Yesterday's Borscht

Jessica's baptism

2010-07-09T22:49:00.004+04:00

I know that I'm getting a few things out of order, because I haven't told you about ministry in Western Ukraine. But that is coming, I promise. I just wanted to tell you about something a little more current and then I'll jump back to catching you up. Hope that's fine with you. Jessica has been wanting for a long time to follow Christ's command to be baptized. She came to me one day after reading in her Bible, and asked," Mom, why can't I be baptized?" She has made her choice to follow God and wanted to show her friends and others that she was determined to do just that. We have been talking with her about the real meeaning of baptism. And she has had a lot of good questions. Two weeks ago she was baptized in a small pond just outside our village of Osikova. Here in Ukraine it is the custom to wear only white when getting baptized, as a symbol of being the bride of Christ. Here is Jessica in her white outfit. Our friend, Vita, translated for Jessica so she would understand everything. She had some of her favorite songs sung in Russian. It was truely a special day. It started out as a hot day, but later some cloud cover cooled things off a little.

Jessica thought she was going to be the only one who would be baptized, but at the last minute an old grandma stepped up and said that she wanted to be baptized as well. So it worked out the she was baptized with someone else, even though Jessica was willing to do it alone if she needed to. The old grandma was almost 90 years old.

Here Pastor Roman is Baptizing Jessica in the

Name of the

Father,

Son,

and Holy Spirit.

Jessica, your Mom and Dad are so proud of you for making the decision to follow God and take this next step with Him. God has great things planned for you if you follow closely to Him.

The wild flowers and roses were given to her to remember this special day. Then everyone in the church had a little picnic by the pond. We pray that Jessica will always remember this day, but more importantly always follow Christ.

Children worker's training conference

2010-07-08T00:26:00.002+04:00

The first week in June was just a little packed. After Lana's funeral, we had our first conference for training children workers. Katrina Randolph helped me with some of the work shops. We had a nice group come and some from other churches. We learned together, shared ideas and even practiced to each other. I felt God's help in teaching. Here we are working on applying things we had learned. They had to piece together a theme, verses, Bible stories, and songs for a series.

We want to Thank God for His help and everyone who prayed for us during this conference. It was very needed and I hope what we learned will be used for God's glory in days to come. Tomorrow I'll try to tell you about our two weeks in western Ukraine in the mountains. Keep tuned in for more updates headed your way.

Ukrainian funeral

2010-07-07T23:43:00.002+04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Jason's Bible trip was cut short when his translator, Roman, heard that his sister had died suddenly. Lana was only 40 years old, unmarried and her death came as a shock to the family. She was having problems with blood clots in her legs and one went to her heart. Jason and I had the privilege of being a support and help to the family during their time of loss. In Ukraine, if a girl, no matter her age, dies before she gets married, she will be buried in a wedding dress. So Lana's dress and veil was a symbol that she was single. She looked beautiful.
Jason was the driver for the van carrying the body, and I helped with food, flowers and taking pictures. Here is Pastor Roman, his parents and wife, Nodiea. The funeral was just outside their apartment building, but she was buried in Kenyazachee, and the funeral meal was in Kiev. So a lot of driving and transporting people.

Many came for the service.

Jessica helped in comforting Anyta, Roman's daughter. The kids were very close to their aunt.

Lana was buried right next to Dorthy Pelfery's grave. Dorthy Pelfery was a missionary and died here in Ukraine.

The meal was a big deal and held at a nice restaurant. The food was great, but at a time like this you really don't want to eat much.

The saddest part of the story is that we are not certain that Lana is in heaven today. At one time she had walked with God, but in recent days especially her brother, Roman , had been worried about her commitment to Christ. What a challenge to us. Will people have to wonder where I ended up after I pass on?

Friends and a Bible trip cut short

2010-07-06T17:51:00.002+04:00

We were very happy to hear the Hunts, our friends from CO, were coming to Ukriane. We were even happier that they were able to stay a few days with us. Jason was happy to drive them all the way to southern Ukraine to where they would be helping a Ukrainian family. On their way out of Ukriane they stopped here again and even helped me get some last minute things done for VBS. Kim and Judy were a big help in the kitchen as well. While Jason was in southern Ukraine he wanted to do a Bible trip and visit the family of one of the prisoners in Siberia. Jason, Josh and pastor Roman was able to visit the mother and sister of one of the prisoners in Siberia who is still coming to the Bible study that was started when Jason made a trip up there last year. Of course the mother had a hard time believing that an American saw her son in Siberia and came all the way to see her and bring her a Bible. They were able to pray with her and her daughter. The daughter really needs God in her life. She has pretty much wasted her life on drugs. But God is able to save. The Bible trip was cut short because Roman recieved a phone call that his sister, Lana, had died suddenly. So the rest of the trip was abandoned as Jason hurried to get Roman back to help his parents with the funeral arrangments. In my next post I'll tell all about that.

Street service in Kenyazachee

2010-07-05T22:14:00.002+04:00

I am back to blogging. Yea, I know that I'm supposed to be at youth camp at the Black Sea, right now,but I'm not. Josh got sick last night and was throwing up all night (it seemed) and then today I wasn't feeling so great, so we both were left behind. I'm sure going to miss being with the teens this year, but God knows what is best and maybe He just wants me to stay at home and pray. So I guess I have time to catch you up on all that has been happen in the last month and half. I guess I'm going clear back to May, when the church in Kenyazachee did a street service near their village store. Jason was gone, but I was able to help and be there. Also a choir and several preachers from a sister church came to help. The turkeys were not happy that we had chosen their grazing spot to have our service. Here, pastor Roman is talking with different ones that had stopped to listen. He and the teens helping him were able to give out quite a bit of good litature and New Testaments.

Some of the villagers that came and listened. Pray that the message with stick in their minds.

One of the pastors that shared a message at the street service. Many gave their testamony.

Since I am at home with Josh I will try to get one or two post done each day. A lot has been happening and I need to get it all down in writing and share with you all.

Still alive!!!

2010-07-02T22:54:00.002+04:00

Some of you may think that we have dropped off the face of the earth. No we're still breathing, just supper busy. If you haven't heard we are coming home for the kid's schooling and will be heading to the States this month. A lot has happened since I last blogged and hope to show you pictures and tell you all about it. I actually have two days before we head into youth camp so I will try to let you all know what has been happening here in the last 5 weeks.

Earning the Right to be Heard

2010-05-24T21:43:00.002+04:00

Yesterday, on a long walk in the forest, I had a lot of deep thoughts going through my head. Maybe I should re-phrase that, running through the forest, because if you stopped moving for even a second the mosquitoes try to eat you alive (good motivation to keep moving). The deep thoughts wandering through my mind went something like this. I need to get over my obsession of trying to please everyone. I should do my best to please God first and my husband second. But after that, I need to stop and think about who it is that I am trying to please and taking advice from. Are they people that I really respect, admire and want to be like? Is their marriage one I want my marriage to be like (if they are even married)? How about all those mothers that have given me their "wonderful advice"? Do I really want my kids turning out like theirs? How about their relationship with God? Are they Christians that I admire? I guess what I'm trying to say is, have they earned the right to speak truth into my life? Don't get be wrong, I think counsel is great, I just need to stop and think about Who I'm getting counsel from.
And then it hit me. Have I earned the right to be heard in the lives of my friends? Am I being and doing all God wants be to be so that I really can give Godly counsel? Do I even know someone well enough to be able to give correct advice or counsel? I'm afraid that a lot of times I have just wasted my breath and people really don't care what I have to say. But for some odd reason, I feel that I need to tell them anyway. Does this really have anything to do with ministry? Maybe, maybe not? But I for one am going to stop wasting my breath and start earning the right to be heard before I expect others to stop and listen. How about you?

Busy and excited!!!

2010-05-21T15:58:00.002+04:00

You haven't heard from us in a while. The reason is we've been busy. Finishing up home schooling for the year, guest, getting ready for a training conference for childrens workers, getting everything ready for VBS this summer and our regular ministry to mention a few of the things we have been busy with. Jason and Josh just headed out this morning to take our friends the Hunts to southern Ukraine and then do a Bible trip on the way back. I'll do my best to do a few post while they are gone and get you all caught up on what has been happening here. Thanks for your prayers as we headed into our busiest time of year for ministry. We are excited what this summer holds for us.

Direction!?!

2010-05-04T21:48:00.004+04:00

My life, especially since being Jason's wife, has truely been an adventure. An adventure with God and Jason. Sometimes I'll have to admit I'm struggling to keep up. But most of the time, it has been great fun. This past month was a true account of how exciting things can get around here. We have been saving up sky miles for several years with the plan to go on a anniversary trip together (without the kids). Well, we have dreamed for years of going to AK and this time it seemed like it was meant to be. We had enough miles to get free tickets and friends who invited us to stay with them and also we had to leave Ukraine to take care of the paper work with our visa. Everything seemed to be working out, but I should've know better. You see this isn't the first time we have tried to go to Alaska. Twelve years ago we were on the way when we had a terrible accident. Then 2 1/2 years ago we were making plans in that direction and Jessica had a accident and cut off her finger. Well once again our plans were rerouted when there was a volcano in Iceland. Yes, a volcano. The ash from the volcano shut down all the major airports in Europe and all fights to the USA were cancelled as well. So no trip to Alaska. But we still had to go somewhere because we had to leave the country. Jason said, "How about Georgia?" We have wanted to go to the country of Georgia, so I was game. We took the train from Kiev, down to the port city of Odessa. Then we took a boat across the Black Sea to Georgia. Maybe I shouldn't say boat. It was really a cargo ship, no fancy cruise ships for us. Yes, we did have a room. It was clean and small, very small. But this trip really turned out to be one of the best we have taken together. The kids stayed with our friend, Katrina. So we had time to talk, rest, pray together, plan, nap, read together, and think about the important things in life. It was a much needed time of rest, but also planning. Now before any of you start laughing about us taking a romatic cruise on a cargo ship, just wait. My husband is a very practicle man and it really was fun, and well, cheap. That made it romatic for Jason, cheap is good. On the ship we met some very nice Georgians that spoke English. They told us so much about their country and we had a great time talking with them. When we finally did get to Georgia (our 2 day trip turned into 5 days) our new found friends helps us along and made our trip wonderful. The people in Georgia are so friendly and kind. And when you hear the stories of their past and how it has been one war after another, you have to admire their courage. The last war was only 2years ago, when Russia invaded. One city we were in had been hit by bombs in this last war. You could see bullet holes in the buildings down town. Yet the common greeting on the street, in literal transalation, is "Go and Win." Isn't that great! What courage. It was wonderful to have met these brave people and visit their country.

The kiss says it all. It was a great trip!!!!!

Family pictures and 1st picnic of the year

2010-03-31T22:48:00.007+04:00

The other night we just needed to get away and go on a drive. I don't know if your family likes to drive in the country to relax, but we love it. Plus we have been needing some new family pictures. So we were off looking for the right place to get that perfect picture. Well, I wouldn't say they turned out perfect, but not too terrible for a moody Jessica and Josh who refused to smile. Any way we had fun trying. Jessica finally was at least trying to smile, but Josh, as you can see, we didn't get too many out of him.

After getting all worn out because of trying to get the kids to smile at the same time, we decided to have a picnic. I didn't have much time to pack for it, so it was pretty simple. But we had fun anyway, deep in the forest sitting around the campfire, roasting hotdogs.

This was our first picnic for this year. Josh thought is was pretty good. Look at all that hot dog relish!!! It was cool enough to enjoy a fire, but not too cold for this time of year.

Jessie loved watching the flames. There is something so relaxing about watching the fire. The best part was listening to Jason tell stories to the children as we watched the moon come up over the trees.

It was just a pretty good day! What could I say!

Samaritan's Purse

2010-03-31T17:25:00.002+04:00

Last Wednesday we had an oppurtinity to work with Samaritan's Purse, as they passed out Christmas shoe box gifts in two different public schools in our area. They asked us to put together a little program for the children. We taught them Christian songs...then did a skit about Jesus taking our place when He died on the cross. Then a local man that used to go to one of the school, shared his testimony. He had chosen the wrong way as a young kid in school, and got in with the bad group. After highschool he ended up in prison for a crime he commited but Jesus forgave him and gave him a new life in him.

