Calvary Chapel Kyiv Pastors and Leaders Conference

Taking time to pray for each other.

On Friday and Saturday I attended the Calvary Chapel Kyiv Pastors and Leaders conference in Irpin just outside of Kyiv. The scheduled speakers were Jed Gourly from Kyrgyzstan and Bill Goodrich from Indiana. It was very encouraging to hear the messages and meet with everyone from around Ukraine that I haven't seen in awhile as well as to meet a few new friends. It's amazing to see just how much God has been working over the years in Ukraine. The number of Ukrainians serving as missionaries outside of Ukraine continues to increase. The Word of God is definitely not being hindered by borders.

Enjoying a time of fellowship on the second day.

Our decision to leave Ukraine has been a sad one for us, but I was greatly encouraged by the realization that anything is possible with God and we should be looking at our move as just a long furlough, not a permanent move. I know that no matter where we end up, we will always have the people of Ukraine on our hearts. The idea of leading short term mission trips to Ukraine has already crossed my mind. I would be blessed to serve in California while sharing and encouraging others about what God is doing in Ukraine and the continuing needs here.

The Youth for Christ conference center located in Irpin outside of Kyiv, was the perfect place for the conference. Our sessions were held on the fourth floor in a little loft.

Thanksgiving Birthday

Micah, Christy, Tanya, Kolya, Edna, Olya, and Dominic

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Claycamp family, our neighbor Olya, and our friends Tanya and Kolya. Dominic's 16th birthday was yesterday, so we celebrated that as well. It was fun explaining to our Ukrainian friends about the different traditional foods that we had prepared. "So why do you call it stuffing even though you didn't stuff it into anything?"

Olya and Tanya with Dominic in his new vyshyvanka

The best part was explaining that Thanksgiving was a day set apart to pray and thank God for all that He has given us and for the many ways He has blessed us throughout the year. Of course our Thanksgiving meal was actually a blend of Ukrainian and American dishes. It just seemed fitting since God has blessed us by bringing us to Ukraine and filling our lives with all these wonderful people who we otherwise would have never met.

Kolya gave Dominic this Bila Tserkva milk jug which was perfect because one of Kolya's favorite English phrases is "Dominic, drink milk!"

The J's (Jeremy, Joshua, Jaden, Justin, and Josie) watching "This is America, Charlie Brown" about the first Thanksgiving. It's surprisingly full of historical facts.

Justin especially liked Joshua's Soviet protective mask

Here's the cake I made for Dominic yesterday

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I'm so thankful for the path that God has placed us on and all the people and blessings along the way. We have so much to be thankful for.

Home from Hungary

Joshua, Bohdan, and Dominic "We want you to know Jesus!"

Yesterday, we returned home after spending just over a week in Hungary at the Calvary Chapel Bible College and at Edna's Grandmother's in Croatia. We traveled by bus and it seemed to us that it was a little more comfortable than the train and much cheaper. At just over 20 hours of travel time from Kyiv to Budapest, it was also faster than the train.

All of us enjoyed our time at the Bible College in Vajta. It was so good to hear from the different speakers who spoke during speakers week and to see all of our old friends. I was grateful to be able to share with everyone about how God is working here in Bila Tserkva. We were excited to meet the two Ukrainian students at the Bible College, Bohdan and Maryna. Joshua especially seemed to bond with Bohdan who helped Joshua keep his Ukrainian sharp. We are looking forward to seeing Bohdan and Maryna over the Christmas break. They treated us to some Ukrainian worship music before we left the college to go to Croatia for four days, so we felt almost at home there.

Joy and Edna being strong in weakness

We were encouraged by the news of what God is doing all over the world in places like Iraq, Poland, India, Ireland, and many other places. We were also encouraged by all the new friends we met at the Bible College and the testimonies they shared with us about how God is working in their lives. God is so great in all the ways that He uses us.

Dominic getting in some pool between speakers

We often wondered where it was that Joshua would disapear to after meals. We soon discovered that he was helping Bohdan wash dishes in the dish room in the basement.

Bohdan and Joshua washing dishes

Joshua and Judah in the dish room with Bohdan. There are no child labor laws in Hungary so the missionaries send their children to work down in the basement to offset the costs of running the Bible College.

I'll be posting about our time with Edna's grandmother in Osijek, Croatia in the next post. God truly blessed our time with her.

University English Club

Monday Evening English Club at the University

We held our third meeting this evening of our English Club at the city University here in Bila Tserkva. We have been blessed to have been given free use of the room for two hours with the full backing of the University. Edna and I are working with Ruslan and Anya Samohlebov, a local Christian couple, to run this latest English Club. Ruslan uses the first hour to teach English grammar while I use the second hour as a practical application of English in discussing moral dilemmas and ethical behavior. (Dominic and Joshua had the privilege of babysitting Nikita while we were gone.)

While we can't openly teach about the Bible, these moral discussions can often lead to relevant Biblical references. As Edna moves around the class helping out the students, we've noticed how she seems to be bonding with these young and impressionable girls (there's only one guy for now). They've already exchanged phone numbers and are talking about how they can all get together outside of the class room. Our prayer is that these young people will be won for Christ through the sincere building of relationships. God has been faithful in granting us another open door for reaching the youth of this city through English and we are grateful.

Edna helping Marina translate some sentences into English while Anya helps another girl in the foreground.

