What an experience this afternoon was! Throughout tonight we are going to try to have different team members write a post about their experiences.
This afternoon after sports camp Denise, Dani, Jennifer and I went to a home that had 8 young children (20 months to 11 years old) and that is all that we were told going into this. When we got there the children immediately clung to us and wanted to be held and for us to play with them. They put out a table cloth on a little table with a plate of cookies to serve us. We had a bag of gifts for the family (clothes, toys, etc.) and also a bag of food for them. The children wanted presents so we gave each of them a stuffed animal. The mother and father, Lily and Michael, are Christians who have lived in Ukraine but moved to Arkansas for some health issues with Lily for about a year, and are now back in Ukraine. They have 8 children- 4 boys and 4 girls. 3 of them are adopted by Michael and Lily, and they are the guardians of the other 5. In Ukraine it takes years to get the adoption paperwork handled so it is still not official. They are new to Irpen Bible Church.
The children asked if we would go outside and play with them so Dani, Jennifer, and I went outside with Mariana, Michael's sister who lives with them and is like their full time nanny. The children first showed us a bush that had raspberry growing on it and they picked them and ate them straight from the bush. They then drug us around to the backyard where we kicked and tossed balls with them. They then wanted to play "preatke" which is hide and go seek, but there was really no place to hide in their yard so we decided to play tag. Of course they wanted us Americans to chase after them. Even though we were so exhausted from camp this morning, it was such a blessing to be able to run around and play ball with these children. While we were outside Denise stayed in and talked with Michael about their family's story. Each child's story was completely different and were crazy things such as one boy was in the hospital for 2 years in a steel crib, one girl was abused by her father and tells Michael that she still wakes up at night dreaming about her father chasing her mom with an ax.
Before we left, Michael asked Denise to pray for the family. While she was praying the 11 year old girl, Olya, started bawling and she did not want us to leave. She has been a camper this week in Sport Week so we told her that we would see her tomorrow morning. They could not stop saying "spasiba, spasiba!" which means "thank you, thank you" for coming and visiting them. The entire family stood in the driveway as we drove off and waved. It's amazing to think that just the simple game of playing tag with these kids made their entire week.
There are so many other details and stories that I could write about forever, but this is just a brief overview. Thank you for your prayers and support over this entire trip and God is definitely showing Himself here in Ukraine this week.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wednesday Morning
Today after the morning VBS/Sports Camp, many of us will be going to different homes to minister and work for different families. One of these homes has a paralyzed six year old, who was involved in a terrible accident underwater when he was younger. Another is the home of a paralyzed man, and many of our men will be going over there to help him with manual work around his home. The other two homes are families with a large number of foster children. This is the first year our team has had this type of opportunity, so prayers for openness and willingness to be used and pushed in the way that God desires, are very much appreciated! Those remaining behind will be working on the grounds of the campus we are staying at, so prayers for their energy levels and health are extremely appreciated as well!
As promised, here are more pictures.. :)
The street we walked down in Kiev for souvenirs.
Some of the boys dressed up, ready to go play soccer in the night tournaments.
In honor of the story of Abraham being taught yesterday, many of us had mustaches painted on our faces.
One of the many beautiful children we get to work with everyday!
Some of our men working on construction in the new church.
At the volleyball station in the morning, some of the children played under parachutes using color games.
More to come!
As promised, here are more pictures.. :)
The street we walked down in Kiev for souvenirs.
Some of the boys dressed up, ready to go play soccer in the night tournaments.
In honor of the story of Abraham being taught yesterday, many of us had mustaches painted on our faces.
One of the many beautiful children we get to work with everyday!
Some of our men working on construction in the new church.
At the volleyball station in the morning, some of the children played under parachutes using color games.
More to come!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Tuesday We Can Finally Upload Pictures!!!
hanks to everyone for all of their prayers, they were greatly appreciated! Many of the sick team members are feeling much better. There are a few that are still a little under the weather, so continued prayers would be very helpful!