At the end I did an object lesson about the real meaning of Easter and that the tomb is empty. Jason said that at the first school, one of the little girls on the first row was really listening and so suprised when I broke open the egg and it was empty. He didn't have his camera ready so he missed the great picture. Here are some kids at the next school as they listened.

Then gifts were given out to all the children. The shoe boxes were packed by kids in the States and I wish I could pass on the joy that I saw on all the faces that day. One little boy, I know is from a hard home, was so excited to show me the baseball that was in his box. It is probably the first baseball he has ever had.

Samaritan's Purse also gives out a Bible study with the gift. If the children want to earn a children's Bible, they have to complete 10 lessons. The next day in Kid's Club, that we have in Kenyazachee, several of the children brought back their Bible study completed and ready for the next one.
Here are some of the children at one of the schools that we were in that day.
The smile on the face says it all.

Children's Bibles of their own

2010-03-30T20:50:00.004+04:00

I have often been amazed at the power of God's Word. I guess I shouldn't be, but it truely is amazing how God's Word can change a life. We have been doing our best to get as much of God's Word into the lives and hearts of the children where we live. In Sunday school we teach them Bibles stories and Bible verses. I know some of the older ones read their Bibles daily. Luba who lives on our street showed me the last time I was at her house that she is almost finished with the New Testament. Two weeks ago Jason wanted to surpraise the children at Sunday school and gave them all a Children's Bible of their own. I think all of them have NT or Bibles but this one has pictures and stories in a format the children will apprecate. This little guy couldn't even wait until he got home to start reading his.

Here is the group that come pretty regular to our Sunday school. They all were thankful for the books, because good books with really nice pictures are not as common over here. Pray that these Bibles will help direct their lives. One girl told me that her mother as already reading hers.
Jason wanted to make it personal, so he wrote the kid's name and a little message in each one and then had it translated.

Dr.Seuss breakfast

2010-03-26T20:41:00.003+03:00

Whenever I make up the menu every week, I try to get input from the family, since they are the ones that have to eat what I cook. A few weeks ago, Josh wanted to know if I could cook him green eggs and ham for Sat. breakfast. I told him sure and then wrote it down. I think he was surprised when I actually cooked it for him. So Josh enjoyed his Dr. Seuss breakfast. (if you're wondering what that other thing on the plate is. it's toast.) I guess Dr. Seuss didn't know that eggs go good with toast, not just ham. Sam I am

Gift for Mama

2010-03-26T20:21:00.003+03:00

Luba is a girl from our village, who is from a home that is not very good. Her mother has many children(9 I think), all from different dads. Luba is the youngest, and doesn't get a lot of attention. One day she was just hanging out at our house and I was doing some sewing. I asked her is she wanted to learn. She jumped at the chance and I took the time to show her what to do. She did a fine job and we made a pretty hand bag out of a sugar sack. It looked real cute with the multi colored thread. (thanks Carrie)
As you can see from the smile on her face, she was happy for the attention and also glad to make a gift for her mother. Pray for Luba. She is faithful in church , Sunday school and youth night.

And so we sew!!!

2010-03-26T19:47:00.002+03:00

The weather had been pretty cold clear up until last week. When I say cold I mean, when you looked outside everything was white and we had about a foot of snow on the ground. Last week when I had to get up at 4am and go get my husband at the bus drop of, I got stuck in the bank of snow on the other side of our road. Don't get me wrong, I was very happy that my husband was coming home. He has been helping the missionaries in southern Ukraine, with all the work that needed to be done on their heating systems and vans. In the last two weeks, Jason had only been home about two days. So , yes I was very happy to see my man. But I was not happy to get stuck in the snow, and I wasn't coming right out, even in 4X4. I said a little prayer and God helped me get down the road and off to pick up my Jason. So with the cold weather and Jason being gone, Jessica and I have been doing some sewing. We actually had planned to sew aprons for all the ladies in the church for Christmas, but well, that didn't work out. We were busy sewing Christmas gifts and my sewing machine quit working and had to be taken in to the shop. Here in Ukraine, they don't have mother's day. They celebrate March 8th as Woman's Day, and give gifts to all women, young and old. It is a really big holiday. Jessica did a lot of the sewing and as you can see the grandmothers and ladies really did like them

These two grandmas are so sweet and we visit them in a house church quite a ways from our village.

Here are the ladies from our village and they were impressed that we would make them something for Woman's Day.

Youth Night= blogging time

2010-03-26T18:33:00.002+03:00

I just saw my husband's van pull in the driveway loaded with youth and I know that it is time to lock myself in the office and do my blogging. It has been very hard to find time to work on the computer. With homeschooling and ministery, and regular mom work, it seems like I am ready to fall into bed as soon as the house calms down for the night. We usually send the village kids and teens home at 5:30 so we can eat supper as a family. But on Friday night since Jason and Roman are in charge I have the time to slip away and blog to my heart's content. I do need to have the snacks ready but that's not a big deal. I pulled some cookie dough(homemade) out of the freezer
and Jessica baked them for me. I am praising God for time to relax and write, and read your blogs as well. So when do you find time to blog?

Sweetheart's Inn & Restaurant

2010-03-26T18:13:00.003+03:00

Yes, Valentine's day has been here and gone for a while, but I wanted to share a few pictures with you all any way. Febuary 14th fell on Sunday this year, and I knew that was not going to work for a special celebration. So I talked it over with the kids and we picked Fri night, for our suprise. Fri. night is our youth night, and Jason along with Pastor Roman, are in charge. So while they were having the youth service in the living room I was cooking in the kitchen and trying not to make too much noise. After the last prayer and Jason took everyone home, I kids and I kicked it into high gear. We had our guest bedroom cleaned and decorated with hearts and ballons, and then lite the many candles. When Jason returned we blindfolded him and led him to the guest bedroom and sat him down at the table set up in there. Then Jessica and Josh dressed in their best served us. It was lots of fun to plan and I think Jason was really surprised. These are our two wonderfull servers. They even got a tip from Jason.

It was really good that we did it early because the next day we went to help Katrina in southern Ukraine and were gone on Sunday.

Papa Sturtevant

2010-03-03T18:42:00.003+03:00

We are very happy to have Papa Sturtevant here in Ukraine with us for a few weeks. He has been staying with us in Oskiova but he is not just sitting around. He is a missionary no matter where he may be. Take a look at a few of the things he has been doing since he has been here. He shared an object lesson with the youth group, Fri. night.... Preached in several churches,.....

He had a gathering with some of his "sons" that he taught when he was teaching at the Bible college in Kiev. About 25 or 30 came.

He has been talking with and encouraging many.

Sharing God's love....

and enjoying a bowl of Ukrainian borscht. Dad we are glad that you came back to Ukraine. You have touched many lives here.

Keep up the good work.

Break down

2010-03-03T18:26:00.003+03:00

We had a break down in our van a few weeks ago. Praise the Lord, we were near a city, where some Christian brothers had a mechanic shop and were able to help us. Without a shop it is hard for Jason to do repairs in the winter. Praise the Lord, the parts were found quickly and we have our van back now. We are so happy to have it back, because Papa Sturtevant is here visiting us in Ukraine.

hearing and telling

2010-03-03T18:14:00.003+03:00

As missionaries we do our very best to share God's love and tell the Good News of His love. What I have found almost even more exciting than sharing this wonderful story with others, is finding out that someone you have told is now telling others. Luba, a pre-teen girl on our street, told me that every Mon. morning one of her classmates from a different village will bug her until she will re-tell the stories she heard in Sunday school. It was great to know that the message of God's love is not stopping here in our village, but going out. Luba rarely misses Sunday school, so when she wasn't here this last week I knew she was sick. I went to see her in her home Mon. night. She showed me she has been reading the New Testament and is almost finished. Luba told Jessica," If I were sick for a few more days, I would have finished it." Seeds are being planted. Pray they will take root.

back to blogging

2010-03-03T17:48:00.002+03:00

S0me of you may wonder why you haven't heard from us. Well, between business from having guest, tiredness, and not a lot of positive things to say, I just haven't written much lately. What I have written is too dark to share with all the world. Yes, missionaries do have tough times too. If you get our e-mail up dates you have already read what is going on. Nothing big, just a load of little things. Don't really want to rehash it right now. Let's just say something must be going to happen, because the devil is fighting. At this point I am tired to depressing things. So I have thought up a few nice things to tell you about. My mother used to say,"If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all." Maybe that explains my silence.

Nova Odess youth

2010-02-06T16:28:00.002+03:00

The first week in Jan, Katrina and some of her youth from Nova Odessa, came to visit us. They were with us for four days. As you can tell the teens just love Katrina. We are so happy that she is able to be "their missionary" in Nova Odessa. She lives in the little house we use to live in. Jason bought a foosball table for the village kids. We have it out on our veranda, so you can see laundry drying in the background. Here the village children and some of the teens are enjoying the new game. We are happy to give them a safe place to hang out and have fun.

The teens really seemed to enjoy the snow!!! We had enough for them to go sledding and Jason pulled them around the village, plowing the roads as they went.

In the end some of them looked like walking snowmen.

Even Jessica joined in the fun. Can you tell that is Jessica? She came prepared. We are still enjoying a lot of snow, but now we have a nice thick layer of ice under the snow. That can get pretty tricky when it comes to driving on it. I stick with my safe taxi driver named Jason. He gives good rates and gets you there safely.

Here is the whole group headed back home on the train. Pray for each one of these teens.

2010-02-02T18:53:00.000+03:00

Cold and Snow!!!

2010-02-01T22:33:00.002+03:00

Some of you have been asking if it is cold here and if we are getting any snow. Well, here is your answer.... Does it look cold to you? Yes, we are in our Ukrainian winter and loving it (for the most part). We do love snow even if it does slow things down a bit. Here is my honey and I, as we are shoveling the driveway. Great exercise!!!

We are so thankful for the patio with all this snow. It has really cut down on the dirt that is tracted in on the boots of our guest & friends.

Christmas program- Osikoiva

2010-02-01T22:12:00.003+03:00

On the 10th of Jan we had our Christmas program here in our village of Osikovia. That is the Sunday after Ukrainian Christmas , which falls on Jan 7th. Here is a little guy that is new to our Sunday school. He is pretty proud of his little angel that we made. Our program went well, with more parents attending than last year. The teens did a really nice skit about the true meaning of Christmas. Jessica even learned her lines in Ukrainian. There were several special songs.

Our little church (called house of prayer) was packed with guest for the program.

At the end of the program the children and teens sang Happy Birthday to Jesus!!!

Sunday School Christmas Party

2010-02-01T21:43:00.002+03:00

Here is our little group of children from our village that come to our Sunday school. Some of them are from very hard homes, while a few have Christian parents. They really did enjoy the Christmas party we gave them. We were planning on more coming over from our Kid's Club in Kanyazachee, but the snow was too deep and the weather too bad. We had games, snacks and then gifts. When we were taking them all to their homes we gave jams and plates of cookies to their parents and sang carols to them. It was a great night. Natsha was helping to make the Christmas cookies. She can be a big help and also a big handful.

These are a few of the different kind of cookies we made to give away. Gingersnaps with white chocolate and sprinkles

Ritz crackers dipped in chocolate

Are you hungery yet?