A Red Sea of Communists (by Edna)

Communist demonstrators wave Soviet and even a few Russian flags in protest of the Day of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army

I traveled by myself to Kyiv Monday to purchase our bus tickets to the Calvary Chapel Bible College in November. Upon walking out of the metro on Independence Square, I was amazed by the large gathering of communists on the opposite side of the street. Cara told me the night before to bring my camera because there would be a protest. Boy, was she right! Cara gave me some background information regarding what was happening that day and then I did my own research here at home. It turned out to be the day chosen to commemorate the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The problem is that Soviet Army veterans don't want to recognize UPA veterans as legitimate war combatants due to their struggle against communism in Soviet Ukraine. It's interesting that the blue banners in the background say "Freedom" and the square they are protesting in is called Independence Square. How beautiful those blue and yellow Ukrainian flags flying overhead are.

Me and Cara

I met with my friend Cara at the McDonald's on Independence Square. She was so gracious to offer her time to help me with translation so that I could purchase my tickets. After looking at the map, we set off to find the business we were looking for. I thought I had the address written down right, but it turns out we needed a completely different address. We ended up walking all over before finding it! All went well with purchasing the tickets and we are grateful that we found a cheaper alternative in traveling to the Bible College. Afterward, we headed back to Independence Square to have lunch together. Thanks Cara for making all of this possible! I really enjoyed hanging out with you.

Ukrainian Patriots

Since I rarely travel to Kyiv alone, I thought it would be a great opportunity to spend some time with Marianna. We met at her place and had a nice time chatting over real coffee. :) It was good to discuss politics together since she watches all the debates and could better fill me in. We also discussed the possibility of visiting orphans together, which is something that is really close to my heart. I am excited to see what God wants to do!

A poster commemorating October 14th, the day of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. It reads, "Our Freedom - Their Blood!"

Here's what communism did for Ukraine. I can understand Ukrainians disdain for the Soviet Union after watching this video. The video describes Holodomor, the genocide of Ukrainian people by the Soviet Union. Please be warned that the following historical images are very graphic and tragic.

The Soviet Story

A Fall Day With the Claycamp Family

The Claycamp family, Micah, Christy, Josie, Jaden, Jeremy, and Justin, came to visit us today from Kaharlyk. The weather was perfect for a walk in the park and a chance to enjoy all the colors of Fall. It was fun to spend time with all off them. I think Josie even made a few new friends on the playground at our place before they left. The day seemed to slip by and we wish we would have had more time.

Thanks for stopping by guys. It would be our pleasure to have you over again soon.

Dominic, Joshua, Jeremy, Josie, and Jaden

Christy, Justin, and Edna

Joshua and Jaden

Jeremy taming one of the lions of Oleksandria

One step at a time little guy

Jeremy, Jaden, and Joshua

one of the many newly married couples we saw

Outreach to Flood Victims in Western Ukraine (Part 4)

Andriy and Dominic sampling some of the hot bread that we would later hand out.

Saturday morning we headed to within a mile of the Moldovan and Romanian borders to visit some of the worst hit areas around the village of Mamalyha. One of the biggest problems is the need for clean drinking water. The flood carried bacteria and waste into all the wells and polluted the ground water. The elderly were most affected because it is difficult for them to travel to get food and water. (Be sure and check out Conor's blog too.)

On the road to Mamalyha

Valera shows us just how high the water was, filling this well with mud and debris.

Along with food, the Chernihiv church placed Russian translations of Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper in these black bags.

This woman told us that she lost everything she owns including her home on the other side of the fence. She is now staying with neighbors.

A family stands near their destroyed home.

Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing Love. -Lamentations 3:32

The Ukrainian border is just down this road. The hills to the left are in Moldova and the hills to the right are in Romania.

Outreach to Flood Victims in Western Ukraine (Part 3)

Marina and Olya begin the cleanup work in the house

On Friday morning we began helping to cleanup around the home of Halya, a woman from the church in Novoselytsia. You can see from the pictures that the flood literally stripped away all the newly completed work they had done on the home.

Andriy helped me and Conor move some of the bigger stuff as we cleaned out this shed to salvage what we could from the mud. Later we would clean the mud off the table and bench so that we could share a meal on it.

Dominic cleaned the bulk of the mud off of Halya's canned foods that Jake had rescued from her still flooded cellar.

Jake and Andriy cleaned up the jars of food that hadn't had there lids rust through.

Mira, Vlada, and Olya cleaned the mud of the windows, blinds, and screens.

Conor and I had almost finished getting the shed cleaned out so the mud could dry.

We all sat down to eat on the table that had earlier been covered in mud and debris. Halya is at the end of the table serving us borshch.

After we left Halya's place, we got cleaned up and attended a Friday night service at our hosts' church. Jake was invited to share a message and Andriy gave his testimony while the girls were asked to lead a few worship songs. We were all greatly encouraged by the welcome we received and the fellowship we shared. Our hosts went out of their way to make sure we were always well fed and had a comfortable place to stay. They were all amazing.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. - Romans 12:10

After the service we traveled to a small village of about 3,000 people to attend a Friday night Youth Group. The village was made up of ethnic Romanians who spoke Romanian and attended Romanian speaking schools, something we were all a little surprised to find. The village was actually part of Romania until the Soviet occupation after WW II. The family that was hosting the Youth Group in their home told us that they had ten children, which is a little unusual in Ukraine. We talked and sang until about 1:30AM. Heavy rains forced some of us to spend the night in their home. It was a long, but rewarding day.

Some video of our evening together