope!” and some verses from the Bible. Our church members filled one hundred and ten Christmas boxes.

Даже на полах одежды твоей находится кровь людей бедных, невинных, которых ты не застала при взломе, и, несмотря на все это,

говоришь: "так как я невинна, то верно гнев Его отвратится от меня". Вот, Я буду судиться с тобою за то, что говоришь: "я не согрешила".

Иер.2:34,35

We conducted another medical clinic in the Christian Ministry Center on January 22. The team of 19 volunteers represented three Poltava churches: Salvation Church, Born Again Church and Hope Church.  Thirty four people came to the clinic from the neighboring apartment buildings.  The number of visitors has increased with each successive clinic. We are very happy that people are starting to think about the church as a place where they can come for help and without fear of being rejected.

Everyone is different. Some people have big noses, other people have small ones. Some people like to sing. Some can't live without books and others can't give up TV. But there is one common enjoyment that unites all of humanity - food. It's not easy to find someone who will refuse a tasty dinner. Especially if that dinner was prepared by a professional chef from an elite Kiev restaurant. Recently just such a master of the culinary arts, Vyacheslav Tsimbal, conducted a cooking lesson for the women of Salvation Church.

 

Christmas is a wonderful winter holiday when people gather as families, visit friends and enjoy seasonal traditions. For many this day is associated with the atmosphere of home, comfort and fun. On Christmas some visit godparents, some set a table with twelve courses, and some, following our Ukrainian tradition, greet their neighbors with Christmas songs (and get sweets as a reward).  Some are glad to have an extra day off and some are just glad to have another opportunity to eat and drink…

 An Inter-church women’s meeting was held on January 15, 2011. The event, which was titled "For Sisters Only", focused on the theme: "Our unity in Christ." The purpose of the meeting was to help women to look into their own hearts and to realize their need for one another. The organizers of the meeting showed examples of all sorts of difficult situations in our daily lives and explained how to find wise solutions using Scripture. In spite of bad weather and busy schedules there were 33 women present representing 10 churches.