New Years

2010-02-01T21:01:00.002+03:00

I guess we are homebodies, because I really don't remember a time that we ever went to a New Years party. We usually "celebrate" by sleeping in the New Year. This year was different. Roman and Nodiea, our pastor and wife, invited us to a New Years party. Even though we are not big party people, we didn't have a good enough excuse. We didn't figure the need of sleep was a good excuse. So we dressed up and went to the party, at least we thought we were going to a party. I guess something was lost in translation. When we arrived they were having church, and praising God for His help this past year, singing and giving testimonies. Don't get me wrong, I am not against church and praising God, just not exactly what we expected. We did get one thing clear though, there was going to be food. So after praying in the New Year, all the guest headed to the basement for what we understood was snack time. Right and wrong, Yes they did have food, but not snacks, a whole Ukrainian feast. We thought the service or party or what ever it was would end after the fireworks at midnight, Wrong again. They were just getting warmed up. After the huge feast, mashed potatoes, three kinds of meat, endless salads and different kinds of pickles, then sweets, they sat around and talked and the kids started playing games. When we stood up to leave a 3am they asked us why we were going home so early. We were really feeling the need of sleep by this time.
and the next morning we woke up to this......... Yes, the village children came to bless our house and threw wheat at us, in every room and on everything they could, chatting little rhymes all the while. I hurried to find candy, and Jason had fun throwing the candy back at them. Then they stole our kids and headed down the road to "bless" more homes. Our kids had a great time. You should have seen the load of candy and money that Josh came back with. Needless to say, we headed back to bed. So how was your New Year?

family Christmas

2010-02-01T20:19:00.004+03:00

Yes, we did have a family Christmas, here in Ukraine, with our little family. No not a family Christmas as in all the extended family and everyone getting together, but that was fine. We have each other and we are thankful for that. It was a happy Christmas even though we were far from home. Sometimes we call Dec. 25th American Christmas, because they don't celebrate Christmas here in Ukraine at that time. Jessica and Josh were very happy with all there presents but also the making of memories. We have special little traditions that we keep as a family every year. The kids really look forward everything that comes with making Christmas special, and remembering Jesus' birthday.

Josh adding the final touch to our Christmas tree. He made the star (snowflake) himself. He loved helping make the decoration for the tree. It was a Christmas full of fun memories. Cutting our tree in the forest, stringing the popcorn, making snowflakes, making gifts for each other, reading our favorite Christmas stories, the joy on little faces, and remembering the Best Gift of all.

Playing catch up again

2010-02-01T20:07:00.003+03:00

Where Oh Where has the time gone. Has it really been that long since I last posted anything on my blog? Well, needless to say I am playing catch up again. I will do my best to let all of my fathful readers ( hey, thanks for being one of the few that are still with me) What has been happening, Who we have been with, What we are doing, and maybe if we get lucky Where we are going. What do you say? Let's get this started! ( the picture is of the icecream cakes Jason got for my birthday, last month. everything was going on last month and he still didn't forget my birthday. Good job , honey)

Donna and Wesley's visit

2009-12-25T21:50:00.003+03:00

This is old news but I still wanted to share it with you all. The weekend of Thanksgiving, my dear friend from college, Donna Downing Buck and her husband, Wesley came and visited us. They are missionaries in Moldova, with children, and it was so exciting to have them as guest. Sometimes you have guest that just fit in so well that they hardly feel like guest. Well, that's the way it was with Donna and Wesley. I attended God's Bible School with Donna and we have many good memories together. Thanks you guys for coming. God knew when to send you our way, and you were a great encouragement to us. The whole family had fun playing games together.

I was impressed by their willingness to get on the floor and play games with the village children.

Of course the kids ate up the attention they were getting.

This was the first Sunday school without our regular translator. Donna and Wesley just jumped right in and helped act out the story and then pitched in and helped with the crafts as well. Such a blessing to have other missionaries that see what needs to be done and they jump right in and do it.

They told us at GBS that "the sun never sets on the students of God's Bible School". I can say, for this missionary on the other side of the world it was sure nice to spend time with not only a fellow GBSer but also devoted missionaries that are passionate about loving people and taking the Gospel where ever God leads.
Thanks for being the hands and feet of Christ.

Ministry Trip to Western Ukraine

2009-12-25T21:08:00.006+03:00

Bible trips have always been Jason's passion. Visiting new areas, taking God's Word to needy people and 4x4ing as far off the beaten path as possible, is what Jason loves to do. The second week in Dec. Jason and Josh we able to once again to do just that. This time they were headed to the Carpathian mountains in western Ukraine. They took almost 100 knitted hats and gloves, warm clothes to give away, and Bibles and children's Bibles. After driving all day to get out to the western side of Ukraine, they had to sleep first and then headed out the next day. First they stopped to pick up Stepon, who loves going on Bible trips as much as Jason does, and then headed to the mountains. They prayed for God to guide them to people who are ready and wanting to hear the Gospel message, and to read God's Word. God answered they prayers. Allow me to show you some of the people they were able to meet in the mountain villages.

One of the first stops they made was at a village school. Around 40 children come to this school. The director asked Jason and Stepon to come in and speak to the children. They was able to tell the about God and they gave out children's Bibles and winter hats. Josh and Jason is in the picture with the school children. The director asked them to come back and did a summer program in this school. Josh liked helping to pass out Christian books and Bibles to the school children.

They drove to villages that were so far back in the mountains that felt like you were walking into a working museum. Some of the villagers said that they had to walk about 10 miles to get to a road that had a regular bus that could take them to a market or town.Many people living a simple life, but hungry to know about God. Most said that a priest might come to their village once or twice a year.

Everyone was so nice and this older couple asked them to stay and eat with them. They went and found eggs in the barn and then cooked them up for Jason, Stepon and Josh.

Most of the people in the area used oxen cart instead of cars. They used their milk cows to pull their carts. Some of them even had wooden wheels. Jason and Stepon would work along side of the villagers and talk to them about their life. And then they would ask questions about why an American would come so far back in the mountains, and that would open the door for them to share about Christ. In the end they would usually want a Bible, and another seed would be planted in an open heart.
Pray for all those who heard and that received a Bible. God's Word is powerful!

Stepon is giving some children's literature to some ladies to take to their children and grandchildren. They were very thankful and happy for the used, warm winter clothes. Jason said that not one of them turned up their noses about looking through second-hand clothes.

Josh was excited to go on this Bible trip with his Dad. He is our "little missionary" in training. While Stepon or Jason would be talking with someone about the Lord, Josh would be helping the old grandmas or grandpas with whatever needed to be done. He carried wood, long logs, and rode on an oxen cart.

Everyone was thankful and wanted to give Jason something in return. Many of them gave apples. Here is the winter supply in the barn.( Notice the neat basket)

Many of the grandmas (babushkas) adopted Josh and told Jason, not to come back without bringing Josh along.
God gave defiant help and many were open to the Gospel. Three villages have asked for us to come back in the summer and either hold services or a VBS for the children. Pray that we can return.

Jason and Josh headed home after a good Bible trip. Thank the Lord that they made it all the way home. The van broke down the day after the returned. . Thank God for giving safety on the road. And thank you for praying.

Country song or Christmas in Ukraine?

2009-12-25T20:34:00.002+03:00

Some of my readers may be wondering what is up with this crazy missionary!?!. Here it is Christmas and my last post was sharing Thanksgiving pictures. I have been trying to get caught up with all that has been happening here in the month of Dec. and it feels like I am just gettin snowed under and can't get out. It seems like since Jason returned home from his ministry trip to western Ukraine(ok, ok I'll post about it as soon as I can), everything has been going wrong. It almost sounds like a country song, see what you think. Our van broke down, and the pastor's is also down (that's the one we use to run for parts), the snow we have been waiting for finally came, all at once (all 12 inches of it), the temps dropped which made it hard for Jason(who is still sick) to fix the van, and without a van we couldn't go Christmas shopping, and without shopping there wasn't any gifts under the tree, actually there wasn't even a tree until last week, and without a tree, or gifts how could it really be Christmas? Now does that sound like a country song? No it's not, just life in Ukraine. We finally did go to the forest and cut a tree and Jason did get the van running (after working on it all week), and yes, we did get to go shopping and had gifts to open for Christmas. But when we look back over the last few weeks we have learned a few things. Because we didn't have wheels and "had" to stay home, we were able to have more family time. The ministry keeps us so busy that we actually enjoyed having "just" the family and playing games and having fun. Christmas is not just gifts, and lights, and packages under the tree, it is being with the ones you love. Another thing we learned is that homemade gifts are the best. The kids trying so hard to keep secrets, busy hours spent behind closed doors, the joy in the eyes when one is given a gift that was made just for them. If you ask me, giving is the best part of Christmas. Really isn't that what it's all about, God giving us His precious Son to be our Saviour? So how was your Christmas?

Pictures of Thanksgiving (finally)

2009-12-15T22:49:00.003+03:00

Here are those pictures from Thanksgiving that I promised a few post back.
Yes we had a nice thanks giving and even did some sightseeing with friends while in Kiev. My friend from college, Donna and here husband Wesley, were with us over the weekend. They took this picture.

No we didn't have ham but we did have roasted chicken and ham and all the works. It was good!!!!

This is the group we had for Thanksgiving day. L to R Artyom, Maxim (his twin brother who just repented),Joshua, Jason, Jessica, Katrina, and I'm taking the picture.

How was your thanksgiving?? I know these pictures are very late in coming. Sorry

Honor Roll field trip!!!!

2009-12-15T22:11:00.003+03:00

The week of thanksgiving we did so many things that I am still catching up on it all. Looking through my photos I realized, yea, we went iceskating that week too. Our kids did a good job in the first quarter of the year and had finished enough work to make the Honor Roll, so we told them that we would do something fun with them. Jessica has been wanting to go iceskating for a long time. We finally found the right place in Kiev. It was extra fun, because Katrina, Artyom, and Maxim went with us,as well. There is a very nice iceskating rink on the second floor of a great big mall in Kiev. We had fun walking around the mall. But the best thing was the really cool world map. It was huge and 3D. Our kids had a fun time pointing out places they remember visiting. Our school trip was a little late, but worth the wait.

Thankful for a great Thanksgiving!!!!

2009-12-09T21:29:00.000+03:00

We did have a great thanksgiving and I wanted to share some pictures with all of you. But my internet is not working at it's best right now. And my man, who can fix anything he lays his hands on (we tell him that anyway) is on the other side of the country. So the pictures will have to wait. But I didn't want to wait to thank God for a nice thanksgiving. Katrina was here with us for a few days, and we all enjoyed her being here. She is really a fun person to be around and our kids love her. Any of you that a have never met her are missing out. She is our fellow missionary who now lives in our old house in Nova Odessa, in southern Ukraine. We had a nice American style Thanksgiving dinner (well sorta) on Thur and two Ukrainian teenager boys joined us. Artyom has been living with us as our translator. His twin brother Maxim just repented and had been helping Jason with the remodeling of our bathroom. This was their first time to celebrate Thanksgiving with Americans. We couldn't find a turkey (I did find half a turkey though) so we roasted a chicken and ham,and had corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, dressing, and Jason even bought me cellery(it's very hard to find & expensive). It was all very good, if I must say so myself. The peacan pie was walnut pie, but that didn't hurt anything. Everyone still liked it. On Friday afternoon, my friend from college, Donna Downing Buck, and her husband, Wesley, came over to visit us from Modavia where they are missionaries. I was so happy that it all worked out for them to come. We had a great time together. Friday afternoon we did some site-seeing in Kiev and then on the evening train, Katrina, Maxim, and Artyom went back to Nova Odessa. We will miss Artyom sorely so it was a day of crazy emotions(please pray for him). Donna and Wesley fit in just fine at our house, because both of them are into children's ministry and we usually have plenty of kids hanging around our house. I was so impressed that they got right down on the floor with the kids and played games and did their best to communicate with them. It was great to see. That's my kind of missionary. On Sat. morning we took them to a village bizzar (market) and let them see a little more of the village life after seeing the Big City of Kiev on Friday. It was fun and Donna found the handmade basket that she wanted. Sunday they both helped with Sunday school, which was a blessing because we had an untrained and new translator. In the afternoon service one of the girls from Sunday school praised the Lord that everything went fine even without our normal translator. I was saying Aman to that. In the evening Jessica enjoyed a long piano lession from Donna, who is very talented,along with her husband, in music. My kids enjoyed the holiday, food and fun with company. But on Monday night Jessica said, " I'm glad that it's just our family now". And so ended our Thanksgiving week. Thankful for Friends, Food and just Family again.

