"We have some news today - Sunday School has started " - that's what the students and teachers sang together, celebrating the opening of the new Sunday School year on September 15. After the summer holidays the start of Sunday School was a joyous occasion for those who attended last year, and a new experience for the beginners. This start of the school year was extraordinary: the children saw the heroes of the Bible as people like themselves, with many similar problems and concerns. Thanks to the examples of Noah, Joseph and other biblical characters the students saw how to deal with issues such as family relationships and obedience to God, among others. Using skits and games, the teachers showed that the Bible is a source of advice for all of life's difficulties.

Summertime feels like the shortest time of the year. It seems like only yesterday that we met through our last prayer letter. But that was back in the spring, right after Easter. Remember, we shared God's blessings through a seminar, a conference, and through Easter evangelism, during which around 1,500 children heard the Gospel. We also asked you to pray for the upcoming seminar for students in a Muslim country, as well as for our summertime ministry. We are very grateful to you, our dear praying friends, for your remembrance of us. God heard your prayers! We would like to boast in the Lord about the opportunities through which He allowed His Word to reach thousands more children this summer.

On September 12 during the evening prayer meeting, the congregation had the opportunity to talk with the pastor of a Baptist Church in Kazakhstan - Zaur (the country and name of the pastor have been changed for security reasons). During the meeting we heard his story about the difficult circumstances and challenges that the Christian communities face in an Islamic country. For Christians living in a free society it is always interesting to talk with someone who knows first hand about the harassment and persecution of believers in other countries. The interest was clearly demonstrated in the great number of questions we asked our guest. It was difficult to imagine that this calm, reasonable person had been the object of absurd accusations brought by the Kazakh authorities, and had suffered much physical abuse defending his constitutional right to freedom of religious belief.

Evangelistic children's ministry is not limited just to a fun week at summer camp. The children's ministry team took a break after camp, but now they are back to the challenging task of sharing the Gospel with children. This time the event was on the last Saturday in August, just before the long-awaited (or maybe long-dreaded) start of school on September 1.

Everyone remembers hearing as a child about how easy it is to break one stick, and how hard it is to break a whole bundle. Members of Salvation Church had a chance to see a demonstration of this when they held a Fun Fair for children from Podol and Levada on the grounds of the Christian Ministry Center at the end of August. We were really convinced that it's easier to work together, aware that you are not alone and you can always rely on a your coworkers.

It has been six months since Lily Gontsa was released from women's prison 65, which is located in the Poltava region. Since then her life has seen many changes. The church that her husband attended received Lily with love, but also with great caution. But what else could be expected after two prison terms?

На жаль, вимушені констатувати, що під тиском ЄС та інших західних структур, ювенальна юстиція в Україні все глибше запускає своє коріння. Влітку 2012 року вийшло розпорядження С.Тігіпка про прийняття на роботу 12 000 соціальних праців­ників, які вже сьогодні ходять по домівках і збирають відомості про сім’ї. У народі їх назвали «соцполіцаї», тому що вони вишукують проблеми, випитують умови проживання, доходи та іншу конфіденційну інформацію, на основі якої потім можна буде пред’явити претензії до сім’ї. У жовтні 2012 р. на Форумі сім’ї С.Тігіпко заявив, що планується збільшити кількість соцпрацівників до 46 000(!), щоб вони «досліджували кожну родину»! Тобто в планах ювенальних служб зробити кожну сім’ю, у якої є діти, підконтрольною та підзвітною ювенальним органам.

Have you ever given someone important news? Have you ever been the actual message? Last week nearly 100 young people from different parts of the Poltava region had the chance to be Christ's letter to the world. "You are the message of Christ " - that was the motto for the 4th Poltava Christian Youth Festival, which was held from August 5th to the 10th in the picturesque setting of the village of Chutovo.

By the great mercy of God I have one of the most exciting ministries - corresponding with women in Women's Prison 65, which is located in Naderzhinschina, in the Poltava region. There are many facets to prison ministry, but letters are where people really bare their souls. Every year I exchange more than 40 letters with women prisoners. I would like to share some of the stories of my pen friends with you.

There probably isn't a woman anywhere who doesn't want to take a break, at least for a little while, and do what she wants instead of what she needs to do. A woman is usually called to raise children, clean, cook, iron and perform a lot of different duties. Even when she does everything joyfully, there is still a natural desire to stop and rest.