Editor's Note: Pavel has provided some highlights from three of the regional churches in Ukraine. Vinnitsa (Vinnytsya) is located in the West-central portion of the country; Kharkov (Kharkiv) is in the Northeast, and Donyetsk (Donetsk) is in the Southeast. (See map below.)

Vinnitsa

The church in Vinnitsa was planted in 2005 with only five disciples and now has quadrupled in size to twenty disciples.  Our current vision for the church is for every member to be known as a true Christian and to carry the good news with them everywhere they go, especially to their families and co-workers and friends.  This vision is exciting and challenging at the same time, because Vinnitsa is a small city with a population of only 300,000 people, and has a very strong Orthodox and Baptist following among its citizens.

God is moving in amazing ways in our church and has given us strength to accomplish our vision for him.  This month two sisters were baptized!  Inna, the daughter of one of our sisters, was baptized on January 21st.  Svetlana, a sister of one of our brothers in Moscow, was baptized on the same day, January 21st.  Svetlana's father and mother-in-law have been very supportive of her decision to follow Christ and they are now interested in studying the Bible themselves.

Kharkov

Our plans and dreams for 2007!

1. Our first dream is not to lose, but to increase and multiply the love and blessings that God has given us in 2006. 

2. As in the past, one of our main goals is to make our church a church of prayer.

Our missionary plans are two-fold:

1. We want to fill our city with God's word, especially in the regions where God has already opened doors for his message.  We hope to start a campus ministry to reach out to the many universities and institutes in Kharkov, and God has already provided a couple with the vision to lead the campus ministry here.

2. We want to start churches in regions where our brothers and sisters recently moved, including Sumi and Kupansk.

We are encouraged to see God already working as the new year has begun.  Our sister Allah became a disciple seven years ago, and at that time her friend Yulia was coming to church with her, but she didn't want to repent and become a disciple.  For seven years Allah has been praying for Yulia, and in the beginning of this year Allah's prayers were answered and Yulia was finally baptized into Christ. 

Two years ago our brother Oleg Obernikhina began praying for a way to serve the orphans in Kharkov, but at that time we had no funds, no office, and no way to register.  God answered his prayer and since that time officials in the orphanages changed their minds towards Oleg's dreams and they gave Oleg permission to use one of their buildings for HOPE  programs.

The disciples worked alongside the orphans to rebuild the old building and fixed it up so that HOPE could work there.  The director of a building company in Kharkov decided to help by rebuilding the building for free.  Now the building is complete and we have computer programs, sports programs, and beauty school and dance classes for the girls.  The building has been named "the House of HOPE," and over 100 orphans attended the classes last year.

Here is a photo of our Acapella group "Inside".  They have sung all over the churches in Eurasia, and have become very famous in the city of Kharkov.

Donyetsk

Young House Churches

Misha and Valya Kryajevi had to move 60km away from Donyetsk to the city of Khartsizsk right after their wedding, but they wanted to stay faithful disciples without missing any church meetings.  They started to share their faith in their new city and had their first baptisms there.  Now Misha preaches twice a week in his new city with his new house church.

This year began with a new baptism in their house church -- Nastya, a teenager from Khartsizsk whose parents would not let her get baptized for over a year.  But her character changed so much that her parents saw how humble and serving she had become and they allowed her to be baptized.  On January 17th, she became the 6th disciple in Khartsizsk.

Misha commutes to Donyetsk for work every day, and a man came up to Misha on the metro and offered to do some business with him.  Misha invited Volodya, a third year student at the medical institute in Donyetsk, to church.  He came and was very impressed with the church.  He studied the Bible and made the decision to change his life. 

Volodya began to preach to his friends and two more of his friends started coming to services in Donetsk.  Volodya was baptized on January 21st in the Kalmius River.  Even sub-zero temperatures couldn't stop him from declaring Jesus is Lord in the freezing cold water.

Our Family

Igor and Ruslana are especially grateful for God because he has supported their physical family.  A year and a half ago Igor and Ruslana Sorochenko were about to have a new baby boy, but the doctors said there would be complications and the baby would not be born healthy.  At that time Randy Harris, an elder from Chicago, was visiting Ukraine and he anointed Ruslana and the baby and prayed over them, as the scriptures say in James 5. 

A few months later Ruslana's baby was born perfectly healthy, with none of the medical problems that the doctors had predicted.  The baby's name is Gleb, and he is now one year and two months old, still in perfect health and very active.  Igor and Ruslana would like to personally thank Randy and all of those who prayed for the health of their child.

Dreams Come True

We have been praying for three years for a way to help orphans in Donyetsk.  This year God opened the door and we started our first HOPE program in Donyetsk.  One of our sisters, Ira Klepikava, inspired disciples and volunteers to meet with the orphans every week in the orphanages, and we thank God for her heart and for all the serving hearts that God is using to encourage the orphans.