Insight

Recently I (Tonya) read a book that had a lot of reminders and "a-ha" moments for me. One part was the reminder that The Christian's proper assurance of salvation is God's gift, a gift given to the believer by the very God who has accomplished our salvation. True believers are those who have genuinely responded to the call of the gospel, whose belief is evident in a life transformed by God's grace, and whose profession of faith in Christ is accompanied by repentance from sin and an eagerness to follow Christ. Believers DO sin, and may sin grievously, but they can never finally remain in sin. Peter promised that God will guard His own through faith, even as salvation will be revealed "in the last time." In the end, the gift of assurance and the doctrine of perseverance take us back to the very essence of the gospel - we are saved by grace through faith.

Grace alone...

nothing more

and nothing less.

Happy Anniversary!!

I want to take this opportunity to wish Julia and Sergey a Happy 2nd Anniversary! At least I THINK it is their 2nd anniversary!!! Time flies by so fast, but I am almost positive this is their second!!! So HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! AND MANY MORE TO COME!!!!!

You guys are an extraordinary couple, doing extraordinary things!!! We are SO thankful for you both and the service you are giving gor God's Kingdom!!!

LOVE AND HUGS!!!

The Filleman's!!!!!!!

Christian Counseling

This last week from the 11th to the 15th of May. I (Julia) was attending seminars on Christian counseling. All together there were 20 lectures (every day from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M). on topics such as: anxiety, anger, loneliness, eating disoders etc. The course was taught by professional Christian counselors Birmingham, Alabama Covenant Counseling and Education Center. The information that I got from this week is going to be very helpful for me as I minister to teenage girls in one on one relationships every day. I am very thankful to God for this great week, because I was praying for several months to provide me with helpful counseling information to be a better servant in the area of orphanage ministry.

A simple cup of tea....

Ira (a 10th grader from the orphanage) is the girl I get together with quite often. This month she went camping for a week to the mountains in Crimea. As we got together and got some tea and cakes in a cafe she shared with me about her trip. It was a great time for her and her friends and though they got wet one time under the rain she really enjoyed the trip. We talked for about an hour when she finally said that sitting like this in a cafe with me listening to her over a cup of tea is just what she needed to feel that she is back from the trip, because a real home you return to is a place where there is someone ready to listen and ready to make a cup of hot delicious tea for you.....Sometimes, Sergey and I are wondering whether we are making any difference in the lives of these kids, there are so many of them and they have so many needs....but moments like these make me both - want to cry and want to continue serve to God by serving them. God, thank You for the cup of tea I can offer to these girsl!

Sasha

Sergey keeps on going out to the streets of Odessa looking for the homeless kids. One day he met Sasha. As he talked to Sasha he found out that Sasha has 4 more siblings (2 brothers and 2 sisters). Sasha agreed that Sergey would contact his parents. His mother and stepfather were really anxious for Sasha to come back because if he wouldn't all 4 siblings would be taken to the shelter by the social service. Sergey bought Sasha new clothes, let him take a shower and took him back to his family. It took them almost 10 hours to get to his home village near town Ternopol (first a night on the train, then by car). Sasha's mother was really happy to see Sasha and was thankful to Sergey. He promised to keep in touch with them and wants to direct them to a good loving church. Please pray thatGod would help him to do so.

There are many kids Sergey talks to every week, he offers help to everyone, there are some kids who have homes and orphanages they ran away from and are too embarassed or afraid to go back to. Some of the kids ran away in search of adventures and their parents or supervisors are really looking forward for them to come back. Sasha was one of such boys and God let Sergey be on his path right at the moment when he was ready to go back, probably fed up with the "adventures" of the street life. Please pray that God would use Sergey in this ministry and that we would have enough financial resources to pay the way home for the kids who are ready to go. Some of the kids are open to be prayed for and many ask why Sergey helps them, these questions provide him with perfect opportunities to tell them about the love of God. Today one girl asked Sergey this question and was surprised to hear that Sergey wants to help her because God loves her. It took her some time to understand this, because she thought that when you do something good for God you do it so you look better in His eyes. So, Sergey talked to her about how when you become a Christian God gives you so much love that you want to share it with others. He offered her lunch at the nearby McDonalds and when he asked her whether she wants a cheesburger or a BigMac, she asked what are these? So, he took his time to explain what a cheesbuger and a Big Mac are. She ate a BigMac for the first time in her life. She liked it a lot!

Interested in how you found us! :-)

Hi all our wonderful supporters! I was just curious...I have a few different things out there that help promote this ministry, and I was just wondering what works to bring people to our blog. Could you please post a comment and let me know how you found out about Youth of Ukraine? That would be SO helpful! And also where you are from! There are a lot of hits from different countries and I am just so interested in where you are and a little bit about you!! Thanks!!!!

Blankets

Ira and Alina, after the Bible group at our place. They are happy that now they will have blankets different from everyone else at their orphanage.

Bible Study

We wrote in one of the previous updates about the Bible group that we have started on Saturdays at our place. This group is for the young people to learn more about Jesus, read the Bible together, have tea and good fellowship. At the last group Sergey talked to us about how God never leaves us and wants to help us in every difficult situation. Please pray that it would be a good time for everyone where we can learn more about God and become good friends.

Orphanage graduates

We keep on meeting with the orphanage graduates and trying to see how we can participate in their lives, help them and show that God the Father cares for them. Recently we met with two girls (one is 20 years old, another is 17 years old) to have tea, talk and see how we can help. The older one has three little kids (2 month, 1,5 years and 3.5 years old), another one is pregnant. We had some childrens clothes of different sizes to give to both of them. Please pray for us to have wisdom as we talk to the girls in the situations like that. We are especially thankful to Pat and Sharon who sent us blankets. Now the kids of these girls and the girls themselves have each a blanket to keep them warm and cozy.

April Donations

Thank you to our April Donors! Whether it be your regular donation, or your donation to help a student learn english...it is all SO helpful and we are just SO thankful to God for each and every one of you!!!

In the future Julia ans Sergey are going to give us an idea of how they use your donations every month! Stay tuned!!

Thanks to:

Rick and Mary Coates
Ken and Vera Gustafson
Edward Push
Les Stutzman
Russel and Donna Rediger

If you donated for the month of April and you are not on this list, please contact me...that means I don't have accurate records for April and I want to make sure that they are accurate. Thanks so much!!!!!!!