Today is Sunday. Happy Fathers Day to all you daddy's out there!
This morning in church our team sang "Mighty to Save" and "I Will Rise". Kimmi played the guitar and did an awesome job. Danny and Brian shared a testimony between songs and did an awesome job as well. One of our translators, Olga, sang a beautiful duet and also read a poem during the service. She did great!
After church we went home to eat lunch and rest. Alyona and the bus came to pick us up so that we could visit a farm. The farm is used to help support an orphanage and shelter. Tolik and his family go to this church and his family works hard on the farm. It was fun walking around looking at the pigs and the baby pigs and chickens. We ate fresh apricots and picked strawberries from the garden. We had a great time fellowshipping with Tolik and Slavik's parents. They are the sweetest people.
We're now at McDonalds (obviously since we're on the internet) and we'll leave soon to go play volley ball with the youth group at the church we went to this morning. After volley ball we will sing and worship together in the youth room. Most of the youth are college age and we had fun doing this with them last year.
Tomorrow we are hoping and praying that we can go to Fontanka to teach the boys who live there. We will sing, tell the Bible stories, do crafts, and play games. The director hasn't agreed to this yet but we are hoping he will. If all goes well, we will finish at Fontanka and go home for lunch. The team will head to Camp Viktoria for the evening. Most likely we will not get to have an organized teaching time. Our plan is to have small groups around the campus and talk and do crafts. I know God will bless this time with the kids and seeds will be planted.
God is good and we know His plans are perfect. We will go where He leads and He will be glorified. God is good....all the time.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
the village
What a week we had in the little village. It felt like we were back in the 1930's. It was quiet, slow paced, peaceful and beautiful. We stayed in an orphange but it was a different building than the orphans stayed in. If I understand correctly, there are usually orphans in the building we stayed in. They go to a family members home in the summer.
We walked everywhere we needed to go. The dining room was a 10 minute walk and we ate every meal there. The food was very different but it was good and filling. We thank God for providing. The park that we did our programs at was at least 15 minutes away.
The first night we arrived, we walked through the village with balloons and a tiger costume to invite all the village kids to the park. We arrived at the park Monday morning after breakfast and kids followed us down the road. There were school classes there already and they joined us in our groups until it was time for them to leave with their class.
Each American and translator teamed up and to have their own group of kids. We had 7 groups and lots of kids.
In the mornings we would teach the kids songs in Russian and in English. We played games and did activities. We left at 12:45 each day to walk back to our orphanage for lunch. Slavik would tell the kids what color to wear each day. Monday was red day. The kids were told that we would return at 5:00 and it was so very cool to walk to the park and see a sea of red in the park.
From 5:00 to 6:45 we did more of a VBS type program. We sang songs again and had our large group Bible story and then we broke up into our smaller groups to talk about the story and do a craft.
Each of us LOVED the kids in our group. I'm sure the families of the American team members will hear story after story about the kids they met. It is so neat to watch relationships form and to watch the kids pour themselves into the kids.
By the way. This team is incredible. We never have to ask them to do a thing. When something needs to be done, they jump in and do it. This is a hard working group of Ukrainians and Americans.
We've never been able to spend so much time with our translators in the past...we haven't stayed in the same place with them before and it was awesome spending so much time together. We had so much fellowship time together. Most nights we spent time worshipping together. One of my favorite sounds in the world is hearing English, Russian, and Ukrainian singing as we sang praises to the Lord together. We spent time singing and praying together.
There is so much more I can write but no one likes reading a long blog.
We returned safe and sound back "home" today and ate PIZZA as soon as we could (thanks Igor!!!). Then is was off to McDonalds (where we are right now) so we could e-mail family and update the blog. Oh, and of course, eat icecream and french fries.
Thank you for your continued prayers. Please keep them up. Brian was very sick one day and we need to pray that he wasn't contagious.
Families...your kids are great!!!!!! They are being used in a mighty way and giving every thing they have...physically and spiritually.
We walked everywhere we needed to go. The dining room was a 10 minute walk and we ate every meal there. The food was very different but it was good and filling. We thank God for providing. The park that we did our programs at was at least 15 minutes away.
The first night we arrived, we walked through the village with balloons and a tiger costume to invite all the village kids to the park. We arrived at the park Monday morning after breakfast and kids followed us down the road. There were school classes there already and they joined us in our groups until it was time for them to leave with their class.
Each American and translator teamed up and to have their own group of kids. We had 7 groups and lots of kids.
In the mornings we would teach the kids songs in Russian and in English. We played games and did activities. We left at 12:45 each day to walk back to our orphanage for lunch. Slavik would tell the kids what color to wear each day. Monday was red day. The kids were told that we would return at 5:00 and it was so very cool to walk to the park and see a sea of red in the park.
