Dear brothers and sisters from the USA, our partners in evangelism here in Ukraine, we greet you all with the love and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are very grateful to God and to you, our partners from the USA, for your prayers for us and for your sponsorship, which greatly helped us in our ministry at the Christian youth camp in Boyany from July 20th to 25th this year.
1. We had 10 days of intense ministry with a team from the USA, led by Pastor Brother Cornel Stef. The team consisted of nine people, but it's a shame that Sister Carolina from Mexico was not allowed into Ukraine. She really wanted to come to us, but something didn't work out at the Ukrainian border.
-We met a team of eight people at the Romanian border and assigned them to our missionary partners: Pastor Vasily Preutes and Pastor Alex Pascari. We were thrilled to welcome this team from the USA: Cornel Steph (president of the PIEI mission), David Beckwith (teacher), Debbie Conry (doctor), Melodee Battenschlag, the Philbrook family, Stan and Kristen, and the Steph family, Benjamin and Laura.
- Praise be to God for His protection and guidance throughout all and every place this team has ministered, both to churches and to our camp grounds.
Teacher David remained with us at camp, and the rest of the American team left on the morning of July 20th for the church in Nesvoye, where missionary Pastor Pavel Petihachny serves. This team served in the glasses ministry, where Sister Debbie checked people's eyesight, and then these people went to counselors (the Philbrook family, Stan and Kristen, Laura and Ben Stef, Cornel Stef, and Sister Melody). We also had excellent translators, Alina Martsinyuk and Irina Kushnir.
Teacher David from the USA taught the first group of teenagers on the topic of God's Love. Missionary Brother Alex Pastushak translated it into Ukrainian. He taught about God's love, and the group really enjoyed these wonderful lessons.
Teacher and missionary Brother Pavel Petyhachny also stayed at the camp to teach the second group of teenagers about the Righteousness of Job. He taught in Romanian. So our camp was very international. And everyone understood each other, glory to God. Brother Pavel taught the book of Job, a very relevant topic for our time—the time of war in Ukraine. How to endure suffering while glorifying God, as righteous Job did. Tatyana Nagrudnaya taught the third group. Sister Melodee from the USA, Laura, and Ben Stef stayed on other days. The topic was about the life of Jesus Christ. The children really enjoyed it. There was a smaller group here, aged 10 to 12.
Praise God that about 110 teenagers and children came to the camp and had a wonderful time for the entire week. We also praise God for the wonderful leaders who ministered to these children. Thank God for the teachers, whom the children loved for the Word of God, which was so clearly conveyed to them through these teachers. Indeed, the Word of God that the children studied is the Seed of Truth. And it did not return without the Fruit of Repentance. During the call to repentance on Friday evening, after Brother Pastor Cornel Stef's sermon, the children came forward to offer a prayer of repentance before God with tears in their eyes. There were 40 children—praise God. We pray that the Lord blesses these children so that this repentance will be genuine and wholehearted. We'll later write a testimony from these children, because many of them were from non-Christian families.
All the children and teenagers at this camp were very grateful for such a wonderful camp, for the rich program: games, competitions, sports, socializing, swimming in the pool, and an evening of praise and worship every evening. Everything was fantastic. Therefore, they are grateful to our evangelistic partners from the USA for helping organize such a wonderful camp. Praise God!
2. Glasses Service:
- From Monday through Friday, the team that went to minister with glasses visited and ministered in five churches of our PIEI Ukraine mission: Nesvoy, Dolzhok, Kerstentsi, Tarasovtsi, and Novoselytsia. And on Saturday, at the end of the camp, Sister Debbie examined the eyes of the staff who work at this camp. And the entire staff of the Dzherelo Zhittya camp is very grateful for these glasses, praise God.
Over the course of five days, more than 200 people received eyeglasses. They are very grateful to God and the US team for such a gift, which is so necessary in our lives on earth every day. Praise God and for those souls who, after receiving the eyeglasses, said a prayer of repentance. Spiritual counselors were present: the Philbrook family, Stan and Kristen, Melodee, Cornel Stef, Laura, and Ben Stef. These counselors gave these people spiritual advice and answered their questions with Scripture. We pray for those who said a prayer of repentance. May God grant that this repentance be from the heart. Praise God for this wonderful ministry.
3. Meeting with missionaries:
- On Saturday, we met with missionaries from the PIEI Ukraine mission. It was a blessed meeting where our missionaries thanked the US team for their ministry here in Ukraine.
- On Sunday we visited two more churches in Kerstenci and Dinivci, where we had a blessed service, praise God.
- On July 27th, early in the morning, we escorted the US team to the Romanian border. The team crossed the border and arrived in the evening at the Alba Iulia Bible Center. We are glad that the US team has arrived home safely. We thank God for them and pray for their continued blessing.
4. Thanksgiving:
- We are grateful to God for His support and guidance both at the camp and in the glasses ministry. So many people heard about God, His love, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us sinners.
- We thank God for protecting and defending us all from missile strikes. Today, July 30th, almost every city in Ukraine suffered fatal missile strikes. Even in Lviv, a multi-story building was bombed. And in Dnipropetrovsk, an entire family with many children was killed. Kyiv is constantly under missile strikes. It's terrifying. We were very concerned about our guests from the USA. Praise God for His protection and safety!
5. Prayer requests:
- Pray with us for this war in Ukraine to end. Only God can help us.
- Pray for the children who repented in our camp, that the Lord will search their hearts and strengthen their faith.
- Pray for those who have gone through prayer and repentance into service with glasses, that their repentance will be wholehearted.
- Pray also for our missionaries, that the Lord will protect them and give them health to serve God here where we are.
And we pray for you, dear brothers and sisters from the USA, our partners in evangelism here in Ukraine. Thank you for all you do for us. Thank you for your prayers for us. Please accept our heartfelt greetings to your families and your churches. May the Lord bless you abundantly.
With love to you, the Petikhachny family Pavel and Larisa.
