Work among street children

Svetlana grew up as an only child and had a very difficult childhood. quarrels, which often ended in fights. the little girl was forced to seek shelter from her drunken father at the neighbours. after school she was afraid to go home. the mother did not care for her child, Svetlana felt alone and abandoned. she grew up as a street child in a big city and learned very early to fight with the difficulties that such children have in their young years. when Svetlana later entered professional life, she moved to the city of Kharkiv, where she met real christians. she was very happy to have found a connection. Svetlana repented, experienced rebirth and became a happy child of god.

again and again, when she was on the road after work in the city, she could not pass the street children indifferently. the children, who sought her protection, just like she did then, in the cellars of high-rise buildings. she took these children to her home, washed them and lovingly prepared warm meals. in doing so, she tells the children about jesus. these events remain unforgettable in the hearts of the children, who do not receive love at home. at the beginning there were only two children, but after that they grew more and more. although svetlana herself lives very modestly in a small dilapidated house on the outskirts of the city, where there is no water pipe, shower or toilet, the children feel comfortable and safe with her and like to go to church with sister svetlana. in the meantime, svetlana looks after more than 40 street children. the children are happy and lovingly call her "aunt sveta". willingly and with great pleasure the children help sister svetlana and walk 500 meters.

PS: the staff of the relief organisation looked at the situation on the spot. they immediately decided to support this work financially. so far Svetlana has invested her small income, which she earns as a tailor, into the children. it is urgently needed to build a well and to lay the water pipes to the house. please pray that these children can be comforted and get the desire to accept Jesus as their personal saviour.

On 25.04.23 we received a message that Sveta had a car accident.

Sveta reports: 

"I was alone, the Lord wrapped me in the mantle of his mercy, while the car rolled over and I survived. I got down on my knees and thanked God for saving my life, for giving me the car and taking it, for serving the cause of God in every place, and asked for His guidance. Early in the morning they organized the removal of the car, and with God's help I went out in a tow truck, called the Donetsk police, and the Lord showed mercy and was immediately on hand to deal with them. When the driver of the tow truck tried to hook the car, the policeman said it was a miracle that the driver was still alive because deminers were working in that street. About 500 meters away, one of them blew himself up. And there was a crater two meters from the car. And I didn't explode when I was looking for my phone and documents right after the accident... That was another miracle of God's grace. Later, I experienced another miracle: all these years, when my car was diagnosed, an airbag fault flashed up, and I was told that it would cost too much to fix it, and I said that I wouldn't. But then it did go off and hold my head while I spun around, that was a miracle too. I thank God for everything! I don't regret anything, and if I could rewind time and change anything except the situation on the road, I wouldn't change anything, I would still sit and go on that trip just like I would go on any other service trip. Praise God!"

Svetlana urgently needs a new car with which she can continue her ministry with the children in the war zone. Let us pray for this work!

An evening from the life of Sonja (5).

A weak flickering light casts shadows on the dark walls. A small candle fights the darkness, and it seems that it does not succeed. With a fixed gaze, little Sonja (5) looks at the weak light and sings very softly the song: Milost twoja, Milost twoja.... Her weak voice becomes louder and louder: Mercy!!! Your mercy!!! Outside it is dark, cold and even very dangerous. Little Sonja knows the sleepless nights where the earth shakes from falling bullets and the windows break. The girl does not understand why the war has come to her town. Why does she and her two siblings have to quickly seek shelter in the basement, day or night, every time the sirens wail?

"Jesus has brought the light into the world" - a glorious message despite misery and darkness on our earth 

With grateful hearts we look back as a relief service and marvel at how wonderful our God is. Despite the difficult situation in Ukraine, we were able to take the Christmas parcels from Germany to the extreme border of the country, where the situation is quite dangerous and dire, and distribute them among the few children who are there. There, where cannons are shooting and death is omnipresent, children and adults could hear about the love of Jesus. Sonja and her siblings, who live with Sveta, are also very happy about the Christmas packages.

In July 2022, employees of the Circle of Friends were able to visit the destroyed district of Kharkov, which today is severely affected by the war. Sveta was also very happy about the visit. Sveta is eager to put the message of Jesus Christ on the hearts of people who need help today. Very simple and without any special gift - the listeners take it to heart. Let us pray for Sveta and the children and especially the people there, that many more people will find God through the good news.

Every life is precious! - Under this motto, Sister Svetlana works diligently to provide rapid assistance to needy people in the war zone (Kharkov). When war broke out on February 24, thousands of people sought refuge in the metro. Sister Svetlana hurriedly went there with her four adopted children. Since there were a lot of people there, there was a wonderful opportunity to gather many children and read stories from the Bible and sing together.  

After a week underground, they returned to the Children's Center. (At this point: Many thanks to all the brothers and sisters from Germany who made it possible to acquire such a children's center).. From there, every day she was on the lookout for people hiding in the basements of high-rise buildings, seeking shelter from the missiles. It is amazing how open people are to God's word in this situation. They are amazed about Svetlana: a woman risks her life and drives without fear with four children into the city to find food for the people. Thanks to the donation from Germany, Svetlana can give bread and medicine to the poor and often helpless people. Such trips and visits are not easy. The city is partly heavily destroyed and controlled by the military. At each control, the soldiers also receive a Gospel from our sister. With this insane destruction, problems with water and electricity, Svetlana tries to reach the people with a minibus. (Donation from Germany), gradually evacuate from the city.

Sveta reports:

On these Easter days, God put on our hearts to visit the families with children, despite strict measures of the Corona crisis. The desire was to announce to the children the joy of the Resurrection. Today in this difficult time, when many businesses are closed, the preparation of gifts and the risk of being infected by the virus was a great challenge. The goal was to reach 100 children who do not attend church services. In the first place, we prayed a lot for this project. Then we prepared self-sewn mouth masks for each family, children and adults, for this we prepared a pattern where we wrote Psalm 90. Thank God! - Thanks to the donations from Germany we were able to prepare enough sweets. According to the new regulations, it is forbidden to be in the city with more than two people in public. Despite these measures, we were able to visit the children. To tell them about Jesus and to pray together with them according to their wishes. Near the city of Kharkov there is a module city built of metal containers. Many families and single women and widows with children have been living there for 6 years. (Refugees from the war zone). The living conditions there are dramatic. They live in a very confined space. The floor, ceiling and the walls are made of metal, where it is very cold in winter and very hot in summer. Here we were also able to bring the Easter message to the children and their parents. The children were very happy to receive the gifts. We have indeed seen a number of miracles! God has protected us from infection up to this point, even though we have been in contact with many people. For this we praise God and honor the Risen Lord!