SUMMER PLANS – CAFE & CARNIVAL!

cafeWe are just about 2 weeks from flying back to the village. We can’t wait to be back at our house, to see our friends and the kids in the village! And we have some exciting things planned. Lord willing, we will be having our grand opening of the café in Ivanivka! We hoped this would happen in February, but we hit some roadblocks we did not anticipate. Sasha and Dusya have been working hard to get things ready there – painting, planning, and paperwork – to get it to a point for us to be able to open up in the first week or so of June.

The other thing we are planning is a carnival for the kids of Ivanivka. The village has about 1100 residence, many of whom are kids. We have been able to meet and begin relationships with some of them, but are very excited for a big outreach to get to know more of them. We are hoping to use the grand opening of the café to help advertise and bring people in for the carnival. We will have games, prizes, candy and lots of fun!

Please be praying for our goals as our whole team will only be together there for about 2 weeks. We’re going to be working hard to get a lot done in a short amount of time. Be praying for acceptance in the village, no more hold ups with paperwork for the café, team unity, relationships with the people of Ivanivka, and finances. We are so incredibly thankful to those who have already donated. We’ve had money, candy, toys, clothes, and hygiene items already given and we are so grateful! If you would like to help, there is still time. We would like to bring some American candy as the kids are always very excited to have something American. We are also collecting American coffee and tea for the café.

If you would like to give towards specific items (some will be purchased in the states and some in Ukraine) here are our cost estimates:

-bag of candy $5 (5 more needed)
-coffee $10 (10 needed)
-tea $5 (10 needed)
-game supplies $20 (5 needed)

We are also working to offset the cost for our 3 team members’ flights to and from Ukraine, as well as other supplies and general needs in Ivanivka. Any sized gift would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! Be on the lookout for updates and pictures as we get ready and working!