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November 2012!So many things to be thankful for this month. First of all because we can be called children of God! Thankful for the family that God gave us, thankful for the privilege we have to be able to serve our Lord, thankful for everyone that makes this possible.
This past month has been like one long day :) our eminent move to Spain keeps us very busy. We've been doing a lot of documents to apply for our visas. I had the privilege to teach 3 subjects in the first semester of the Bible Institute in Ukraine, Names of God and Galatians for the second year course and Bible Study Methods for the first year students. I also worked on a summer camp promo video for WOL Spain (watch video) and a promo video for the youth winter conference in Ukraine (watch video). As we get closer to the time of our departure from Ukraine we want to thank you all that are making this possible. Please pray that God will provide what we still need to move to Sant Celoni, Spain. Please check our Support page to see how you can help in a practical way. Thank you for your prayers!
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Lena translated for me once during the Names of God class for the second year students
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Spain Student Scholarships
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It's amazing to see how God is working in the lives of people in Spain. Please take a moment to read the testimony of the Perez family and the testimony of two young men, Gabriel Penalva and Jacob Perez who are going to study God's Word in the Word of Life Bible Institute in Argentina.
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October 2012!It was a fast start of a new year at the Word of Life Ukraine Bible Institute! praise the Lord for all the new students that came in for the first year course and for the students that came back for the second year course! We have several countries represented and we are exited to see so many young people getting ready to serve the Lord.
As we wait patiently for the perfect time of God to make the move to Sant Celoni, Barcelona we are involved in the ministry here in Ukraine and also WOL Spain with several projects. We still need $500/month of support! pray that God will provide the people that will stand along with us to reach this goal! Pray for the documentation needed to apply for our visas and that that process will go smoothly . Thank you for your prayers! |
Fall 2012 Update! |
September 2012!
It has been a year and nine months since we first where challenged to consider going to another country. Our desire to go to Word of Life Spain has become a conviction and now we wait upon the Lord for the right time to move into Sant Celoni, Barcelona. God has taken us through His perfect path the last year and nine months. We've seen his hand upon us in many ways, now that dosen't mean that we did everything we wanted in our time because my path and plans many times don't match God's perfect plan and time for our lives.
From February 13 to August 13 we spent 6 wonderful months in the US making new friends and visiting good old friends. Now, if I tell you that God has surprised us with so many-many-new friends I won't be fair. Something we learned a lot in our trip to the US was that God dosen't only send a missionary family to a country by itself, God sends a family (or an individual) with a team of friends that stay back home praying and supporting the missionary family or individual. Getting that kind of support is crucial for our ministry.
Right after we arrived to Ukraine, Grandpa and Grandma Shershun (Lena's parents) took Esteban and Gracia with them to their country come they spent 3 weeks together. Lena and I stayed home at WOL and a week later I left for Barcelona, Spain to join the team there for my first staff retreat. It was a very special time since we had a joint staff retreat with the WOL team from France.
From February 13 to August 13 we spent 6 wonderful months in the US making new friends and visiting good old friends. Now, if I tell you that God has surprised us with so many-many-new friends I won't be fair. Something we learned a lot in our trip to the US was that God dosen't only send a missionary family to a country by itself, God sends a family (or an individual) with a team of friends that stay back home praying and supporting the missionary family or individual. Getting that kind of support is crucial for our ministry.
Right after we arrived to Ukraine, Grandpa and Grandma Shershun (Lena's parents) took Esteban and Gracia with them to their country come they spent 3 weeks together. Lena and I stayed home at WOL and a week later I left for Barcelona, Spain to join the team there for my first staff retreat. It was a very special time since we had a joint staff retreat with the WOL team from France.
We had a wonderful time
meeting with full time staff and associated staff
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translating in the first morning session
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view to the west!...
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...view to the east!
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on the plane back to Ukraine
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at DTW
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not a dull moment!
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Summer 2012
We are back in Ukraine after 6 wonderful months in the USA. So many new great friends were made.
A special update is coming up soon!
We are in Schroon Lake, NY for the summer, at the Word of Life Family Campground a great place for families to come and grow closer to God and each other!
It has been a very special blessing to be able to invest (I don't like to use the word "spend") this summer at the Word of Life Family Campground, the leadership, summer staff and families have been a very special blessing for our family. It's really hard to believe that we've been almost 6 months in the US in less then 10 days we are flying back to Ukraine, this means that we're a step closer to move to Spain. Please pray for our financial support situation, we still need to raise at least 30% more monthly support to be able to move to Sant Celoni, Spain. You have no idea how God as been providing, in times of economical turmoil is when God's provision is more noticeable!
