Blessed New Year

Copy and paste this link into your web browser for a wonderful New Year blessing.

http://www.mamarocks.com/new_year_blessing.htm

Merry Christmas from Ozolnieki, Latvia

There were two Christmas services in Ozolnieki. As we expected Christmas Eve was very lovely. There were many more people as never before with more than 70 people and many children attending the service. As is the Latvian tradition, there was a good Christmas meal following the service.

The second service was held the next day, on December 25^th, The First Christmas Day. Expectations were for just a few people, but we were happy to have more than 20 people for the service.

Perhaps I am not precise in English but in Latvia we celebrate Christmas Eve, The First Christmas Day, The Second Christmas Day and The Third Christmas Day.

In Christ,

Rev. Uldis Fandejevs

Ozolnieki, Latvia

Packing for Ukraine

Each year the Thoughts of Faith (ToF) Gift of Life (GoL) program sends material aid to Ukraine. The aid is gathered at the ToF Oregon, Wisconsin office/warehouse. Volunteers sort and pack the aid to be shipped in a 40-foot container to Ukraine. The material aid is distributed to the needy in Ukraine through the congregations of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church and the five GoL Pro-Life Counseling Centers throughout Ukraine. Volunteers were in the office today sorting and packing infant and children's clothing and quilts made by members of St. Paul's congregation in Algoma, Wisconsin. Material aid can be dropped off at our office in Oregon or shipped to Thoughts of Faith, 280 W. Netherwood Road, Oregon, WI 53575. For more information call the ToF office toll-free at 877-892-4718.

Kekava Congregation 2008, Kekava, Latvia

Kekava is about 15 kilometers from Riga, Latvia. The congregation purchased a parcel of land and built its own church and its dedication was in August 2001. The president of the congregation provided the following information that shows the activities for the congregation for 2008.

Merry Christmas

New Pro-Life Counselor in Sevastopol, Ukraine

Elena Ivanovna Kovalenko has been recently hired as a counselor to work in the Gift of Life’s pro-life center in Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine. Elena (Helen) is married and has two sons, 25 and 29 years old. Helen is originally from Russia and from 1973-1978 she studied at State Kuban University (Russia) and graduated as a teacher of geography. Then she married and moved to Sevastopol. From 1994 to 1996 Helen has been studying psychology at Sevastopol Institute of Post-Diploma Education. She has great life and work experience.

Helen has been living in Sevastopol for 30 years, likes this city very much and desires to help its citizens. She first worked as an educator at one of Sevastopol’s kindergartens. Then she worked as a psychologist at the Center of Social Services for Youth where she worked with young people, mostly teenagers. Later Helen moved to work at the Sevastopol Shelter for Children. She has been working there as a practical psychologist for the last ten years. Because of this great work experience Helen seems to know much about the difficulties of modern life. The issues of AIDS, HIV infections, abortions, and family problems are not new for her.

The new GoL counselor has a great experience of her own. Moreover, Helen spent several weeks in Ternopil for orientation in the Gift of Life program pro-life work and began Lutheran instruction by Pastor Oleh Yukhymenko. Helen has now started to work as the pro-life counselor in Sevastopol life-center.

Children's Christmas Service in Plzen, Czech Republic

Every year the children who attend Martin Luther School in Plzen, Czech Republic, present special music and Bible recitations during our Christmas services at St. Paul's Congregation. Two children's services were held on Sunday, December 14. At the 10 AM service, the children in Grades 3-6 participated. In the 5 PM service, the children in Kindergarten and Grades 1 and 2 sang the special carols they had prepared. The services were very well attended with a total attendance for the 2 services of about 400 people.

In some ways, our children's services in Plzen are similar to children's Christmas services in the US. Through their songs and recitations, the children present the wonderful message of Christ's birth to their parents and the members of their churches. But there is one major and significant difference. Most of our Czech school children do not have believing parents or grandparents. So when they sing their songs and recite the verses they have memorized, they have the wonderful opportunity to witness to their own parents. Pray for the Lord to richly bless the message of salvation that our children have shared with their parents and other family members.