I'd like to share with you some answers to the prayers from the last prayer update and to ask you to pray for another important ones. :) Also i'd like to tell you more about the members of our team and volunteers God blessed us with :)
I'll start from the main part - thank you for praying the Lord would give us wisdom to plan our semester, that we would start doing Sport Community on a weekly level, that God would bring the children and the parents to hear further Gospel and about Christian values, that God would bless us as a team and for the unity in our teamwork. As it turned out, the Lord yet "hasn't opened the doors" for non-believing children to come after our Summer projects. When I called the parents (we got in general positive and thankful reactions but somehow the parents decided that their children would attend other sports activities or English lessons or computer science lessons. We prayed, fasted, advised and understood that the Lord refocused us for now to discipleship - to invest more into our volunteers and to train our Sport Community skills. God "opened another door" of an amazing Christian school "A.C.E." where there are children of believers and nonbelievers study. The Lord gave me personally His revelation from Psalm 71:17-18:
Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your mighty acts to all who are to come.
Sport Community training parts - work out, drill exercise, devotion time, small tournament.
Our volunteer - Anya F. - plays a christian song to the children - the musical instrument is called - ukulele:)
As for the devotion part of our Sport Community practices which we called "SuperPower", i.e. besides teaching soccer skills, the children are taught about the important for Life SuperSkills without which just soccer skills can't help. These SuperSkills are given from the Lord. For example, SuperSkill - Friendship, Obedience, Forgiveness, Skill to Help etc.
I'd like to tell more about our team and the volunteers who you can see on all our photos:) So meet them if you haven't met them yet:)
Here's our team - Athletes in Action, Ukraine. Andrey and Yuliia Shepelenko (in the middle) - a blessed family (they have two sons) which served as the Director of Campus team in Dniepro (on the east of Ukraine) for about 7 years. They were at the start of the students ministry there and now they are at the start of Athletes in Action Ukraine in Kiev and other cities. We pray for the wisdom and for the blessings for their family.
You know me:) Sports ministry always played a big part in my lift. The Lord called me to leave my job (where I worked for about more 10 years) and to do this ministry not just at my free time but full time. The Lord is teaching me a lot, sometimes I go through storms of course :), but I see that He uses my skills, experience from the past and leads me with His Spirit and teaches new things:-) We pray the Lord would give me wisdom so that I'd serve Christ in our team.
Dima Doroshenko. God found him in 2011 through the soccer practices in the team "Rock" in Dniepro - the ministry that Andrey Shepelenko launched (and Yulia helped and encouraged). Dima devoted himself afterwards to his teammates to serve. A year ago the Lord called him to serve in Athletes in Action Ukraine full time. He loves children and is passionate about sharing Gospel and about discipleship. We pray the Lord would continue work in Dima to grow him into a real leader from Him.
Our volunteer - Anya Fartushna (on the left). After the summer project Sport Family where she amazingly helped us and me especially as an interpreter, she left her native place Smela and moved to Kiev to help in the ministry and also to work in the above mentioned school A.C.E. She has her work visa open to Poland but she preferred to "suffer with the nation of God" in Ukraine:) She fell in love with the ministry with children through sports and we fell in love with her. She loves God and people, sincere minister and the heart of our team. I have discipleship meetings with her - we study the course about how "to make disciples". We pray about her joy in the Lord always, about searching for a place to retn and the possibility to see her family in America.
Our volunteer - Yura Kvashuk. We met Yura at our Summer Project. He is a break dance teacher. He teaches in the dance school and also witnesses to his students. Also he practices in the soccer team with nonbelievers where he also shares Gospel. Yura is a great blessings for our Sport Community as a coach and as a helper to our team. Yura also left his business and obeyed God's call to serve Christ through sports full time. We pray about his walk with God and his family - about the financial provision from the Lord.