UPDATE FROM Word of Life SPAIN! SUMMER CAMPS!
while we raise support in the US, ministry in Spain goes on! this summer we had two wonderful, miracle filled, weeks of camp, one week in Calafell, near Barcelona and another week in Ciudad Real, near Madrid. For God's glory and praise there were 45 decisions for Christ and 165 decisions of dedication. This is a great miracle!
Pray for us as we meet and serve people.
It's hard to believe that we started week #7! amazing! we met and made so many new friends! In just 9 days we have to return to Ukraine, we pray that by then we'll have enough support to go to Spain!
A special update is coming up soon!
We are in Schroon Lake, NY for the summer, at the Word of Life Family Campground a great place for families to come and grow closer to God and each other!
It has been a very special blessing to be able to invest (I don't like to use the word "spend") this summer at the Word of Life Family Campground, the leadership, summer staff and families have been a very special blessing for our family. It's really hard to believe that we've been almost 6 months in the US in less then 10 days we are flying back to Ukraine, this means that we're a step closer to move to Spain. Please pray for our financial support situation, we still need to raise at least 30% more monthly support to be able to move to Sant Celoni, Spain. You have no idea how God as been providing, in times of economical turmoil is when God's provision is more noticeable!
UPDATE FROM Word of Life SPAIN! SUMMER CAMPS!
while we raise support in the US, ministry in Spain goes on! this summer we had two wonderful, miracle filled, weeks of camp, one week in Calafell, near Barcelona and another week in Ciudad Real, near Madrid. For God's glory and praise there were 45 decisions for Christ and 165 decisions of dedication. This is a great miracle!
Pray for us as we meet and serve people.
It's hard to believe that we started week #7! amazing! we met and made so many new friends! In just 9 days we have to return to Ukraine, we pray that by then we'll have enough support to go to Spain!
Sharing our testimonies and ministry at the Word of Life Family Campground.
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One of the special nights at the Family Campground, steak night and live music!
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Steven and Grace speaking to Laura Story after the concert.
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Please watch this short video that explains our vision and heart for Spain!
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March 2012!
was an exiting month. We started in Marcus Hook Baptist Church in Linwood, PA on March 2 and ended in Fellowship Baptist Church of Venice, FL on April 1. It was a nice ride :) we went from Linwood, PA to Lewisberry, PA there we had a very nice Wednesday night meeting from there we went down to Lynchburg, VA were we visited some friends and stayed overnight on our way down to our next stop in Atlanta, GA. We spend a wonderful time visiting with the Blackford family and some friends from Woodstock, GA that had come to Ukraine. From Woodstock, GA we went to Wilton Alabama for a Wednesday night service, great time of fellowship with the people of Wilton Baptist Church. from there we went up north of Alabama to Athens, AL were we visited and attended Clements Baptist Church for whom we are so thankful, we had a wonderful time in fellowship with friends who we also met in Ukraine on different trips they made to serve there. Then we went to Centreville, AL for a Wednesday night meeting and the fellowship there was great. After a quick stop in Centeville, AL we kept pushing south till we reached Jacksonville, FL there we visited dear friends that came to study to our Bible Institute in Ukraine, we had the opportunity to share about our ministry in a Russian speaking Church, which was great. From Jacksonville we traveled to Hudson FL were we stayed for a few days at the Word of Life there we visited with friends and supporters, on Wednesday of that week we visited Living Word Church of New Port Richey, good time of fellowship with the Church. For the first weekend of April we went to Venice, FL to Fellowship Baptist Church and then we went to a Russian Church and right after the Russian service they had a Hispanic service and the pastor invited us to stay for that meeting also so we had Church in English, Russian and Spanish in one day! :)
We are so thankful to the Lord for all the people we met this past month, so many places and so many good people.
As we keep traveling and visiting Churches and friends, please pray that God will provide the people and Churches that will join us in prayer and financial support. We are now in 26% of what we need to be able to go to Barcelona, Spain. Pray to God together with us that He will provide people that will commit to support our family in this matter also.
Thank you for your prayers!
We are so thankful to the Lord for all the people we met this past month, so many places and so many good people.
As we keep traveling and visiting Churches and friends, please pray that God will provide the people and Churches that will join us in prayer and financial support. We are now in 26% of what we need to be able to go to Barcelona, Spain. Pray to God together with us that He will provide people that will commit to support our family in this matter also.
Thank you for your prayers!
