Your Prayers Are Making A Difference

Taking the gospel to every community, meeting their material needs and equipping Ukrainians for a brighter future.

Prayer points:

The ongoing conflict: pray for the whole country, as the Russian advance in the east continues and the future remains uncertain.
For the government and military leaders, for wisdom and discernment as they make difficult decisions on a daily basis.
For the residents of Slovyansk and nearby towns who are now having to evacuate.
Camp Maximum: For all the new staff at Camp Maximum in Zolotonosha, who are undergoing intense training to be ready to receive the campers.
For Vitaliy and the team leading the training; for energy and patience as they orientate new staff.
For the children and families who will be attending the camps, many of whom have suffered severe trauma.
For safety and courage for the five Camp Maximum instructors who have been called away to serve in the military.
Pastor Vasya: pray for our partner in Irpin, that he can serve people effectively in the two new centres he has opened.
Give thanks for those meeting there for Sunday services; pray that permanent churches will be established, and people will step forward to serve as ministers.

War Update

The conflict has now been going on for almost 140 days. Although the Russian advance has been slow, in the past week, Russian forces have taken control of the city of Lysychansk, and now control the entire eastern region of Luhansk. Still more people in the east are having to evacuate their homes, and so the pressure of Internally Displaced People on other parts of the country continues. Missiles have fallen on the outskirts of Cherkasy, and on the nearby city of Kremenchuck. It is hard to know exactly what all this means in the long-term, but it certainly reminds us that the threat of occupation remains high across the country. As other news pushes the Ukraine crisis further down the rankings of importance, let us keep it at the forefront of our minds and our prayers, and continue to cry out to God for resolution and for lasting peace.

News from our Partners

As we get further into camp season, there is much to pray for.

Staff training and Preparation at Camp Maximum

At present the team has paused their food distribution activities so they can focus entirely on the next few weeks. 60% of the staff are new this year, and so there is a lot of work for Vitaliy and his team to do to get them ready to run the camps, which start on July 18th and run until August 27th. Vitaliy is excited that nine of them are refugees who came to Maximum earlier on in the conflict and have now decided to stay. 'We love our new team!' he says.
They have also sought extra training, in partnership with the Trauma Healing Institute, to equip all staff who will be actively working with children dealing with various traumas resulting from the war. As they expect to serve more than 600 children in the residential camps and over 1000 children and families in the day programmes, there will be many people who need extra support. The theme this year is 'Unbroken', with the programme based on examples of the physical and spiritual stability of individuals and nations. We trust it will ne encouraging for all who attend. It is wonderful that the local authorities have given permission for camps to go ahead; please pray especially that the schedule will not be interrupted by the conflict.

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Help Centres open outside Kyiv

Pastor Vasya, who leads Irpin Bible Church (IBC) and teaches Youth Ministry at Kyiv Theological Seminary, has been reunited with his family after they initially left due to attacks on the town. From the first day of the war, IBC has been actively engaged in serving the community, and helped evacuate about 3500 people from Irpin and the surrounding region. Vasya is now pouring his time and energy into starting up help centres in two locations near Irpin that were devasted by Russian forces a few months ago, with the hope of planting churches there. The first opened at the end of April, and the second in early June. At each one Vasya and his team have 4 main goals:

to help people with food and medicines, with healthcare professional also involved to offer assistance
to work with children and teenagers
to facilitate psychological and spiritual support groups, running "overcoming adversity" courses
to hold Sunday services

Across these and 3 other centres opened earlier in the war, they see more than 1500 people a week. They have been encouraged by the attendance so far, especially at Sunday services, which for many people is their first experience of church. In one village that previously had no church, now about 50-60 people attend the Sunday meetings. Vasya was also pleasantly surprised to see more than 100 teenagers at a recent event at the newest centre, and hopes they will continue to come along.

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Summer Camps are up and running!

In Blagodatne, and at Camp Maximum in Italy, young people are already benefiting from the joy and fun of summer camps. And there are many more to come! It's not too late to sponsor a child to attend a summer camp; just £50 will cover the cost.

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Our Twitter account @UCM1993 is live and we are busy sharing news from our partners, as well as information from the UN, Innovista, and others working in Ukraine. Please do connect and help us to expand our network.

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