Jessie and Teresa Beal are in Krakow, Poland this week working on obtaining new visas. Even though they both have time remaining on their visas the new Ukrainian registation laws compel them to change their visas in order to register in this country.  The Beals ran into some hostility and confontation by the consulate workers. They are making it very hard to get the type of visas which are needed.  Please pray for a beneficial and God-honoring resolution to this situation.  I, once again, am out in the village with Cassia and Alexandria. Today’s task was to give all the house pets baths. The cats weren’t as hard as the dog.

Getting Jack into the tub was the hardest part of the task.

This past week I took a train ride up to Fastiv and spent some time ministering with the Ireland family and their churches in the village of Pyatigory. We held three days of children’s evengelism during the day and an evening service each night for everyone. The first day started out slowly, with only a handful of children, but by the third day we were blessed to have 20 children in attendance. Two of the boys that came to the day services also returned to watch the evening films and Mike Ireland Jr. had an opportunity to talk in length with these boys abou t their salvation. Getting together with the Irelands is always a great time of fellowship and encouragement.

Prep work for the week included erecting the tent and spreading the word about the meetings.

Officer Ireland and Slava did a great job as passport control inspectors as the children checked in each day and obatained their “entrance visas” for the country we were to visit.

Hadassah Jensen, Carissa’s friend from college was visiting during this time and she was a blessing as she used her talents to teach a couple of lessons during these three days. Our good friend Nina interpreted for her.

I had an opportunity to spend some time with friends from L’viv whose family live in Pyatigory. Isn’t Ruslan and Tanya’s daughter Alexandria just adorable?

The first evening we were in the village God blessed us with a picture-worthy sunset.

I spent the last couple days out in the village with the Beals, and yesterday Cassia, Alexandria and I packed a picnic lunch and headed out for a walk in the woods. We found a great spot just on the outskirts of the forest where we put our blanket down, ate lunch, then laid back and enjoyed God’s beautiful creation. After gazing at the clouds for a while we looked around and found several raspberry bushes just bursting with berries. We picked what we could and then moved a little farther down the path and found more, and then more, and still more. When we got home we had enough berries to make several small raspberry tarts in heart-shaped tins. Mmm-mm.

What a beautiful day for a picnic

Thank you, Lord for the special blessing

I had a busy 4th of July weekend, as I was invited to 2 separate picnics. It was a blessing that I didn’t have to choose between which one to attend, since one was on Friday and the other on Saturday.  Jessie met the ETO team at the Steele’s apartment Friday morning and drove us out to his house in the village of Citiheeve.   Jessie grilled some delicious shashlik (shishkebobs), and everyone’s culinary contributions were well received. We had a blessed time of singing hymns and patriotic songs, and after a rousing game of Catch Phrase it was time for the dessert. Teresa made one of her spectacular cakes (I’ve never eaten one I didn’t like) and I was still able to find some strawberries and rhubarb at the market, so I made the pie I remember my grandmother making when I was a child.  It rained on and off most of the day, but by early evening it had cleared up and was very pleasant.

Bryan is excited that his team won a round of Catch Phrase

Teresa's delicious patriotic cake

Saturday morning I headed out to the village of Karachaniv where the Bardwell family lives.  The place was already abuzz with preparation of food and last minute cleaning.  After an cloudburst while the meat was cooking the sun came out and it was quite sunny and hot.  Again the food was delicious and the fellowship enjoyable. There were 14 children running around, mostly boys as opposed to just 4 girls the day before, so the day had a whole different energy.  Kostya helped inflate and fill the kiddie pool I brought and it was a great way to cool off.   The skies again darkened and the wind blew, but the storm passed over without dumping on us.

Zoie protects the sausage from getting doused

All-American kids in Ukraine

fellowship of the saints

staying cool in the pool

I spent several hours today writing students in response to comments or questions they sent us in their correspondence lessons. We have one student who finished all current lessons in bulk because he was moving away and wanted to have the corrected lessons with him to study. Each lesson he returned also had several questions an/or comments about the topic of the lesson. I am little by little answering these via e-mail, and I ask you to pray that I have the wisdom and understanding to respond to him with firm biblical answers with the right amount of grace and sensitivity to his spiritual needs. I don’t believe he is saved, and I had the opportunity today to show him through scripture that salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. Pray for Bogdan’s salvation if you would. Thanks.

