Bulletin – August 2023

Past Month.

July 2. The graduation of the Teen Bible Academy took place. About 50 teens attended a two-week Bible study and many different workshops that will be very helpful to them in their lives. They also visited a neighboring church with a performance, and had a good time on a trip to Arkansas where they had the opportunity to experience the past of Bible times. And a trip to the Christian Theater for a performance of “Esther” which is in Branson.

July 15. All the worship teams, along with the media ministry, had a big Garage Sale and Car Wash. They are very grateful to all of you who responded and brought items to sell or came to the car wash. It was a lot of work to put everything together and sell it, but it was worth it. Over $5,000 was raised and it will all go towards upgrades to the sound system which is already failing.

July 23. The Children’s Ministry held a Bake Sale to cover some of the costs of Kids Camp, and to make paying for a child more affordable. Many thanks to all who responded and participated in the event and to all who bought yummy goodies. Together we can do a lot by helping each other.

Vision Sunday

July 30. Perhaps the most important event of July was Vision Sunday. For the first time in all the years of the church’s existence, we had this event. Senior Pastor Mykola Ilyuk reminded us about the history of our church, about our growth, both spiritually and in numbers. He spoke about the three main directions of the church, Faith, Family and Mission. He then spoke about the church’s vision for the future, what we are striving for and what lies ahead.
As we all know and see our biggest challenge is the size of the building, lack of rooms, classrooms and space for meetings and ministries. The church board has been working on this for some time now and weighing different options for expansion. Many will say, why can’t we expand this auditorium, or build a larger building next to it? All of these questions have been discussed by the church board many times and from many different angles, and there is one answer. It is the land use laws, and they are limiting us to do this. The pastor has talked about buying land that is closer to city infrastructure and where we may be allowed to build a large 1000 seat building. Negotiations are going on with city and county agencies, our brethren are seeking permission, and if everything works out we will move forward with the purchase.

This lot is located on a dead end street, in a very quiet location, despite the nearby freeway noise, it can not be heard. There is a house on the lot that could be used for church use after a little renovation. So if a bigger building than this one could be built, it would solve a lot of our problems. We will have more space for services, we need a large foyer for fellowship after services, also auditorium and classrooms for children’s ministry, and a larger, well-protected nursery. We need large rooms for prayer and various meetings and gatherings. We need to have all of these things under one roof.
Our current building can be used for weddings and events, or also for a school, there are many different options, it will certainly not be empty.
Therefore, we should not be afraid of the future and changes. We believe that the Lord has put it on the hearts of the pastors and the church board to pay attention to this land, and we see the hand of God helping us to authorize a bigger building. We ask you to pray for this project, bless the church’s leadership for the right decisions, and support this project financially. This is our all-together future, our children and grandchildren, and it is for their sake that they will be with us in the church when they grow up and lead people to salvation.