Honored to be her mom

2009-11-25T00:35:00.003+03:00

I know this post is bragging, but please allow me to explain why I am so glad that God gave me Jessica as my daughter. And why I feel honored to be her mother. Jessica has been a great kid from day one. Seriously, I thought something was wrong with her when she didn't wake me up at night to be fed. But she was just one of those baby's that sleep through the night from the first week on. At a very young age, she showed an interest in spiritual things, and of course we did our best to encourage her to " love Jesus with all her heart." She has been more that just a missionary kid ( MK) being dragged along from ministry to ministry. She wanted to go on ministry trips and wanted to help others and wanted kids to know about God. She has been involved in, not only the work of the ministry but also praying for those we minister to. It is amazing sometimes the questions she comes up with in the Bible study on Tues. nights. One time she told me, "Mom, I want to really know how to pray. Not just say words, but really, really pray." I guess it was just last week, that I really had that feeling of being honored to be her mother. Our translator, Artyom, that lives with us, has been praying for his family to know Christ. Well, just last week, his twin brother, Maxim, called and asked Artyom to pray with him over the phone. Maxim repented, and there was not only joy in heaven, but also here in our home. We were praising the Lord for the "lost coming into the fold", when I saw that Jessica was crying. I went over to her and gave her a hug and then I realized that she was not crying for joy. I sensed that something was wrong. I tried to get her to talk. She was happy that Maxim had repented and was a Chrisian now. But what she said hit me hard. She said, " Artyom has been a Christian only a few months and he has already led someone to the Lord. I have been a Christian for a long time,(she was 7yrs old when she became a Christian) but I haven't led any one to Jesus yet." Then I understood. Yes, she was happy for Artyom and his brother, but she so badly wanted to lead someone to Christ. Her passion for Christ and for leading others to Him, humbled me. I thought "How worried am I about leading people to Jesus" Maybe we all should ask ourselves, when was the last time we cried because we hadn't led more souls to Jesus. Something to think about.

So much to be Thankful for!!!!

2009-11-25T00:07:00.003+03:00

Thanksgiving is almost here and I wanted to sit down and list a "few" things that I have to be thankful for. God is so good and I want to give Him thanks.

I am THANKFUL .......

1. We are privileged to serve God as missionaries to Ukraine
2. I have a wonderful husband, Jason, and that he still puts up with me and my craziness
3. Josh is reading!!!!! ( he was just reading what I was typing)
4. Jessica has a heart to follow God, and wants to be the best Christian that she can be
5.We have heat in our home( I hate to be cold!!!!)
6. The parents in our village are starting to trust us-- a little
7. We have enough food to share with all our visitors (sometimes up to 10 people at a meal)
8. Our old van is still running and God has helped Jason is find parts or helped him make parts when needed
9. We have Internet and can stay connected with friends and family back home
10. We have so many people praying for us and they even let us know that they are
11. Jason and I both have godly parents that raised us to follow God where ever He leads
12. I have wonderful friends here in Ukraine, that I can work along side of as we minister
13.We all have warm clothes and are ready for the coming snow
14. Our translator's brother repented last week. We are so excited!!!!!
15. Jason is almost done remolding our bathroom. I am looking forward to my first bath in over a year (well if you don't count the sea and river baths this summer)
16.I have friends that not only pray for me, but also with me when I am really down and need God's help
17. My husband has a passion to spread God's Word to those that have never heard
18. My health is better and I can feel that God is helping me
19. We live in a village where my children have friends that live on our street
20.That Jesus died on the cross for my sin, and I can know the joy of forgiveness

What do you have to be thankful for?

Friday Night- Youth Night

2009-11-15T20:38:00.003+03:00

Since his graduation from high school, in June, Artyom has been living with us and helping with our ministry. He works as a translator, and does great with the children. This summer he received a lot of help spiritually at youth camp. When we were missionaries in Nova Odessa, he used to be a kid who came to our Kid's Club. The Drummonds have been working with him and after graduation we invited him to come and work with us. Since our children's ministry has slowed down a bit in the winter months, Artyom really wanted to do something with the teenagers here in Osikova. He felt like God was putting it on his heart to start a youth group. God has really blessed his efforts and we have between 10 -12 teenagers in our living room every Friday night. Of course I fix them some kind of snacks and they have a time of singing and and playing games. But the main part of the meeting is the devotional. Sometimes Artyom takes two days in preparation, and planning. He has grown and learned a lot himself with he was preparing his youth night materials. Please keep praying for Artyom as he does his best to lead the youth. Also pray that God will give him the right ideas and that he won't be discouraged. Right now he is on the phone explaining to his family, who are not believers, what he learned in Bible study last night. I know God has plans for this young man. Just pray that we will give him the support that he needs as he grown in Christ.

Big Help from the Mission Helps Team!!!!

2009-11-15T19:34:00.004+03:00

Pastor Roman has worked very hard on the church in Kanyazachee. It used to be a log church. But then 9 years ago it was hit by lighting and burned to the ground. Roman and his dear wife Nodiea started all over again and and with the help of family and other Christians, they have built this beautiful church. Once again God's people have stepped up and given much needed help.

I go over to Kanyazachee every Thur. evening and help lead a weekly Kid's Club. Well, we have been in need of Sunday school room and somewhere to work with the kids. We have between 10- 18 kids, in this village,. When the weather is nice, we can do games and crafts outside. But now that we are in the winter months it is getting dark at 4;30pm. and much too cold to do activities outside. God blessed in a special way and the money came in so we could finish the basement for a fellowship hall and Sunday school room, and a place to children's ministry. Jason loves to work with his hands, and Roman also helps where he can. But a Mission Helps team said that they would love to come and help. And we were thrilled, and so was Roman. The six men, were fast and hard workers and such a blessing. They were able to get done in two weeks, what might have taken Roman and Jason a whole year to do. Thank you guys for coming!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for coming and working so hard.L.to R. Jonathan Lucas, Jeffery Albertson, Jon MacVey, Jarrod Davis, Dave Holderbaum, and Dave Weaver.

They did stuccoing, hanging drywall, electrical, pouring cement, laying tile and more.

Josh even helped one day. I hope he learned a lot by watching,and helping.

Jeffery is helping Jon work on the walls. Jon MacVey came even though he had just hurt his ankle and leg. He did a good job and the leg didn't slow him down too much. Thank the Lord!

This is what the basement looked like before they started. It was pretty much a mess and only usable as a storage place. The men in the church are encouraged with all the help from the team. And are working hard along side Roman to finish it. The rooms should be ready for ministry soon. Nodiea, Roman's wife, was thanking the Lord today in church for all that had been done. It will be a blessing to her as well, because all the cooking for the church dinners has to be done in her small kitchen. She was just glowing with excitement as she thanked the Lord for the team coming and the church men that have picked up where they left off. Jason was the one who coordinated everything and ran for supplies, and did all the buying. A lot was done in a short time. When we get finished pictures we will post those as well. They are painting and putting up lights and such. Please for the church as the work goes forward.

Trip to the zoo

2009-11-15T19:14:00.002+03:00

Over the summer, even though we were gone doing ministry all over Ukraine, we made it a point to be back to Osikova on Sundays to do Sunday school. It was not always easy, but we felt it was worth it to stay connected with the kids and teens here at home. We were learning about the Ten Commandments which takes at least ten weeks. And we gave the kids a challenge to memorize all ten and we would take them to the Zoo. Here is the group of kids and teens that memorized all of the Ten Commandments. It was a cool fall day, but a very fun day. Afterwards we had a picnic in the park. I think the kids thought it was worth it. Kiev has a pretty good zoo if you are ever in the area.

Quick trip

2009-11-11T23:52:00.002+03:00

We had to leave the country in Sept. to keep our passports legal. So we had a crazy, fun family trip. We visited three countries and traveled by train, car, bus and taxi van. It was an adventure. We were able to get to Austria, Slovakia, and Czech and back home in 6 days. I love this picture that Jess took of Jason and I. We were row boating on a little lake and found this island. That night we were able to stay in a little tiny cabin by this lake. It was fun to feed the ducks and read stories to the kids. Here is our globe trotting family. We had to wait for the bus. So we found a little street cafe, and ordered appetiser and some pop. Then I read a book to the kids. So many memories and so thankful that we could do it as a family.

Harvest Sunday

2009-11-11T23:29:00.002+03:00

Here in Ukraine, they celebrate thanksgiving in a different way. Each church has what they call Harvest Sunday and they thank God for the good harvest. It is not just a pretty thing to do. It is serious, when most of these people really do get most of what they eat from their gardens. Jason was one of the four men who preached that Sunday. We celebrated this special day with Roman's church in Kanyazachee. Jason's sermon was so good. The best I have ever heard him speak. God really helped. I don't know why he says that he can't preach. The children had memorized poems and songs for the day.

The fruit and vegetables were grown in the gardens of the local church people. It was a beautiful display, and a great day to give thanks to God.

Taking time for Fall with a busy schedual

2009-11-11T22:21:00.002+03:00

Yes, I am fine(if anyone was wondering). I'm sorry to have neglected my blogging friends for so long. Jason and Jessica were gone for almost 3 weeks at the end of Sept and first of Oct. So I was left without a computer. I kept very busy and was ready for them to come back. Just was soon as they returned Jason was busy getting things ready for the Missions Helps building team. The team was here for two weeks and they left last Friday. So that's the brief run down on where I have been and why I haven't been blogging faithfully ( ok, ok no laughing). I just wanted to share a few great pictures that my daughter, Jessica, took while we were on a walk in the forest. Even though we have been soooooooo busy, there are times that I think I will go crazy if I don't get out of the house and take a walk. We had a great time just walking and listening to the leaves crunch under our foot steps. I'll post the other pictures later about our busy month, but for now, just enjoy the fall beauty. Breath in the crisp fall air, and try not to think about the laundry that needs to be folded back home. Jessica got a camera for her birthday. She used it a lot this summer taking pictures of our ministry. It was fun to watch her taking pictures just for the fun of it. Let me know what you think, but I think the girl has an eye for beauty.

It was raining lightly when we left the house to go walking. But I really needed to get out of the house, so I just brought the umbrella along. Jessica took this picture of me when we were deep in the forest. We started singing and it was great singing in harmony, in two different languages. What fun to hear music go echoing through the woods.

Hope you are enjoying fall where ever you are!!!

Last VBS !!! mountain camp-western Ukraine

2009-09-24T23:30:00.006+04:00

I can't believe that I am posting this picture, but I guess I am. I must be slipping. Jason and I have this joke between us about how many pictures he takes of just roads. Well, they usually are pretty cool roads, as in rocky, bumpy, or ones with rivers runny through them. I have joked that he has enough pictures of roads that he could fill a full book of them( I really don't think that is stretching it too far). But back to the reason that I decided to put this picture on my blog, we did spend a lot of time on the road this summer. Thank God that not all of them looked like this one, but some of them did. After working with the Gypsies we went to another mountain range far back in the Carpathian mountains of western Ukraine. We were near the Romanian boarder. Any way, we were glad that it had not rained in a while because we would have had to hike up this road in the mud. Even our 4 wheel drive could get to the top if it was wet. We were headed to our final VBS of the summer. Just a little tired but glad that we, with God's help, had made it this far. Once again we camped out on the mountain top and enjoyed the cows coming through our camp every morning, noon, and night headed to the watering hole. The Appling girls didn't know what to think of the cows.

We had the joy of cooking over a campfire three times a day, and washing our clothes in the river, and finding a bush if nature called. It wasn't all that bad. Josh actually liked bathing in the river. But physically we were slowing down. Thank you for praying for us. God really did help us in this camp.

Here is the camp medic, or doctor. Bandaging burns and fixing everyone up. Josh got a pretty bad burn and Dr. Jason is making it all better. What do you know, he even has his duck tape out again. Good job Daddy!!!

The children that came to the mountain VBS for the most part were shy and backward. Some of them couldn't read, while others were very quick. Only one family were believers and they wanted to reach out to their neighbors and their children. Several children came who did not go to church or have other ways to hear about God. We set up our VBS in the orchard and invited the children in. Once again, we shared how God loved us and He created all things. The animals were created in a special way and we were made special too.

Here we are singing and teaching the children songs. Our theme song all summer long was " God has a plan for my life". Artyom and Vita did a very good job leading the children in the singing.

At night we had some fellowship with the teenagers, and one night we even showed the "Jesus" movie in Russian. On the last day that we were there we had a picnic for the children and their parents. We played some games......(look at those mountains in the distance)

... ate some good food...

...and Jason gave out Bibles to the children who came. Pray that God's Word will go into all these homes and will bear much fruit.

It was a hard "good bye" for Jessica and all her new-found friends. She made some good friends that she will remember for a long time.