Vacation Bible School 2009 has come and gone, and it has been an event-filled week. The theme of the week was “Passport to Summer Adventure”.  Each day’s events centered around a particular country and the kids were issued a passport,  complete with photo. Our spiritual focus was on the Word of God and the fact that “the Bible is our road map in life”.  The lessons each day followed the idea that the Bible shows us…the way to heaven, how to fight against the Devil, how to make good decisions, how to be a good friend.  Although every child did not attend each day, we had 36 different children throughout the week, for which we praise the Lord. Though there were no official “professions of faith” the seed was sown and watered, and we are confident that the Word of God will not return void.

Each child gets a passport and receives his daily entrance visa. The first day there his photo is taken and added. There is a time each day to recite the Bible verse and get special stamps for bringing friends, knowing a couple facts about each country we visit, etc.

The places we visited were Africa, America, Mexico, Australia, and the Orient.  The kids had a good time with the relays and games. They especially enjoyed the pinata.

The story of missionary Hudson Taylor fit in perfectly with our theme for the week, and Edgar told a portion of the  story each day. Last year I finished the Ukrainian translation of the CEF story, and it was a blessing to be able to use it  in my ministry.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the CMO men joined us.  Nathan drew as Brian preached a solid salvation message on Tuesday, and Wednesday the guys put on a skit about Daniel and the lions’ den.

The weather was good most of the week, but Wednesday we got rain on. Praise the Lord we were close to the church, and we finished the activities there.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalms 118:105″ ** was heard each day, and by the 2nd or 3rd day most kids had it memorized. Each day started with prayer and ended with prayer and a big “Aaaaaa-men!”  (**The Ukrainian Bible ordered the chapters in Psalms differently, and our 119 is 118 in their Bible.)

I was thrilled today when I got to Kids’ Club and found a good group of kids already there. By the time we finished playing the games 15 had showed up. That is well above the 3 we usually have. We gave them a preview of next week’s Vacation Bible School and they seemed very interested. Which leads me to remind you all to pray for us next week and our outreach ministry. The theme of the week is “Passport to summer adventure”, and we will be circling the globe and “touring” other countries as we realizing that the Bible is our “road map for life”. I hope to have lots of pictures and stories throughout the week. Here are a few pics from today’s club.

Ruslan and Edgar

Ruslan is the director of the kids’ club and is very talented in many aspects of ministry. It is a blessing to work with someone who has a heart for the children and giving them the gospel. Edgar is also part of the ministry and learned English by hanging around Americans. He is a great help to me when I need someone to translate, and he also does a great job with the kids.

snack time

Since we didn’t have our usual ETO get-together at the Beal’s house this week I decided to visit the church I had previously been a part of. It was a blessing to see the folks still faithfully attending services and happy in the Lord. Brother Ken was back after a short visit to the states, and we sang hymns to the accompaniment of Orist’s accordian. The weather was pleasantly cool after an earlier shower, so three of the ladies and I decided to walk home. It was a great time of fellowship, and good exercise too.

For the last 3 Saturdays I had the opportunity to teach the Perlina Christian Pre-school music class. This past week I demonstrated my french horn for them and gave them each a chance to try to play it. We also made some music on home-made instruments, which they all enjoyed shaking and banging.

One of the areas in which God has allowed me to minister is in helping missionary families with child-care needs. In the last 2 months I have stayed with children 3 times while their parents have gone out of town for one reason or another. I enjoy the time I spend with the kids and I appreciate the opportunities to sharpen my “parenting skills”. I am including just a few pictures of the time I spent with the Steele girls and Bagwell boys. I already blogged my the time I stayed with the Beals.

Two happy little girls

Out for a walk with Abby and Rebekah.  It was fun to watch a determined Abigail  push the stroller down the sidewalk.

A few weeks later Tim and Jennifer Bagwell celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary with some time in Budapest Hungary. The family lives in the village of  Sokilniki, just outside of L’viv.

Benjamin preaches for Sunday's home Bible study

We had some good weather to enjoy, and Friday the McClane family came over for a while. The boys loved riding their bikes and scooters on the road. A trip to McDonald’s and jumping on the inflatable slide at the local park was a great way to spend our Saturday.