From August 8 to 13 we held the seventh Poltava Christian Youth Festival near the picturesque village of Velikaya Rublevka in the Kotelevskiy district. The name of the festival this year was “With Ukraine in our Hearts”. Once again, for many of the youth, this festival was one of the most anticipated events of the year: camping out in tents under the stars, making new friends, discussing God’s Word together, and most important - proving ourselves in practical ministry.

On June 25th our life at Salvation Church was enriched by another special event. We had a sports festival for the entire family on the lawn in front of the Christian Center. Our friends from the neighborhood found a whole range of sports opportunities: soccer, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, air hockey, a trampoline and much more.

Holiday celebrations with family are cozy, with friends they are fun, but with SMS Club, which is both family and friends, on top of that they are especially interesting! Those of us who saw in the New Year in the Christian Center certainly didn’t regret it, because on this New Year’s Eve we took an entertaining trip around the world.

“The Pure Pearl” was the name of the meeting we held for single and widowed women in the village of Zavorskla. Thirty women attended.

The sixth evangelism festival held by young people of the Poltava region was held from July 27 to August 21 in the the town of Priyatin. Nearly 130 youth from various corners of our region pitched their tents on the picturesque island of Malsaskiy. The purpose has always been the same: to evangelize and provide assistance to the residents of the town. This year the motto was “With Prayer for Ukraine”, and considering the tragic events taking place in the east, we decided to place our main focus on the families who had members who had suffered in the Anti-Terrorist Operation.

Logic tells us that everything will come to an end at some point: relationships, our favorite candy, the solar system, and even the television series Santa Barbara. That's when ominous premonitions seize us in their iron grip: hurry up! do something! decide something! ... until we almost end up in a coma.

A month ago in the Christian Center we held a charity auction in support of our soldiers serving in the area of the Anti-Terrorist Operations. The auction lots were varied. First the services: a photographer, a hairdresser, an artist, a dentist, and a taxi service. There were also private lessons - singing, playing drums, English language and shooting.

What is vanity? Maybe you have dreamed that you had 7 Oscars, the Nobel Peace Prize, an NHL trophy, and, to top it all off, had won the Miss Universe contest. Or maybe that wasn't you? Well of course, not everyone is a future Nobel Prize winner, but all of us want to be accepted, receive approval and, every now and then, to get a little measure of recognition. What's bad about that?

On the morning of March 28 we hosted nearly 80 children at the Christian Center. “You Are Special” was the theme of our educational and entertaining program. The stage prepared by our Sunday School teachers and students, the story on video and a professional sand animation show all spoke of the value and uniqueness of every child and adult. The boys and girls also had the opportunity to jump on a trampoline, shoot from a giant slingshot, learn lessons in origami, play logic games and blow giant soap bubbles…

The first of April is usually a time when friends play tricks on one another colleagues at work share stories among themselves that most likely are not true. But for us the first of April was a day of lively and fun evangelism in the house of culture in the town of Golovach. Children ranging in age from 1st graders to 7th graders heard the Gospel, sang songs and received a gift from Samaritan’s Purse.