A Ukrainian Thanksgiving Message
In Ukraine, there is a traditional celebration around this time of year that marks the end of the harvest. In churches, it is celebrated as a time of giving thanks to God for His provisions. Folks bring in gifts and sometimes they prepare a special project or initiative. One church raised funds to buy new tires for a Pastor/medic who is serving in the army.
We have been receiving many pictures and words of appreciation this month and I would like to share a sampling with you, as they are words of thanks to all of you who support Catalyst for Kids and our partners.
From the church in Khmelnyk, Pastor Vladimir Homenko sent us his thanks. Their event was also a celebration of the church's 100th year anniversary!
“Congratulations. On Sunday, we thanked God for all the years and things the church has gone through. We thanked the Lord for all those who helped in the construction of the house of prayer. And thank you very much for the financial help, thank God that this church is filled with people and serves its purpose.
We also want to thank you once again for taking part in the children's ministry, for your sacrifice and kindness, because of you many people here learn about God.
Thank you very much. May the Lord bless your family, your church and your country. Grateful to God for your prayer and financial support, glad that together we can serve for the glory of our great God.”
Our soup kitchen ministry also celebrated a day of Thanksgiving. This ministry is one of our largest grant recipients and many Ukrainians volunteer to support it. Our Ukrainian administrator, Ira wrote:
“We had a small Thanksgiving service with the soup kitchen people. Our pastor Sasha gave a simple sermon about being thankful and we had extra treats. We had asked the soup kitchen people to bring something for those who are in need (we chose to help the people in the psychiatric hospital, the ones who live there). I had no big expectations, I prayed that they would give thanks and to acknowledge the power of God.”
“We had a blessed day! I was also surprised by what people brought: some things were very simple like a few apples, a few small breads, tomatoes, some brought candies, some cookies. One guy brought nice chocolate, others brought clothes. So maybe it wasn’t big quantities but it was given from their hearts. And three people from the soup kitchen joined us to deliver the gifts to the hospital. More wanted to go, but 3 was enough. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out as many of the people are very needy, but it is very good we did it.”
This message comes from one of our volunteer team members, Larissa.
“On the day of the harvest, which our Church celebrates, I want to thank Catalyst for Kids once again for taking part in the children's ministry, for your sacrifice and kindness, because of you many people here learn about God. Thank you very much.”
We hope you enjoy the season of the harvest and we give thanks to God for his grace and to you for your support. Gifts from Catalyst for Kids made many of these celebrations more enjoyable and more effective at spreading the word of God. Every chance we get, we will show the impact CFK’s supporters can make in places across the world and we are grateful we were able to affect these thanksgiving events in a positive way.
