Dear brothers and sisters, as well as the churches,
Currently our Bible Institute has summer evangelical practice for students. Many of them take part in the VBSs as teachers, volunteers and helpers. It is a big blessing that many congregations of the Church of Christ can host their VBS utilizing local resources.
There were 7 VBSs during last month: in Poltava, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Vorokhta, Dnipro, Brovary, etc. In the middle of this month our congregation in Bela Tserkva is having the VBS as well. The preparation is under way in full force. It's always an exciting time for our congregation.
As for the next school year we have recruited 5 new students. They filled out the applications and submitted all necessary documents. And there was also a couple who refused to finalize the application process at the very last minute because the college they were currently attending extended the time of studies for another 6 months, and they were under the contract to complete those studies.
Two weeks ago my family went to a sea side for a vacation. My family really enjoyed the week off. They deserved to get some rest. On the way back we stopped at the city of Nikolaev to see a Christian family. The population of the city is 600,000 people and as of right now there is only a handful of Christians who congregate in private houses. We tried to encourage them and spend a few days together.
We had a group of American Christians in Bela Tserkva for 6 weeks. They were doing the LST program. The idea is to teach English using the Bible. Thanks to the effort we've got a lot of new contacts. In the beginning of August, they returned to the States and we are following up with the students. Of course, there are many opportunities to study English these days. In Kiyv, the capital of Ukraine, a lot of people understand English. But in little cities people are excited about the opportunity.
The Bible Institute classes will start in the first week of September. We have 7 second year students. I sure hope all of them are coming back. Unfortunately, in the previous years we had some sad instances where a student wouldn't return after the summer break. We need to continue praying for our students.
As always we are very appreciative of your involvement and support of the Bible Institute. We are going to start training new students and it means the Institute will need funds. If you are interested in supporting the program, please contact Bear Valley Bible Institute Ukrainian extension coordinator Terry Harmon.
Your brother and co-worker in the Lord's Vineyard, Dennis Sopelnik.