I was accepted to take the Community Development Course at SIFAT in Alabama, USA. This course will start on Sept. 1, but all the applicants/students are required to be in the US on the last week of August at the latest for orientation purposes.

I’m getting busier and busier as the weeks pass by, planning and attending to the details of our church’s Summer Kids Camp together with the core group, among other things.

In this regard, I need your prayer support as I raise some funds to cover the airfare and part of the tuition fee that I need to pay to SIFAT. I need to raise approximately $1,500 ($1,000 for SIFAT and $500 for airfare). I’m hoping and praying that I will be able to get a cheaper ticket to the US if and when I get to book it earlier.

Another good news is that a Ukrainian couple, who are both core leaders at the Boshii Dar Church in Donetsk, was also accepted to take the course. I had asked SIFAT if it was possible to send an application for the scholarship of the couple and I had been told to send their application and wait for confirmation. When I was away during my birthday break, I received an email from SIFAT saying that the Ukrainian couple got accepted. Praise God for that!

If our plans don’t miscarry, I’ll be translating the lectures, from English to Russian, for the Ukrainian couple since their English is a bit limited.

Please pray with and for me/us as we prepare for this community development course that would equip us with all the skills and knowledge we need to be more effective in ministering and reaching out the Ukrainian community in Mine 12/18 and in other parts of Ukraine.

Thank you.

JULY 10 UPDATE: I thank God for His favor during the interview at the US embassy. The interview went well and we got our US visas! Our passports were delivered yesterday with the visas. Thank you so much to all of you who were praying for and with me/us on this one. We appreciate it very much. God is good and in control of everything indeed!