St. Nikolai Day

Today Ukraine celebrated St. Nikolai Day, and we spent the evening at Number 9 Boarding School. Our time there was very special for me. It all began with Adam and I going to the school to watch the festive program the kids were to put on. The weather was a fright with freezing rain soaking our coats as we walked from the bus stop to the school. Right in the entrance we were greeted by two of the orphanage girls and we proceeded up to the 4th floor where all the kids were assembled in the concert hall. As we entered the room, it seemed as though all 160 or so faces were looking our way with smiles from ear to ear. I wish I could have stood there and took it in for what it was. I felt truly accepted. As I made my way down the isle, dozens of hands stretched out towards me to shake them, and as I grasped them one by one (and sometimes two at a time), a few kids snuck in and gave hugs full of excitement, as if they hadn't seen us for years. This type of greeting is very common at the boarding school (in small doses at a time by the little kids), but today it was so amazing to have this kind of welcome from so many kids all at one time! Seriously, I felt like a celebrity (in the best way possible).

So we made our ways to our seats and soon enough the concert began. As usual it was a great mix of dancing, poetry reciting, and singing done by the VERY talented kids of this boarding school.

The concert band equipped with instruments donated from Canadians

It was loud, and it was fun!

The kids were so great!

At the end of the concert we were blown away by something we never saw coming! The director of the orphanage stood at center stage and took his time to thank the guests who had come to the concert and how they have contributed to the lives of the kids. Other than us, there were three men in particular - one whose company sponsors the boarding school, another who coaches the boys at soccer, and another who coaches the wrestling program with the girls. The director happily motioned to the Christmas tree in the corner and pointed out the boxes and boxes of candies and Mandarin oranges that these men had brought with them for the kids, and spoke of how the kids should be thankful. We seriously thought that is where he would stop and dismiss everyone. But that's when he took a few steps towards Adam, Tanya, Vika and I, and spoke at length of all that our ministry does for the children at the boarding school. He apologized for seeming like a mean guy over the years (and reassured us he loves us), and spoke so many words of gratitude that I cannot recall them all. In particular, he mentioned the big, amazing positive changes in the kids' lives due to our ministry's influence. For that he was most thankful. When he was done everyone gave an applause for us! We were all dumbfounded. This man (as he himself mentioned) is a rather serious, and sometimes intimidating man!! I am sure my mouth was stuck open in shock. :) I typically hate being recognized for the deeds we do for the kids because it's all for God. But today I felt it was God showing us that we are doing something right. I took great comfort in that, and am most grateful that our relations at Number 9 are so good!!

The director speaking to the kids

Your donations, and your prayer support have helped these kids in so many ways, and we are ALL so thankful! Your help has given these kids the opportunity to be better equipped for school, sports, the arts, and for life...whether it be from help by purchasing supplies, or from giving opportunities to the kids to study in extra-curricular activities and lessons, or even by paying for travel costs for kids to visit other places in Ukraine on excursions. Their thanks, and their smiles, really are for you. Thank you so much for being with us on our journey as we strive to do our part in brightening up the lives of these kids through the love of Christ. It really does pay off in ways you can't imagine.

Wrestling Championship!

The past two days we have spent with our jaws to the floor while we had the amazing opportunity to watch the kids from Number 9 Boarding School in Krivoy Rog participate in a provincial wrestling championship! Number 9 has an in-depth wrestling program that they put about a third of their kids through. Oddly enough, the majority of the kids put in their program are girls ranging from 8-16 years old. Recently boys were added to the program. There are about a dozen of them, all around 12 years old. The kids train 3 times each day (except weekends) with a professional Ukrainian national trainer who dedicates much of his time to these kids.

At the championship, not one boy ranked in the top three of any weight category, while the girls stole the show with at least one girl placing in almost every weight category!! As I sat and watched in particular the 10 year old kids fight, I was astonished at how they lost their "cute and cuddly" side and traded it in for a "lean, mean fighting machine" side! Any of these kids could own me on the mat. I am not joking!! :) It was really cool to see how serious these kids are about their hobby of wrestling, and how much effort they put into it. Over the past couple years our ministry has been blessed with the opportunity to donate funds to help out these kids with new wrestling mats and other equipment, and to fund travel costs for the kids to be able to travel to championships in other parts of the country. One girl named Tanya is the current champion of Ukraine. She also placed 2nd in Europe for her weight class. I attached a video of her fight at the championship. Tanya is the one in blue.




In the end there were many smiles of winners, and many tears of those who didn't make the mark, but the one thing that stood out to me most was that these kids have some pretty cool opportunities in their daily lives. They are fortunate to have people who care about seeing them succeed.

Vlada here placed first in her weight division. The day before, she told me that she wouldn't place at all. I told her, "Just try your best. You'll do just fine."

