A Prayer for the Fall

Pray for Almaz Church as they begin a new season of church ministry...

Gracious God,

As the season changes, we are reminded that you are an unchanging God, but it is your desire to continue to change us--to mold and shape us, to teach us to have faith like a child. Lord, be our teacher!

Lord, teach us to praise. We praise you for awe, wonder, and excitement as new programs and plans are introduced in our denomination and individual churches this fall.

Lord, teach us to confess. At this time of year, we are inundated with busyness. Forgive us, Lord, when our busyness overshadows you.

Lord, teach us to be thankful. We are thankful that in teaching us, you change us. Teach us, Lord, to trust in you for guidance and direction.

Lord, help us realize the magnitude of your grace and then to teach others what it means to live with that grace. As we seek to further your kingdom, fill us with the same exuberance, wonder, and awe that we see in children at the beginning of a new school year.

Amen.

Turn off music below and hit pause to watch video...

Indescribable

Trailer 2011

30 August 2011, Tuesday

Going to the Ukraine was definitely an amazing experience. As soon as I decided to go, I knew it would be an adventure. Early on in the process, I felt God calling me towards missions, but I wasn’t sure where.

Once the door opened for Ukraine, I treaded on faith that God would make it happen if it was His plan. Once the support raising began and planning meetings took place, I felt more of God’s presence as the days went on. It really sunk in when the pastors from Almaz, our sister church in Ukraine, came to [nlcf] to share about their church. I still remember the night they came and spoke, and that is when I really knew that going to the Ukraine was part of God’s plan for my life.

We finally departed for Ukraine, not totally sure of what would be coming, but fully expectant that God would work in and through our team. God started teaching me things and laying things on my heart very soon into the trip. For example, one of the first things I realized was how many little things I take for granted. I often forget how fortunate I am to be living in America with two loving parents in a Christ-centered family.

Meeting the Ukrainian team was very exciting. Seeing their perception of Christianity and how it differed from a typical American’s was very interesting. I noticed that many of the Ukrainians clearly saw Christianity as a gift, something so amazing and so exciting that they truly wanted others to have this gift as well. During a game, a question was asked to one Ukrainian, “If you knew that you would die tomorrow, what would you do today?” He responded by saying that he would go out in the streets and shout about Jesus because he would no longer have any fears or worries. That struck me in an awesome way. It made an impression on my heart that these people really cared about the mission that God has given us.

Throughout the week, the guys worked on various construction projects while the girls played with the children, showing God’s love. With projects ranging from enclosing a porch with polycarbonate siding to preparing the foundation for a playground, I knew that God’s work was being accomplished.

Since I hadn’t had the opportunity to play with the children yet, I decided to play with the children some on my last day there. I am definitely glad I did. So far on the trip, I had only seen disabled children near the building we were working at. I found out that not all the children were disabled, but other buildings held young kids full of energy and curiosity. Minus the fact that they spoke no English, they seemed just like typical American kids playing. I had a blast finding out that play is a universal language.

When we left and started our trek back to Blacksburg, I knew that God had moved. He had moved in my heart, and also in the hearts of those we met. He impressed upon me the importance of following His call. He gave me a heart for the Almaz church and those children at the orphanage. By the conversations I had with the Ukrainian team and the smiles on the faces of the beautiful children, I knew God was smiling too.

For an update on The Almaz Ministry...

please visit their website from Ukraine www.almazgo.com
See what this wonderful church has been doing for the orphans in Ukraine...

Please consider helping the Skripak Family meet their goal for their van!

The Skripak Family is still trying to hold on to their larger van which they desperately need to fit their family and missions teams. Those who can and are able please consider donating to save their van so they will not have to let it go..Any contribution will help..They are trying to raise $7000 to pay it off....They can not fit into a regular car and must have 3 car seats to drive legally in Ukraine.

Thank you and God Bless You!

Missions to Vorzel

The missions to Vorzel are happening this month and last...It maybe too late to be involved for this year, but if anyone would like to get involved for next spring/summer trips to Ukraine...please email Pastor Sasha at the above email...it's never to soon to plan. You will be glad you did...
Pictures & Info on the recent weeks at Vorzel coming soon!

WELCOME TO THE ORPHAN MINISTRY IN UKRAINE

We invite you to share the joy that the orphan ministry can bring! On May 30th we opened up a new season of the summer projects in the orphanage in Vorzel. During this summer we will be serving the kids age 1through 6 as well as reaching with the Gospel about 200 workers of the orphanage. THe program of the summer project includes

Daily lessons for children twice a day.
Bible study for the workers twice a week.
Bringing workers and older kids to the church service.
Construction work:
2 playgrounds in the orphanage buildings that have no playgrounds.
reconstruction of two restrooms
reconstruction of two rooms where 30 kids live all year around
total replacing of plumbing in one of the orphanage buildings
We are looking for and delivering any humanitarian aid need like diapers, clothing, vitamins, medicine
Please, pray for us and ask GOd to provide all the necessary resources: spiritual, human and financial. You can follow our news daily www.almazGO.com

Thank you for staying with us during the summer!

