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For the last couple of weeks my Dad has been with a Dental and Medical outreach team working in villages near the city of Zhytomyr. I joined them for the last couple days and it was great to hear about all they were able to accomplish. The team included two nurses, two dental hygienists, one dentist, a dental student, a teacher, a pastor and a lot of other people! One of the really neat things about the team was the diversity of the group… aside from the different professions they represented, there were people from different countries and regions, different economic class, different cultures, different organizations, different denominations, of different ages… and all these differences were put aside.

They worked in three different locations providing free medical and dental help as well as teaching better hygiene and just loving the kids. They also talked one-on-one with a lot of parents about how to take care of their children.

Anyway, I was just with them for the last couple days so I can’t tell you much more but I’m sure my Dad will let you all know more about the trip as soon as he has time. ‘Til then here are some pictures…

For more information about Mercy Trucks Ukraine visit: MercyTrucksUA.org

My trip to Uzhgorod was great! I’d been looking forward to the trip since we began planning it. (Actually, even before that.) Our main goal for this trip was to find a location for a summer camp we are going to do with the kids and to get permission to take some of them to the camp. We were partially successful, finding a great location but not getting permission to actually take the kids there. They are already booked to be at an old military camp or old sanatorium so we can’t take them to camp but we can bring camp to them. This unexpected arrangement presents us with some challenges (90 kids instead of 30 for starters) but we know that God will provide for all our needs. Right now we’re putting together a program, raising funds and looking for more staff. (Especially Russian/English speakers.) Please pray for our preparation, especially Markus who’s heading up the program. I’ll be posting more about the camp as it gets closer.

Pictures And A Video From The Trip

This was the first time I was traveling on the “day train” which was great because I got to see some gorgeous views of Ukraine and the sunlight made photos of the train possible. Click on thumbnails for larger versions.

This is our train at the central station in Kyiv.

This is the lovely toilet on the train. Believe it or not this was actually one of the cleaner ones I’ve encountered on the trains.

Whenever the train stops you can count on the enterprising locals to show up on the platform with cigarettes, beer, vodka, water, fruit, and various homemade meals.

This is one of the views from the camp we wanted to take the orphans to.

The statue I am standing with is a memorial to the first missionaries to the area. (I think.)

This is one of the “toys” at the orphanage.

Four of the orphan boys.

Evan, Sasha and I.

Luda showing some orphans how to make a box out of paper. They loved it and just kept making box after box.

This is the bill (and money) for a glass I broke at a restaurant. Worst spent 80 cents of the trip.

This is the best hot chocolate (basically a melted chocolate bar) and the most well spent 80 cents of the trip.

This is a quick tour of the train. (The first 5 seconds of the video are corrupt, just keep watching it will get better.)

Tomorrow I’ll join a small team and we’ll get on the train for Uzhgorod. I can’t wait to go back! It’s been several months since I first went to the orphanage and I’m looking forward to seeing all the kids again. We’ll be there for about a week which will allow us time to visit the kids and also to find a location for a summer camp that we’ll do for them in July. Please pray for our saftey while traveling and success in finding a location for the camp as well as for our time with the kids, that we’ll “make the most of every oppourtunity.”

I just remembered some things I forgot to pack, have to go…

“Fooooootball! Fooootball!” the children cried as they danced around us in a dimly lit hallway of Orphanage #21. I don’t know a whole lot of Russian yet but it didn’t take a linguistics pro to figure out that the kids wanted to play soccer and skip the singing lesson Steven and Taras were supposed to be having with them. A couple hours before I had decided to tag along with Steven and take a few pictures of he and Taras teaching the orphans. Had I known I would have to play soccer I might have re-considered, but there I was being led out the heavy front-door of the orphanage, past the scowling guard, to the “football” field.

Anyone who’s met me, knows I’m no athlete, unless typing counts. That’s why I try to avoid soccer, or most any sport for that matter. With cleats and a perfect field to play on, I stink. Now here I was bundled up and wearing big, heavy snow boots standing on a snow-covered field. There was no hope. Not even Gatorade could save me now. My unsuspecting teammates were doomed.

I didn’t have any more time to think about the slushy snow or my impractical boots though, because just then a little boy in a blue jacket kicked the ball and sent it soaring to our side of the field. It hit the ground and rolled toward me. My teammates yelled. I sighed and then kicked the ball. Wham! I was on my back in the wet snow. I had slipped, despite my boots, when I kicked the ball. “This certainly makes the game more interesting,” I thought as I picked myself up off the ground.

Countless snowball fights erupted during the game which lasted for almost two more exhausting hours. Often, I was the target. It was great. (Really!) In between the running, slipping, kicking, falling, chasing and throwing I was able to talk a little with the English speaking kids. They’re always curious about my family, interested in America and confused about why we’re not there making money. “Why you in Ukraine?” A girl asks. “Ukraine bad. America good.” She says, with a thumbs-down and a thumbs-up. Though her attitude saddens me I’m glad for the chance to explain that life is about more then making money, living in a certain place or having a fancy mobile phone. It’s about loving God and loving others.

Eventually they had their lesson… and they sing better then I do too.

Here in Ukraine the holidays are finally over and school is back in session. That means it’s time to resume the English Club, a weekly class for students in the 10th and 11th grades at a public school here in Kyiv. It gives them an opportunity to talk with native English speakers and thus improve their English and it gives us an opportunity to be a light and example to the students in the school.

I went to the club a couple times before the holidays and got to participate with the students in their Christmas presentation of The Greatest Story Ever Told. The performance was entirely in English and they invited upwards of 50 of their friends and teachers. They did a great job!

Yesterday I met with the rest of the team 2 hours before the class at the YWAM office. Right now the team consists of Victor (the guy who started the club) Amy (who’s been helping him since the beginning) Torben and Jeannette (A couple who just moved here and will be DTS staff for YWAM Kyiv) and me! Anyway, before the class we had a little celebration for the new semester, planned for the class and prayed. Then it was time to go to the school!

Amy began the class by introducing Torben, Jeannette and me and encouraging the students to ask us questions. Remember, the goal is to make them speak English in conversation. After we went through the “Oh my! You have 9 brothers and sisters!” bit they asked about school in America and what it was like. They asked Jeannette about her wedding and wanted Torben to tell them about Danish customs. (Yes, he’s from Denmark). After that we played a couple group games designed to help them learn English and Torben did a geography quiz, guys versus girls.

We’re going to invite the guys to hang out with Victor, Torben and me and the girls to do whatever groups of girls do with Amy and Jeannette. We hope to make friends and help them find the Truth in this emerging nation plagued by alcoholism, gambling, prostitution, abortion and AIDS.