The Itsy Bitsy Spider Bite

All wrapped up

I’m sitting in the Emergency Room lobby waiting for Edna as I write this. This is our fourth visit since we came over to the Central Coast to visit friends and hopefully get a little rest. After three different antibiotics, including an IV drip, we are probably on our way back to Visalia today falling short of our intended goal of seeing everyone and squeezing in a day of rest. It all started with a small spider bite that Edna noticed on her hand when she woke up last Sunday morning.

On Monday, we made our way over to the coast only to have the spider bite rapidly become infected. Fortunately we had just finalized our ticket changes to extend our U.S. stay until August 12th to allow for Edna to see a neurosurgeon about the damaged discs in her spine. (The unfortunate part is that the airline charged us $2,800 to make the change and would not honor a medical waiver.)

The infected area at the base of her right index finger was first cut open and drained, then cut open again and packed with gauze ribbon a day later. (You can see the photo if you aren’t squeamish by clicking HERE.) When that didn’t work they had to again open it up and flush everything out and then immobilize her hand. If her hand doesn’t improve, a hand surgeon may need to do a further surgical procedure to stop the infection. Needless to say it has been a very painful experience for her (and for Joshua who has come down with an ear infection). I now have to admit that her fear of spiders is justified and I’ll refrain from any further teasing regarding her validated arachnophobia.

Please keep us all in prayer.

Vision Calvary Chapel

Andrew, Pastor Ryan, myself and Edna

This morning we were honored to share about our lives in Ukraine with Vision Calvary Chapel in Porterville. It is always a blessing to us when we can gather with believers and tell about what God is doing in Ukraine. They made us feel like family and have graciously offered to help support us financially and in prayer. We were so happy to see how God is blessing the fellowship there with sound Bible teaching. I never knew that Leviticus could be so exciting. Thanks Ryan.

It was also a time of reunion since I had gone to high school with Andrew, their missions coordinator, and have only recently been in contact with him again. We are both different people now thanks to God's Grace, Mercy, and Love. We enjoyed an awesome time of fellowship and lunch together with our families. Thanks again Andrew.

A Night with Ebo

Ebo Elder

Last night I had the pleasure of spending time with professional boxer Ebo Elder at Calvary Chapel Visalia. He has now gone into full time ministry and is an amazing source of encouragement for all those who love the Lord and want to see others discover salvation in Jesus Christ. I've heard his testimony and I highly recommend you check it out for yourself by clicking the link Ebo Tribe. It's incredible what happens when you let God do what you can't.

Vacation Bible School in the Foothills

This morning we met with Terri from Foothill Bible Church in Elderwood to share with the children there about the children in Ukraine. This week they are having their Vacation Bible School and are raising money for Ukrainian children’s books that make the Gospel known through the life of Jesus Christ (done through Cook International). We were blessed by all of the questions and interest the children had about the children in Ukraine. There were just over seventy children and we were honored to be their guests. Joshua even showed the children how to count to five in Ukrainian (which they did amazingly well). It was such an encouragement to see all of those children hearing God’s Word and seeing all the young people in service to the Lord.

Joshua had a chance to get in on some of the activities and paint his hair orange. We had such a good time and we wish we could go back again.

Upside-down

A few hours ago, I was downloading some pictures from my camera when I heard the unmistakable sound of a car impacting something just outside the house we are staying in here in Visalia. Edna called 911 while I ran for the car with my camera in hand. (This is actually the second time that a car has rolled in front of the house here so we knew the drill.) I snapped a photo as I ran across the road. I was relieved to see a shaken, but seemingly unhurt, young girl emerge through a broken window. I had her lay flat on the ground while a neighbor helped me assess her condition. Edna helped her make a phone call to her mother and calm her down while we waited for an ambulance.

Edna and a neighbor helping to notify the girl's family before the ambulance arrived

The 23-year-old girl had apparently lost control of her car causing it to go into a spin and impact a tree. Her car impacted the tree backwards at an angle that caused it to flip over. Hitting the tree like that probably kept her from sustaining serious injuries. All of us were thankful that God had brought this girl through what could have been a serious accident and are praying that she had no unseen injuries.

I’m sure that seat belts and airbags factor into things, but I’m still amazed at God’s ability and willingness to protect our fragile bodies according to His will.

Three More Years!

