Vienna

Shopping! Gotta love this store!

We had a great day in Vienna. We saw the catacombs under St. Stephan's  Cathedral and a museum with Ephesus artifacts, musical instruments, and suits of armor. 

We stopped for sausages for lunch (a must) and of course worked in a little shopping for souvenirs and clothes. 

We headed out of downtown to the hills surrounding Vienna to enjoy the beautiful views and eat some delicious Austrian food. 

Gelato rounded out our wonderful day and we are all back at the hotel now packing, ready to head home tomorrow!

See you all soon!!

Vienna down time

The San Antonio Christian School Mission Team is in Vienna for their "down time" before coming back home. Please pray for restful nights and  safety as they spend some time seeing the beautiful city. 
We parents cannot wait to get our kiddos back and I know the families at home cannot wait to get their moms and dads or spouses back home again. We look forward to hearing all about what God did in their hearts. 


I am pretty sure these pictures are taken at the hotel that the team always stay at. It looks like nice weather. When it rains there (and it always seems to rain) it's actually pretty cold.

Our Last Goodbyes

Carol sent this blog via a text from the bus on their way to their home from camp. The team just left after saying goodbye to the children and teenagers for the last time this summer.

Personally, Camp Viktoria is the hardest goodbyes because these kids are so "on their own" especially during the summer. Oh how they long for a family!

We had a great skit on David being anointed king and then fighting Goliath. Then small group discussions time and a fun time of balloons.

Later, after Mcdonalds, we returned to camp for their evening program which was a combination talent show and disco dancing. The orphans love to show their talents. Many of us exchanged small gifts and letters with the orphans. Afterwards, all too quickly we said goodbye.

We pray that our visit has impacted them for eternity and also for the here and now. If only one had accepted Christ as their Savior it would have all been worth it. But, we know many more than one did! Just in my group alone we had 15 accept Christ yesterday at Viktoria! Knowing this helps ease the pain.

Flying to Vienna tomorrow so we would appreciate your prayers. :)
Goodnight, Carol

(you can tell these photos were taken before the goodbyes)
Please continue to keep the orphans in prayer as they will have a very empty day tomorrow. We always hear about the many tears that they cry all night and all the next day after we leave. They desire so much to be loved and accepted. When people are there sharing God's love, they soak it up and do not protect their hearts from breaking when they are left behind. What we try to make sure they understand is that Jesus will never leave them. He is always with them and will always love them and take care of them.

Precious Times

Quote from Kelsey's (one of the student's from the mission team) Facebook
 Ukraine Mission Trip was possibly the best decision of my life... having a blast here! Miss everyone :)


Pray for Lainey, who is having an allergic reaction to the mosquito bites. The mosquitoes are awful there; especially where the team sleeps at night. One can  get 50-100 bites in one night and even have then all over the face. Lainey is not feeling well at all and wants to serve, so please be in prayer for her health.


Below are some pictures just to share some precious times.

Roni and Ura at Camp Viktoria

Maxim, Roni, and Pasha
Roni, like many of the students on the  SA Christian mission team, has been waiting for years to be old enough to go on this
mission trip. Finally, this year, she was able to go. Praise God for mission hearts!

Pasha and Roni

Ukraine Flag....blue sky on top and yellow wheat field below

Tuesday update

It's tuesday night and the Ukraine mission team is on the bus on their way home away from home. Carol just sent me a text from the bus, giving us an update from their day:

Great day today! Fontanka and Victoria both went well. There was time to do the skits as well as the crafts and the games. Each day we remember more names and build closer relationships.

Many of the children were waiting at the Camp Viktoria gate when we arrived and they cheered when they saw us! So sweet!

This evening, we went to a church that some of our translator's are members of. This is the same church that we have been blessed to take the orphans to in the past. If you go to older posts on the blog, you can see pictures and video of parts of the services there. It's a beautiful sound hearing praise songs being lifted up to our Savior in both Russian and English. Tonight we had a great time of worship and a great message. Everything is in dual language so we can understand all.

For dinner, we went to the mall for pizza and then had icecream for dessert. Two scoops for less than one dollar :)

As I am texting this, we are in the bus listening to the Euro Cup Ukraine vs England game. Yes, our translators are still translating because it is in Russian of course and we are cheering Ukraine on with our translators! More of that cultural experience!

Tomorrow will be our last day with many of the kids at Viktoria because their camp session will be over. therefore we will be presenting the Gospel and we would really appreciate your prayers. These children are not orphans but they go to summer camp at the same place the orphans stay for the summer.

Carol sent two pictures from the church service. I'm also adding pictures that I "borrowed" from Erin's Facebook. They are precious pictures. I looked around Facebook and didn't see any others, but if you parents have some pictures, you can e-mail them to me and I would be glad to add them to the blog.

They look happy and healthy :)



Living Hope Church Tuesday night Bible study

Erin and Arley at Camp Viktoria

SO sweet!

Erin with one of the kids in the village

Monday in Fontanka and Camp Viktoria

Carol updated the blog during our sleeping hours and then she sent a text this morning with an update. We are so thankful that we have been able to hear so much from Ukraine. Years ago technology was not this advanced and parents sat at the edge of their seat waiting and wondering how things were going, although they knew their children (excuse me..GOD's children) were in God's hands. 

Tuesday: 6/19

We had a great day Monday but we are growing weary. The heat and activities are draining so we are praying for renewed strength today. 

Monday we were able to do our program at both places, having about 50 boys at Fontanka and 100 children at Camp Viktoria. Our students jumped in an interacted amazingly well with the orphans and the other kids!

