July 2016 Disaster situation in Sri Lanka ...defending the weak and the fatherless See page 6 NEWSLETTER Inside this month’s Newsletter... Dear Partner in Hope Page 2 Meeting in the Student Homes - Page 2 Anastasiia’s Camps Page 3 Christianity in Ukraine Page 4 Hope Now Youth/Nina’s Story - Page 5 Disaster Situation in Sri Lanka - Page 6 Love Ukraine - Internats Page 7 Thank You / Verkhnyachka Church - Page 7 Prayer Diary A welcoming flower for our visit to the internat - Page 8 see page 2 “Bringing hope by sharing the love of Jesus” www.hopenow.org.uk Dear Partner in Hope... Summer is here! Blazing sunshine, strawberries, Wimbledon and summer holidays. Here in the UK we lag behind Ukraine as the schools there rang their “last bells”, marking the end of term on the 27th May. As guests of School 20 we were able to www.hopenow.org.uk take part in some of the celebrations as the final year graduates said farewell to move on to colleges, universities or a working life. JULY 2016 On Saturday all 36 schools in Cherkassy joined together to parade through the city Newsletter contacts: behind local dignitaries and the band. Editor: Claire Zillwood The purpose of this visit was to accompany Rev David John to the Bible Email contact: School session and also introduce Jon [email protected] White to Ukraine for the first time. Just as Students leave with their teacher the students were stepping out into a new Contact us: phase of their lives, so too, Jon was seeing new things for the first time. My Hope Now International prayer is that as he sees Ukraine with fresh eyes he will be able to encourage a Head Office younger generation both here in the UK and in Ukraine. Malvern Centre Along with David we were also invited to the prison again, and with the Malvern Road help of a donated guitar we were able to join Prison Officers for a meal and Southampton have fellowship with them along with Prison Chaplain, Anatoli Perepilitsa. We SO16 6PY were able to discuss the problems encountered by the officers on a daily basis and they were happy for us to pray with them, inviting us to return again soon. Tel: 023 8078 0720 Visiting children in the Internat and Rescue Shelter is always a bright Fax: 023 8051 0680 experience; it seems that no matter what their backgrounds are there is always a welcoming smile for the visitor. Jon White was able to share the story “A Father to the fatherless, a defender of Jesus in the boat and encourage the young people that whatever their of widows, is God in His holy dwelling.” past was like they can now trust in Jesus. Working in partnership with these Psalm 68:5 organisations means we really can make a difference in these young lives and Hope Now is a Christian I give thanks that God has brought us all together to do His will. Thank you for charity that aims to “bring your continued support and prayer, please pray specifically for the children hope, by sharing the love attending summer camps at Kompas Park and in the villages that the light of Christ will shine on them all. of Jesus and making Him known by ministering to Jon Budgell those in spiritual, physical and emotional need.” Meeting in the Student Homes We want the message of the These are blessed homes with ten girls living in now. All the girls are Gospel to touch the hearts of different and special and have become a family of our organisation. young and old, rich and poor, In May that was a special meeting, the girls were ready to meet Jon healthy and infirm, free and White, a youth leader. All were nicely dressed and Valya even took her imprisoned. pandora. She played a Ukrainian melody. Then we sang songs both in Hope Now works in Ukraine, English and Ukrainian. Violeta, Tanya and Moldova, Sri Lanka and Marina were a nice trio. Then we heard Myanmar. the beautiful voices of David and Jon and the girls sang with them. All the girls were given gifts - teddy bears. The shaggiest bear Registered Charity No: 1072038 was given to shaggy-haired Tamara! GAYE No: 7201 Praise God for the homes. The girls learn Company No: 358953 to serve in camps, to give volunteering help to Hope Now and to know God better. We love you, dear friends. Coordinator Larisa Vovk 2 A Camp at the Village of Tereshky In 2007 when I studied at a Bible institute I began to dream about church at the village of Tereshky. Tereshky is the village where my father was born, it is not far from Shpola. At the Bible institute we learned how to organise a church and since that I pray for this village. This is the third year