Dear brothers and sisters,
Last month and in the beginning of this month we had a lot of important events. Some of them are especially priceless for me and my family. So, I'll start with the most important ones. In the beginning of July we attended a wonderful summer camp "Americraine" not far from the city of Dnipro. It's an annual event, and many Christians in Ukraine are looking forward to it every summer. It's hosted by our American brethren. The team engages quite a few Ukrainians as well (most of them are Bear Valley graduates) and some local congregations. This year attendance was 350 representatives from different parts of Ukraine. 8 people were baptized during the camp activities. And the most special ones were the baptism of my mother Valentina as well as my wife's sister Natasha. During the last 18 years I have been planting the Seed in my family circle. We talked a lot about the salvation of souls. A few attempts were made to set up a date for baptism but at the very last moments something would go wrong. But the Christian camp atmosphere as well as the wonderful lessons and God's presence made it all work out for the best. Praise the Lord for His church and the diligence of our American brethren in hosting the camp! And special thanks to Jeff Abrams and his team who comes and encourages Ukrainian Christians every year.
During the month of June, we kept looking for potential students. And currently we found 5 who want to join the program. Most of the interested people are young ones. There is also a married couple. It's a huge blessing for us to have an opportunity to influence young people willing to serve in the Lord's church.
In the middle of the last month we had a team of Christians from Southeast Church of Christ, Aurora, CO. They are my old friends and for many years support my ministry in Ukraine. We are very grateful for their children ministry. They stayed in our city only for a few days. They taught the children's class, evening class in the church and visited the orphanage for the children whose parents had been deprived their parental rights. Please accept our gratitude for the service, encouragement and support of our family and the church.
The other important news that rejoiced me tremendously is that our graduate Oleg Fofanov finalized all formalities to become a full-time preacher in Konstantinivka. Before that two preachers from the city of Kramatorsk Vladimir Paziy and Vitaly Rodichev would go and preach there by turns. It was not a very good arrangement because they had to occasionally miss the services in their own congregation. Now this will change. Oleg will take over completely. We request your prayers for Oleg and his ministry in Konstantinivka.
In summer time our students are back to their home congregations with the practical assignments. They all sent me the reports for the previous month. Thus, Eljune Aliev is with the church in Kamenskoe and simultaneously helps the church in the village of Plaveschano. They are getting ready for the VBS. Also he was an active participant in the youth camp in the city of Zapporizhe where 10 people were baptized. Masha, Rosa and Lena work with children in their local congregations. Rosa worked with the children in Slovyansk last month, but she didn't leave her regular children's ministry in Skvira. It's a 14 hours trip from Slovyansk to Skvira by train or by bus. Vitaly works with the congregation in Dnipro. He taught some lessons, paid a visit to some disabled Christians. Ruslan is very active in the congregation of Bela Tserkva. He taught a few lessons and part in the street evangelism efforts. These are some news about our students' summer activities. And in my next report I'll write some more about their work.
Thank you all who continue supporting our Institute and the work of the congregations in Ukraine. We appreciate your involvement a lot.
Your brother and co-worker in the Lord's Vineyard,
Dennis Sopelnik