They begged us to come back. Some of them even had tears in their eyes. We left very tired after a long summer, and headed back home to Osikova, 14 hours away. God gave us help and strength and we want to say thank you to everyone who prayed for us. I will have to say, every VBS, hour of work, and mile we traveled will be worth it if even one child makes it to heaven because we came.

All the children are showing you the craft that they made. Good bye western Ukraine and so ended our summer ministry.

Thank you

2009-09-24T23:02:00.002+04:00

Here is one more picture that I forgot to add to my last post. It is the team we worked with them most this summer and our host, Vita's parents, and their daughter. We are in front of their lovely home. We camped out just up the mountain from their home. Vita's mother was a wonderful cook and did a great job feeding all of us. Thank you for all you did to make our stay comfortable. from L to R last row; Artyom, Vita and Stepon (our translators) Vita's father and mother,Vasya and Maria.

front row; Jeff and Stephannie, Seth, Shelby and Gracie Appling, Masha (Vita's little sister), Jessica, Joshua, Joanna (that's me) and Jason (that's my man)

Gypsy VBS western Ukraine

2009-09-24T21:40:00.004+04:00

I know I am doing the unpardonable sin by putting a sunset picture at the beginning of my post. But will you please forgive me. By this time in our summer ministry, we were all so tired that we didn't know if we were going or coming, if it was a sunset or a sunrise. Any way it was beautiful. I loved the mountains in western Ukraine. We miss our mountains in Colorado so it was great camping out under the stars and listening to the crickets . Don't get me wrong it wasn't a vacation, just a beautiful location to serve. We camped on top of the mountain and went to bed watching sunsets like the one above. We were staying on Vita's parents farm.

It was so nice to get some good Ukrainian food. Vita's mother even cooked us some food from the Carpathian mountains. I loved her cook shack. It was so quaint. There was a big, wood burning cook stove in the corner and then cabinets and a little work table. Why would you want to heat up you house in the summer time with cooking, when you have a great place like this. You should have seen the tomatoes growing right outside the door.

When I say that this trip was no vacation, I'm not kidding. Working with the gypsy kids was WORK!!! I have never done children's ministry with kids like these gypsy kids. You can't help but love them, but man are they Wild! Most of them have never been to school so they can't read. Not only that, they can't sit still, or be quite. You just have to talk over them, and them reward the one that was the best behaved.

We tried to play games with them but that didn't keep their interest very long.

We did feed them every day after telling them a Bible story, and singing with them. We tried to make crafts with them and some of them kept eating the craft supplies.

Our time was split between being with the children and cooking for them.

Of course when you are serving food all the moms come too. Artyom was helping serve the gypsies here. I was so proud of him and the way he loved the kids. He is a very, VERY clean person, and gypsies are... well not. At least the ones we were with. The paster required the children to wash their faces before they could come to VBS. One little guy had no pants but he got his butt cleaned as well as his face. But Artyom would hug those little kids even if they smelled bad and had lice. I prayed the we would see the little people that needed to see God's love not just the dirt.

They all just found a place in the shade and chowed down.

After they were done eating , what do you know, they had a new hat. Who said that one person's trash is another's treasure? Any way they could be pretty funny.

One thing for sure, they really loved the watermelon. I think one little guy even used it for hair gel. Hey why not? They make fruit smelling hair spry, don't they? The kids had not been taught a lot of manners, and we had a hard time getting them to say "please" or "thank you" for anything. But when I had a big bowl of watermelon and I would only give a piece to the ones who would say "please", they learn real quick.

Even though we were all worn down by this time and it was the hardest VBS of the summer it was so worth it when you saw the smiles on their faces, the twinkle in the eyes and....

... the group that came forward to pray. We showed them how to pray and ask God to forgive their sins. Then we knelt down and prayed together. It was one of the hardest things we did this summer, but Oh, so rewarding. If you can't tell, I kinda like being a missionary and teaching kids about God.

Youth Camp O9

2009-09-20T22:38:00.006+04:00

I am finally getting back to blogging and letting you all see what we did this summer. I promised you that I would share some pictures about Youth Camp so here they are, in three parts. Our youth camp here in Ukraine was by the Black Sea this year. It was a wonderful time and we had a great camp with the Lord's help. We all missed Katrina very much, as she was supposed to lead camp this year, but had to be in the States getting a broken leg fixed. Here is the whole group by the sea, with the team flags. Slavic came to camp for the first time this year. He is from our village and from the looks of it he is enjoying camp so far.

We set up our tent in the trees along the beach and set up camp. We all slept in tents, bathed in the sea, ate food cooked over the fire and used the bathroom in outhouses. The weather was nice, no rain. It was cool in the mornings and evening and pretty warm during the day, but not unbearably hot. We thank the Lord for a great location. Here you can see our church set up. Workers tents are on the one side and behind the cross was the boy's tents. Looking the other way was the kitchen, more worker's tents and then the girl's tents.

Here we are all unloading and getting ready for the week.

We had 25 campers this year and we split them up into two teams. Our team leaders for this first team, Light of God, was Jeff and Tonya Duddek. Their helper and translator was Vita. They were a great team. Their team learned the most Bible verses. Thanks Jeff and Tonya for all your work!!!

The next team was the Seraphims. Jeff and Stephannie Appling were their leaders and Stepon as helper and translator. They did a wonderful job leading their team. The teens really learned to work together and won with the best time in the morning obstacle course several times. Good job Applings!!!

Nodiea and Roman led the singing for us in the services. The teens really liked to sing and Roman did a good job leading them.

Not only were the Applings and Duddeks leaders they acted out skits every night before the evening preaching.
It was a great way to get some spiritual truths through to the teenagers. The teens caught on to the idea and they even came up with some great skits of there own. Here is one that they shared in the night service about sharing God's love with the needy. It was a great idea.

Every day we gave the teenagers time for them to have personal time with God, reading their Bibles and praying. I am so glad that we did this. One boy told me that he couldn't wait until this time every day. He would run to his own quite place on the beach so not to waste even one minute of his alone time. How many of us are that serious about our prayer time?

We had a ticket system at camp where the teens could earn tickets for memorizing verses, taking part in the evening services, and extra work. Then they turned them in at the "store" for snack food. Some of the teens really got into earning tickets. Faith ran our store for us. Thanks Faith!!!

We had so much fun this year. Our theme was "On the trail with Jesus". Every day we learned something new about staying on the path to Heaven. Many of the teens said that it was the best youth camp yet. Thanks to all who prayed and gave.

Youth Camp #2

2009-09-20T22:13:00.004+04:00

Every morning our two teams lined up a 7:45 to do the Obstacle Course. Here Jeff A. and Stephannie are trying to get their team awake and ready to win with the best time on the obstacle course. The team with the best time received tickets for each member. But one day the team with the best attitude also received tickets. Also in the night service the camper, for each team, with the best attitude received 10 tickets! Here we have started off and swinging across on the rope swing. Then on to the .....

team skies. Artyom had such long legs and took big steps that his team kept falling down. There were other things they had to do like fill a bucket with water from the sea by passing a pop bottle down the line of people, and walking across a board, Oh and crawling through a tunnel.

One day they had to climb the rope to the top.

I think the best part of the obstacle course was lining up the words for John 3:16 (in Ukrainian) on a board and then carrying until you crossed the line. If they hurried too much and dumped it they had to start all over again.

It was a great way to start the day and it really helped with team spirit. I think it really brought the teens together and taught them how to work together. Not a bad thing for anybody to learn.

Youth camp #3

2009-09-20T21:03:00.006+04:00

At youth camp this year there are a few things that stand out in my mind. You could call them the "highlights of the week" or "my favorite memories". But without a doubt the Wed. night service was a highlight for me and many others. God came in such a special way in the skit and then Vita gave her testimony. There was a special prayer time after the service and 16 teens came forward to repent. One young man came to pray later in the night, so that makes 17 young people getting help at camp. God was so close that night!!! It made it worth all the planning and work just for that one night. These pictures are pretty dark because it was evening. Here is another picture of that wonderful night. Thank you for everyone who prayed for this camp and the teens.

Another great service was the last service, Fri. night. We had the teens come forward and nail their sins ( written on a paper) to the cross. We told them that they didn't need to take all their sins back home with them. God had forgiven them. It was a very serious time, and some of the teen really meant what they were doing.

After they all had a chance to nail their sins to the cross, we took them all down and burned them in the camp fire. Praise the Lord we don't have to carry those sins with us any more.

Yes, the skits were great and the night services were a highlight for me. But there were other times in the week that we all felt God's presence near. Like the early morning worker's prayer meeting. We had prayer together before the teens were allowed out of their tents. Seriously this prayer meetings gave me the help I needed to make it through the day!

Another thing that was really great was to see the kids try so hard. One of those that did his best was Vasea. He was the only teen from his village. His Dad didn't give his permission until the very last day, so we didn't know for sure if he would be able to come. But we are so glad that he did. Whenever there wasn't anything else going on, you would find him studying Bible verses or reading his Bible. We were all happy when he received "Camper of the Year" award (it was a new back pack).

So many memories, and so many things I could tell you about. Like singing around the campfire after the evening service...

The jokes the teens played on each other. The girls took the boys shoes and buried them on the beach. As you can see they were very happy when they finally found them.

Another joke that one camper found when he climbed out in the morning.

I love the memory of the teens on the beach having their quite time with God. Please pray that God's Word will impact their lives.

One thing that most of the workers and teens both agreed on was that everyone like the food. Nodiea and Aunt Valya did a great job. It was so good that some of the teens said it was like restaurant food. Cooking over a campfire in the heat is not an easy job, but they worked hard. Thanks for all your work!!!! ( and the good food)

Over all youth camp 09 was just pretty good. Perfect no, but good and lots of good memories to have for a life time. Thank God for a good youth camp and for you praying for us.

The end of our summer ministry

2009-09-06T01:59:00.003+04:00

You have not heard from us in a while. So I wanted to try and catch you up on what we have been doing and where in the world we have been. Yes, we are still in Ukraine. But we have been traveling all over as we finished up our summer ministry. My pictures are in backward but here is the run down of what happened in Aug. The last week of Aug 24-28 we were in the mountains in Western Ukraine doing our last VBS for the summer( number five for our team out of seven total). I will share more pictures later and tell some stories, but we camped out in a Christian families back yard. We did ministry with the teens in the evening and VBS in the afternoon. In this mountain range only one family are believers and it was encourageing to see friendships being built with neighbors. It was a neat camp.

The week before that we were camping on a different mountain range and working with gypsies. That was the most challenging VBS of the summer. It was hard, but I am so glad that we did it. When thirteen children come forward to pray, you know that it is worth everything you put in to it! We also fed the children at this camp. Here they are enjoying the watermelon. Then the 10-15 of Aug we had our youth camp by the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. It was a great camp even though were missed Katrina who was in the US getting her leg fixed. I have a lot of pictures to share with you as soon as i get them all organized. So you can look forward to hearing all about it. Here is one picture for you though. We had 25 campers and two teams. This is just one of the teams. Jeff and Stephannie Appling were the team leaders and Stepon was the translator. Jeff and Tonya Duddek were the leaders of the other team.

We want to thank everyone who has been praying for us this summer. God gave us help and protection all along the way. A week ago we got back home to Osikiva and started right into home school. Here in Ukraine, school always starts on Sept 1st. So we have one week of school done. But things haven't slowed down very much for us yet. Tomorrow we have to get on a train and leave the country to keep our visas legal. If you think about it say a prayer for us. God is helping. We are encouraged, but very tired. So I will catch you up in more detail when I return.

Katrina and her redneck doctor

2009-08-03T00:57:00.002+04:00

Katrina Randolph took a tumble and broke her leg pretty bad this past week. The Duddecks helped get her to the hospital and the Ukrainian doctors put a cast on her foot. It was a very bad brake so Katrina is headed home to the States for surgery. The cast they gave her here was not giving enough support for her foot and Jason figured out how to fix it with a 5gal bucket and duck tape. And it worked. Now I don't know if that classifies as red neck or just missionary genius. I'll let you decide that one. But please pray for Katrina as she is probably home by now and headed into surgery. She has been so brave. We love you Katrina!!! Come back soon!

