BUY A CANDLE... LIGHT THE WORLD

We are so excited for this unique opportunity to help support the kids in Ukraine. 

Let's be real, who doesn't love candles?! Not only can they make your own house smell amazing, they are great gifts too!

Third Bear Candles is teaming up with us May 1st- May 14th to help us raise funds for Summer ministry opportunities! For every candle bought during those two weeks, $5 will be donated to Open Arms. It is that simple! Buy a gift, enjoy a candle, help bring home to orphans in Ukraine.  

Check out their website at thirdbearcandles.com to find out more about these all natural soy wax candles. Every, single one of their candles smells amazing!

Be sure to like them on Facebook as well! facebook.com/thirdbearcandles.

Many thanks! 

SPRING CAMP UPDATE

WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

You may have read our theme for camp and wondered, what exactly does that mean? We first came up with this theme due to the political unrest in Ukraine and all the talk of being for Ukraine or for Russia. But the deeper underlying meaning and goal was to get the kids to understand their choice of living with God or against Him. Our speaker, Pastor Valentyn, spoke on character, integrity, and choosing to live a life of conscious decisions and values - either for or against God. Camp was full of thought provoking discussions and games that had to do with the theme, crafts, soccer, baseball, and free time. The kids even painted different banners symbolizing the two sides and their understanding of what each side means to them.

ALINA

Camp was the first interaction 18 year old Alina had with any ministry of Open Arms Ukraine or our local church. She's currently dating one of our regulars and we are so thankful he wanted to introduce to Open Arms through spring camp. It was amazing to watch God work through camp as we began a relationship with her there. She expressed how much she loved camp and how glad she was to meet everyone. By the end of the weekend, she already said how excited she is to start coming to our weekly Wednesday night meetings. We can’t wait to see where God leads us in our relationship with Alina and what He will do in her life.

OVERVIEW

This camp was run by the smallest team of Ukrainians and Americans we’ve ever had, and we were a little worried of how it all would go. In the end we were lucky to have such a great group of kids who were so excited to be at another camp. God gave the leaders the necessary energy and resources and our unified team was able to run everything smoothly and successfully.

We are so thankful to all of our sponsors and those who prayed for our camp! Every kid at camp received a bag of hygiene items, socks, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, shampoo, and lotion. Thank you to Temecula Hills Christian Fellowship for all the hygiene items and to the Church @ Clayton Crossings for all the socks! The kids were blessed by the gifts. Again, thank you all for the role you played in our camp! We could not have done it without your faithful support!

To see more pictures of camp, please check our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/openarmsukraine

MINISTRY UPDATE

As many of you already know our American team is currently in the states due to the unrest in Ukraine. We appreciate everyone who has been praying and are hoping to make our way back to Ukraine in the coming weeks with safety plans in place. At the same time, you are probably wondering what is going on with ministry with the current situation so here are a few updates...

Post Orphanage Ministry Update:

First of all we just want to say thank you so much for sponsoring our grads for camp! It has been such an encouragement and blessing for us to see God using each of you in this way. With that being said, we want to let you know that camp will still be happening. We are praying, praying, praying that we will get to be back in Ukraine by then. However, if for some reason we can't, our amazing Ukrainian team will be running things from there. 

Things to pray for:

- Camp planning would continue to go smoothly

- Our American team - that we would be able to be back in time for camp

- Our Ukrainian team as they continue to help with the planning; for the pastor as he prepares the messages 

Orphanage Ministry Update:

We are excited to be in the process of preparing summer ministry plans with both the Pravdinska Orphanage and the Ulianivka Orphanage. Our Ukrainian team is rocking the preparation for camps and continuing the connection with the kids there. Being in the states, we were able to get 4 boxes of shoes and goods for the orphanages donated by Neighborhood Church Castro Valley's Junior High group shipped off to Ukraine. Right now is a period of preparation for all that May and June hold in ministry! 

Please join us in prayer for:

- Department permission documents to be approved quickly and easily for ministry

- Volunteers to be available for camp programs in the month of June

- Ways to bring in more humanitarian aid due to the recent troubles in Ukraine. 

SPRING CAMP SPONSORSHIP

Snow is melting. Temperatures are rising. That can only mean one thing: SPRING CAMP IS COMING!!!

These kids have been chomping on the bit since the day fall camp ended; continuously asking "so, when is the next camp?!". Well, kids, it is on its way and we are so excited for what awaits. 

This April 4th-6th we will round up as many kids as that little camp can hold and host a camp focused around the theme "Whose Side are You on?". Games, Bible lessons, crafts, discussion groups, impromptu dance parties, soccer galore, worship, meaningful conversations, and ridiculous amounts of laughter are guaranteed to make this camp incredibly memorable. 

BUT, before any of that happens, we need YOUR help! We are looking for sponsorships to cover 28 kids and 5 leaders at $70 each to attend this rock solid camp. Whether you can sponsor a child in full or in part, every little bit helps us make the magic happen and bring God's love to these beautiful, yet broken kids. 

Use the link below:

OR:

You can make checks payable to Open Arms Ukraine and send them to: PO Box 277, San Lorenzo, CA 94580

Your prayers are also greatly appreciated as we prepare for the all that God has in store!!!