Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas!

We've had a BIG busy last month, apologies to those who've looked for posts earlier.

We've worked hard at school... here's us with our teacher Irina. She's been a good teacher for us-- the second year things usually start coming together pretty good. And it has been for us.



We also went to an organic church greenhouse conference that we learned a lot from. The main thing: the only way to be unsuccessful in sharing your faith is by not saying anything!

We joined some friends for an American Thanksgiving...



We have been having people over-- we introduced some Ukrainians to Thanksgiving


Alicia's been going to the orphanage-- here's the girls doing a "trust" game.



We visited the Sumy church. Here's some of the kids doing decorations


One of the really special treats was that we visited a ministry in Bila Tserkva, a city south of Kiev, where an American lady started ministering to invalids. The ministry has grown into a huge service center with many handicapped folks being employed there. It's called God's Hidden Treasures, and the lady pictured here with Alicia is the director, Nita Hanson showing Alicia some of the "clients."


It is a really big interest for Alicia with her background in Physical Therapy. They also have been working with stroke patients. One thing we learned from Nita is that when God calls someone to do something, he equips the chosen, instead of choosing the qualified. Here is a picture of some of the equipment they work on.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

It's Winter

Things in Kiev have changed a lot since our last blogging. It rained all day yesterday and some time last night it began snowing and has not stopped all day. Brett and I were reminded this morning of the importance of water-proof, warm shoes!









Brett and I traveled back to the States a few weeks ago because my grandmother passed away suddenly. It was a huge shock to everyone; we are so thankful we were able to be there with my family. We also visited with Brett's mom and dad who were able to drive up to WV for the weekend.








My Aunt Deb also came to visit

We also got to celebrate mom's birthday!

Tiffany, Megan, Elizabeth and her babies

Me, Amanda, Megan, and Tiffany

Josh and Brett


When we came back to Kiev, we traveled to Sumy that weekend to visit with the church. Brett preached and Grady translated. The preacher, Vova, was in Russia visiting his in-laws.

The children's church with Nina and Ira


The Bryan Family


Nina and Ivan had us over after church. Nina is teaching me(in Russian!) how to knit. I definitely need some more practice.(with knitting and russian)


Tuesday, October 23, 2007

A typical day

Alicia on the way to school

Taking tea in the kitchen at school

The teacher team eating lunch-- the lady in the middle in pink is Irena, our teacher

Going back home-- this is in the entrance of our building

Our mailboxes

Brett after going out for groceries

in the courtyard outside our kitchen window, this is how they take the trash out.

On Wednesdays, Alicia and her friend Amberly (below) go to an orphanage to spend time with the girls.

This is Amberly in front of the girls

Alicia, Leah, Sara and Sara (all girls from our school) and Nadia. Nadia taught the group of us how to make Ukrainian traditional egg art, pysanky. It was an interesting lesson of Ukrainian culture.


Pysanky, our final product

Saturday, September 08, 2007

What We've Been Doing

School started again on Sept 3rd. It was good to be back on a schedule again. I am also ready to buckle in and learn a lot more Russian. We have a new class time, noon, and a new teacher named Irina. She's great; we do miss our other teacher though. Please pray for her as she cares for her husband.

Just before class started, we had a picnic in the "forest" near our apt with a new missionary couple to the country named the Hornes. We cooked chicken and veggies over some sort of burnt wood chips that Ollie bought at the store. It turned out great.








Also before school started we traveled to a town named Yagatine with our friend and the preacher from our church Sergui. He and his wife Larissa recently moved there from Kiev. He has been remodeling it and we went to help.






Larissa had me sewing curtains. I told her I had no idea what I was doing but she trusted me anyway.



Sergui and Anya with Lilly

Last week I met with a missionary named Mandy Smith to visit a children's rehabilitation center for street kids that she and her husband are now directing. She took me on a tour of the center and I got to meet some of the kids. She is looking for volunteers to work with the kids in whatever ways we are gifted! It's a great opportunity for me to really get involved in some kids' lives under a christian director. I am also praying about how much to be involved in the orphange I visited earlier this year.

Yesterday, Brett and I missed school to go to a friend's wedding. He is an American we know from our school and his wife is Ukrainian. They asked me to be their wedding photographer! I was nervous and excited to do this for them. This is the first time I was The Photographer; I've usually only been a pre-wedding photographer for fun.
The day began around noon for us once we found the right building. The ceremony was performed at cultural center by their Ukrainian preacher.








Next we went to the courthouse for paper signing, picture taking, and another ceremony. All Ukrainian couples have to come to the courthouse for the ceremony there, so John and Sasha had a scheduled appt. among all the other couples there that day. It was kind of chaotic with all the limos and bridal parties coming in and out of the courthouse. There happened to be a famous Ukrainian actress there in the wedding party of her daughter. The whole day was a new cultural experience for Brett and I.



Finally, we went to a restaurant for the rest of the evening. Here is Brett with some of our friends.




Besides wedding cake and a 4 course meal, many games were played like this one with shaving cream, a razor and a balloon. I used shaving cream to draw Brett's face, then I used the blunt side of a razor to shave off the beard I drew, with my eyes shut! It was a lot of fun.





This is Sunday morning a few weeks ago




Dinners at our church usually include lots of fruit and lots of sweets!

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Ternopil


Alicia and me in front of the KGB building in Ternopil.
(Notice we already have our jackets on... we were wearing them July 31. )


This is me and Valya on a boat on the lake in Ternopil, Alicia photograph credit.
Valya and Volodya took really good care of us during our stay. They are the parents of our good friend Anya. Valya fed us very well up until we left on the marshrutka which she flagged down and passed off some muffins (apples and currants).


This is after our Bible study Wednesday evening at the Loposhyak home (and garden).
Micola is on the the left and Volodya on the right.


Here is Alicia and Miroslava in the most beautiful home garden we have seen in Ukraine.



Grapes, apples, wild strawberries, peppers, those things I don't know the name of, eggplant, mint, and a wonderful array of flowers.


The grapes should be ready in September.

Enough about gardens, we came for the VBS... and it was GREAT!
Everyone was speaking Ukrainian which made Alicia and my Russian-speaking skills a little crippled. I do prefer Ukrainian pronunciation better: phonetically, the letters simply are what they are; Russian has a secret emphasis code that is kept secret to foreigners. This may or may not be verifiable.

Enough about language fun, let me show you some pictures from the week:


The day's activities lasted from ten through about two. We did singing and a puppet skit, then Bible class, then lunch, then crafts, then sports, then a final assembly where we sang again.

A people bridge of fun and laughter

Lilly must be the most popular dog in Ukraine. When Alicia was bringing her from the States, she talked about how many "connections" it was going to make with people. She has been proven right every time she goes outside with her. Lilly has started many conversations between Alicia and people in the street.

After a week of fun-tivities, on Saturday, many of the kids brought their parents for a special program. The volunteers put a full production of the puppet show they had shown in parts during the week; then the children sang for the parents choir-style the songs they had learned during the week. After that, all the workers from the church got together and ate homemade pizza. That and a few games of Phase 10 made it a wonderful day.

We boarded the marshrutka late Tuesday and arrived in Kiev in time to ride the metro home before they closed it down for the night. The church in Ternopil will soon be planning a song-fest for churches of Christ in western Ukraine.