Relationships are such the point. We walked quickly toward church this morning excited to be back at Light of (the) World. Steve walked in first, but he had shaved his mustache and he received the look of “I know you, but how do I know you", but as I rounded the corner Anya saw me and jumped up with a huge smile and a welcoming hug and kiss. Oh that was like refreshing water on my tired soul. How good it is to receive a warm welcoming embrace. We enjoyed a time of reconnecting with dear brothers and sisters. We heard wonderful testimonies and an encouraging word from the book of Daniel. Visits were scheduled for the week, along with translators, and times to meet with people to pray. Our calendar is filling up.
The afternoon was like our life at home. Lunch with friends (well maybe a little different in that lunch included 3 orphans that found out we were in town, including Igor !!! Y'all know that made me smile.) and a houseful of people all afternoon. We reconnected with old friends and meet a few new ones. We had a time of worship and prayer. Knowing that only prayer will make a way here.
The Porter Family is staying in the same hotel with us. They are here adopting Katia. Laurie and Hector have been praying for Katia a family for the last year! There is nothing like "seeing" your prayer answered.
Andrei and Vlad...cool dudes....
By 5:30 there was time for a fast walk thru the park and back to the apartment to make a supper of grits and eggs. (So happy we brought grits this time. 8-) We needed to hurry because we had more friends coming by for the evening.
Liena came this evening and we were so glad to see her. She was such an encouragement to us during the final days of the adoption trip and we had been counting the days to see her again. We had time to hear of some the things God is doing in her heart and life now. It is such a joy to hear her share heart. Such a beautiful example of a Godly young woman.
Another full day of following where He leads. We're going to bed praying for our visit planned for Internot #4 tomorrow morning. Lord go before us.
As we left for our trip Thursday morning, Lynn, a friend of ours, called Laurie and told her she had something for us! She had created 6 cards with special words of encouragement and challenge for us to open along the route of our journey. We open one of them each leg of our flight at predetermined locations. What a blessing these words were. So timely, so on target. God is amazing.
We arrived safely in Odessa with only one delay. We were 2 hours late leaving JFK which meant they were boarding our connecting flight when we arrived in Warsaw...but thank the Lord they held the plane for us. Customs was a breeze....no one asked or even looked at the multitude of flip-flops and t-shirts in our bags. Included in our room rate was an uneventful ride from the airport to our room. That in itself was a pleasant surprise. Uneventful I mean!
First order of business was getting a little food and bottled water to our room. A few Odessa friends came to visit and then we wandered around the “center” to allow Steven, Cameron, Laurie, and Hector to get a feel for the city. We ran into the Porter family from Texas. They are here to adopt Katia, one of the girls from Lyonya's class. Laurie and Hector have her photo on their fridge and have been praying for her a family for over a year. How amazing for them to get to see the answer to their prayers in person!
Tomorrow we hope to go check on the kids Grandma and see how she is getting along. We haven't been able to talk to her lately. We are so excited to be here and see what the Lord has for us to do. We serve such an amazing God. Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep them going!
Wasn't able to post this....the internet was down....maybe tomorrow.
Saturday AM
Over breakfast we talked thru the day, the week really. Realizing there were so many ministry opportunities this morning, all good...we were like kids in a candy store! Which to choose???We chose Him! Oh yes, we chose Him. We went into the apartment to worship. What a sweet time in His presence. I was reminded of Isaiah 40, those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.... How do you hope? The Greek word for hope is to bind to, to attach oneself.....the word picture I read explained it was like a little girl with her arms around the parents waist with her legs wrapped around their leg....How do we do His work? We seek His presence all the more. We must hope in Him and He will accomplish the task. He will go before us into the unknown and “break” the way. He is the breaker...the one that pushes through the darkness to allow us authority to enter another land because He has dominion over all lands and peoples.....not us, Him.. It's all about Him. He allows us to follow in behind Him carrying the aroma of His Spirit to all. 2 Cor. 2: 15-16.
During our worship, Natalyia called us. She was planning to spend the weekend with us but her baby Artemia was sick this morning so she had to postpone her trip. Hopefully she can come from Kiev Wednesday or Thursday. We're waiting to hear back from Sasha, the kids older brother, so he can meet us and show us the way to where Grandma is staying. She is in a different location and we don't even have an address. Hopefully we will get with him tomorrow.
