Last days in Ukraine

We are heading home from Poland today and everyone is very much looking forward to seeing their families and sleeping in their own beds.
Here's a little update from the end of our time in Ukraine.
Our last day with the kids was Thursday and we were able to spend a lot of time with the kids. It was too cold for the Black Sea and the park, so the kids just stayed at camp. Because of this, we just went ahead and had our Bible School program in the morning. That was really cool because then we had our normal afternoon time with them as well. In the morning we talked about the Sword of the Spirit and did a summary of all the parts of armor that we had learned about all week. The kids used fabric markers to design their "Helmet of Salvation" hats (cute baseball caps). In the afternoon, we handed out New Testiment Bibles and the kids used the same markers to decorate their Bible covers. We also gave them all the booklet that we made which teaches all about the Armor of God. Thank you again, Tatiana, for translating that for us! It's full of Scripture and reminds of what the armor is all about. I think the kids will cherish these for years. Our hope is that they will read and re-read them and understand more and more about this gift that Jesus offers.

Due to the rain and very cold weather, we were not able to have our baptism. We were very disappointed, but again, knew that God was in control of all things.

While the kids ate their dinner, our team went to a restaurant that we had reserved a room in. We planned a special dinner and a special night to honor our translators and show them how much we loved and appreciated them. They are awesome. We love them dearly and could not do a thing without them. They are so great in filling in the gaps when we don't have the right words. When we are in a group or one on one, they are great at jumping in and letting us know who is saying what. They love these kids too and want them to know how much God loves them so they are great at helping us get the message across. When we can't explain something right, the kids never know it because our Ukrainian friends fix it all when they translate.
When we passed around small gifts to them that night at the restaurant, they surprised us with a very special gift of their own. One was a poster size calendar with a group picture of our team. An other was a DVD that Tolik made for us. It was complete with music and lots and lots of precious pictures from our time in the village. Of course I'll be posting it on here soon. For now, you can see it on my facebook page.
We left Friday morning for Poland and our translators met us at our hotel to say goodbye. That is always a sad time.....it's hard to leave the kids and it's hard to leave our friends. Igor came to the airport with us and Tolik ended up coming later because SOMEone forgot a certain important paper that was needed to get home (no....it wasn't me OR Carol). We were pretty early at the airport which gives us time to weigh luggage and make sure everything is ready. My sweet friend, Vova, was with us at the aiport too. He stayed with us (helped with luggage again) until we left to go through to the other sided of the airport. I hate saying goodbye to Vova but at least we can still stay in touch.
I will update about Poland later. I know noone wants to sit and read anything this long on the computer (expect maybe you parents who are dying to know how your kids are doing). But, will just say, Poland was AWESOME! It's beautiful and we were so relaxed and enjoyed our time so very much. Some friends of mine, Steve and Jen Lefever, spent the evening and the whole day with us Saturday and showed us all around. It was a wonderful time and a much needed rest. Thanks again guys!!!! We loved it!!!!!!
Heading to the airport in 2 hours!!!!!!