"…to the praise of the glory of His grace…" Ephesians 1:6

Sveta’s Jan/Feb Newsletter

January-February 2016

Dear Friends and Family,

At the end of January I participated in a seminar held for the team of people involved in our disability ministry. The topic of the seminar was, “If you want to be a disciple of Christ, be ready to pay the price.” The seminar was organized to provide a time of learning and fellowship for the members of the ministry for people with disabilities, including staff, volunteers and people with disabilities. Approximately 50 people attended and it was an intense time of studying as well as some fun for all. During the weekend, I took care of Julia, a young woman who has a spinal cord injury and requires complete assistance with all of her self-care. Julia repented a couple of years ago after she started to attend our rehabilitation center. Over time we became friends and periodically we attend seminars and events together. Together we enjoyed sitting by the fireplace in the large meeting hall as well as fellowshipping with friends.

It was a blessing to have electric wheelchairs for all of our friends with spinal cord injuries who attended the seminar because they were able to move about the
facility independently. The facility where we held the seminar was recently constructed by our church to host all kinds of events, including summer camps. This summer we are planning to have our camps for adults and children with disabilities in this new facility. Unfortunately, the facility is not completely adapted for people in wheelchairs and some things need to be done before the camps start.

Prayer requests:

– finances to install a ramp in this new building to the 2nd floor because the elevator is small and slow and will likely not accommodate 50 wheelchair users for a week

– finances to build a wheelchair accessible bathroom for people with disabilities to bathe

Our rehabilitation center is having more and more patients and not many therapists. While we do not have speech or occupational therapists, we do try to incorporate activities from these spheres into our sessions when patients have the need. God blessed me with the finances to attend an occupational therapy seminar in Kiev this February where I was able to learn some new things and share them with our therapists. We are still praying for more therapists for our center and especially those whom we can train to do occupational and speech therapy. Please join us in prayer as well.

May God bless all of you who are interested in what God is doing here, in the small city of Lutsk in Ukraine. I appreciate your prayers and support and consider you all as co-ministers in this work.

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