when we organise the Christian camp here. But this year I feel really blessed. First of all we stayed at a house of a Director of the Tereshky School and his wife made a decision to change All Girls’ Team her life. She asked me to give her a Bible and was really happy to receive lessons, craft and sport. Nina and it. Our work with the children is Anastasia decided to go with us to a big testimony of God’s love not the next village camp. only to the children but also for the We also gave the school uniform, school staff and the parents. After So this is the code: So God that Jon brought to Ukraine, to the camp, teachers asked us to give created man in His own image, in the participants of the camp. They them Bibles and older children the image of God he created him; liked it very much and Ruslan – the received illustrated New Testaments. MALE and FEMALE he created them. Director of the School asked if it This year the number of the The girl Anastasia, 14 year old, possible to have this uniform for all participants was twice more than received a prize Teddy bear (that Jon the 75 pupils. last year. And we called the camp brought to Ukraine from England) Thank you very much for your square 127. Children had to guess for decoding the code. help, thank you Claire for the crafts, what does it mean 127. To guess There were many new children thank everyone for the prayers and the code they needed Bible but at the camp. The girl Dasha said that help. Today we are going to another there appeared no Bible at their she’d never been to a camp before village – next trials and blessings are homes. Only one girl took a Bible and she liked it very much, the same waiting for us. from school library and won a prize. said 14 year old Yaroslav whose P.S. Talking about God’s blessings I We divided the campers into two family moved to Tereshky from forgot to say that on the way to Tereshky teams this year: Boys and Girls; Donetsk region. I got into car accident. One man didn’t like the girl driver and he overtaken me during the camp they had different I also was happy to have local and pressed the brake, because of wet competitions and finally came to the leaders this year. Nina, Alina, road after rain our cars got into ditch. conclusion that Boys and Girls are Bogdan, Anastasia – they joined Praise the Lord that there was nothing created in God’s image. our team and helped to lead Bible more than shock and one broken lamp. Anastasiia Summer Blessings at Zvenigorodka Zvenigorodka town has been in my and what I saw amazed me very much. prayers for five years. We wanted to At the last day of the camp children start Bible groups there several times, usually receive presents, and the first but that seems to be a spiritual war present they received were illustrated as every time that could not happen. New Testaments. These children from Last year we decided to work not Zvenigorodka after receiving those at Zvenigorodka town but at the New Testaments were so happy and villages of Zvenigorodka district. And even kissed the books. Watching this Books for the children that happened successfully. picture I praised the Lord that He’d This year my joy was really big, because my friends broken the evil walls and gave us an opportunity to from Shpola town came to have Christian camp at one share the Gospel among this spiritually hungry people. of Zvenigorodka schools. I came to help at the last day, Anastasiia 3 Full religious liberty Christianity in Ukraine Gorbachev’s ‘glasnost’ reforms brought full religious liberty Rich History and Positive Future with major changes to Christian The Rev Brian G Cooper, a retired Baptist minister, a supporter of Hope Now, and life in Ukraine. Freedom for faith Founder/Director of ‘Christian East-West Reconciliation’ writes about the history of blossomed with many previously Christianity in Ukraine, and from his personal experiences of visiting the area. closed churches being re-opened Origins Church (UAOC) in 1921. and new ones constructed by Orthodox and Evangelicals alike. The story of Christianity in the Soviet-era Ukraine knew Ukrainian lands is very complex, The Uniate Church (UGCC) became shaped over the centuries by both persecution and re-established with full freedom unwelcome circumstantial changes, limited freedom of worship, and Pentecostalists pressures from outside powers - When I first visited Kiev on an formerly within the Baptist Union especially Poland, Austria-Hungary, ecumenical delegation in 1970, I separated to form their own union.