Canning, Canning, Canning

2009-08-03T00:15:00.007+04:00

On our weeks off this summer, we have been trying to do some canning. The process is a little different here in Ukraine. But the end result is the same, food in the cellar ready for the winter. Here the guys are giving a hand with the tomato sauce. Josh and Seth A. are helping Jason get the tomato sauce ready for canning.

Gracie is enjoying helping me put the lids on the jars. We use a press here to put the lids on. That is what the handle thing is.

This is apricot jam in the hot water bath. We have several apricot trees and the children helped pick them.

Here in Ukraine a lot of people put their jars under blankets for 24 hrs after sealing the jars. It really does help to keep the jars hot and the seal is better. The half liter jars below are filled with hot dog relish and a few are jam.

The finished product. Liter jars of dill pickles and stewed tomatoes ready for the cellar. It a lot of work, but so worth it. Hopefully all this work will help our grocery bill this winter.

God gave help on Bible trip!!!

2009-07-31T16:40:00.009+04:00

I am finally getting around to telling you about the Bible trip that Jason took to the Ukrainian/ Belarus border. There were 5 other men went with him and the Lord really helped them. Let me show you how. Of course when you get ready to go to an unreached area, and take God's Word, the van brakes down. But God helped Jason find a part that would work and he remade it to fit in. They had to start off a day late.
They headed up to the border and God helped them to met people that were interested in hearing about God. This man was 98 years old and still getting around pretty good.
They met some families that wanted them to come back with children's services.
Many, many people were thrilled to get a Bible and Christian literature.
The guys found many who didn't know how to read. So they took the time to stop and share with them the Gospel message
This man here heard about Jesus and his need for repentance. God was speaking to him.
Right then he bowed and prayed and God came and gave him the forgiveness he was looking for. It was exciting to
hear him pray and see the glow on his face afterward.
For the three night that the guys were gone, they camped in the forest, and slept in tents.
They even cooked their own meals over the fire.Here Roman and Stepon are making the morning tea.
Stepon is taking time to listen to this old Baba (grandma). She had many stories to tell.
Here Pastor Roman is showing this man in the Bible how to repent.
God even worked it out in one village for the guys to preach at a bus stop and many heard the message.
Because there were 3 Americans and 3 Ukrainians it worked out perfect for them to go to 3 villages at the same time. A lot of area was covered and as far as we can tell this as a totally unreached area. No churches except in the big cities. There were a few Orthodox churches in the largest villages.

Even though the water was not always clean.....
And the roads were not the best....
And at night the mosquitoes tried to eat you alive...
It was a real joy to share God Word with those who had never heard. On this trip 11 people prayed and repented and three villages invited them back for services. Thanks for praying!!!!

A Special Thanks!!!

2009-07-26T22:32:00.008+04:00

In my childhood Vacation Bible School just wasn't cool unless there were fun crafts. And as I was planning this years VBSs I realized that I need help to make our crafts fun and easy and something the kids would keep. When I put out the word that I needed help some very special people and churches responded and I wanted to thank them. You made it possible for these kids to make something to help them remember what they learned in VBS. Sandra Miller and the Star Lake Church, thank you for your giving and you willingness to help where ever help is needed.

Brian Withrow and the Wetmore Baptist Church, you have been a blessing to us and now you are being a blessing to many here in Ukraine. May God blessing many times in return.

The wonderful people at Evangelical Faith Fellowship, in Boise ID. We are so thankful for all your giving and being ready to do all that you can. You are an encouragement to us. Thanks for everyone who took part in this project.

Tim DoubleDee, thank you for your willingness to help. It really made a difference in our VBSs this summer. All you sent was useful.

Lastly I want to say a great Big Thank You from the children here in Ukraine. They have had a great time in the VBSs that we have had so far. They loved to make the crafts and were very happy when they were able to take home something very nice that they had made. Thank you to all who have given and may God bless you time and again for your generosity

Soaked to the skin

2009-07-26T22:14:00.002+04:00

Sunday afternoon before our VBS started here in Osikova, we thought it would be nice to get out and pass out some flyers and invite new kids to come. We have our Sunday service in the afternoon at 2pm. So after everyone went home we spilt up into three teams and started visiting homes here in our village. Jason took one group and drove to the village next to ours to try and drum up some interest there. We had not been out there very long when we saw some very dark clouds headed our way and it started raining. Now I don't consider myself a whippie missionary, and I thought we could wait out the storm, and our group stopped under a tree. Wrong choice. It started lighting and I knew we had to get out of there. Just about a block down the street was the grandma's house of one of the girls in our group. But getting there was a problem. We were running in the rain and I couldn't even see where I was going. I was wishing for windshield wippers on my glasses. When we finally made it to grandma's house, she brought us in and gave us dry clothes to put on. Most of it didn't fit but we were thankful to be dry. We had a fun time laughing at our grandma outfits. Jason came and picked up in a few minutes and when everyone got back together we all shared our stories. Needless to say not much more calling was done that night. Yes, we were all soaked to the skin but glad to be safe.

A day in VBS

2009-07-26T19:37:00.011+04:00

How would you like to come and visit us for a day and go to Vacation Bible School with us here in Osikova? We are getting ready to start (yeah we are a few minutes late because the bus driver had to wait on several children). First we start with a big welcome and prayer. Here my translator and I are explaining my three rules; sit up, smile, and cooperate. All the children received a bandanna and a sticker when they arrived. The bandanna tells what team they are on and the sticker, tells if at the end of our time together, they have obeyed the three rules. If they have they receive an extra treat. In this VBW we usually had between 25-30 children, with 32 being the most. That was exciting to me because we have a hard time getting 10 kids in Sunday school sometimes. So now I know they are out there.

Next is singing time. And the children love to sing. We had some new songs as well as old ones. Our theme was "God has a plan for my life" in Ukrainian. It went along with our jungle theme. God made the animals in a special way and for a special purpose. God made me as well with a special plan in mind. The song we are singing here is " If I were a butterfly". Can you read the words? Remember to sing with all your heart! ( And only the grandmas and grandpas get to sit down)

Next we introduce the animal we were learning about for that day. We had a skit done by Vita and Stepon about which animal it was and how God had made it special. I don't have a good picture of this, but they did a great job acting it out. All of these kids in school are taught evolution. We did our best to show them through how the animal were created that only God could have created them. They would have survived the evolution process. The four animals we studied were giraffe, elephant, lion, and ostrich.

Next we learned a Bible verse. Here Stephannie A. is doing the Bible verse game. The kids were having a great time and learning as well.

Here Mrs. Did You Know was sharing some VERY interesting animal facts with the children. By the way did you know that an ostrich can kill a lion with one kick, and that an elephant has 100,000 muscle groups in its trunk, and that a baby giraffe falls 6 ft when it is first born ( the mothers don't lay down for some reason)? We all learned a lot of things we didn't know. One of the boys, Ela, knew a lot about the ostrich because his parents work at an ostrich farm.

Next came activity time with the teams. Some went to crafts, while another team was writing in their journals and saying their verse for the day. Still others were at game time. The team leaders were very busy at this time. We also had snacks for the children. Now is that too much to fit into 45min? Here are some of the younger ones working on their craft. It as a picture frame and we even took all their pictures and had them back by the end of the week so they could take a picture frame, and picture of themselves to their parents. Thank you to all who gave in this area!

Now Jason doesn't enjoy getting up and telling the stories, or teaching the verse (although he did help act out some of the Bible stories) But Jason does a great job leading the games. All the kids loved the games, especially when the game involved water balloons. Thanks for the great job, honey!
Three legged races were fun! Even Stephannie thinks so.
One of the highlights of the VBS program was the continued story "Run, Ma Run" about Mary Slessor. Sit down with us and listen as Vita tells about the life of this great missionary and how God used a humbly girl from a drunkard's home in Scotland, to reach thousand of people in Calabar.Africa. The children really listened as you can see in the picture. One teenager boy even told me, " It seems like she is telling about my life," when Vita told about Mary hard life as a child. Thank you so much Sandra Miller for getting those to us on time!
Well, after finding out who gets quite seat prize, and closing in prayer and getting our candy for still have a sticker, we all head home to come back the next day for even more fun. So did you have a great time with us? Hope you plan on coming with us tomorrow even if it has to be only in your prayers. There are a few things I didn't get pictures of like the Bible story skit and saying verses and writing in the journals, but over all that is how our VBS went every day. God gave us so much help and we are very grateful. Thanks for your prayers.

Nine reasons why we do VBS

2009-07-26T19:06:00.003+04:00

This summer has been a full load of ministry, Vacation Bible Schools, youth camp, and just every day missionary life. There are times when all of us ask ourselves why we do what we're doing. And when you are pushed to the limit, and tired beyond words, it is then you need a reason to keep going. This past week's VBS gave me a reason, actually nine of them. On our forth day of VBS, which is the day before the picnic, I have set in the program to share the plan of Salvation. We try to share as simple as can be how to repent and follow Jesus, so even the little children can understand. In this picture I am going through the Gospel message, using a Gospel cube, with the children from our village of Ocikova. Vita was my translator. Here all of the children are praying, respectfully. Only two children, besides the missionary's kids, are from Christian homes. What a joy to share Jesus, but also what a responsibility.

Here are those nine reasons I was talking about. These are the children that stepped forward and made a decision to repent and follow Jesus. Stepon and I talked with them a little after they prayed. Why do we keep doing what we are doing? It is because of children like these that will spend eternity in Heaven or Hell. What can we do about it? We can love them with all that we have in us,and then show them the way to Jesus. Will they all understand and become great Christians tomorrow? Probably not. But all of us had to start somewhere. And what better place to start than with Jesus.

Please pray for these children and all of the other ones that have made a decision to follow Jesus during this summer's program. This is what's all about!!!

Picnic in Forest

2009-07-23T19:03:00.002+04:00

The last day of every VBS we have been having a picnic for the children that have been coming through the week. This last week we had the Ocekiva and Kanyazachee picnic together. We had around 40 children in the forest for games, treasure hunt ( they had to find the pinata), water fight, and picnic. Here is a nice picture of some of the boys taking a look a the near by lake. With God's help and your prayers the 4th and 5th VBSs were a success. Thanks for praying!!!

First Youth Night!!!

2009-07-23T18:40:00.004+04:00

We have been having a few young people hanging out at our house in Ocekivia. But I nor Jason felt like we had enough to really do a youth night yet. One day last week, Jessica came in the house all excited. She had made a few new friends that were teens and she said," You wanted teens, well here they are." With all the help God has given us this summer, we felt that we had enough people on hand to start a youth night. So in VBS we announced that the teens could come Fri. night for a special game night, food, and Bible lesson. We were so excited when 14 teenagers showed up for the first night that we had youth outreach. Please that this ministry will go forward with the Lord's help. All the bikes at the gate showed how some of the teens came. We had a great volleyball game. Actually I cheered more than played and Jason, Jeff A, Artyome, and Stepon played volleyball with the teens. Most of the teens were boys. Please pray that some of them will come to youth camp that will be the second week in Aug.

How can you have a youth night without pizza? Yes, we did have pizza although it was homemade. We used Ukrainian bread for the crust and it turned out great. At least the lack of leftover proved they like it.

And the Lord sent Help!!!

2009-07-08T17:21:00.009+04:00

A large part of our ministry, as missionaries here in Ukraine, is work with children. This is what I love!!! This is why God put me here. And honestly I would rather do children's ministry than anything else in the world. But when it comes right do to it, Children's work is just that, Work, and lots of it. The summer is the busiest time of the year and when Jason, Katrina and I sat down to plan out the summer we wondered how we were going to get it all done. And then the Lord sent help. There is something so wonderful in just saying that, " And then the Lord." We didn't plead, or beg. God just sent them, and they obeyed. PTL Thanks for answering His call, all of you. Night before we head to southern Ukraine for our first 3 VBSs. My mom always did say I waited until the last minute to get things done. Well, Mom, we did get it all done. I guess God could tell I needed help.Thanks to all of you who sent craft supplies. It was such a blessing!

Here is Stepon, one of our translators, and Jeff Duddek explaining the plan of Salvation.

Here is Tonya Duddek, Jeff's wife, hard at work. Her and her husband have come from Colorado Springs. They also brought there two children.

