At the “High Hopes Student Conference” a few years ago, some American and British participants proposed to pray for the Ukrainian students being sponsored by Hope Now. They prayed that God would fulfill His will through us here on earth. I was one of those students. I am sure that God is using others in a special way, but this is how he is using me. I think it’s amazing!
Some of us have been concerned about the way teens in our schools and orphanages are smoking, drinking alcohol and doing many bad things. It seemed that no one was prepared to do anything about it, so Ukrainian students from seven churches decided to act.
During our fall break, we started what we called “Christian Break” in School Number 6 and in the Shpola Orphanage. The teachers and local authority opposed us and did all they could to stop their students from coming to our event. This opposition made us feel like soldiers in a war, but we held our ground and explained our position on smoking, drinking and sex.
With 43 leaders and 120 students, we held our “Teen Games” for five days. Though there was much fun, with many games and singing, service was also a key element. As an experiment, the kids went into the streets of Cherkassy and offered to exchange candy for cigarettes. More than 200 cigarettes were collected and ceremonially destroyed.
Local government inspectors came to see what was going on and at the end of the five days, proposed that we should do the same in all 36 schools in the city! Such a victory encourages us to do more. Already we have plans for Christmas break in Cherkassy and the Village of Shoobiny Stavy where 60 teens have already enrolled.
Thank you Hope Now, for funding this event and for your prayers. May God bless you!