February 2012
! God is good. It is such a great privilege to be able to server the Lord. We thank our Savior for people that he places in our path that are such a great blessing to our lives. We thank God for the Word of Life Ukraine family that for the past 10 years have been such a great blessing and encouragement. Right now we are in the United States, in an adventure that is and will change our lives. We are in a journey that has as a final destination a placed called Spain. God is moving our family to a new site to keep serving Him.
We need people that will pray for us and the ministry in Spain. We need people that will commit to help our family financially. We need people that will like to come on short term missionary trip to help in special projects in Spain.
If you will like to be part of our team in any of this 3 ways, please get in touch with us!
We need people that will pray for us and the ministry in Spain. We need people that will commit to help our family financially. We need people that will like to come on short term missionary trip to help in special projects in Spain.
If you will like to be part of our team in any of this 3 ways, please get in touch with us!
Hampstead Baptist Church Youth Group!
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Hampstead Baptist Church Youth Group, Pastor David.
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Hampstead Baptist Church Youth Group, sharing my testimony. A great group of young people!
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January 2012!
only in a few weeks we'll be traveling to the US with our family to raise the support we need to move to Spain. This will be a very special time in our lives, as we travel and meet new friends and visit old friends. Our prayer is that the Lord will guide us to the people that will like to join our team that will serve in Word of Life Spain, there are several ways you can help. We need people that will pray for us and the ministry in Spain. We need people that will commit to help our family financially. We need people that will like to come on short term missionary trip to help in special projects in Spain.
If you will like to be part of our team in any of this 3 ways, please get in touch with us!
If you will like to be part of our team in any of this 3 ways, please get in touch with us!
We took this family picture on December 31, 2011! :)
It's December 31st, last day of 2011, and we are in winter camp! Expecting a great time to celebrate the New Year! as we look back to 2011 we can only say that we are thankful!
It's December!Yes, believe it or not, it's the last month of 2011. Get this, before you know it we'll be celebrating Christmas and New Year!
We are so thankful for your friendship and love. This has been a great year for our family. God's path is perfect, many times is not was we expect or what we are looking for but at the end is the best. God has been leading our family in a very special way this past year and we are thrilled to share that with you! |
Please download this file to read our Thank You letter!
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September 2011
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September 19-28: I made my third trip to Spain this year! what a blessing it was to go back to that wonderful land. I had the privilege to help in the first Leadership Conference in Madrid (see video to the right) we had the privilege to host 80 people that came from different parts of Spain. The purpose of the conference was to encourage and help Pastors and Church leaders. It was a great time to see old friends and to make lots of new friends as well.
It was wonderful to see the powerful hand of God leading the way to the beginning of the conference, there where many trials and setbacks that wanted to put the conference off, but God had a wonderful plan for each person there, and at the end we rejoiced seeing the blessings. |
Leadership Conference - Madrid 2011 |
September 9: We are only a few days away from starting the Bible Institue school year. This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the school. Some time later we'll share with you some interesting statistics about the last 10 years of ministry. We rejoice because many young people and families have come through the program.
August 2011:
Summer camp season is over, and all we can say it's Praise the Lord! It was a wonderful summer. The whole family enjoyed it very much. Specially the kids, it seemed that they where campers for 8 weeks of camp :)
More then 800 campers came and 212 accepted Christ as their personal Savior, hundreds more decided to give their lives to the Lord.
After the last week of camp in our property we left for the Carpathian Mountains for a week camp there with a small group of young people. There are no word to describe the beauty of God's creation evidenced on the mountains, rivers and lakes of the Carpathian Mountains. We visited ruins of 1000 year old castles, we climbed the highest mountain of Ukraine, we hiked through mountains, lakes and rivers. It was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the fellowship with God's Word also.
More then 800 campers came and 212 accepted Christ as their personal Savior, hundreds more decided to give their lives to the Lord.
After the last week of camp in our property we left for the Carpathian Mountains for a week camp there with a small group of young people. There are no word to describe the beauty of God's creation evidenced on the mountains, rivers and lakes of the Carpathian Mountains. We visited ruins of 1000 year old castles, we climbed the highest mountain of Ukraine, we hiked through mountains, lakes and rivers. It was a lot of fun. We enjoyed the fellowship with God's Word also.
Ruins of a castle that was never conquered for over 1000 years, until a lightning struck it and burned down.
half way to the Goverla Mountain (2061 meters hight) the highest mountain of Ukraine.
 Team on the Gaverla Mountain! |
 one of the water falls we visited. |
July 2011
It's hard to believe that we are one week away from ending our 2011 summer camp season! It has been a great summer. Our family really enjoyed every single day of service.