On the plus side, as you can see in the title of this post, we can finally show you some pictures from the trip!
Famous church in Kiev.
This is of a few of the team members, before getting on the flight from Charlotte to Munich
This is from when the team went into Kiev on Sunday
Full Team picture before we left for Ukraine.
The team being shown around the campus, looking at the construction on the new church.
Beautiful view in Kiev.
Fun at the dance station during sports week!
More pictures will be coming in the next posts during the week. Thanks again to everyone for all your support. God bless!
On the plus side, as you can see in the title of this post, we can finally show you some pictures from the trip!
Famous church in Kiev.
This is of a few of the team members, before getting on the flight from Charlotte to Munich
This is from when the team went into Kiev on Sunday
Full Team picture before we left for Ukraine.
The team being shown around the campus, looking at the construction on the new church.
Beautiful view in Kiev.
Fun at the dance station during sports week!
More pictures will be coming in the next posts during the week. Thanks again to everyone for all your support. God bless!
We are going to test pctures out here in this post, so hopefully this works...
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Prayer needs
This is going to be a short post we will update at the end of our night but we have some team members who have gotten sick and need your prayers. Please also pray that no one else will become sick and we will all be healthy. Thanks!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Monday----First Day of Sports Week
Today was our first official day of camp and tournaments! We got up bright and early, had breakfast at 7:30 and then went to a meeting with the Ukrainian leaders at 8:30. Our schedules for the week were passed out and we prayed together as a unified team.
To start off the day of camp, everyone met in the church and we all sang and danced along to the songs played by the Ukrainians. It was fun to try and follow along to tunes we had grown up with as children; it does get a little tricky when those tunes are joined with lyrics in a completely different language, but that is probably where a good portion of the fun comes from during the attempt. A lot of our returning team members were able to see some of the children they had worked with in past camps. We were not able to see as many this morning as expected due to the rain keeping some at home. On the plus side though, it isn't expected to rain the rest of the week and the number of children has typically increased throughout the week in the past. So we're definitely looking forward to seeing that later in the week! Each station went very smoothly thanks only to God. There is a lot here that is out of our control.
After the camp wrapped up for the day, we met for lunch and shared stories from the day. One of which was the observation that one of the Ukrainian leaders, who was a camper two years ago, chose to accept Christ and has grown so much in her relationship with Him that she is now working with the children and youth to help them connect with Him, just like she did. It's just so amazing to see how God puts His hand on someone's life and how He weaves their story together, while intertwining it with the stories of others...
We closed lunch in prayer, considering these things, and then proceeded to about a 3 hour block of open time. This was spent preparing for tomorrow, meeting with individual stations to see what could be improved, fellowshipping with eachother, and ofcourse a nap here and there.
In the evening at around 5:30, we met for dinner and then walked to the grounds at 6 to participate and help with the sports tournaments. These tournaments are for the older youth, from about 15 to those in their 30's and beyond. Some of the boys and girls on our team decided to play in the soccer games, and were dressed head to toe in uniforms they had bought in Kiev. Our skill level is definitely not anywhere near that of the Ukrainians, although we did add to their entertainment for the evening. Other members of the team were asked to ref the basketball games, while some of the women in out group hosted the women's coffee house. There was also an ESL class during this time, and there were many Ukrainians present.
When the games have finished and the tournaments are completed, everyone heads over to the church for the final presentation of awards and prizes, as well as music, and a testimony about Christ and the good work He has done in our lives and the lives of others. By this point we are all exhausted, but extremely thankful for all God has done and all we know that He will continue to do. All the glory goes to Him always, and we can take no credit for the product, but merely be tools for His use.
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for us; they have helped a great deal!
Next update will be tomorrow, have a great day/night!