From 5:00 to 6:45 we did more of a VBS type program. We sang songs again and had our large group Bible story and then we broke up into our smaller groups to talk about the story and do a craft.
Each of us LOVED the kids in our group. I'm sure the families of the American team members will hear story after story about the kids they met. It is so neat to watch relationships form and to watch the kids pour themselves into the kids.
By the way. This team is incredible. We never have to ask them to do a thing. When something needs to be done, they jump in and do it. This is a hard working group of Ukrainians and Americans.
We've never been able to spend so much time with our translators in the past...we haven't stayed in the same place with them before and it was awesome spending so much time together. We had so much fellowship time together. Most nights we spent time worshipping together. One of my favorite sounds in the world is hearing English, Russian, and Ukrainian singing as we sang praises to the Lord together. We spent time singing and praying together.
There is so much more I can write but no one likes reading a long blog.
We returned safe and sound back "home" today and ate PIZZA as soon as we could (thanks Igor!!!). Then is was off to McDonalds (where we are right now) so we could e-mail family and update the blog. Oh, and of course, eat icecream and french fries.
Thank you for your continued prayers. Please keep them up. Brian was very sick one day and we need to pray that he wasn't contagious.
Families...your kids are great!!!!!! They are being used in a mighty way and giving every thing they have...physically and spiritually.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Time with our kids!
We are having a great time with our kids. Yesterday we met the kids at the Black Sea. Many of them ran to the van to meet us and we had a sweet reunion. The kids led us to the water to watch them swim and dive and play in the water. Almost all the American teenagers jumped in from the high bridge. It is at least 15 feet high. The kids love jumping in from here and they love that the Americans do it too. I told Igor that if he would jump in, I would too. I'm safe.
Our new team members jumped right in (some from the bridge) but they jumped right in and made friends with the kids. They all already have a large group that have claimed them as "their own". It is awesome seeing our new kids and it is awesome watching the new team members fall instantly in love with the kids.
We spent the morning this morning pulling weeds at the House of Hope. I'll talk more about the house later...time is very short on the internet tonight.
The afternoon and evening was spent with the kids at Camp Viktoria. We brought supplies for bracelets and there were groups split up all over camp making bracelets.
Tomorrow we will go to church and head to the village to minister at the orphanage there. There are about 30 orphans. We will take the orphans to a park in the village and the kids in the village will join us. Pray that we will be able to lead many of the kids to Jesus. Maybe even the parents who will most likely be watching from the side lines.
I hope this little blog makes some sort of since. We have to go and I don't get to proof read.
Love ya'll. Thanks for your prayers! We feel them. Everyone is doing wonderfully!!!
Our new team members jumped right in (some from the bridge) but they jumped right in and made friends with the kids. They all already have a large group that have claimed them as "their own". It is awesome seeing our new kids and it is awesome watching the new team members fall instantly in love with the kids.
We spent the morning this morning pulling weeds at the House of Hope. I'll talk more about the house later...time is very short on the internet tonight.
The afternoon and evening was spent with the kids at Camp Viktoria. We brought supplies for bracelets and there were groups split up all over camp making bracelets.
Tomorrow we will go to church and head to the village to minister at the orphanage there. There are about 30 orphans. We will take the orphans to a park in the village and the kids in the village will join us. Pray that we will be able to lead many of the kids to Jesus. Maybe even the parents who will most likely be watching from the side lines.
I hope this little blog makes some sort of since. We have to go and I don't get to proof read.
Love ya'll. Thanks for your prayers! We feel them. Everyone is doing wonderfully!!!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
The Team Has Arrived!!
Latest word from the team, via a text message from son Ben with very little detail. But the main thing is they're all there and having the traditional first evening meeting with the translators.
For those of you who don't know about that, there is a "common room" on the second floor of the kindergarten at the top of the stairs. After arriving and getting settled in to the assigned rooms, catching a much-needed shower, and relaxing for a short time, the translators arrive and everyone meets in the common room. Reunions between team members who have made previous trips and translators who have served previously take place with much screaming and hugging....well, at least the girls scream, the boys are a little more reserved. Then everyone is introduced to everyone, and team members and translators seem to somehow decide who is going to be with whom for the rest of the trip. Any translator will translate for any team member when needed, but there seems to be an informal alliance formed that tends to perpetuate itself during the entire visit.
After that all takes place, there is prayer and maybe some singing. In deference to the semi-comatose condition of most of the team due to jet lag and exhaustion, the meeting doesn't go very late. Depending on what the next day's activities entail, necessary preparation is done and then everyone crashes. The beds (cots, really) are definitely sub par by American standards, and would be soundly denounced as injurious to normal humans by the Association For The Support of Healthy Backs, but nobody seems to have difficulty sleeping in them. Just as Benjamin Franklin said, "Hunger is the best sauce", I'd have to say, "Exhaustion makes a bad bed good."
