New Hope International
P.O. Box 25490
Colorado Springs, CO 80936
1-719-577-4450
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Bible Correspondence Course |
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A Bible Correspondence
Course for kids 10 to 16 years is very
much in demand in Ukraine. The program consists of 37
lessons, taking three years of study to complete.
If at our church here in the U.S. the middle school
youth leader suggested this, we would think he was ready
for a long vacation - or maybe some serious counseling.
Not so in Ukraine!
Five years ago New Hope had over 1,000 children involved
in a two-year program. We asked your help to make it
a three-year program and to double the number of kids
involved by year-end.
"So, what happened?" you may wonder. Because
of the wonderful response of friends like yourself,
we gave the New Hope team in Ukraine the green light
and told them to "Go for it! Don't turn down kids
that are spiritually hungry."
Without spending lots of money on advertising. Kids used word of mouth and got others
enrolled. First we passed the 1,500 mark, then the 2,000
mark, and the next year 4014 were enrolled! The end
of 2005 saw over 10,000 students and by mid-2006 the number was 12,800. Amazing, isn't it?
It gets even harder to believe when told that over 50%
of the kids enrolled are totally un-churched! Not even
Orthodox or Catholic. Our first response: "This
doesn't make sense." The after-thought is, "Is
there so little for the kids to get involved in? So
little competition? And if that is true, what an opportunity
to share the Gospel with a new generation!"
Not just sharing superficially during a half-hour presentation,
but sharing systematically, building understanding of
God's plan of salvation. It also gives children an opportunity
to respond with a commitment to accept God's grace and
commit themselves to follow Christ. The relationship
with their personal New Hope teacher - by correspondence
- is of great importance to them as well.
In addition there are often parents and grandparents
that benefit as well. One of them wrote, "I never
understood much of church, but now I do. Finally this
is on my level."
Seven regions are involved in this program.13,800 children
are involved. In addition to these students, 2,337 have graduated.
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The benefits of this regional approach
are:
- A more personal relationship with
a smaller number of students for the teacher.
- Regional follow-up events where
parents and friends are invited. At this time, diplomas
are given after one, two, and three year bench marks.
- Local children and youth clubs
are more easily organized in cities and towns with
no evangelical church.
- New churches are started as a result.
 When Sasha showed me a map of his region
(like a state in the U.S.) with dots all over the map.
"This is where we have students," he said.
"And we'll soon start clubs in those cities as
a result," he added.
The same happened last year in another part of Ukraine.
It's exciting to see regional leaders learn from each
other and apply life-changing strategies that work within
their culture. Churches in nearby cities are part of
the strategy from the start. They actually establish
and develop the new church plant while New Hope is there
to assist with an emphasis on its children, youth and
family ministry.
What do the kids have to say about it? Here are just
a few of the responses:
"These lessons taught me to love God and to be
like He wants me to be…Now I pray to God, do things
He wants me to do and try to avoid sin…"
-Yulya, 14 years old.
"Thank you for the Christmas card and the letter…I
have a friend and he'd like to be your pen-friend, too.
His name is Vitya. Here is his address…"
-Olya, 15 years old.
What does it cost to share Christ in such an in-depth
way?
All expenses included - staff time, equipment, office,
lesson materials and postage - it adds up to $7 per
child per year, or just $21 for the entire three-year
program! And imagine what a difference that $21 is making
- often for a life-time and for eternity!
Help
Now!
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