Maidan Square, Kiev, Ukraine

Prayer Need!

Hey guys, we really need your prayers today. Our student who is still waiting for her visa has used up her time in Switzerland and is now in England trying to apply for her Bosnian visa at the Embassy there. (Ukraine doesn't have a Bosnian Embassy otherwise she would be here with us trying to apply.) The Bosnian Embassy in England said they would give her the multi-entry visa that she needs but there is still one more hurdle. What it comes down to is that we need immense favor and understanding from the official that she is going to see. I think if she were still in Switzerland it would have been issued by now because that official has seen the ordeal that she has gone though, but now we are starting from scratch with someone new. We really, really would appreciate your prayers, and hopefully I'll be able to update again tomorrow.

Ukraine or Bust

It's midnight here in Ukraine and I sit quietly as the kids sleep near by. I sit and wait for my husband to return from the airport with our students.  He's been on the road since 7am and it's possible that he won't be back for another three hours.

So much has gone into this moment.  Hours and hours of intercessory prayer, followed by watching the students mouths drop as the news reports came pouring in.  Pestering our friends with emails asking, "Is it still safe to come?"  Stomach viruses on travel days. Even so much as the building that provides the visa paperwork that our South African student needs, being set on fire and shut down indefinitely, only to have it miraculously granted in a day, from a completely different source! 

I know I'm long over due for an update.  The last 12 weeks have been the most unbelievable roller coaster.  Things have been changing so quickly and drastically that I haven't known what to write.  Let's just say that we're no longer going to Romania and had to re plan an entire month's worth of outreach in three days. 

Things are still very intense at the moment...our South African student is still in Switzerland waiting for her Bosnian visa to come through.  We need another miracle.  She has been to the Embassy three times now.  It's a very costly, four hour trip each way.  Every time she's there the official says come back with this paperwork, so we send for it...from Sarajevo...and each time he says he won't accept it.  The woman we will be renting from has even visited the Office of Foreign Affairs in Sarajevo for us.  They've told her that yes, this is the paperwork it's ok, but probably won't be accepted.

If I no longer have any hair on my head next time you see me you'll know why.  Oh the frustration!

God is good though, and if He can make the paperwork for the Ukrainian visa basically appear out of thin air, then I'm sure we will have our student by our side for Bosnia!  Please be in prayer that this last round of paperwork will come in from Bosnia faster than before and that she'll be on a plane to meet us with the visa in hand by this time next week.

It's already been quite a journey and we're only getting started.  Adam and I will have the students on outreach for the next 14 weeks!  Ukraine is first up and what a time it's going to be!!!  The bulk of our work will be with orphans.  When we're not at the orphanages we'll help with English club, work with those who are homeless and addicts, do renovations on the transition home, and hopefully be able to work with the countless families who are fleeing Crimea and coming to our city. 

Now, I know there are people who think we're crazy for coming but I have to say...our friends are here and we love them! We had to come and help them as they are going through this.  That's what missionaries do, that what friends do.  To see the look on the faces of people as they say, "You have no idea how many teams have cancelled on us! We are SO happy you're here!" That makes it all worth it. Our friends, John and Fritha Washington,  are a very long way from home too, with a two year old, another one on the way, and a teenage orphan girl living in their transition home.  It's funny because I came on here to write the update and ended up reading their blog first.  Fritha, I love her, she just tells it like it is.  This is her latest post, Punching Fear in the Face.  She's English and has an English Lit degree, trust me, it's worth it!





 

Refugee Run

Galvanizing Support for Syria

“You cannot understand a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes”.

This weekend our students will have the privledge of doing just that.  We will be taking part in the Davos 2014 Refugee Run hosted by Crossroads Foundation.  This is not a marathon as the name might suggest, this a simulation of what refugees go through as they are torn from their homeland.

Sometimes, when you ask the Lord for his heart for people there is only one way to truly understand it.

www.refugee-run.org

Next week the World Economic Forum will descend on our tiny mountain village. People across the specturm from: Kofi Annan, Saudi Prince Al Saud, British Prime Minister David Cameron, all the way to people like Bono and Matt Damon will come to discuss how to pull the world out of a crisis-fear driven cycle of functioning. Our students will be taking to the streets!  Please be in prayer for them as you never know whose path they might cross!

Here's the forum's website for anyone interested in learning more about who will be attending and the specific topics they'll be discussing.

 http://www.weforum.org

Our First Update!!!

Our neighbors!  The cows...not the kids, those are ours!