Vita is telling a story. She is Stepon's wife. They are a Christian Ukrainian couple that have come to work as translators this summer.
And it look like some of our help needs HELP!!!! Actually Jeff A. you made a wonderful Mr. Did YOU KNOW.

Jeff and Stephannie Appling came here from Colorado Springs, as well. They brought their three children on this trip. Thanks for coming and helping!

Artyom used to be one of our "kids" from Nova Odessa. He has now graduated from high school and is doing his best to serve the Lord. His future is a little uncertain right now, but he will be living with us for a while and has been a BIG help already with the summer ministry.

I don't have a picture of our wonderful friend Katrina, or her friend Faith right now. So I will post those for you later. Thanks everyone that has helped, and is still helping. We are just getting started and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us this summer.

First VBS of the summer!!!

2009-07-08T16:44:00.011+04:00

We need to catch you up on what has been happening with us. Our first two VBSs took place June 23rd -27th. No I was not at two places at the same time. Katrina Randolph led one team of workers and they went to a village called Ulanivka. Jason and I led another team of workers and we went to a village called Mikhalovka. We were leaving the house before 7am and getting back in town around 2pm to get prepared for the next day. It was a very busy week but also fullfilling. There are not many children in this village so Jason was picking up kids in near by villages as well. Our theme for this year is God made me special. We learned about different animals every day and cool facts that point to a Creator that made them unique. Then we learned how God made us special with a purpose and a plan in mind. Vita worked as our translator. She also did a great job telling the continued stoy every day.

Artyom was our teen helper and did a wonderful job contecting with the teens in the village.

Jeff A. and Jason filling water ballons for game time. No running water, so they filled them at the village well.

A water ballon toss was a nice way to cool off.

He finally got the apple!

God worked it out for us to get out of the heat and have our VBS inside for the last of the week.

All during the week we were telling the children how much God loved them and made them special. God created all things and made the animals special, but we were made with a soul. On Fri. I explained the Gospel message and one little boy came forward to pray. It was so neat to hear him pray from the heart. Later in the day he said that God had helped him.

Pray for all the teens and children in this village. There are several of the teens that hope to come to youth camp.

VBS in Nova Odessa

2009-07-08T14:26:00.011+04:00

The VBS in Nova Odessa, except for the first day, was held in the court yard. It was much cooler and we had more room to move around. There were around 40 kids total that came to this VBS. Katrina Randolph works with these children and teens every week,as their full time missionary. Our Bible stories skits were a hit with the children! Jason and Jeff A. (Stepon translating) did a great job telling the story of Noah and ark.

Here Vita, Jeff A. and some of the teen leaders doing a skit about Jesus dying for us.

Dema loves craft time!!! ( Steff A. helping)

Games were so much fun. Jason, Dema, and Stepon on the same team? Now wait a minute.

Capture the flag in the forest, was a great game for the picnic on Sat. They really liked this one!!!

Parachute fun with water ballons thrown in, can it get better than that?

These were the leaders and teen leaders for the Nova Odessa VBS
And here is the whole gang for Nova Odessa. Pray for each of these children who heard the clear message of the Gospel.

Week off ???

2009-07-08T13:58:00.007+04:00

When I say that this has been a week off, I don't mean that we aren't doing anything. It just means that we have a break in our VBS schedual. Would you like to see what a week off is for missionaries. First off, since this is summer we have started our canning. Yes, you can buy things at the store but you can save soooooo much money if you just can it. Here is Vita canning cherry juice. It is a totally different process than in the States. And since we plan on putting up as much food for winter as we can, we needed to fix our celler. The guys are still working on that one. Sand and gravel came today and they are building new walls for the steps since the old ones were all broken down.

And yes, we are trying to get a little rest when we can. Mr. King, Joshua's cat was so happy that we were home again and he was caught resting on the job as he was guarding the shoe rack.

A nice laugh helps one relax after our VBS last week. Three down and four to go. Thanks for praying for us.

Rained out little campers

2009-06-15T15:02:00.004+04:00

Josh had a campout in our front yard with 5 of his little friends. They had a great time cooking hotdogs over the campfire and playing games. They slept in two little tents. Josh, Sasha, and Vonya in one little tent and....

Maxim, Sasha, and Andrew in the other tent. Jason stayed with them until everyone was asleep. Which was around midnight.

After Jason came to bed, then it decided to rain on a little campers around 3:30am. So Jason went and brought them all in and we tucked them in on the couch. What a crazy campout, but the boys had fun.

Cleaning, painting, building

2009-06-15T14:53:00.002+04:00

Here is a guest room that we are fixing up for guest this summer. It has been used as a junk room for a while. Here Jason is working on getting old windows taken out and new ones put in. Jessica and I painted the room.
Jason sanded the floor and here he is staining it. Only a few things left to do. Jason is building the bed today and I need to make curtains tonight. I have ladies tea and fellowship tonight so we will see what I will have time to do. Two families are coming in on Thurs. and I have been trying to get sheets, pillows, towels and everything ready. We are excited to have people coming ot help.

Kids, Kids, Kids!!!!!

2009-06-15T14:44:00.002+04:00

Yesterday afternoon, and evening we had a full house of kids. It has taken the teens a little longer to warm up to us, but there are a few that are starting to come around. Here is a couch full looking at pictures on Jason's computer. They love seeing themselves on the computer. Pray with us that we will be a able to start a youth meeting soon. I think there would be a few that would be interested, because that are starting to come to Sunday school. They reallly enjoyed playing swap! Pray that we will be able to love them all to the Saviour.

Inside and outside Church.

2009-06-15T14:33:00.002+04:00

Last week the older ladies in our church asked to have church outside. It was a warm day and we had more of a breeze outside so we did. That patio sure served us well. We have had Sunday school outside a few times. But yesterday it was raining, so we moved inside. Actually yesterday was colder. It hasn't really been very hot here yet. But I know it is coming. There were several children who stayed for church. Here Pastor Roman is leading us in singing.

Summer plans

2009-05-31T23:30:00.008+04:00

Jason and Josh took a trip to Western Ukraine to finalize our summer plans for VBSs and children's ministry in the mountains. The morning after the arrived it started to rain. And it didn't stop for three day. Needless to say there ways a lot of mud. They have a holiday here in Ukraine to celebrate Jesus' ascension. The church had a service on the mountain top even though it rained. A lot of people came and they had service for an hour and half, standing in the rain. The roads were fun (if you like mudding) for Jason, Josh , Veta and Stepon. They drove the van as far as they could ....

and then they walked. Actually Stepon, Jason, Josh, and a pastor from the area climbed the mountain to see about ministry opportunities. We are planning on having a VBS and outreach ministry in the mountains and they needed to make contacts with the people.

Here they made it to the top. Happy hikers even if it is still raining.

These mountains behind Josh are the ones we will be camping in and doing ministry. There are around 100 homes and as far as we know only one family are believers. We hope to do this ministry trip in the end of Aug.

Here is the one family who are believers and has invited us to come and hold services in their home and do VBS for the children of their mountain. Roman and Natasha have four children and live a very simple life. They are excited about some one wanting to come and help them share Christ with their neighbours.

Jason also made contact with a gypsy camp and some Believers that are trying to start a church with them. We hope to have a VBS at the gypsy camp as well. Tomorrow is the first of June and the starts our busy summer. We plan on working around here the first two weeks of June with preparations and remodling. Then on the 22nd of June we head to Nova Odessa with two families that are coming to help with summer ministry. We start our first VBS on the 23rd of June. We will be leading and helping with 7 different VBSs in different towns and villages. Some of those will be in southern Ukraine, 2 near here and 2 western Ukraine. We also will be helping with a youth camp and evangelistic services and outreach ministry. We plan on doing some humanitarian aide also. It was fun letting you in on some of our plans. So will you pray with us that God will direct our steps and give us the strength to do what needs to be done. We are very excited. Keep on line to see more as it happens.

Hoe those potatoes

2009-05-31T23:24:00.002+04:00

One of my friends, Valalena, said that she wanted to come to our ladies meeting but couldn't unless she had her potatoes hoed. I offered to help her. Jess and I went over to her garden and we had it all done in a little over an hour. It was fun to help a friend and get a little exercise.

Our first Young mother's tea or fellowship

2009-05-31T23:06:00.002+04:00

God has made it possible for me to make friendships with several young mothers. And it didn't take me very long to realize how much they really needed fellowship and friends. Village life is hard and some of them don't have a very pretty life. This past Tues. evening we had our first young ladies tea. I invited all that I could think of and they were happy to come. We plan on meeting once a month. My summer is very busy with children's ministry, so pray that I will be able to keep up with it all. We made two different kinds of cookies and then shared receipts and had pizza and tea. Then we had a time of sharing prayer request. Several of the ladies shared from the heart. Then I had everyone pray for the lady next to them. God came in a special way and I know hearts were touched. The best part is, this are not just church ladies, half of them do not go to church regularly. Please pray that we will be able to see some of these ladies come to know the Saviour. We had a great time and are looking forward to our next meeting.

Homemade doughnuts

2009-05-31T22:58:00.002+04:00

I made some doughnut dough before our lady's tea and hoped to show them how to make them. Well my dough didn't rise until later that night so I was up very late frying and frosting more than 65 doughnuts. Jess and I took them as we went visiting the next evening, and we also took some to Kid's Club. Everyone liked them and it gave us an excuse to go and visit in a lot of homes.

A morning walk

2009-05-31T22:48:00.004+04:00

Jessica and I took a nice walk one morning this week. She had a look at the village well. Yes, people really do use it. A lot of people have their own well in the yard. And some houses even have running water. If they live too far from the village well then they use their neighbor's well.

I wanted to share a picture of the first summer roses here in Osikova, Ukraine. They were so pretty and a nice ending to a pretty walk.

Last month's Borscht !?!?

2009-05-23T21:02:00.003+04:00

OK so not last month, but it has been several weeks since I have put any post on my blog. Sorry!!!! I really have tried and every tiime that I would have time to sit down and blog ( and that's not very often) for some reason the internet would NOT work or I couldn't get my blog to open. Well, my very patient and kind husband, took the time to show me what I was doing wrong. I am so glad that he can figure these things out for me. Any way, I'm back in blogger's world. So are you up to last month's borscht. On my title I called it yesterday's borscht, but I'll be honest with you I didn't do all these things yesterday. Happy reading and looking!

Building and repairs

2009-05-23T20:35:00.008+04:00

Since spring is here, at least it is supposed to be here, it is time to fix up some things and spruce up the place. Jessica and I decided to tackle the job of white washing the celler. I have never white washed before in my life. And really the most I know about white washing is about Tom Sawyer white washing the fence, so that's not very much. I had no idea how to do it, but we jumped in and got it done. I didn't know that white wash was bad for your skin, but it really did a number on my hands. At least the celler and the front fence looks better anyway. Now if I can just get my hands to stop peeling.

Jason has to work on our van often. That's just the way things go. We need it to bring kids to Sunday school and people to church and get the things done that have to be done. It is a good thing that Jason is a mechanic, because this van is a mechanic special. We aren't complaining. We are very thankful to have wheels. But Jason thought that since he would be working on the van from time to time it would be very nice to have a cement pad to work on. It has worked out that we have used it for much more than just a place to work on the van. The whole family got involed in mixing and pouring the cement. Even I gave a helping hand when I could. It seems like mommys are always doing all those "-ing" things ( like cooking, sweeping, sewing, ironing, teaching, washing, cleaning.......... you get the idea) I like working along side my man when I am needed, but cement work is hard. I was very glad when Roman and his wife, Nodiea, came and helped us one day. They were such a blessing and it was great to work along side our Ukrainian people. It seems like you are always helping them, so it was nice to have the tables turned this time.

Josh felt like a man working with his daddy. Jessie liked to help when she could as well. She was always trying to get out of school so she could help. I am glad that my children like to work together as a family. My Mom and Dad taught me to love work and I hope I can pass that on to my children.

Fellowship and tea

2009-05-23T20:29:00.002+04:00

Here is a picture of our patio after it is finished. Dave Drummond was here and preached for us on Sunday afternoon. It was a good service and some of the people wanted to spend more time with Bro. Drummond while he was here since he used to be their missionary. So they wanted to have tea outside and the patio was the perfect place. The village children have found out that it is also perfect for playing foursquare on and chalk art. We are so happy to have the nice patio.