Sweet Lena contacted us around lunch and we will get together tomorrow. Tomorrow morning is church and we are so excited to see Pastor Sasha, his wife Lena, their new baby, Anya, Christina, and the other young adults we connected with 2 years ago. We would like to go to church with our friend Laura because Igor and Big Andrei will be there, but we only have this one Sunday. We sent word to them that we are in town and to come by the apartment any chance they get.
In the afternoon we went to the market, looking around at the property in the area and praying for the city. Hector, Steven, Laurie and Steve stopped and prayed for one guy in a wheel chair that was begging. Lord heal him and let him see You.
On Monday, we hope to visit the director and #4 . She didn't take to us much when we were here before, but we have been praying for her for weeks. That the Lord will touch her and bless her. Pasha wrote her a sweet letter, so we plan to deliver it with flowers and candy and ask for permission to see the kids classmates and give them gifts of t-shirts, flip flops, and Christian literature. Please pray she will agree to our request.
Six of us will fly to Odessa tomorrow and see where God will lead us. We have a list of people to visit / minister to and a multitude of things to do, but we are all in agreement that we will follow Him and hunt for treasures. We hope to update this daily so you can follow our latest adventure.
Blessings on you all,
Steve, Carol, Steven, Cameron, Laurie and Hector
PS Please pray for our families at home and thanks to all of you who have made this trip possible. Love
you so much.
I've been doing a Bible Study on the book of Jonah recently. It's so interesting to think that all Jonah had to do was obey, it seems so easy when it's him, in a book, and we have the privileged to look back in time....but not so easy each day when there are real challenges staring at you in the face. Four of them literally staring me in the face! What if you obey and then you have to remind yourself to stay engaged in the mission each day. All we can say is it is so worth it, anything you may give up to obey a call the Lord has placed on your life. There is truly no better blessing.
A gift from the kids for my birthday.
A York Apple tree! Thanks Kathy!
This week the kids are working a lot. In school they are working on research papers. Lyonya is writing about lions, Pasah about farm dogs, Galya about sharks, and Andrew about police dogs. Writing these kind of papers is not my joy. All I can say is, "Thank you God for Cameron!" She is amazing. Through this whole process they have learned so much.
Pasha and Andrew helped one family in the neighborhood with the digging of their septic system. Lyonya has been working with Hector doing construction many afternoon. (and all last week while we had Spring Break) At the end of the week, Lyonya commented, "This is not how I saw Spring Break looking!" I reminded him it was his choice not mine. =)
Pasha was so tired this night that he missed the whole movie. We helped him to bed when we couldn't take the snoring anymore! Poor guy. Lately he is preparing for the Spring band concert.
Galya
Galya has been a huge help as I've been cleaning, sewing, cooking, planting, it doesn't matter what we do she is our girl with a servant heart. She's amazing.
Andrew has a new job. He is now assisting as an usher at church. Can't wait to take pictures Sunday for you to see. He has his headset that will link him in with the other ushers and security officers. He is in his element!
This particular night we were helping serve at the Love4Liberia Dinner raising funds for an orphanage in Liberia.
ANDREW AS A SERVER AT THE LOVE4LIBERIA BANQUET
Steve and Lyonya working the Silent Auction
The garden is in and growing. Yeah. Steve has worked so hard outside. The kids want some baby chicks so a small chicken coop will soon be on the horizon. The big news is that Steve and I will be heading back to Ukraine at the end of May. We will travel with 2 other couples. Please pray as we seek the Lord's leading on partnering with some ministry there. There is one couple that we are so excited to visit with and see what they are doing in orphan care and how we can help them accomplish their calling. We also want to check on the kid's Grandma and help with some repairs in her apartment. We would really appreciate your prayers for guidance as we seek the Lord's agenda for us during our time there, for funding for the projects and safety as we travel.
Mr. Andrews is an amazing man with a huge heart for his students. He really took Pasha under his wing last year when Pasha showed up in his class on his second week in the US asking to join the band . They were both so excited and learned to understand each other even with Pasha's broken English at the time.
Right now Mr Andrews is in a fight for his life and we are asking the Lord for total restoration. You can read his story at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/darrylandrews. Please join us in praying for Mr. Andrews and his family. Mr. Andrews has taught Pasha so much above and beyond the French Horn. The band will be performing a benefit concert on March 26th. For more details go to http://darrylandrews.eventbrite.com/
