The Christians of Poltava have no cause to complain about a lack of worthwhile cultural activities, they just need to take advantage of the opportunities for creative and spiritual development that the Lord provides us with.

On the first of July on the banks of the Vorskla river Salvation Church held its latest baptismal service. This may sound a little on the formal side, but for us it is a truly notable and important occasion. Every time a believer makes a promise to God to serve Him in good conscience, the Heavens rejoice and God is glorified in His omnipotence, power and love. Only the Holy Spirit can inspire a person to take this step - to dedicate his life to the Unseen God. And there were 11 such believers in Salvation Church.

At last the soccer battles began to rumble in the Ukrainian motherland. Mission accomplished: the stadiums were ready, the fans had arrived at their destinations, the souvenirs were on display. The evangelical churches of Poltava (Salvation Church, Living Water, God's Family, Poltava Christian Church) were united and not standing on the sidelines for this big event. Through the Sports Village that these churches organized many Poltavans heard about the Living God and saw Christianity in action.

At times the proddings of the Holy Spirit seem natural, His teaching, His revelation through the Word. The unity of believers, serving with our gifts, the revival of our spirits, victory over the desires of the flesh, the feeling of God's presence - all these are the actions of the Spirit of God in and through the Church. And for most of the people on this Earth, these concepts and incomprehensible.

Closeness to God is not something we earn, but a privilege. Once the teacher of Israel, Nicodemus, tried to understand human life filled with God's Spirit and the process of rebirth, but no human wisdom can grasp that. The Holy Spirit is a priceless gift, a treasure, the pledge of our salvation. Only through Him can we understand that we belong to the father, only through Him can we get a taste of Heaven, in His strength is the secret of our victory, in His councils is the source of our wisdom, only under His direction can we be influential, only He is able to revive a dead spirit.

Another Sunday School year has come to an end! Spring calls us to get off the school benches and get out on the street, or even better, to drive out to the pond in the woods, where we can fully dive into the miracle of spring's awakening! We can get our fill of listening to the birds, whose songs we would like to record and take back with us. We can breathe the fresh acacia- and pine-scented air until out heads spin. And we can simply tip our heads back and see how the tops of the pine trees reach into the unusually blue sky with pure white clouds.

 

В неділю 27.05.2012 відбулося молитовне служіння, на якому церква Спасіння дякувала і просила про розвиток всіх служінь церкви. Ви також можете приєднатись до цієї молитви ознайомившись з молитовним бюлетнем.

People of every nation are special in their own way. Ukrainians, for example, are very generous and good-hearted people. Russians are open. And Romani, as I imagine you already know, are very emotional and rather unique. From April 30 to May 6 we had the opportunity to serve the Romani. We went to Russia to the town of L'gov, where Viktor Saltykov is pastor of the local church.

Looking at the contemporary world, you can't miss that urbanization is everywhere. People, especially young people, are coming to big cities to have better prospects for the future. In most cases this means the material aspects of life: education, profession, work - to achieve material stability in their lives.

 

The European Soccer Championship will be decided between the 8th of June and the 1st of July. EURO-2012 is a great occasion for Ukraine. Every resident of the country will be affected to some extent, some more, some less. Thousands of volunteers, hundreds of thousands of fans from Ukraine and other countries, millions of television viewers watching Ukraine - that's EURO-2012.

In advance of Mothers' Day, May 13, the youth of the SMS Club launched a public discussion of a topic that is current and painful for our society: abortion. It appears that the participants in the demonstration titled "God Gave Me Life" really succeeded in getting the point across to the residents of our city.