Ben said the team will be going to Camp Victoria tomorrow morning. That's the summer camp (the Ukrainians are BIG on summer camps) where kids from a bunch of orphanages gather and have fun, so it's a conglomeration of kids from a conglomeration of different facilities. It's walking distance from a beach on the Black Sea where the kids, and inevitabily members of the team, go swimming. The kids are absolutely blown away that Americans will swim with them and play with them in the water, even though sometimes it's so cold they end up with blue lips.
I'm also told that Internet access, spotty at best, will be even more difficult during this trip. In the past the team was able to use the computer in the kindergarten in the evenings, but for some reason that isn't going to be easy this year....I do not know why. At any rate, as I receive email updates I will post them to this blog. Pam may also post, but if the connection is poor it is a very slow, difficult thing to do; much easier to send me emails and I'll post.
There are three photos included with this update. They were all taken during the trip two years ago (the last time I went) but they'll give you some idea of what the places look like. One is of the common area, and two are of the beach at the Black Sea.
That's all for now. Pray for the team.
Bert
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
They're Off!!
Pam Defrees asked me to help her with the blog while she's on the trip since sometimes it is difficult to update from Odessa due to poor (slow) Internet connectivity. If that's the case, she'll email me and I'll then add whatever she emails to the blog, so one way or the other we should be able to keep it current.
This morning's send-off went very smooth. Baggage weigh-in in Mrs. McGilvray's classroom, some minor shuffling of stuff from one bag to another, then loading the bags onto the bus, prayer for the trip, quick trip to the airport, unloading, check-in, and that's that! All the months of planning, hard work, and prayer culminated in this beginning. What an exciting time! All those who came for the send-off who had been to Odessa on earlier trips were sad they weren't going, a testimony of how wonderful the experience is.
The team will covet our prayers.....let's just bathe this entire trip in it.
Later,
Bert Neville
Monday, June 8, 2009
It's time to go!!!
Our team has been working hard, planning our trip to the Ukraine. We leave the day after tomorrow! We just can't believe it! We are so excited we can hardly stand it.
We know God is planning something huge this summer. We don't know what all He has planned but we know it's bigger than we can even imagine!
The way God supplied our finances has just blown us away. He has told us over and over again that He is our provider. Out of the 14 people we have on our team, four of them are in my family.
We knew that it would be impossible to raise enough money for the four of us to go but we asked God to do the impossible. My oldest son, Mike (known as Misha in the Ukraine) is not going on this trip. It will be very different with out him. He has gone since the very first trip....before any of the rest of us even thought about going! My husband will be joining us for 10 days, Dana, our 18 year old will be going on her 3rd trip, and our son, Brian, who is 16, will be going with us for the first time. Every check we recieved to help support our trip was so appreciated. As soon as we received a check, I would thank God for it and I would thank Him for using the person who sent it. With every gift, I asked God to multiply it just as He did when He fed the 5,000 men on the hillside. WOW...did He ever answer that prayer. We were only about 1/4 of the way there and we only had one month to raise the rest of the support we needed. We asked God to do the impossible. God arranged one of His cool "divine appointments" and sent a friend to me that I had not seen in a few years. She asked me if I was going back to the Ukraine this summer and I (very excitedly) told her yes. She told me to send her a support letter. A week or two later, she completely blew me away by calling me and telling me that she and her husband felt that God was leading them to financially support the FOUR OF US!!! WOW!!! God is incredible! This family is incredible! I was so excited that God answered our prayers in an even bigger way than we could have ever imagined!
We have 5 brand new people on our team this summer. They are ready to step out of their comfort zone and "drop their nets" and follow where Jesus leads them.
Let me share with you some details about our trip so that you can know what we'll be doing and how you can be praying.
We will arrive in Odessa, Ukraine on June 11th at 2:00 pm. We'll have dinner with our translators and discuss what the next few weeks will be like. We love our translators...they are part of our family so it is always a very big reunion when we get back together again.
The next two days, we'll go to the boys' orphanage that we went to last year, called Fontanka. There are 20-30 boys there. We will also go to Camp Vikotoria to see our sweet kids that we have known for several years now. We will see old friends and make new ones. We will even get to meet some Americans who are there adopting kids that we know and love! These families and I have been keeping touch for a year or two as they have been going through the long, hard (but so worth it) process of bringing their precious children home. Some of their kids are even in pictures from last years' pictures.
This summer will be different than any other. On Sunday, after church, we will head to a little village about 2 hours away from Odessa. There is an orphanage there that is very excited that we are coming. We will actually stay in the orphanage with the kids. The director is willing to give us every morning and evening with the kids to do our Bible stories, songs, crafts, activities, and games. We are looking forward to see what God will do in the orphanage as well as in the village.