To start off the day of camp, everyone met in the church and we all sang and danced along to the songs played by the Ukrainians. It was fun to try and follow along to tunes we had grown up with as children; it does get a little tricky when those tunes are joined with lyrics in a completely different language, but that is probably where a good portion of the fun comes from during the attempt. A lot of our returning team members were able to see some of the children they had worked with in past camps. We were not able to see as many this morning as expected due to the rain keeping some at home. On the plus side though, it isn't expected to rain the rest of the week and the number of children has typically increased throughout the week in the past. So we're definitely looking forward to seeing that later in the week! Each station went very smoothly thanks only to God. There is a lot here that is out of our control.
After the camp wrapped up for the day, we met for lunch and shared stories from the day. One of which was the observation that one of the Ukrainian leaders, who was a camper two years ago, chose to accept Christ and has grown so much in her relationship with Him that she is now working with the children and youth to help them connect with Him, just like she did. It's just so amazing to see how God puts His hand on someone's life and how He weaves their story together, while intertwining it with the stories of others...
We closed lunch in prayer, considering these things, and then proceeded to about a 3 hour block of open time. This was spent preparing for tomorrow, meeting with individual stations to see what could be improved, fellowshipping with eachother, and ofcourse a nap here and there.
In the evening at around 5:30, we met for dinner and then walked to the grounds at 6 to participate and help with the sports tournaments. These tournaments are for the older youth, from about 15 to those in their 30's and beyond. Some of the boys and girls on our team decided to play in the soccer games, and were dressed head to toe in uniforms they had bought in Kiev. Our skill level is definitely not anywhere near that of the Ukrainians, although we did add to their entertainment for the evening. Other members of the team were asked to ref the basketball games, while some of the women in out group hosted the women's coffee house. There was also an ESL class during this time, and there were many Ukrainians present.
When the games have finished and the tournaments are completed, everyone heads over to the church for the final presentation of awards and prizes, as well as music, and a testimony about Christ and the good work He has done in our lives and the lives of others. By this point we are all exhausted, but extremely thankful for all God has done and all we know that He will continue to do. All the glory goes to Him always, and we can take no credit for the product, but merely be tools for His use.
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for us; they have helped a great deal!
Next update will be tomorrow, have a great day/night!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Day 1
Today was a great first day. We woke up and had breakfast at 8. Irpen Bible Church has two services each Sunday morning- 9:30 and 11:30. Our team all attended the 9:30 service and experienced a great service with the Ukrainians. Rob Kelly did a great job preaching about 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.
Afterwards we had lunch and some team meetings to get ready for sport week tomorrow. This afternoon we went into Kiev with about 20 of the Ukrainian leaders. We walked around and saw Independence Square and went to the market where we all shopped. At the market you are able to barter with the vendors so each group had Ukrainians with them to help translate and barter. Afterwards we ate at an authentic Ukrainian restaurant. It was great to get to know and reconnect with the Ukrainian leaders.
Tonight is the first night we are able to have an early night so we are all trying to get to bed early to get ready for a big day tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers as we have our first day of Sport Week tomorrow.
Happy Fathers Day to all the dad's!
P.S. Since we are in Ukraine the blog website for some reason is in all Russian and we obviously cannot read it. We are trying to eventually upload pictures for you all to see!
Afterwards we had lunch and some team meetings to get ready for sport week tomorrow. This afternoon we went into Kiev with about 20 of the Ukrainian leaders. We walked around and saw Independence Square and went to the market where we all shopped. At the market you are able to barter with the vendors so each group had Ukrainians with them to help translate and barter. Afterwards we ate at an authentic Ukrainian restaurant. It was great to get to know and reconnect with the Ukrainian leaders.
Tonight is the first night we are able to have an early night so we are all trying to get to bed early to get ready for a big day tomorrow. Please keep us in your prayers as we have our first day of Sport Week tomorrow.
Happy Fathers Day to all the dad's!
P.S. Since we are in Ukraine the blog website for some reason is in all Russian and we obviously cannot read it. We are trying to eventually upload pictures for you all to see!
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