News about the life and ministry of Community of the Good Shepherd church, Rivne in autumn 2021.
Long journeys
A young brother Vitaly from our church, who serves as a pastor, visited missionary points in Armenia. Moreover, he had the opportunity to conduct baptismal training classes and to participate in the baptism of people who came from a non-Christian country. We can't say much, but it is a great joy to see awakening in spite of all prohibitions.
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Our pastor Taras Mykolayovych Prystupa and his wife returned safely from a thirty-day trip, during which God used them in the service of other churches. Brother Pastor also served at several major Bible conferences, where he preached about the mission of the Church in this world.
Day playgrounds
Thank you so much for your prayers! A team of volunteers from our and other churches in the city held a traditional day school camp for those who study Christian ethics at the Rivne Ukrainian Gymnasium.
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At the beginning of the summer, a children's playground and a football day camp for boys were held on the territory of our church. Life raged for a whole week! The children played and heard the Gospel! Thank you to everyone who stood in the "gap" in prayer! Thank God that we live in a country where you can do it freely, without obstacles and prohibitions!
Warrior of Christ
A sports camp for boys aged 8-10 on the theme “Warrior of Christ” took place at our base in Zalissya. It was organized by the coaches of the Christian football team “Nadiya”. The children learned to be true followers of Jesus, worthy men and defenders of their homeland.
Street evangelism
The heralds with the paintings held an exhibition in the new district of the city. We pray that a Christian church be founded there.
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In July, a team of evangelists from Rivne visited Kalynivka, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Kiliya, Mariupol, Dnipro, Pavlohrad, Kyiv and other settlements with a street exhibition of reproductions of paintings by world-famous artists on the Life of Jesus Christ.
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Together with brothers from different cities of Ukraine, Mykola Nikitin and Leonid Borysevych attended street evangelizations and seminars on the evangelism of the church in Poltava, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Mariupol. We are glad that brother Vasyl Khrypunov was with our team again!
Women's hike
Sisters from our church conducted a fitness hike on the Black Sea coast. This year the program was led by a young sister Victoria, who did a good job of conducting the spiritual part, studying the Word. The condition for participation in theevent was to bring one unbelieving friend.
Service to widows
A team of sisters from our church served women and children in a camp for family members of servicemen who died in eastern Ukraine. There were about 200 participants in the camp in Truskavets. The sisters conducted Bible classes and conversations with widows and children, prepared food, and provided other necessary assistance. 10 women turned to the Lord. Their thinking changed greatly after studying the Word. Many people have joined the study of God's Word in groups, looking for local churches.
Service to other churches
The family of Pasha and Anya Rudenko spent part of the summer in Chernomorsk, Odessa region. They had the honor of participating in the ministry of the local church. Pasha served as a preacher and helped in the children's ministry. The family also visited the fraternal church in Dolyna, Ivano-Frankivsk region.
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A large team of young people from our church held two children's camps together with the brothers and sisters of our friendly church in Chernomorsk.
The greatest journey
A camp for children was held under this name in Zalissya. The young organizers wanted the children aged 10-13 to use their free time wisely and usefully, grow up, live one week without their parents and have new acquaintances with their peers. The participants of the camp learned to live in a team, find a common language with each other and with mentors, studied interesting and meaningful Bible lessons, had time for sports and outdoor games.
LOST Youth Camp
was devoted to the theme of "Heaven". This year, 66 young people from different fraternal churches immersed themselves in the Word and saw what God was saying in the Bible about Heaven and what reward awaited His children.
Teenagers work with their own hands
Noah's School operated on the church grounds in the summer. It is a service to adolescent boys, during which children gain physical labor skills and can even earn out-of-pocket expenses. During the meetings, the brothers of our church teach them to pray and make a brief analysis of God's Word.
Family joys
On July 18, we blessed the newborn daughter Mia in the family of Vitalik and Olya Bakunets. It is very nice that Vitalik's parents also wished to take part in the church prayer, may the Lord bless them abundantly! On June 4, the church prayed for the little daughter Veronica, who was born in the family of Vitalik and Nastya Didyk. This is the second child in each of these families.
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At the end of August, our dear newlyweds Yegor Poleschuk and Yana Alyonova got married. Yaroslav Sokorenko and Myroslava Nikitin are preparing for the wedding. May the Lord abundantly bless and strengthen these marriages to His glory!
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The Lord performed a real miracle for a large family of internally displaced persons from the Donetsk region. A three-room apartment in a new building Mykhailo and Natalia received from Ukrainian Railways, where our brother works! This is God's incredible mercy! The family is currently renovating and preparing to move.
Assistance in evangelism through sports
This is not the first time that our brother Dima Sosnovsky has been sent to the Odessa region for 3 weeks to help in the ministry of the Christian football team "Joy". When he put on the Christian Soccer Club Nadiya T-shirt, the local boys immediately began to ask what the letter "C" (Christian) meant in the abbreviation. So they had an interesting conversation every time. They talked about Christianity, denominations, religion and faith… Thank God that Dima could serve these people and that God was his encouragement.
Tanya Arterchuk, Nina Tomilko, Natalia Mazur, Vika Rigulich