Graduate Weekend Report

This past weekend we had 11 graduates and one of their 3 year old all in our apartment for a graduate program. The kids arrived on Saturday afternoon and the day was packed full of activities that went late into the evening. The time was spent playing games, singing, worship, sharing and reading the Bible, and enjoying good snacks and fellowship. Sashko talked about friends and how they influence us and the importance of having good friends. He shared about how God can be your friend. This is a concept that the kids have a hard time understanding. It was a good opportunity for us to share with them our experiences and how we have seen God as our friend. The kids were asked what they thought were good qualities in a friend and made to think about their friendships.

On Sunday morning we woke up early to make it to church. We have one bathroom so it did take us a little longer than normal to get out of the house. But fortunately no fights broke out over who was gonna use the sink first. We were honestly a little surprised with how many kids went to church and even made it through the whole service. Although our apartment was packed full, it was a weekend full of love and fun. Thank you all who prayed for this weekend!

$10 Challenge - What You Did!

We were so blessed and overwhelmed by the response and generosity to our $10 Challenge a couple weeks ago! Our goal was 10 donors a day, giving $10 each, for 10 days, for a total of $1000. We didn't have 10 donors every single day, but in 9 out of 10 days, we received over $100. 62 people donated to Open Arms in those 10 days for a grand total of $2, 472. 42!

You guys were amazing! We are so thankful for each and every one of you - those who gave money, those of you who prayed, and those who reposted the challenge and got friends to join. I know we've said it before, but we truly could not continue this ministry without you. Thank you so much for all of your support and prayer!

This weekend we will be having an over-night graduate outreach in Sumy. We're expecting up to 18 kids to come crash our apartment and enjoy a time of fellowship, Bible study, church and more. Your support from the $10 Challenge will help us put this weekend on. Thanks again! Please keep us in your prayers this weekend!

At-Risk Youth Conference

This past weekend we were able to attend a conference for at risk youth along with our team of Ukrainian volunteers. We already knew we were supposed to attend this conference as we got it sponsored in less than 24 hours. To all of you who supported financially or with prayers we are so grateful. God used you in our ministry this weekend.There is no doubt that we were meant to attend this conference and it would not have happened without our supporters. It was such a good time of fellowship with other people who are doing this same kind of work. We were able to connect with people who have the same hearts we do for these precious kids.

The couple who put on the conference, were a huge blessing to us. They have walked in our shoes and had so much wisdom and knowledge to impart to us. They sat with us and shared stories when they were first starting out which helped us to see there is hope for us. Sometimes people just knowing what you are going through brings comfort.

This conference was one of the first times we were able to spend this much time with our Ukrainian team. It was exciting to see our team bond together. We believe God has big things in store for Open Arms and we are excited to see how it is going to change and grow.

Thanks again to all of your who helped support through prayer and sponsoring!