Edna's visa that is valid for three years

On Tuesday morning we went to the Ukrainian Consulate in San Francisco expecting to receive a one year visa for Edna. The government had only approved her for a one year visa, but we had gotten a three year invitation letter. They were really nice to us at the consulate office and told Edna she could have a three year visa since she had a three year invitation letter. We were really blessed since this means we won't have to travel to a consulate office or embassy outside of Ukraine for three years or pay the fee to renew her visa. (The boys and I already had five year visas so now we are all set until 2012.) Praise God!

Uniting Ukrainians and Californians Through Prayer

Some of our prayer partners in California with Edna

This evening we had the pleasure to meet and pray with members of a small Bible study who have been praying for the needs of our church members in Ukraine. For several months we have been exchanging prayer requests and praying for each other on a weekly basis. I have been personally blessed and amazed at how prayers have been answered as both groups have poured out their hearts in prayer for people they have never met. I was able to hear first hand how God has moved through prayer to touch these people's lives in a way that only He can.

Our church in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine has been praying each week according to the needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ living in California and is blessed to receive their prayers in return.

I truly believe that prayer is one of the greatest bonding agents that cements us into the body of Christ as we are raised up as His living church. I've seen prayer stretch across oceans and cultures bringing glory to our Father in Heaven. How great it is to be a part of that.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. -Ephesians 6:18

Visalia Mayor's Prayer Breakfast

Visalia Mayor Jesus Gamboa and wife Olivia bow their heads in prayer during the 2009 Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast Thursday at the Visalia Convention Center.

On Thursday morning, Edna and I attended the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast where Mike Huckabee was the guest speaker. It was a chance to wake up early and try to shake off some of our lingering jet lag as well as connect with other local Evangelical Christians. We were blessed to see over 1,000 people in attendance. I even ran into a few people that I know. We were so encouraged by the powerful message of salvation that was shared by Mike Huckabee and the cooperative prayers of several denominations lifted up in unity. I only wish that we could see that kind of cooperation among different churches in Ukraine.

It was also great to see so many familiar faces from Calvary Chapel Visalia (which organized the event) including Pastor Bob Grenier who did the opening and closing.

Huckabee was invited to play bass on the last worship song of the morning.

Christ Has Risen!

Christ Has Risen!

Today we are celebrating the Resurrection of Christ (Easter) here in Ukraine. I like the fact that our city, Bila Tserkva, puts up signs about Christ and not about some bunny that secretly delivers chocolate eggs to little children.

The Great Day

Although everyone knows that Christ has risen, not everyone knows who Jesus is, at least not on a personal level. Our goal here in Ukraine is to let as many people as possible know exactly who Jesus Christ is and what He did for all of us.

Some Easter Blossoms

May all of you who are celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior today be blessed.

Circus Ukraine

Edna on the right buying our tickets for the "European" circus

We thought it would be fun to finally check out one of the traveling circuses that frequently come through Bila Tserkva, so that's exactly what we did today. Dominic opted to stay home so it was just me, Edna, and Joshua. I thought it was interesting that the tickets varied in cost by where you chose to be seated. Since there were only four sections and eight rows, this seemed a little strange since the price of a first or second row seat was double what a seventh or eighth row seat cost. I noticed one boy in the fifth row had binoculars around his neck. I couldn't help but think that he had to have figured the inside of the tent wasn't bigger than what it looked like on the outside. Right? I wonder if he actually used those binoculars.

Anyway, I think my favorite act was the first one with four trained, skirt wearing dogs. Except for the fact that two of the dogs looked like they had been plucked off the street, I thought it was pretty good. I didn't even get a picture because I was so intrigued by their canine exploits.

The clown pulled a woman from the audience and asked her to jump rope in the high heels that she was wearing, and she did, perfectly.

Next came the clown who made an appearance between the acts. He wasn't very funny, but he did manage to get a woman to jump rope in high heels. (That's real talent.) The next act was "jungle boy", a contortionist who pretended to be a savage living on the plains of Africa. He was quite limber and entertained to a degree, but again, I didn't get a picture of him. Not that I was mesmerized by his flexibility, but mostly because he was wearing spandex. Enough said?

This is the pigeon wrangler who also demonstrated the talents of four dogs wearing skirts and later dazzled us with an amazing hula hoop display.