On Friday, we will leave the village and head back to Odessa. Saturday we will see the kids at Camp Viktoria and go to the Black Sea with them. The rest of our time in Odessa will be at Fontanka and Camp Viktoria. Please pray that we will be able to have an organized program time at the Camp. We have been welcome to come the last few years and promised this teaching time, but have not been able to teach or do activities there. We still love going there and playing with the kids and spending time with them. God still works through us to show His unconditional love even with out the "planned program". Still, kids were led to the Salvation of Jesus.
We leave Thursday (or Wednesday?....sorry...I don't have the calendar in front of me) to go to Vienna, Austria, where we'll spend a few nights to recover a little and get ready to come back home.
Thank you for caring for orphans and thank you for your prayers.
Oh, and I can't leave with out talking about Lela. Lela is the 84 year old missionary who has served faithfully in the Ukraine since she was 69 years old. She fell a few months ago and broke her hip. She had to return to Florida for surgery and recovery. This trip will not be the same with out her. Everyone loves their Babushka Lela so much and she LOVES LOVES LOVES them with the love of Jesus every second of her life! We love you Babushka and we are praying for you!
We know God is planning something huge this summer. We don't know what all He has planned but we know it's bigger than we can even imagine!
The way God supplied our finances has just blown us away. He has told us over and over again that He is our provider. Out of the 14 people we have on our team, four of them are in my family.
We knew that it would be impossible to raise enough money for the four of us to go but we asked God to do the impossible. My oldest son, Mike (known as Misha in the Ukraine) is not going on this trip. It will be very different with out him. He has gone since the very first trip....before any of the rest of us even thought about going! My husband will be joining us for 10 days, Dana, our 18 year old will be going on her 3rd trip, and our son, Brian, who is 16, will be going with us for the first time. Every check we recieved to help support our trip was so appreciated. As soon as we received a check, I would thank God for it and I would thank Him for using the person who sent it. With every gift, I asked God to multiply it just as He did when He fed the 5,000 men on the hillside. WOW...did He ever answer that prayer. We were only about 1/4 of the way there and we only had one month to raise the rest of the support we needed. We asked God to do the impossible. God arranged one of His cool "divine appointments" and sent a friend to me that I had not seen in a few years. She asked me if I was going back to the Ukraine this summer and I (very excitedly) told her yes. She told me to send her a support letter. A week or two later, she completely blew me away by calling me and telling me that she and her husband felt that God was leading them to financially support the FOUR OF US!!! WOW!!! God is incredible! This family is incredible! I was so excited that God answered our prayers in an even bigger way than we could have ever imagined!
We have 5 brand new people on our team this summer. They are ready to step out of their comfort zone and "drop their nets" and follow where Jesus leads them.
Let me share with you some details about our trip so that you can know what we'll be doing and how you can be praying.
We will arrive in Odessa, Ukraine on June 11th at 2:00 pm. We'll have dinner with our translators and discuss what the next few weeks will be like. We love our translators...they are part of our family so it is always a very big reunion when we get back together again.
The next two days, we'll go to the boys' orphanage that we went to last year, called Fontanka. There are 20-30 boys there. We will also go to Camp Vikotoria to see our sweet kids that we have known for several years now. We will see old friends and make new ones. We will even get to meet some Americans who are there adopting kids that we know and love! These families and I have been keeping touch for a year or two as they have been going through the long, hard (but so worth it) process of bringing their precious children home. Some of their kids are even in pictures from last years' pictures.
This summer will be different than any other. On Sunday, after church, we will head to a little village about 2 hours away from Odessa. There is an orphanage there that is very excited that we are coming. We will actually stay in the orphanage with the kids. The director is willing to give us every morning and evening with the kids to do our Bible stories, songs, crafts, activities, and games. We are looking forward to see what God will do in the orphanage as well as in the village.
On Friday, we will leave the village and head back to Odessa. Saturday we will see the kids at Camp Viktoria and go to the Black Sea with them. The rest of our time in Odessa will be at Fontanka and Camp Viktoria. Please pray that we will be able to have an organized program time at the Camp. We have been welcome to come the last few years and promised this teaching time, but have not been able to teach or do activities there. We still love going there and playing with the kids and spending time with them. God still works through us to show His unconditional love even with out the "planned program". Still, kids were led to the Salvation of Jesus.
We leave Thursday (or Wednesday?....sorry...I don't have the calendar in front of me) to go to Vienna, Austria, where we'll spend a few nights to recover a little and get ready to come back home.
Thank you for caring for orphans and thank you for your prayers.
Oh, and I can't leave with out talking about Lela. Lela is the 84 year old missionary who has served faithfully in the Ukraine since she was 69 years old. She fell a few months ago and broke her hip. She had to return to Florida for surgery and recovery. This trip will not be the same with out her. Everyone loves their Babushka Lela so much and she LOVES LOVES LOVES them with the love of Jesus every second of her life! We love you Babushka and we are praying for you!
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