Jess and friends

2009-05-23T20:24:00.002+04:00

I liked this picture of Jessica and her friends at a church picnic. It was a fun day in the forest. Over here they usually have shish kabobs at picnics instead of hotdogs and hambugers. It was all good.

Little taxi driver

2009-05-23T20:19:00.003+04:00

Josh loves to give all his little friends rides back and forth on our street. One day was we were walking as a family (you do that a lot when you live in a village) the little girls were fighting over who would get to ride with Josh next. This little girl, Ira, won this time.

End of School Year

2009-05-23T20:11:00.004+04:00

Jessica and Josh are very happy that the end of the year has come. This is actually an old picture of Jessica at her desk. When you are a homeschool missionary's kid you end up doing school on the run a lot, and in many different places. We have done our best to keep up with their schooling no matter where we were. Josh has finished this work for this year and Jessica has one PACE left to go. She should be done in one or two days. Jessica likes to sit at her desk and turn on music and turn it up so she can't hear all the distractions. I think the teacher is almost as glad as the students that it is the end of the school year.

Daddy's Girl

2009-05-23T20:05:00.002+04:00

Jason took Jessica on a date few weeks ago. It is really special that they can have time to talk and build a good father -daughter relationship. And I want Jessica to know how a man is supposed to treat her. She is becoming quite a young lady, and we are happy how God is working in her life. And yes, they do have pizza in Ukraine.

Saturday market

2009-05-23T19:24:00.002+04:00

Guess what I have caught up my blog to today. Yea!!! Yes, this morning we took a family trip to a Saturday market or bazzar. We needed a few things and wanted to check on the price of vegetables compared to Kiev prices. Thought you might like to see what a shopping experience is like. There are shopping centers and supper markets in Ukraine now. But only in the big cities. Most Ukrainians will buy what they need in market like this or in small shops. Here is a horse waiting on his master to finish shopping. Most of the people come by bus or taxi van if they don't have a car of their own.

On we were on our way Jason stopped at a bus stop because I saw one of my friends there and wanted to give her a ride. Well, everyone at the bus stop got in and Jason gave them a free ride to market. I think there were about 8 or 9 people. It was kinda funny.

Singing in the rain

2009-05-23T19:12:00.003+04:00

When I heard it raining, a few days ago,I went to look for my children who had been out taking a walk. This is what I found. They were in no hurry to get home because they had on waterproof hats.They weren't actually singing but they were pretty happy! Here are a few of the children that are usually at our house. They are very nice children from our street that come to Sunday school. Jason built a tree fort and they had to try it out. Recently we have been having kids over every day because it is at the end of school and the weather has been a little warmer. It is not hot yet, just warmer. You still need a jacket most days.

May Bugs!!!

2009-05-23T18:51:00.002+04:00

When we went on the church picnic the kids found trees just loaded with June bugs. Here they call them May bugs. Of course all the little boys had to shake the trees and see how many they could pick up. Here is Josh with this handfull.

Sunday school picnic

2009-05-16T22:05:00.006+04:00

We had a picnic with our Kid's Club from both villages, (Osikova & Kenyasachee). The children had to memorize Pslams 23 to go on this picnic.

Dr Jason

2009-05-16T21:51:00.003+04:00

Actually the children in our village call him dada Jason which means Uncle Jason. But here he is getting a piece of glass out of Sasha's foot. It doesn't look like Sasha is too sure about it all.

Slovakia pictures

2009-04-26T23:49:00.006+04:00

We had to leave the country to keep our visas legal. We took a short bus ride into Slovakia and rented a car and drove the back roads and had a few family days. Here are a few of the pictures. This is a neat looking house in a village where we stopped for a picnic along the river. Here is the view from our room at the little farm we stayed at. Yes, that is a castle in the background. Someone suggested that we visit it and I am so glad that we did. It ended up being the highlight of our trip. In the barn, in the foreground, there were pigeons and horses.

Here is a view inside of the castle. There has been a castle on this hill since the 1100AD. There were so many interesting stories about kings, and princesses and battles. Lots of history and so much fun.

Family picture with castle in background.

I thought this church looked cool. A little different then we had in Ukraine.

A sweet custom

2009-04-26T23:34:00.004+04:00

This is a beautiful blue church in Uzgarade. But that is not the sweet custom I was talking about. When we went walking over the river, I noticed all these locks on the bridge railing. Veta told me that whenever a boy asked a girl to marry him (or some other important point in their relationship) they would go to the bridge and put "their" lock around a railing and then lock it and throw the key in the river. I thought that was a very sweet custom and had to get a picture. I had never heard of anyone doing this before, but Jason said that in Moscow, he saw the same thing. If you have ever seen it let me know.

These were just a few of the locks. Some of them were very beautiful and some plain.

More from western Ukraine

2009-04-26T23:17:00.007+04:00

I really liked this picture of my man and I. We were at a castle ruin overlook the river and the village. It was a fun hike and beautiful view. Jess and Josh were sitting on the castle wall and looking out over the village.

Jason and the kids climbing around in the castle ruin. It was fun to hear old stories from Stepon.

Both Jess and Josh seemed to enjoy this trip. We had fun as a family, and also made plans with Stepon and Veta about this summer's ministry. Lord willing, they both will be translating for us this summer. We are looking forward to working with them.

Family picture outside a village house. It was very interesting learning more about Ukrainian history.

Here is a picture of the inside of one of the houses. Check out the beautiful needle work on the pillow slips and bed skirt.

Western Ukraine

2009-04-26T21:31:00.004+04:00

I am finally getting back to blogging and catching you up our trip to Western Ukraine and Slovakia. We met Stepon and Veta in Uzagrade. We had a very nice picnic in a museum of village houses from different regions of Ukraine. It was a lovely day and we had a very nice time. Here is one of the village houses, thatch roof and all.

Train ride!!!

2009-04-18T00:00:00.002+04:00

This was our little room on the train we took to Western Ukraine. It was a 17 hr trip, so we spent the night on the train, which the children found very fun. One part I really like was wakeing up in the morning and seeing mountains outside the window. I miss the mountains in Colorado. Ukrainian mountains are not Rocky Mountains but they sure are pretty. I will post more pictures later but my internet is very slow tonight.

First picnic of the year

2009-04-17T23:52:00.002+04:00

Jessica and Josh and a few of their friends had a picnic in our back yard, last Sunday. It wasn't WARM but it was warm enough to enjoy a picnic and it looks like they did.

We are alive and fine

2009-04-17T23:33:00.001+04:00

The last time I wrote a post was three weeks ago. Sorry to all of you that have been checking to see if anything is happening with us ( if there is anyone out there reading this, I'm afraid that all my faithful readers have left me). Every says that they are busy. Aren't we all. I feel I'm running in circles and not remembering where I'm supposed to be, or what I'm supposed to be doing. Seriously, I can give you the quick version of what we have been doing the last 3 weeks. And then I will try to give you a better over view with pictures( notice I said "try"). We had to take some teens back home to southern Ukraine, the week after spring break. We were down in Nova Odess for three days and then back home. We were home for 4 days ( two of those being busy ministry days) and then we were on the train headed to Western Ukraine. We had to met with our translators for this summer and make plans. Then we took a bus into Slovakia, because we needed to leave Ukraine for our visas and also had few days of family time. We have been home for almost one week and have been pouring cement and making a few repairs and getting ready for our summer ministry . So that is the short version. Thanks for your prayers this past few weeks. God has helped us in many ways.

Siberia

2009-03-25T20:47:00.004+03:00

This is the little team that helped Jason on his Bible trip in Siberia. God worked everything out to bring them all together and we give Him the glory. Pastor Serge (center) was the contact person as he has a sister who lives in Siberia. Stepon (right) was Jason's translator and a big help on the trip. The main purpose of the trip was to take Bibles to people who needed them and share the message of God's love to as many as possible. Every day they would pray that God would lead them. And I know that many of you were praying as well. The trip took many different turns as God led them to minister in prisons, hospitals, small house churches, orphanages, visiting in homes and visiting the Khunty people. Jason and those with him traveled over 3,000 miles while in Siberia. They were ,at one point, only 44 miles south of the Arctic circle.

Siberia cont.-Khunty tribe

2009-03-25T20:14:00.007+03:00

The one thing that Jason loves to do is get God's Word into the hand of people who have never heard of God or have never had a chance to read a Bible for themselves. He has heard many stories of people who have repented and followed God by just reading the Bible and doing what is says to do. The far out remote areas is where he loves to meet people and talk with them, listen to their stories and tell them about a Book that changed his life. He found such a people in the Khunty tribe(you say it like Huntie) in northern Siberia. They are natives to Siberia and live a very simple life. For the most part they herd reindeer and live on fish and bread. Lets go with them as they head out to visit the Khunty people. Are you ready for a long walk in the deep snow of the north? I hope you are wearing your warmest coat and of course bring you pack full of Bibles. Oh, by the way don't get off the beaten path, you might just sink in the snow, like Stepon did!Say "hello" to the reindeer and hope they don't eat visitors for breakfast.

Then finally, after a very cold morning walk, we have arrived at a Khunty home. They used to travel by reindeer sled but now the oil companies in the area give them snowmobiles in trade for taking all the oil.

Siberia cont.- Khunty tribe

2009-03-25T16:40:00.004+03:00

Welocme to a Khunty house. These are the native people of Siberia. They are not Russians and are usually looked down upon by the Russians. The Khunty are only one of 31 different Siberian tribes. Over all they knew little or nothing about God or the Bible. They worship spirits of nature. They are very short people as you can see by the door to their home. Jason and Stepon felt privileged to visit them.... eat with them...

and read and study the Bible with them. Being with the Khunty tribe was the highlight of Jason's trip.

Siberia cont.-Khunty tribe

2009-03-25T16:21:00.005+03:00

Jason said that this was the coldest time while in Siberia. Stepon and Jason went fishing with a Khunty man. At 5a.m., in -35 degrees weather, and traveling on a sled behind a snowmobile all made it the coldest day. He actually froze his feet and couldn't feel them for around 4hrs. Thank you for praying. God gave definite help and Jason's feet are fine now.

This is the way the Khunty people fish. They have fish traps that are set in the rivers. All they have to do is dig down through the snow and pull up the traps and...

pour out the fish, which are frozen almost instantly, and reset the traps. Fish is the main thing they eat.

Siberia cont.- prisons

2009-03-25T15:36:00.006+03:00

One of the first places that the team visited was a max security prison. Check out the guard tower. They were not able to take very many pictures because the guards didn't like it. This wood fence is only the outer, there are four more inside made out of diferent materal and high voltage. Below is one of the officers that helped to get all the permission and paperwork done so that Jason and the team could enter and tell the prisoners about Jesus.

Below is the low security prison that one of the guards suggested that Jason go and preach to

them as well.

Siberia cont.- hospitals and clinics

2009-03-25T15:03:00.009+03:00

God lead Jason and Stepon to this clinic where the nurses really wanted Bibles. They were excited to get children's Bibles for their children as well. They were not planning to stop here but they came and asked if they could come. They asked many questions and wanted to know more about God.

Here the team is all suited up to visit the patients at a tuberculosis hospital. They made many good contacts here and a couple of people prayed and repented of their sin.

The man in the bed is one that repented. The team spent an afternoon in this hospital talking and praying with around 75 people. They ran out of Bibles and time before they could visit everyone. Who will go back and take God's Word to the rest of these needy people?

Siberia cont.- encouraging house churches

2009-03-25T14:59:00.005+03:00

Jason and his translator, Stepon, preaching in a small house church. They visited 8 different churches, encouraging and preaching. Jason was nervous, not being a preacher. But God really helped and gave him the words to say, and peopled were helped. Thanks for praying!!!

Siberia cont.-orphanages

2009-03-25T14:55:00.002+03:00

One of the orphanages that Jason visited. These are the workers and a few of the children. At this orphanage they were very grateful for Bibles and the children's Bibles.

Siberia cont.

2009-03-25T14:26:00.003+03:00

Here is a mechanic shop and an electric company where they stopped and gave Bible and litature to anyone who was interested. Since Jason is a mechanic he could relate with these men.