Then there was the pigeon wrangler, a.k.a. crazy lady who dresses dogs in skirts. I really liked the part where she would grab a pigeon and hurl it into the audience only to have it narrowly miss bird-on-spectator contact and return safely to the perch on her head. (Seriously, it was really cool.) There was also a lady who could balance a candle stick on her head and twirl a flaming baton.

We felt a little sad for this lion. She didn't seem to want to perform or do much of anything for that matter. Her circus days might be numbered.

Of course no circus would be complete without a dangerous lion. Unfortunately the old girl looked like she just wanted to take a nap rather than jump through flaming hoops, which she eventually did after a little coaxing. The real crowd pleaser was the baby bear they had on a leash just outside the tent. He looked a little more playful than the lion.

After the show we got to see this cute little bear cub being walked on a leash. He looked like he could do some damage with those razor sharp claws. Small but powerful.

I was actually entertained by the whole affair so the five or so dollars each it cost for me and Edna seemed worth it. Joshua got in free with a coupon so it was totally worth it for him. I'm not sure if I'd want to go again, but hey, little bears on a leash really are cute.

Goodbye to Painting (for now)

Sasha painting while Maryna takes a break

Dominic stayed home from school today so that he could help with the painting on the playground. He was a huge help, but I think he was wishing he had gone to school by the end of the day. As usual, we had more offers of helping hands than we could accommodate. The smart ones like Maryna actually scheduled an appointment and Sasha made me promise to reserve a brush for her.

Maryna painting while the boys just stand around and watch (Interestingly enough, this happens a lot with adults, men stand around and watch while the women do all the work)

It took us all day, but I think we've done about as much as we can before we leave for California on the 27th. The rest will have to wait until we come back. There's still a lot we need to do, but the difference we've made so far is very encouraging. The children, parents, and grandparents really appreciate it and we have been blessed by the response.

Dominic helping Maryna with the spots she missed

At the end of the day it was such a blessing to look down on the playground and see all the children running around and playing as parents and grandparents watched. Hopefully the kids will be more willing to take care of the playground since they had a hand in bringing it back to life.

Maryna and Sasha

Although we aren't completely finished, here are a few before and after photos that show a little of our progress.

Caught Red Handed (as well as blue, green, and yellow)

Maxime painting the sandbox for the little kids

Today, I continued working on the playground with the help of the neighborhood children. All of their parents love the fact that the playground is getting fixed up, but I'm not sure how they feel about their children being covered in paint each day. No one has complained yet. In fact, one of the mothers gave me and Edna a box of chocolate and told us how much she appreciated us fixing up the playground.

Oksana finishing up the Ukrainian Horse on Tuesday (She still has blue hands)

Dasha, Masha, Yuliya, and Maryna posing by the horse

Anyway, all the kids love working on the playground. I do the repairs and they do as much painting as I'll let them. Apparently kids here never get the chance to paint. The adults won't let them. The word has gotten out that I'm handing kids paint brushes and paint and turning them loose on the playground. This has led to kids I've never seen before showing up and asking to paint. One girl today came from over a mile away in a different neighborhood to get a chance to fling some paint around. Another girl actually made an appointment with me to paint after she gets out of school tomorrow. I had to promise here a time slot and color. She wants to paint something blue. Is painting really that fun?

Leeza taking a turn painting

Dasha being very careful

Dasha's twin sister Masha completing the sandbox

Blossoms

This is the apricot tree beneath our neighbor Olya's window

Yesterday morning, our neighbor Olya called us over to her apartment to show us the apricot tree beneath her kitchen window that was bursting with blossoms and buzzing with bees. These are the first blossoms we've seen here in Bila Tserkva this year making it officially Spring in all of our minds. Spring is definitely my favorite time of year in Ukraine. Everything is coming to life just in time for Easter (we celebrate Easter in Ukraine on April 19th).

Playground Restoration Project (Getting Started)

Maryna and Nastya putting on the finishing touches

Today was the day we had scheduled to fix up the playground outside of our apartment. Unfortunately, the team from Pryluky had to cancel at the last minute. (We are hoping that they can still come at the end of the month though to help with the big stuff.) We decided to start on the playground since all the children were expecting us to be working on it and we had most of the materials we needed. (I spent yesterday replacing the missing and rotting wood and securing everything that was coming loose on the climbing structure.) We figured there would be some kids that would want to help out and we weren't disappointed. There were more than enough kids who were willing to remove graffiti, scrape paint, and slap on the bright new stuff.