Sasha and Olya Skrypak
Leaders of the Orphan ministry in Almaz church

1 June 2011, Wednesday

Today the men were assigned to help build the foundation of the future playground. The concrete was supposed to come at two and we were to prepare the location for the concrete in the meantime. The morning consisted of all the men shoveling gavel or hand mixing concrete for specific locations to assist in leveling the foundation. We had a great time working extremely hard in the sun. Around 11:30, David and I stopped working on the foundation and went to one of the houses where the children were putting on a show. They were 3-5 yr olds and extremely cute! I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO KNOW WHAT THEY WERE SINIGING! It’s a bit difficult when they’re singing in Russian. However, we’ve all been enjoying learning to communicate with one another without using our full vocabulary and everyone is trying to learn new words in the other language. After the concert, David and I returned to the playground area and continued hard labor. We are all loving the hard work and the breaks with the kids. The concrete didn’t come today, but this gave us all time to finalize the prepping of the site and clean up for a great dinner/picnic in Pastor Nickoli’s backyard. It was a great meal to end a great day.

Jesse Bogert

Tuesday May 31st

Section: Missionary project in Vorzel (summer 2011)
31 May 2011, Tuesday

Today we kept in mind a few verses from Exodus chapter four, verses 11-12. In this God reminds us that we do not have control over the way that things are on this earth. God knows that there are orphans among us that do not have parents. He knows that there are children who are not born with eyes, a hand, or legs. He knows that all of these things have a purpose and work together into His intricate plan for humanity, yet we do not see the purpose behind these things that are. These verses remind us how important it is to remember that God created the world and has everything under control and that He brings glory to His name in everything He does, even if we do not see it as well.

Today the women played with the children that we met yesterday. We had a wonderful time reuniting with the children and we continued to share the love of Christ with them by loving on them and playing with them. It was much hotter today than yesterday because there was no breeze and we became tired much faster, but we still had a good time playing with the children. The children are so easily amused that it is easy for us to just play. The difficult part about interacting with them is when we try to speak to them or understand them. I don’t know much Ukrainian or Russian and they don’t know much English. However, Sasha pointed out this morning at the team meeting that we all understand one common language…Love. Some of the guys also came up to the children and played.

Is it possible now for foreigners to adopt a child from Ukraine? What awaits Ukraine's orphans?

Section: Some news
31 May 2011, Tuesday

On the 19th of May 2011 Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Parliament) passed a law “About amending the Family code of Ukraine regarding specifics of adoption of a certain class of children”. The law forbids adopting children for those persons who due to their health grounds need to be nursed on a regular basis; stateless persons and those who marry such person who can’t be an adoptive parent.This law also allows adopting children without parent consent in case if they didn’t take a child out of public health service’s institution.

The law also states that a child who is a national of Ukraine can be adopted by a foreign national in case if for more than a year he/she is registered at the central authority of the executive branch which competence covers issues of adopting and protection of children and he/she came of 5 yearsold. An adoption can be accomplished before the stated period and also before reaching by a child of 5 years old in the following cases:

An adopter is a relative of a child
A child suffers from a disease that enters a special disease list confirmed by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
Foreign nationals are willing to adopt a child who is brother or sister of before adopted by them child
Adoption of all siblings in one family if one of children reached 5 years old and if not less than a year he/she is registered at the central authority of the executive branch which competence covers issues of adopting and protection of children
If you have any questions, please write to skripak2007@gmail.com

xрещення 28 червня 2011

On the 28th of April 7 people from our church made a covenant with God by means of water baptism.


On the 28th of April 7 people from our church made a covenant with God by means of water baptism. Alexander Skrypak a Pastor of “Almaz” church started this joyful event with a sermon on the 6th Chapter from the Epistle to the Romans. In this way he reminded to those who came to be baptized and to everyone else of the meaning of water baptism which is the symbol of our immersion into Jesus Christ.

There were also some unbeliever relatives of those who got to be baptized. The baptism ceremony was led by another “Almaz” church Pastor – Nikolay Skopych. The next day all 7 of those who got baptized were announced as new church members on a Sunday service. There were announced also 3 other people who decided to become “Almaz” church members that joined them.

It never fails to amaze as our Lord again and again adds to the church those that were saved. It’s very moving to see as people that just recently lived in rebellion against God now confess their faith in Jesus Christ, show total commitment to Him and a desire to follow Him till the rest of their lives. Be the Glory to Him for all of it!