Click here to edit.
 the kids cheering for their team! first week of camp |
 campers during one of the meetings! First week of camp |
June 2011
JUNE 26: We finished our second week of camp, we had a total of 130 campers and it was exiting. Now we look forward for a great week of teens. Please take a few minutes to watch the video above and see some of the spiritual work done with the campers.
JUNE 20: week #2 is underway. Ages 9-13. We look forward to another magical week. The camp is full to it's max, just from walking around I recognize some faces from last year.
I wanted to share with you also something special. On June 18th a dear friend of our WOL Family went to be with the Lord, he was the son of the Word of Life directors in Peru. Alejandro Matos was only 19 years old and was studying in the WOL Bible Institute in Argentina, he was involved in a traffic accident and left this life to spent eternity with God. It is just amazing that at his short age he was already a big testimony to our Lord. If you read this post, please pray for his parents, Ruben and Griselda Matos, please pray for his older sister Valeria and her husband Derek, that God will bless their hearts in this time of suffering.
June 18: So the first week of camp is over. So fast it went by. We had 127 campers ages 9-13. It was a great week. Now we have a a couple of days to rest and gear up for the next round! The second week of camp, also ages 9-13. Thank you for your prayers! The Lord hears you and is responding!
June 13: FIRST DAY OF SUMMER CAMP! the most exiting time of the year is finally here! summer camp season starts today and we are expecting a full camp!
-Lena will be working with the girl counselors and I will be doing all the multimedia of the camp. We look forward to a great summer!
-June 1-8: Lena and I are in Sant Celoni, Barcelona (Spain) visiting Sergio Martinez and his family.
Great time of fellowship and seeing the ministry!
-June 2: Sergio Martinez and I had breakfast with Pastor Gabriel Penalva and Pastor Samuel Penalva. It was a great time of fellowship. God has great things for Spain!
-June 8: Lena and I left Barcelona, we are back in Ukraine. No words can describe the wonderful time we had there. We praise the Lord for people like Sergio and Nancy Martinez, they truly love the Lord and people. The Church of Sant Celoni was a tremendous blessing for our lives, may the Lord bless and prosper that Church!
In just a few days there will be more then 100 children coming to our first week of summer camp. Unbelievable. The first week of camp in Ukraine is about to start. Be part of the army of prayer worriers lifting up the lives of the campers and the summer staff. There is a guaranteed answers of your prayer!
JUNE 20: week #2 is underway. Ages 9-13. We look forward to another magical week. The camp is full to it's max, just from walking around I recognize some faces from last year.
I wanted to share with you also something special. On June 18th a dear friend of our WOL Family went to be with the Lord, he was the son of the Word of Life directors in Peru. Alejandro Matos was only 19 years old and was studying in the WOL Bible Institute in Argentina, he was involved in a traffic accident and left this life to spent eternity with God. It is just amazing that at his short age he was already a big testimony to our Lord. If you read this post, please pray for his parents, Ruben and Griselda Matos, please pray for his older sister Valeria and her husband Derek, that God will bless their hearts in this time of suffering.
June 18: So the first week of camp is over. So fast it went by. We had 127 campers ages 9-13. It was a great week. Now we have a a couple of days to rest and gear up for the next round! The second week of camp, also ages 9-13. Thank you for your prayers! The Lord hears you and is responding!
June 13: FIRST DAY OF SUMMER CAMP! the most exiting time of the year is finally here! summer camp season starts today and we are expecting a full camp!
-Lena will be working with the girl counselors and I will be doing all the multimedia of the camp. We look forward to a great summer!
-June 1-8: Lena and I are in Sant Celoni, Barcelona (Spain) visiting Sergio Martinez and his family.
Great time of fellowship and seeing the ministry!
-June 2: Sergio Martinez and I had breakfast with Pastor Gabriel Penalva and Pastor Samuel Penalva. It was a great time of fellowship. God has great things for Spain!
-June 8: Lena and I left Barcelona, we are back in Ukraine. No words can describe the wonderful time we had there. We praise the Lord for people like Sergio and Nancy Martinez, they truly love the Lord and people. The Church of Sant Celoni was a tremendous blessing for our lives, may the Lord bless and prosper that Church!
In just a few days there will be more then 100 children coming to our first week of summer camp. Unbelievable. The first week of camp in Ukraine is about to start. Be part of the army of prayer worriers lifting up the lives of the campers and the summer staff. There is a guaranteed answers of your prayer!
 Olympians Bible Club. Sant Celoni Church |
 Teens Bible Club. Sharing time in groups. |
in Blanes on the Mediterranean sea coast.
Bible Club in the home of Sergio Martinez