The only problem we had were the really small children who were drawn to the shiny new (and still wet) paint like flies on honey. Some parts on the structure had to be painted three times. Some of the parents just weren't fast enough to prevent their little ones from getting yellow and blue hands. I finally had to post some of the kids on the playground to guard the freshly painted climbing structure until I could put a barrier around it. Even then a few curious little ones had to be shooed away by the bigger kids.

We are looking forward to spending time with the neighborhood kids working on the playground together. Some of them made me promise to let them paint after school next week so it looks like I'll have plenty of little helping hands. Thanks to everyone who helped us out with the costs to begin restoring this once beautiful playground.

Before

After - Amazing what a little paint can do

Seeing Green

The trees near our apartment beginning to turn green

Today they turned off the heat in our building, which is good because we have had at least a week of warm weather. The world outside is responding by trading drab winter colors for swaths of green grass and green sprouts exploding from the trees and bushes. I expect that any day the cherry trees will blossom and the tulips will bloom. It's not that winter is terribly depressing or anything like that, but I'm just in awe at how fast the landscape around us can change. Where once we saw death, now we see life. God is amazing.

International Women's Day

Tanya, Valentina, Luda, Vera, and Edna making bookmarks

On Saturday, March 7th, the day before Women's Day in Ukraine, Tanya and Edna decided to have a few women over for food and fellowship. We were so excited that Maxime's mother Vera and his grandmother Luda were able to come along with Valentina and Nastya. It was a great opportunity for the women to share their faith with Vera and Luda. Maxime's mother and grandmother have also been coming to our Friday night Bible study along with our neighbor Olya. It seems that lately, God has been opening doors and giving us wonderful opportunities to share the simple truth of salvation through Jesus Christ with our neighbors. Thanks to everyone for your prayers.

Playground Restoration Project Update

Maryna was eager to do some work on the playground

Due to rain/snow, we had to postpone our playground project until April 11th and 12th. Although some of the children have already been helping me to uncover the border around the playground. They have all said that they want to help out so I need to make sure I have enough paint brushes when the time comes.

Several arguments have arisen among the girls as to who gets the privilege of using the shovel and for how long. Looks like we won't have to bribe the children with candy after all. ;)

Playground Restoration Project (Phase 1)

The playground outside of our apartment

It has always been on our hearts to do something about the condition of the playground by our apartment. We have often cleaned up trash around it and tried to do some minor repairs, but we realized that it wasn't going to be enough. Vandalism and neglect have left the playground looking worn out and in some cases unsafe for the children who play there. During the summer, the playground is a hub for all the families with children and for all the grandmothers who like to sit on the benches and chat with each other.

This concrete horse slide is all that's left from the original Soviet playground that was replaced by the newer wooden structures.

Sadly, this is one of the better playgrounds in our neighborhood. Most are so badly neglected or stripped for scrap metal that they don't even resemble playgrounds anymore. These playgrounds are maintained by an area work crew, but unfortunately they do little more than pick up a few pieces of trash. We recently discovered that this playground has a concrete border around it with several paved paths, but they are all overgrown due to neglect. We were further saddened when some of the benches were vandalized leaving only a few for the older people and mothers to sit on. A few people did their best to try and repair what they could with some scrap wood, but it wasn't enough.

These wooden swings were meant to ride on bearings that have completely come apart making the swing unstable and dangerous for small children.

With the help of church members from Calvary Chapel Pryluky here in Ukraine, we are moving forward with a project to help restore the playground and fix some of the more dangerous pieces of equipment. We have been praying about this for awhile now and on March 1st, we began making the final plans and pricing the materials needed. It is our hope that our church here in Bila Tserkva (called "House of Mercy" in Ukrainian) will come together with the Pryluky members to not just fix up a playground, but truly show the Love of Christ in action.

According to some of our neighbors, this was once some kind of bridge for children to play on.

We are sure that when people see us working on the playground, they will begin to ask questions. The cost of this project will mostly be in labor and that labor will be freely given. We want them to know who we are and why we care so much about them. This will be a great opportunity for our neighbors to meet members of our church and to be invited to our home Bible study.

Several wooden rungs are missing on this structure.

Please pray that God will provide us with good weather so that we can complete the project as planned (from March 20th-23rd) and that he will provide enough hands for the labor and provide for the financing of the needed materials (about $250).

Most of the benches around the playground are in bad condition
like this one, leaving few options for the elderly.