CCX Christmas PIZZA PARTY: Santa vs. Shepherds

This was our LAST meeting of the semester... and the FIRST big event (as we called it) for the past 1,5 years in L'viv. Such a meeting we could pull off ONLY with God's mighty help and also due to the wonderful team of volunteers: Lena, Vira, Oksana, Alina, Tolik, Andriy and Volodya! Thank YOU guys! We praise the Lord for this group of people, who have been committedly serving and helping CCX to serve students here in L'viv.

" We had around 40 people that evening "

So, back to the PARTY. The night was truly amazing as almost everything we wanted to accomplish was accomplished! The sub name of the party was: Santa VS Shepherds and the key idea was to compare how Christmas is celebrated now and how it is described in the Bible. We had everything: games, fun, Christmas carols, PIZZA, fellowship, singing, video and MOST IMPORTANTLY the story about TRUE meaning of Christmas! Tolik did a great job playing a shepherd and being the host of the party at the same time. He also read the Christmas story and encouraged everyone to remember these words, when they celebrate Christmas with their family (Christmas is also a VERY family oriended hiliday here in Western Ukraine).

" The key idea was to compare how Christmas is celebrated now and how it is described in the Bible "

We had around 40 people that evening. Some of them were brand new students, whom we never met, some were those who attnended our Bible studies. Unfortunately we were missing at least 7-12 people, who couldn't make it...:-( How would it be if they came? One thing I know for sure - we would be VERY SHORT on pizza (which we've ordered expecting 25-30 people).

Here are some pictures from the party:

Unforgetable moments of CCX Christmas PIZZA PARTY 2010

In any case, thank you to EVERYONE, who has prayed and helped us in preparing this evening. It was a truly great end to this year of our work with students and an encouragement to keep going.

Please continue to pray about students' ministry in L'viv and for CCX staff to appear here soon, so they can unfold the work even more. Special thanks also goes to Hosanna church (where we are members), who allowed us to use their facility and equipment.

All pictures from the PARTY you can see by clicking here - at our Picasa album.

Going to Passion 2011 Ft. Worth: THE POWER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

Well, OK, this is more a POST SCRIPTUM to things that have already happened... not a FRESH NEWS.

However, I wanted to share this since this fall was a special period in our lives, as (for the first time in our life as family) we were involved in a small fund raising project to find finances for a trip to Passion 2011 conference in US.

In 2010 we went to Atlanta upon Passion Conferences invitation and were immensely blessed by what we've experienced there. The people we've met there, the atmosphere, the speakers that spoke - everythings there extremely blessed our hearts and we felt like we've got a HUGE boost to continue growing in our relationships with the Lord and in work for His Kingdom. In more details about our experince I have writeen in posts: Passion 2010: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.

"We decided: if we had the needed money - we would GO, if not - we would NOT GO!"

Now, back to the process that we went through this fall. It was truly a journey for us, as we basically wanted to find out, if it is God's will for us to be at this conference... We definitely knew that we wanted to go, but with our car beign stolen only 6 month ago and having to pay monthly rent and land loan to the bank we simply didn't have extra $2,000 to spend for a trip to US. So, we decided to write to many of our friends and ask for support... and, if we had the needed money - we would GO, if not - we would NOT GO!

What happened after that was a total surprise for us as people started helping us and in a little over 4 weeks - we had the money we needed to go to the conference. Here's how it worked:

A snapshot of how our "Passion 2011: Fund Raising THERMOMETER" looked each step of the way

We came up with what we've called "Our fund raising thermometer" and decided to let, those who, were thinking about supporting our trip to see the progress.

In a little over 2 weeks we had first $500, then - another $500, then - over a thousand... and then one of our friends (if you can imagine this - a person, whom we've met at Passion 2010 in Atlanta last year), have said that he wants to cover "the rest" of what we had left to raise. WOW!! That was really a great end to this small project. We've got the FULL AMOUNT RAISED!!

Through this process, we were once again humbled by people's readiness to GIVE and "invest" into our lives, by the generosity and trust in God on each of our friends' side. It is a HUGE ENCOURAGEMENT for us and a learning experience, that though we all, as Christians, might live at different parts of this Earth - through CHRIST we are united into ONE BODY and can count on each other.

Me and Katya wanted to THANK EACH and everyone, who's supported this quest of ours either financially or through prayer... You are a TRUE BLESSING and a great example to us of obedience to the Lord.

"We all, as Christians, might live at different parts of this Earth - through CHRIST we are united into ONE BODY and can count on each other"

P.S. And you know what, we were especially impressed by one family, who said, "We are tight on finances now, but we'll see what we can do?" - that family ended up praying for us and giving $25 towards our trip... BUT we were immensely blessed and amazed by the attitude they've shown. I thought to myself, that indeed it doesn't matter that much how much you give, but that YOU DO GIVE, what you can, if you want to support someone. Guys - you have blessed us tremendously - even through this small gift!:-) We praise the Lord for you and pray for your family and little son regularly...