Back in Ukraine

Hello everyone. For those who don't already know, I am safely back in Ukraine. I caught an early morning bus to Odessa from Chisinau and once again, a friendly neighborhood border guard pulled me off of the bus while we were going through the Ukrainian checkpoint. He asks me the same question as the officer did when I left Ukraine: "Are you aware of how long you can stay in Ukraine at a time?"    "Yes," I said, "90 days! But I have a visa."     "No, you don't have any visa," the guard insisted.     "Yes, it's right in there, and it's active."     So he flips through the pages to find my current, ACTIVE, visa. He takes it over to the desk, stamps it, then hands it back to me. "My bad," he said, "Please return to your bus."

The rest of the trip was uneventful. I had a three hour layover in Odessa and decided to take a stroll downtown. It was cold out, and being that I had no scarf or toque or heavy jacket for that matter, I kinda froze. So for lunch I stopped in at a lovely restaurant called "Kompot". There I had a big steamy bowl of borsch soup and some chicken with noodles. How tasty! On the bus ride from Odessa to Krivoy Rog, I was on a double-decker bus with a full second floor. It was nice! Every town we drove through, all the people craned their necks or pointed at such a bus. It was cool. Thank you so much to all who were praying for a safe trip! Without your prayers I don't know what would have happened! :)

One bit of news I have is that I will need to soon renew my passport, and therefore apply for a new visa in Ukraine by January 7. So, this month I will be going to Kiev for a new passport, and then after New Year's, if all goes well, I will be traveling to Moscow, Russia to process my visa there...and to sight-see of course!! I've always wanted to see Russia, and what better time than to visit in the cold of winter! True Russia! :) Please pray that my application for documents, etc will go smoothly.

Another bit of news: as of the other day, there are currently 2 families from Pennsylvania here adopting kids from one of the orphanages we work with!! Praise God! In the next 2 months, there will be several more! God is so good!!

In Moldova!

Well, as I must do every 90 days while I live here in Ukraine, I have left the country for a few days in order to get a stamp in my passport that qualifies as "registration". So, I took the 7:15am bus out of Krivoy Rog, and arrived in Odessa at 4:00pm! The bus had a VERY poor heater, and so my feet were frozen for the whole length of the trip. It was SO LONG!! So when I got to the bus depot in Odessa, I immediately went to the ticket counter to purchase the ticket for the second half of my trip to Chisinau, Moldova. I asked the lady there if I could get on the soonest bus that AVOIDED the disputed state of Prinistrovia (a militant separist state in Moldova that is run by a very real Soviet government). She told me that the only bus like that to leave that day would leave at 10:15pm and arrive in Chisinau at 3:00am!! This meant 6 hours of waiting time in Odessa, and then a 5 hour bus ride into the night! Being that I had no other choice, I took the ticket.

It didn't take long for the bus to reach the border. The difference here is that when you cross the border, you first go through an "exit customs check" (in this case Ukrainian), and then an "entrance customs check" (in this case the Moldovan.) So, a customs guard came onto the bus and took all our passports and took them into the office to check and stamp. Sure enough, I get summoned into the office to be questioned. First off they ask me if I know the rules of how long I can stay in country before needing registration or before having to leave the country (which is my case). I told them it was 3 months, and that very day came to 3 months, so I thought I was technically safe. Well, they corrected me and said the rule is 90 days. My 3 months added up to 92 days. "You must pay a fine no lower than the equivilant of $50," the guard said. Then he seemed to threaten to deport me for a while. Perhaps it was only talk to scare me. I still don't know. But then he went on to ask what I do in Ukraine. I told him of our ministry, that I am a missionary, and that we help the children in the orphanages. The three guards in the room looked at one another and spoke in hushed tones. "He helps our children!" I heard one say. The lead officer then turns to me. "You're forgiven," he said, "You can return to your bus." I was a bit dumbfounded. I stared at him with a bit of shock. "You can go," another guard repeated, this time in English. I finally processed in my head what was going on. "Thank you so much," I said as I turned and left the room.

Entering Moldova was no problem. I got to Chisinau at 4:30am and hired a taxi to take me to some missionary friends' apartment. Since being here I have made several friends with the American missionaries here in town. Their ministry is very amazing, and I have great admiration for their work. I honestly feel at home here, and that they have been my friends for a long, long time. Yesterday one of the girls here brought in a stray kitten from outside. They went out and bought flea killer and we operated on the cat. I helped! We removed some 50 fleas off the poor thing, and she is looking so much better! Who would have thought I would come to Ukraine to clean a cat of fleas!

I will head on back to Ukraine tomorrow. I just hope and pray that the border guards don't give me trouble on the way back in. :)

Welcome to my blog!

Hey everyone. After spending 3.5 years here in Ukraine working with orphaned children, I think it's about time that I created a blog. Here you can read about my encounters with God, and all that He shows me in my daily walk in this foreign land as I strive to do His will and look after His children. I hope to post on here frequently, so please check here often.