Our volunteer - Todd Carlson. Todd moved to Kiev from Minessota state to serve children and teenagers approxim.a year ago. We met him at out Sport Community conference - the opening of Athletes in Action Ukraine in May this year. He was with us at the Sport Projects and he taught and teaches children English soccer words which they immediately practice at the field :) As he said: "I'm committed to minister Athletes in Action until I have money left" He is a joyful and an open to help minister. We pray about his spiritual growth, about the Lord would bless him financially and would confirm him in His calling.
Please pray:
1) We are going to the conference to the Netherlands which is called Sport Community Week where our Dutch friends from Athletes in Action will teach and show us how they do this ministry which is blessed and succesful there. Pray about the unity in the team, about the roads as we go by minivan, about financial blessings for the members of the team for this trip, about spiritual lessons for each one of us as a coach and as a minister;
2) We plan upon the return to do the advertisement in the neighbourhood of the church and also to arrange the soccer field at the parking of the church. Pray that the Lord would bring those children who He sees (this will be for free, and it can be for children who grew without fathers - whoever God would bring to us etc), also please pray would be able to realize the soccer field project financially, physically and spiritually ;
3) I started to attend the basketball practices with nonbelieving ladies (they call themselves - "Pretty ladies 30+" :-) They plan to participate in the disctrict competitions from October till April. Pray please for a wisdom in our friendship, that the Lord would open their hearts (some of them know already I'm a believer), that in future He would give a possibility to do basketball sports community and to invite them (their children) as coaches and participants;
4) For the repentance of the students of my disciple and friend - Katya P. - the basketball coach in Berdychev (another city in Ukraine) and also for the repentance of my friend and basketballer - Anya R.;
5) for the repentance and for the deliberation of my sister Irina, for the repentance of my brother Valera and of my nephew Vova.
Thank you very much! I'm looking foward to hear what the Lord is doing in your life?:-)
Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your mighty acts to all who are to come.
Sport Community training parts - work out, drill exercise, devotion time, small tournament. 
As for the devotion part of our Sport Community practices which we called "SuperPower", i.e. besides teaching soccer skills, the children are taught about the important for Life SuperSkills without which just soccer skills can't help. These SuperSkills are given from the Lord. For example, SuperSkill - Friendship, Obedience, Forgiveness, Skill to Help etc.
I'd like to tell more about our team and the volunteers who you can see on all our photos:) So meet them if you haven't met them yet:)
Here's our team - Athletes in Action, Ukraine. Andrey and Yuliia Shepelenko (in the middle) - a blessed family (they have two sons) which served as the Director of Campus team in Dniepro (on the east of Ukraine) for about 7 years. They were at the start of the students ministry there and now they are at the start of Athletes in Action Ukraine in Kiev and other cities. We pray for the wisdom and for the blessings for their family.
Please pray:
1) We are going to the conference to the Netherlands which is called Sport Community Week where our Dutch friends from Athletes in Action will teach and show us how they do this ministry which is blessed and succesful there. Pray about the unity in the team, about the roads as we go by minivan, about financial blessings for the members of the team for this trip, about spiritual lessons for each one of us as a coach and as a minister;
2) We plan upon the return to do the advertisement in the neighbourhood of the church and also to arrange the soccer field at the parking of the church. Pray that the Lord would bring those children who He sees (this will be for free, and it can be for children who grew without fathers - whoever God would bring to us etc), also please pray would be able to realize the soccer field project financially, physically and spiritually ;
3) I started to attend the basketball practices with nonbelieving ladies (they call themselves - "Pretty ladies 30+" :-) They plan to participate in the disctrict competitions from October till April. Pray please for a wisdom in our friendship, that the Lord would open their hearts (some of them know already I'm a believer), that in future He would give a possibility to do basketball sports community and to invite them (their children) as coaches and participants;
5) for the repentance and for the deliberation of my sister Irina, for the repentance of my brother Valera and of my nephew Vova.
Thank you very much! I'm looking foward to hear what the Lord is doing in your life?:-)
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