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Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, dear brothers and sisters!
There are so many things we can sincerely thank God for! We have things to thank Him for in spite of the global economical crisis and the fact that more and more ministries in Ukraine are struggling with finding financial support (and our House of Hope Fund is not an exception here). Here are only some of the figures that help us see that God is truly guiding us with His hand, even though He sends us great trials to test our faithfulness to His calling.
In 2008 God let us to:
1. work daily with 40-70 children that need our care and supervision.
2. arrange multiple Christian actions for over 500 children in Kherson and other cities.
3. plant 4 new churches in Ukraine through our ministry; one of them being another one in Kherson. 
4. visit 6 orphanages in the region daily and help the children there grow spiritually and hear the Gospel (there are over 2000 children in these orphanages at the moment).
5. help 591 poor families where there live over 2000 children. Our work included efforts to help the families legally defend their rights for their flats and homes against swindlers.
6. conduct 6 sport events for mentally challenged children and children with Down syndrome. There were over 200 children participating, and some of them became champions of Ukraine in their group!
7. see the street children attending our drama studio (about 30 children) give evangelizing concerts in many cities of Ukraine, and some of the children were able to continue their training in drama vocational schools.
8. our branches in Zaporozhie, Poltava, and the Crimea are working with over 2000 children, and this proves that our Fund is truly becoming a national one!
I can be listing the things God let us do for a very long time! It was not for nothing that we were chosen as the Ukrainian best regional NGO of 2008 and we received the prize! And the first lady of Ukraine — Kateryna Yuschenko is implementing two nation-wide projects with us. All of this witnesses that many known people and organizations acknowledge us. And this is given that we are not silent about our Christian values that we preach everywhere. 
This is our common achievement! The achievement of those who keep us in unceasing prayers even though these people might not know us in person. It is the achievement of those who came to visit us in Kherson and helped us in everything. It is the achievement of those who support us financially. And it really does not take much. If we take our budget and divide it by the children we work with, it will be only $30.08 per child in a year!!! Our monthly budget is $15,400 which makes $184,800 in a year. This is a lot for Ukraine. However what is it compared to our goal for 2009 is to start 20 new churches in three regions of Ukraine, and our having prepared the ministers to do this work. Compared to the 6000 children that we work monthly. Is it a lot? How much then will be the life of a child that could be saved through us, or the soul of the person who came to church through the Fund’s ministry? We do not know this, still believe that our ministry is one of the lowest-budget ministries in Ukraine that bears real fruit and brings glory to God! Surely, we could not have done this on our own. It is far beyond our strength. However it is possible for our team — for you and us. This means that this coming year is most likely to be the toughest for all of us from economical perspective. Still I am confident that it will also be the most blessed year spiritually, as it will teach us to trust God more. And this is what is really important! And I also believe that God will bless all of our plans, and we will achieve the goals set! It cannot be some other way, provided we trust Him with everything: our time and our money, our results and plans, — all of our lives. And we will achieve this. Because it is my sincere assurance that Ukraine can and must become one of the leading Christian countries of the world, and our ministry is one of those that help this happen.
I urge you to pray for Ukraine more and more. And if you have the opportunity — to give more for the ministries in Ukraine and planting new churches! Our country is sliding back to early 90-ies because of this global crisis: many people are fired; many do not obtain their salaries. We do not have domestic market outlets, and the export has closed. There are plans to take the plants from their owners and to sell them to new people. There is no hope. The banks do not give the people even the money they have on accounts. All credit programs were closed, and one cannot make a bank account transfer. They want to take flats from the people who fail to pay their credits due to loss of jobs and income. Everybody says there will be no jobs. Industrial regions are barely surviving. The statistics say that at the moment 12% of the population in Ukraine are on the verge of starvation! And this is only the beginning for us… Back in the early 90-ies the situation was very similar. The people had no food and no place to live… There was much poverty, and many homeless people… especially children… It seems to me that those times are coming back. On the other hand, it is in such crisis times that there is the opportunity to help the people spiritually as well as physically, for it is in times of crisis that the people are more open to God — and this is our chance!
Therefore we will be glad to cooperate in any way.
Please pray for our team and our Christmas projects. We have no money on our account and it is very difficult for us to do anything. Christmas is coming soon, and this is the time when children, especially “our” children, need help and gifts more than any other people! We will not close the Fund as some people think! We believe God has called us to do our best and we will do it! Whether there is money or not, we will do it as God has called us, and all throughout these years we were witnesses of His blessings!
Thanks again for your support, and we believe that together with you we will be able to do many things even in this crisis.

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