Lacrosse Presentation

I praise God for His blessings! We gave a presentation about lacrosse in one of the local schools. Kids were very excited to get to know more about the game, its rules and the possibility to play. All the boys said they would like to play lacrosse. Two local television stations came to shoot some footage of the day and the presentation, so the whole city knows about FCA! We still need your support: in prayer and finances and we also really need more equipment. We currently don’t have enough to actually play a full team. Please pray for the future of FCA Lacrosse in Ukraine!

Vova Demyduk

God use me…

I just wanted to ask you a question, do you pray in the morning? What does it look like? I want to share what God has been doing in my life recently. Every day, my understanding of what it means to communicate with the Lord is growing. I can see the difference between the days when I spent time with God in the morning and when I didn’t. But the prayer that always encourages me is: “God use me.” God often uses me in the discussions with coaches and players. I was walking with one of my teammates after practice, and I had a chance to share my faith and to tell him more about my ministry. At moments like that I feel that God is happy, because I’m telling about His greatness.

What we see is but a glimpse, but God sees the whole picture. So every time you have a chance, share about Him. He wants to work through you too.

Andrew Chernenkov

Meeting with a coach

Not long ago, I had a meeting with one coach. Recently, I’ve noticed how people don’t trust each other all the time. When we were setting up our meeting, I didn’t tell this coach exactly why I wanted to meet. He was a little worried, but I told him that he would definitely enjoy what I had to say. So after we talked about some future opportunities, he was really excited and said that we were doing a great thing. We were mainly discussing one of our future projects, “Power Show,” which was designed for teenagers to help them say no to drugs and alcohol. He was very honest with me and told me that he also had problems with alcohol. He also talked about Andre Kravtsov (our FCA Ukraine director) and how he has seen God work in his life. I offered him my support in prayer and any other issue. He said he would think about that. Praise God for this simple yet blessed meeting!

Andrew Chernenkov

Street ball tournament at school

Last week we helped one of the local schools to organize their “Health Day.” We wanted to emphasize the importance of a healthy way of life. We played different games with the students and introduced them to lacrosse, a new sport for them.

We ended this day with an open street ball tournament with 6 teams from 4 different schools. Everyone had some sweet presents, but the most important thing was that we were able to build relationships with the students.

This was the first time in my life when I wasn’t supposed to share the Gospel; we just helped them with the organization. Through these events, we want to build a relationship with that school that will give us the opportunity to share with them on a personal level. We have been very blessed to see God leading us this each step of the way. The principal of the school has already asked us to start basketball practices once a week. I know that this could be the foundation for many changed hearts. We need to pray that God would give us chances to share our faith with teachers and students alike. Praise Him for His unique work!

Liosha Yuhimchuk

Checking the ball at the beginning of the game.

During one of the games.



 The team in blue won the tournament.

Healing

Nearly 6 months ago, my friend, Anton, got sick. Doctors said that he had cirrhosis of the liver. They gave him five years to live unless he got a transplant. Doctors couldn’t identify what caused his disease.

When we found out about this, we started to pray. We also shared about this prayer need with many other people and churches.

He decided to go to Moscow to get a second opinion. Doctors finally found the reason for his cirrhosis and said that though he would need to take medicine all his life, he didn’t need the transplant.

After going through all of that, Anton realized that no one except God could take control over this situation. Praise God for His healing!

Sasha Alexandrov

He’s growing me!

Last Sunday our church held a meeting for teens in a local gym. We wanted to get to know them better, have some good competition and just have fun. We played different games and had a dodge ball tournament. We gave prizes to the winners and had time to talk to them.

But first of all I want to thank God for the talents and skills He gave me, which I can use to serve others. I remember how anxious I was a few years ago when it was my first time as a sports instructor. But this Sunday God reminded me that I don’t have to worry, and I can just serve others with all that He has given me.

At the beginning of the year, I was praying to have these kinds of meetings with the kids in the gym. This time we had 40 teenagers and 50 people total. Praise God for His work!!!

Andrew Chernenkov

We all need forgiveness

Last Friday, we had another huddle with athletes. This time 22 people came! And I think 10 of them heard about God on the court for the first time. To start off with, we played a game where two players left the gym and one was told to be forgiving and the other was told to be unforgiving. The other players were playing tough against them and didn’t know what we had told them. At the end we discussed the results.

After that we read some verses from the Bible about forgiveness. We focused more on the story about the unmerciful debtor from Mathew 18:23-35. I told them how much God has forgiven us. For the first time we had a real discussion. At the end we all prayed together.

Later one of the players said that he started to read the Bible and that he really enjoys the times we have together. They are very important to him. God greatly blesses us with these meetings, and I would like to ask you to pray for the huddles during the time we have them: every Friday at 7.30 am, Ukrainian time. You may be far away physically but very close spiritually.

Andrew Chernenkov