сессии ЦБШ"А"

Almaz Church Bible School

Our Goal....

To display the majestic glory of God through perfection of God’s children into mature and joyful servants.
Every session, every home assignment, work of the students on their home assignments, practice of students’ serving, teachers and student mentors’ serving – all directed at reaching the above goal.

Our Curriculum...

The School has 2 levels of training.

Level 1 “Foundations of Faith” – Length of study: 2 years

1.Doctrine of the Bible
2.Hermeneutics
3.Doctrine of God
4.Doctrine of Man
5.Doctrine of Sin
6.Doctrine of Salvation
7.Doctrine of Christ
8.Doctrine of Holy Spirit
9.Doctrine of the End Tames

Level 1 “Practical Ministry” – Length of study: 1 year

1.Doctrine of the Church
2.Personal Spiritual Life: Imparting the Word of God to One’s Heart
3.Discipleship: Imparting the Word of God to a Disciple
4.Small Groups: Imparting the Word of God in the Context of Home Groups
5.Leadership: Specifics of Biblical Leadership
6.Preaching: Imparting the Word of God to Great Audiences
7.Christian Counseling: Imparting the Word of God to Troubled Hearts
8.Evangelism: Imparting the Word of God to the Lost

Length of a session day
Teaching time: 6 hours. Total time: 9 hours.

Average level of participation
65 persons. We make exceptions only when holding sessions in the form of conference. In this case, the sessions participation is around 300 persons. We turn to this form of training when we want to teach a topic to as many people as possible. In these cases beside students our other close friends can attend the conference.
Every session includes lecturing and working on home assignments.


Our Staff

Nickolay Skopych,
Teaching Pastor, one of the founders and teaching pastor of the Christian Evangelical Church “Almaz” in Kyiv, graduate of the Ukrainian Bible Seminary, Master of Theology.

Nickolay Bibikov,
Student Mentor, Level 1 ”Foundations of Faith”

Liliya Litvin,
Student Mentor, Level 2 “Practical Ministry”




February-April 2011 Sessions

In February-April 2011, the Course “Doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology)” was taught at Almaz Church Bible School. The Course was taught during two sessions.

In February 2011, we held the Conference “Holy Spirit, His Essence and Actions.” It gathered 280 participants from various cities of Ukraine. This was a record number of participants as compared to the previous Almaz Church conferences. We believe it is a testimony to many Christians’ interest in the Biblical teaching of the Holy Spirit and, on the other hand, to their hunger for the Word of God and the study of Truth. This is, no doubt, a cause of joy.

During the Conference “Holy Spirit, His Essence and Actions” for one day the teaching on the person and deity of the Holy Spirit, His actions and manifestations during the Old Testament and New Testament times was presented. Taking into account the number of serious mistakes in understanding this topic in the modern day we spent a considerable time dealing with the details of baptism with the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, Holy Spirit’s role in a person’s spiritual re-birth. It was pointed out that the rights understanding of the third Person of the Trinity and His actions is extremely important for every Christian and the Church as a whole. At the same time, deviations from the right understanding of the truth of the Scripture may lead Christians to failure in their spiritual life.

The photo report on the conference can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw81gW8_dUM.
In April 2011, the one but last Level 1 “Foundations of Faith” session of the Almaz Church Bible School for the students of the first admission took place. We studied issues connected to the actions of the Holy Spirit in lives of Christians. In this session, we presented diplomas for the previous courses taken.

Future Planning

On May 29th, 2011, we plan to have a ceremonial presentation of diplomas to the students successfully completing the program of the “Deep Foundations of Faith” Level of the School. We plan to invite special guest and congratulate the graduates.
In September 2011, the School will enroll the second group of students for the Level 1 “Deep Foundations of Faith.” At the same time, we are starting courses of Level 2 “Practical Ministry” where we enroll the graduates of Level 1.
Viktoriya Demchuk, student, 25

“During the session, I kept wondering at the greatness of God and His kindness to sinful people, His boundless love for us. I was also struck by the humility of Jesus and His faithfulness to His Father. I understood better that my sins are real, that they have eternal consequences, and that the sacrifice of Christ covered them. It is hard for me to realize just how great was the mission of Christ that now allows me to live a life of joy at the feet of Him, Who also gives me strength to live a pure holy life. He is my Lord!

Understanding of Who Jesus is helps me praise Him more in my prayers. When I know more about Christ’s Person, it helps me follow in His footsteps in every sphere of life: His obedience to the will of His Father helps me seek God’s will and fulfill it in my ministry, His humility teaches me to be as humble in team work or in simple relationships with friends. The last session of the School, the Doctrine of Christ, made me once again think of Who Christ is and how important His role is in my life.”

