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

April 2014 Missions Update – Sveta Gusieva

Dear friends,

We were glad to have another meeting of the New Opportunities Club for people with disabilities this month. It was a great time for everyone to get out of their apartments and fellowship with friends. The topic of the meeting was “Christ is the Resurrection and the Life.” We talked about what it means to be free. We discussed the bondage of traditions and superstitions that keep people chained. At the end of each meeting, one person shares about a new opportunity he or she has discovered. Petia, who was born with abnormally formed joints, spoke at this meeting. He shared that during his childhood his family did not expect him to perform many activities and he did not think much about what he wanted to do because of his disability. But his older brother always challenged him to strive to “conquer the giants” and eventually Petia discovered many new opportunities. Now he drives a car, plays the piano, writes and sings songs, paints portraits and designs clay model cars. It was encouraging for other people to realize that difficult activities are not impossible if you try.

Another joyful event was project “Plant a Tree” for willing members from Fimiam church. Volunteers planted cedar trees around the territory of the Agape House, which will be a residential home for people with disabilities. It is the hope and dream for many of our friends in wheelchairs whose caregivers have died or they live in poor conditions of no care and attention. The vision for the Agape House was born when Sergiy and Natasha Bolchuk were able to see residential homes for people with disabilities in Canada. Our team began to pray that God would provide for us to start building a similar home in Lutsk. And God did provide and still does provide. The exterior construction of the Agape House is completed while interior work still needs to be done. The building will be fully wheelchair accessible and will give our friends an opportunity to be more independent with no architectural barriers. The staff who will care for the residents will all be Christian. We are thankful for those people who have been supporting this project and are looking for more donors to continue this work..

Praises:

  • Praise God for giving Alla and I wisdom to share with our coworkers about occupational therapy seminar we attended. Thank you all for praying for our trip to this seminar.

Prayer requests:

  • Please pray for unity in Ukraine and that separatists will not be able to split our country.
  • Please pray that God provides a different place to live for me (I live at church now)

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