Back Home...

Well, we are back in Ukraine and settling in after our 6 week furlough. Our time in the States was great! It was wonderful to see our friends and family and we have come back to Ukraine refreshed and encouraged. Aside from catching up with people, our family spent a lot of our time in the water. Our kiddos became quite the little swimmers. Another highlight of our time home was a road trip to California where we visited Sea World, Lego Land and the beach. Here are some our favorite pics of our time at the beach...

Enjoying our time in the States...

We are enjoying our time on furlough in America, spending precious time with friends and family. The first two weeks of our trip we spent in Colorado. It was very relaxing and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins and old friends. The weather was a bit weird, with some hot days mixed with some major rain storms. So, now we are in Phoenix and loving this HOT weather! The kids have been in the pool often and they are loving being with Mimi and Poppi. It will be a busy few weeks, but we are already feeling refreshed and rested! Three more weeks and we return to Ukraine!

Misssion Team from Arizona

Pastor Chris Ward from Calvary Chapel Maricopa Arizona recently came to Kaharlyk once again. This time he brought a team of 9 excited youths and leaders ready to serve and be a blessing to those they would encounter. We had a great time with the team worshiping, patching walls for our future coffee shop and helping the elderly with some much needed jobs. They finished up their 2 week outreach with Camp 120. I liken it to Survivor Ukraine. It's basically a week long camp for Ukrainian Christian youths and takes place on an island off of the Dnipro river. It's truly "roughin' it", camping in tents and fighting off mosquitos, but it is definitely a highlight of the year. The team had a great time hanging out with the Ukrainian youth and made it through a very unique camping experience!

Looking back, Christy and I were truly blessed by this team and their love for the Lord. We know that God worked through them in ministering to others, as well as in their own hearts. Many of them have already discussed a future trip possibly in the winter or next summer. Either way, we would love to see them again.

For more stories and pics check out their blog http://calvarymissionsukraine2009.blogspot.com/

Servant Leading in Action

Our Youth group planned a trip to visit our friends in Venihorodka 3 hrs away. The church purchased a rundown dormitory from a closed sugar factory a while back. Their desire is to have kids camps in it and use it for the glory of God. The building is in desperate need of repair and there is lots of work needed. We planned a 2 1/2 day trip to serve and help clean the building in preparation for a kids camp in Aug. We joined our friends and and geared up for the big tasks ahead. The days were spent sweeping, patching walls, painting doors, drawing murals, cleaning carpets and landscaping. I shared about servanthood and that we work as though we are working for the Lord not as unto man. It was great to see the students in action...they did a great job. We spent the evening at a local quarry that has been turned into a lake. Never thought I would be able to pile 14 people into my 7 passenger van...new record! We enjoyed swiming and cliff jumping. We came back to camp and spent the rest of the evening around a campfire eating sala, and singing worship songs. Looking back I was truly blessed to serve alongside these hard working youth. My prayer is that their relationship with God will continue to deepen and they will see some of the fruits of their labors on the kids faces next month. Those students who came to serve will also next month be counselors so teaching them servanthood before leadership is huge.

Legal Graffiti

Petya, one of my youth teens just graduated. Every year there is a custom to have the graduating class paint on the asphalt on school grounds their farewell address. This year Petya asked me to design a graphic and paint it on the school fence. Here is the finished product...it says 11b Graduation 2009.

Kids, kids, and more kids

We were blessed to be a part of Jono's English camp last week. Magdala and I led one of the groups in songs and games. It was great to be able to sings songs in English! There were around 50 kids each day and everyone seemed to have a fun time.




We have been visiting the internaut, which is like an orphanage, in a nearby village. This Monday, we took the whole family to visit with the kids there. Magdala brought some dough and we made some interesting pastries over the fire. These special kids have touched our hearts and we look forward to getting to know them better!





Here are a few pictures of our kids while we were hanging out at the stadium here in town...