Children in my Heart!

This is the time of year when I first went to Ukraine...May of 2009. We were already a large family of 9, but God was pulling us to adopt 3 more little children with Down Syndrome from Vorzel Ukraine. It brings a smile to my face to think of the orphanage and all the children who were at Vorzel when we first visited, and who are now with their own special families. It still amazes me, though I know it shouldn't how God works things in your life. We think we are in control most times, but God is when you let Him. God is very capable and all knowing.

When we got to Ukraine...we rushed to our appointments with our facilitator...After that we would go first to Baby House #3 and see our little Masha, who is still tiny and darling as ever. There I would also see Ivanna, Vladik & Timothy and some other regulars through out my 2 months in Ukraine. These children touched my heart and life like nothing else...

After 30 minutes or so we would rush down to Baby house #5 and see Milena & Luda..who lived together. They both have been such a joy and are also so darling and along with Masha & make me laugh & smile everyday. When I spend time with them I often think of their little life in Vorzel and all the other children who were there with them. There are many families we have contact with still who have taken the leap of faith and obeyed God's calling in their lives...for this I am grateful. All children deserve a family to love them unconditionally..and every family deserves the blessings of a child with Down Syndrome...

Many times we miss God's calling because of our own agenda. We think we are in control of our own lives. In some aspects of course we are, ...but in the stillness is when we can hear God's calling the best. During prayer & quiet times. I am grateful today for my salvation and God picking me...why me? Why my husband? why anyone? Well we are all called to come to know Jesus as Saviour...but not all hear. Some are deaf to God's call. This is very sad for Christians...knowing others who will not answer when God knocks at the door of their hearts. Maybe today you will ask Jesus into your heart and admit you are a sinner and need a Saviour. There is no other way to heaven..not by your works which alone are worthless to God..

I am so happy we listened to God's call of Adoption. He placed adoption on our hearts when we were 1 st married in 1993. We saw a special television documentary on orphans and adoption and this stirred our concern. I soon after got pregnant and was told to wait until our own child was 6 months old. By that time I was pregnant again with our 2 nd child and our adoption plan was put on hold. Years later we were reminded again at our church when a couple adopted twins from Korea and so we searched the website at last! By this time we had 6 children, our 5 th daughter having Down Syndrome. It all made sense then when we were drawn to this little girl in a crib looking up with eyes saying "Take me!" Oh my Lord, we are so happy and grateful we answered the call. This is when we went to Vladimir Russia to adopt Yulia who also had Down Syndrome. She has been sunshine in our lives for over 5 years now. A wonderful experience we will cherish & never forget! My older girls call her the live baby doll..we recently brought home our 13 year old son and he fits in like he was always here...our blog is torresfamilyadoption.blogspot.com

For questions or advice on adoption, please email us at rubenandjoann@msn.com

Adoption is an awesome calling...if you think you are being led to adopt a child with special needs, there are many places to go.. the place we found our children were Rainbowkids.com and Reecesrainbow.org theworldswaitingchildren.

We met Pastor Sasha & his family while in Vorzel Orphanage..We are so glad we met him and his team working at the orphanage. Through our adoption many people have gotten to know The Skripak family and their church. They are an awesome testimony and you will be happy you met them and became a part of their missions team. Please think about saving the life of an orphan through adoption or through Almaz Church orphan Outreach Ministry.

Getting Closer to the Goal!

Over $2000 raised so far for the van for the Skripak Family & their Ministry to the orphans!
The chip in is still on but no donations yet there..you can also send a check...email Pastor Sasha at above email Address for details...The first week at Vorzel will be starting soon and the church is in need of this van to transport people from the airport to Vorzel and other orphanages.

Thank You to all those who have made the sacrifice to help out the Almaz Church!

Summer Missions in Vorzel Ukraine

Ready to make a step in faith? Come to Ukraine and work with the Almaz Church Outreach Team this summer. Spaces are still available for June 2011. Also we can set your group up for next spring/summer. Contact Pastor Sasha at the above email. It will change your life....to help the children and care workers at the orphanage in Vorzel Ukraine.

Interview with Sasha Furmanchuk who began her service to the orphans and is still on this way


- Sasha why out of such a big variety of ministries or ways of spending your time did you choose to go to the children's home and serve orphans?

- My ministry to orphans started just recently - a bit more than half a year ago. But during this short period of time the Lord helped me realize much I have: my family and those near and dear. Why did I choose this very ministry to the orphans? Because for these children in their situation it is important to realize that God is the only One Who can change their lives. He can become their loving Father. This is why the aim of out team's trips was to bring them the Gospel and love of our Almighty God.