Final Days in Ukraine

Hello All!

Our journey/adventure has nearly come to an end. Tomorrow is our last full day in Ukraine, as we will be leaving for the airport around 4 a.m. on Friday morning. As should have been expected, our final week has felt a bit like a whirlwind, with final meetings with friends being scheduled around last minute business that needed to be taken care of, on top of new contacts being explored! God has been merciful in allowing us to fit it all in (but just barely) and He continues to amaze us with the way we've been able to make contacts and connect people from different ministries here.

Here is an overview of the past few days. On Sunday we visited the Nivki church where Chris and Lena Lovingood attend. This is the couple that we have mentioned numerous times on the blog, who have really been a great support and encouragement to us in our time in Ukraine. It was nice to finally have a chance to see their church, and we were fortunate to attend on a Sunday when Chris was preaching. Katherine appreciated the message more than most we've heard in Ukraine, as it was translated from English, not to mention, well-said and thought provoking. Our new friend George, from Nigeria, went with us, so it was nice to have some additional time with him as well.

On Monday we went on a small adventure, in search of an orphan training center that we had heard about. It is an effort being conducted by a ministry group called Emmanuel, and we hoped to learn more about their program. We had only a hand-drawn map to help us around a part of town that we were completely unfamiliar with, but we found the place with no problem whatsoever. The difficulty arose, however, when we arrived to find an incredibly impressive gated facility, and no real contact inside. We walked around the complex until we found an open door, which turned out to be Christian bookstore, that of course was open to the public. Scott was able to communicate with one of the workers in the store, who gave him the name of a woman who worked with the orphan training center. Scott then went in to the guard station at the gate, communicated who we were, what we wanted, and who we would like to see, only to find out that the woman whom we wished to see was not in at the time. So a message was left, and we were a little doubtful that we would hear anything back - as we didn't have a real "connection" that they would recognize. We received a call from Tatiana today, and had a great conversation. The facility is the hub of Association Emmanuel, which is the Ukrainian arm of CBN (a Christian media outlet in the US, based in VA, I believe). At any rate, many different types of activities go on in this facility, work with orphans and recently "graduated orphans" being just one of them. Tatiana works in a branch of ministry called "The Gift of Adoption," which (1) strives to encourage national adoptions in Ukraine;(2) has developed a life skills curriculum to teach in the orphanages; and (3) provides legal help to those Ukrainians wishing to adopt children from the orphanages, and also to orphans and "graduated orphans" who may need legal help. So although her work doesn't specifically touch on the orphan training center (a different department), we had much to talk about ... and at the least, we are hopeful that some of the people we have met in Kyiv from local churches, who have a desire to work in the orphanages, will be able to attend a volunteer training program that will be held September 18-22. This training program will equip volunteers to take the life skills training curriculum into the orphanages, and prepare them for what they should expect in doing this complex ministry.

Tuesday, we were finally able to connect with CFAR ministries here in Kyiv. The Center for Apologetics Research provides basic apologetic resources, but focuses much attention in Ukraine on religious cults, hoping to inform local churches of the teachings of these various groups and how they conflict with orthodox Christian understanding of the Bible. Katherine's father is on the board of this ministry, and we had met Genna, the Ukrainian who runs the Kyiv office, on one of his visits to California. Due to extensive traveling that Genna, and Carol Hartman (a fellow Californian, and ex-Jehovah's Witness) were doing throughout western Ukraine, conducting seminars, we were afraid that we might miss them altogether. They returned to Kyiv this week, and we were able to meet with them on Tuesday, see the offices, get acquainted, and share a delicious Ukrainian meal at a restaurant that was new to us in downtown Kyiv. Carol shared some amazing stories of how God has used her past to equip her specifically for ministry in Ukraine. There is an estimated 1 Jehovah Witness to every 334 people here in Ukraine, and in one area of Western Ukraine, there are as many as 1 to every 8 people. It was also a pleasure to meet Genna's wife Tanya and two beautiful girls, Vika (5) and Sophia (2). Abigail enjoyed playing with some girls for a change.

Since Tuesday afternoon we have seen many of the friends that we have written about in previous blog entries - and had many phone conversations with others. We are certain that the trend will continue tomorrow ... our final full day here. Please pray that our time will be used well, and that we can accomplish the most important things, while taking care of the necessary things (like packing, cleaning the apartment, and arranging the 4:00 a.m. taxi ride!!!!) too.

Again, we thank you for reading! It has been great to receive comments from those of you who made comments, and we are especially thankful for those of you who have been praying for us. It has been a "full" six weeks - thanks for taking the journey with us. This is probably the last entry from Ukraine, as I think our internet plan is due to expire tomorrow. Check back on this site occasionally, however, as we may continue this blogsite once we get back to CA, with the hopes of staying better connected to those loved ones living far away from us - that now includes many dear friends we have made on this trip.

Ephesians 3:14-21