January 2022 News – Letters of Thanks For “all you do for us”
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Phil. 1:3
Paula and I have been to Ukraine just after Christmas through January 11th. We visited the eastern Ukraine town of Avdeevka which is 10 miles from the current Russian troop buildup. Our missionaries there are faithfully serving people and sharing the gospel. They are an inspiration to us. We also visited Chernobyl villages and had a fun visit in the west of Ukraine with a young family doing a wooden toys business whose mother used to be a sponsored child.
In this newsletter, several families wrote to thank their sponsors for sending their children to camp. Some of these letter excerpts are from believing families, others are not. However, all are thankful for their sponsorship support.
As we embark on this new year of 2022, I am encouraged that the truth of scripture is timeless. It does not change. The culture, politics, wars, and rumors of wars all change and influence us. Yet, what is most important in our lives and ministry does not change. The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. So thank you for partnering with Mercy Projects to share this message of hope.
From the Kashtalyan Family
“First of all, we want to thank you for the summer vacation (camp) for our four children: Stas, Artem, Andriy and Bogdan. Everyone is very happy, and the elder Bogdan (16 years old) was at the Christian camp for the first time and had many good experiences. All our children say that a week in a Christian camp is better than a month in those camps organized by non-Christians. We see the difference.
Thank you for all you do for us!”
From the Lysenko Family
Mrs. Lysenko writes, “My daughter Yulia, who is 13 years old, had the opportunity to go to the Circle of Friends Christian camp. I want to express my gratitude and thank God for you! Yulia arrived very, very happy with many good memories, especially of the love and friendship of the counselors. We thank God for you.”
From 12-year-old Nastya Klyukovskyi
“This summer I was at the Circle of Friends Camp. This trip was made possible because you are our sponsors. Our family thanks you for such help, me especially. I liked the workshops, swimming pool, camp games, parties, food (especially goodies), talent shows, and most of all a climbing wall. I made new friends. I also really liked that our team almost always won. Hopefully in the future, I will have the opportunity to go back to this wonderful camp.”
From Mrs. Golomozyi
“Our eldest daughter Tanya, who is 12 years old, just returned from the Mercy Projects Christian camp. She is delighted with this program, and was really looking forward to this camp. She made new friends and a lot of new impressions. We are very grateful that we can be in this program! We know that many children want to be in this program, but not everyone who wished has this opportunity. God is so kind to us.”
From Mrs. Artemchuk
“The other day our eldest daughter Darinka came back from the children’s camp where she was for the first time in her life. On returning home she has been constantly sharing her impressions and shining with pleasure and joy, was telling us about new friends, good and interesting counselors, about competitions, contests and many other interesting events experienced during the camp. But what made us most happy was that our daughter felt through your care how much Jesus loved her.
Our whole family is sincerely grateful to God and to you for this wonderful and valuable gift for us!”