We were a happy bunch that met at Heathrow early on 4th January with suitcases full of gifts and packets of gravy granules, bread sauce mix and custard powder. None of us had any idea of the blessing this trip would be for the people we would meet and for ourselves.
Our first evening at Alpha House was taken up packing into small bags the gifts that so many of you contributed; socks and scarves, soaps and lotions, sweets and biscuits and lots of other lovely things. The next day we met Anatoli Liykholi who, with his father runs a catering company. (He is also the pastor of a church plant (from House of Gospel) in a part of the city with no churches.) With Anatoli we sorted out the finer details of the menu for the lunch we had planned. We had great fun decorating the hall at the House of Gospel with the streamers brought from England and balloons, baubles and a tree purchased in Cherkassy. On Christmas Day morning Janet and I went round to the Liykholi’s home to prepare the bread sauce, gravy and custard, as they had no experience of making these essentially British delicacies. They were very relieved to have this job taken off their hands and we were very blessed to get to know another wonderful family in their own home. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
The meal we served to the 75 elderly men and women was a proper English Christmas lunch with turkey, roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots, sausage wrapped in bacon, bread sauce and gravy. And cranberry sauce! For pud – Christmas pudding (all brought from England with some made by the folks of Tunbridge Wells) and custard. And as we ate, we were entertained by singers from 1st Baptist Church. Mark Scott gave an epilogue and the group sang a few carols before Father Christmas arrived to give out the gifts!
On the Sunday, after the service at 1st Baptist, we went out in ones and twos to give a Christmas lunch and a bag of gifts to the elderly who are unable to get out of their homes. Janet and I visited four homes and the memory of these visits will stay with us for ever. At our first call the daughter of a very distressed deaf and blind lady was trying to wash her mother’s feet. We felt we couldn’t stay long there as our intrusion seemed to be disturbing the old lady. The second home we went to was in the centre of the city, another small bungalow in a decrepit condition and a garden full of rotting metal. The man of the house was bedridden so we saw only his wife who received our gifts with many many thanks! Our last two calls were in the flats near the city centre. Wherever we went our gifts, your gifts really, and the meals were so gratefully received and we were given many blessings! It was a truly eye and heart opening experience. Again we want to thank all of you that supported this venture. It has been a real blessing.
01.05.2012 Pray for the music group Zozulenka, and their teacher Natalya, as they busily practice for their return tour here in November
02.05.2012 Pray for preparations that are being made for the cycle tour this summer, and for opportunities for the participants to share their faith as they cycle around the villages
03.05.2012 Pray for Brenda and Ksenya as they speak today at the meeting of the Oasis Group at Locks Heath Church
04.05.2012 Pray for Jon and Ali as they attend the Baptist Assembly annual meeting in London until 7th
05.05.2012 Pray for our students at Universities and Colleges as they complete their studies for this semester and take their end of year exams
06.05.2012 Pray for all those who receive food packages through the feeding programme, that no needy person/family is overlooked
07.05.2012 Pray for David John as he completes his preparations for the teaching sessions at the Pastor’s Conference next week
08.05.2012 Pray that we will have full teams of volunteers for all the camps that will take place this summer at Kompas Park
09.05.2012 Pray for the young people from Rainbow House in South Africa, and for Margaret Ferguson as she supports them in their studies
10.05.2012 Pray for the work of the mobile medical unit, and for Dr Doreshenko to fully recover following his recent illnesses
11.05.2012 Pray for the ongoing support of the Mission Fund, which undergirds all the various projects that we have, that adequate funds will be received each month
12.05.2012 Pray for Larisa and the work she does with the family support group, which encourages mutual sharing and prayer
13.05.2012 Pray that the Humanitarian Aid system that we use to send money to Ukraine becomes quicker and more efficient
14.05.2012 Pray for Anastasia Vovk as she plans camps in various villages around Cherkassy, and pray she finds a team of helpers to assist her
15.05.2012 Pray for safety in travel for Jon, David Reddaway and David John as they travel to Ukraine for the Bible School Graduation and for Ksenya as she returns to Ukraine to help Alla at Kompas Park
16.05.2012 Pray for the ongoing work of Cherkassy’s first sheltered accommodation, especially now plans to renovate the house have been drawn up and the costing received
17.05.2012 Pray for the Church twinning programme, that more UK Churches will offer to twin with a Ukrainian Church for mutual support and encouragement
18.05.2012 Remember before God all our children in cottage homes, thanking God for the security and love they receive from their foster parents as they grow up in these Christian families
19.05.2012 Pray for the work party travelling to Ukraine today, to prepare Kompas Park for the summer season
20.05.2012 As Jon, David and David return to the UK, pray for the newly graduated students as they take up their responsibilities back in their churches
21.05.2012 Pray for the children in the orphanages we support, and for Larisa and Misha as they oversee our work in them
22.05.2012 Give thanks for all our volunteers who come in and help with the monthly mail out, and do other jobs so willingly, often without being asked
23.05.2012 Pray for Jon and Ali to be refreshed as they take some time off together and have a break
24.05.2012 Pray for ex-prisoners who are now leading churches and serving in their communities that they will be faithful to what God has called them to do
25.05.2012 Pray for the young people in our pre-independence homes, that they grow in confidence as they study and plan for their future
26.05.2012 Pray for Vika Lavrenko and Stanislav Dyachenko, sponsored children who celebrate their birthdays today, also for the quiz at Ashley BC this evening in support of our work
27.05.2012 Thank God for our Board of Directors, whose support of the work of Hope is so encouraging; pray especially for the two new Directors to become more familiar with Board matters.
28.05.2012 Pray for Alla Kostyunina and her team as they prepare in detail for the planned camp activities at Kompas Park during the summer
29.05.2012 Pray for Misha in
all the work he does at Alpha House and in the Ukrainian Office of Hope Now; pray also for the plans he and Lena have in using Alpha House as a summer day camp in August
30.05.2012 Pray for Vlad Serdyuk, one of
our sponsored children, as he celebrates his birthday today
31.05.2012 Pray for Cyndee and Darrel Knight and the Hope Now supporters in America, especially in their plans to visit Kompas Park this summer