It's been almost a month since we left and all I can say is, WOW!

What a journey this has been.  I'm amazed by how much life you can fit into such a short time.  The travel, the family, the joy, the melt downs.  All of it.

This is life.  That's what Adam and I keep telling each other.

It started when we left Pennsylvania in what was supposed to be a blizzard.  For us, the roads were mostly dry and we hardly saw a flurry.   After we made it to my aunt's in Long Island, the storm stormed on.  By the time we woke up the next morning it had all melted and we flew out, without issue.  At JFK, our airline let us on with several severely overweight bags at no extra cost.  The flight was amazing, and we now have a new favorite airline.  To say that God is good just doesn't do His epic-ness justice!  

We landed in Germany the morning of December 16th, along with my nephew who flew with us, and my sister and brother-in-law who flew in from South Dakota.  My parents had been waiting for this for a VERY long time and had every minute jam packed with activity.  (For those who don't know, my father is stationed in Germany with the military. That's why we started off there.)  We were able to celebrate my father's birthday with him, as well as have a really nice family Christmas.

The entire family left Germany on the morning of December 27th, to accompany us to Switzerland.  Overall I think it took us about 8 1/2 hours to get to YWAM, Davos.  We were praying SO hard as we approached the Swiss border.  If the guards feel like it, they can make crossing the border very exhausting.   As we pulled up, the guard just kind of looked at us like, "what are you doing, why are you stopping," and he just waved us through!

Oh, how the stress and the anxiety, and all of the anticipation that we had been carrying for the last . . . forever, completely melted away.  

Something happens when you cross the border from Austria into Switzerland.  Suddenly, the Alps rise up around you to welcome you into their embrace and the sunlight pours in between the peaks for the most spectacular show of Alpen-glow.  You stop and take notice of how proud God is of what He's created and how much He likes to show it off.

We had done the drive from Germany into Switzerland two summers before when we helped my Dad settle into his new post.  After we arrived back in the States, Adam and I realized the Lord had given that drive to us as a gift.
         
    (You see, even though we are in an sweet location for missionaries, it's still an excruciating thing to leave everything you love, your family, friends, national identity...everything you've ever known as home.  Discouragement was a hard thing to fight, especially when navigating stuff like buying life insurance because we'll be going to some sketchy places on outreach and the possible consequences of that.)

Time after time, when discouragement would hit I would put on my victory song and practice crossing the border into Switzerland and how that would feel.  I would practice doing that stunning drive in my mind the way Coach Jimmy Valvano would have his team practice cutting down the net.

Let me tell you, victory is sweet and nothing pleases the Father's heart more than seeing His children's dreams come true.

After we crossed the Swiss border we put on our victory song, breathed the crisp mountain air and celebrated with God.

For those out there who have been dreaming dreams, DON'T STOP!  The only thing separating those dreams from reality is tenacity, keep going.  Never let failure be an option.

After we arrived, my cousin who is doing a study abroad program, joined us.  While my family enjoyed local outtings like skiing and miles-long downhill sledding courses, Adam and I, along with the other staff got the building ready to receive the students.  I say that in love and I do have to say thank you to my family who did spend tons of time watching the kids and helping us to have a smooth transition.

On Saturday, January 4th, the students arrived from Canada, Germany, the French speaking part of Switzerland and South Africa.  The students first week was jam packed with community living guidelines and staff teachings.  Adam taught about personal devotions, and I taught about worship and intercession.  We were also responsible for organizing and running Commitment Night, that's where we charge the students to take this time seriously and go deeper with God.

Through out the course of the school Adam will be running City Impact, it's essentially relationship building and evangelism in Davos, and I will be heading up the worship and intercession times.  In between these times we will be sitting in on lectures, helping with the daily running of the school and planning a 14 week outreach to Eastern Europe.  In mid-March we'll be leading the outreach to Ukraine, Romania and Bosnia.  We're super excited about outreach!

Any minute now, the first guest speaker is due arrive.  The students are about to have their world rocked!  It's such a privilege to be a part of this life transforming process.

"It is really important that you understand your sense of value to the Lord, why He adores you, why He loves you, why He is totally committed to your story and your journey, and why He got rid of all the things that would stop you from knowing Him. He put it all on Jesus so that when Jesus died you died, and so to come into the Kingdom you have to be born again. That means you are not born into a place of sin again like you were the first time, you are actually born again into a place of righteousness." 

From FULLNESS NOW