We saw some kids who we have known for years at both places and it was great to reconnect with them. One of the teens we have know for many years is a15 year old named Sasha. Mrs. Gibson’s homeroom has been praying for him for two years now. When she told him about this he was clearly touched and could not believe that someone would do that for him. This is just one of many examples of our ongoing relationships with these orphanages.

Today we will be doing the same camps and then joining some of the translators at their Tuesday evening church service. Full day!     Carol

I saw this note on Claire's, one of the US kid’s, Facebook this morning and I thought I’d share it: It has been amazing and we have seen how awesome Gods love really is. Please continue to pray for us as we finish out this week travel to Vienna on friday. God is great♥ His love NEVER fails.

Kolya and Rima

Trent and Maxim

Camp Viktoria

Alyona playing with the kids at Camp Viktoria

A little more about Sunday...

Now a little more about Sunday...




I don’t remember if I explained the place where we stayed near the village of Elizabethovka, so I will now. It is actually called Canaan and is similar to a retreat center. There are some dorm rooms with bunk beds where visitors stay and families/children stay if they are taken out of the home for problems like alcohol abuse. There were about 30 kids there Friday night when we arrived and they left Saturday night. Some also had their moms there. There is a large kitchen, dining room and outdoor picnic tables, activity building and the church. The town is about 2 km away, so Canaan is surrounded by fields with a beautiful view of a large salt lake. It is very peaceful and serene there, quite a change from the large city of Odessa where we are today. Sunday was another beautiful day in Elizabethovka. After breakfast we went through a dress rehearsal for all the skits because the narrators will change for Fontanka and Victoria. Then there was time for four square, volleyball and basketball with the kids that were there. There are a few kids that live there and a few more came back from the village. The smaller number of kids allowed more one on one time and I especially was blessed by talking to Yana, a 15 year old from the nearby village. Her story is typical of what you find here. She likes physics, algebra and geometry at school, but the thought of further schooling is not even something she can envision, so she wants to be a hairdresser. Her mom takes a bus everyday to Odessa, about 45 minutes, to work at a pantyhose factory. Now that she is off for the summer she goes with her mother to help her and she receives a little money from her. When Yana is not working she watches her 4 younger brothers and sisters. She was watching 3 of them Sunday, and was very good with them. The mother pays 20 grivna, about $2.50 for the bus trip to the Baptist church in Odessa. They cannot all go each Sunday because the bus ride for all would be too expensive, so they take turns. She finds it very hard to believe her heavenly Father loves her and wants the best for her because her earthy father abandoned them for another woman who forbids her father to have any contact with her. But unlike most kids we talk to, she is trusting Jesus to forgive her sins, and believes she will go to heaven because He died on the cross.


At 3:00 we attended the church service in the small church on site. We were also the guest music and sermon! Colin, Andrea, and Hannah led all of us in English songs and we also sang Amazing Grace together in both Russian and English. Ron gave an excellent sermon on the compassion of Christ which was a good reminder of why we are here. Just as the crowds were drawn to Jesus because of this, our prayer is that we will show the same compassion and draw these children to us so we can point them to Christ. It was a special church service!


The Pastor invited us back next year and hopes we can stay longer!


Then it was goodbyes again and off to Odessa, where we settled in for the rest of our time here.
Love, Carol

Yana, the 15 year old, who is from the nearby village

Sunday in Odessa

This video is from church this morning. The picture on the stairs was taken Tuesday morning in front of the orphanage building. Carol's taking the picture so of course she's not in it.
The last picture is our wonderful translators. Maxim, Artem, Igor, Maxim, Alyona, Dasha, Oksana, Dasha, Marina, Ksusha, Ira, and lucy
(Note from Pam...Maxim (on far left) is the 16 year old son of Alyona, who is in the black shirt on the right. Alyona has been my translator for many years and we call each other sister.  Every year, Alyona sacrifices and leaves her family all week to go to the village and then leaves from morning until late at night to minister with to the orphans. So, I think it's is so cool that now her son is translating with the team for the first time as well.)

Carol wrote this this morning, before she posted that last post. They had a eally good day today. Here are some  comments from our kids at devotion last night: making friendships; feeling like I'm doing what God made me to do; kids are so happy that we are here; they are so satisfied with little things. Like, one girl was given a piece of gum and she gave half back to our teen. It was great to see how village kids and orphans are playing together.

Now that I'm using a different computer, I can add the video that Carol first sent us the first weekend. This is at Igor's church last Sunday,with some of the kids from our team singing and playing the guitar.

Just a quick note tonight because its already past 'lights out 'and the mosquitos are buzzing around me furiously and my battery is about dead.  Those of you who have been here know that I'm back at the Odessa kindergarten because of the mosquito comment and I reallly don't know why there are always so many of them in this building!  We made it safe and sound, unpacked and resettled and tried to get everyone at least a quick message home for Father's day!  Tomorrow is a full day with Fontanka in the morning and Victoria in the afternoon, so we could really use prayer that everything will go well and we can quickly establish relationships in both places.  Also that we will have the physical and mental strength needed to do all we will be called upon to do.  Thanks!  I'm tired of swatting so its goodnight!  More soon!  In Christ,Carol

Elizabethovka

This is the scene in front of me as I write this blog via Pam. It exemplifies the feeling tonight as we all breath a sigh and have some down time. 
We thought that the 50 or so kids would still be here tonight and we were prepared to do lessons and crafts until about this time (8:30) but the kids left after supper. So we have some much needed rest time. We've gone for a walk in the countryside, had time to chill and watched the sunset.
Tonight we will also have a bonfire and then sleep late.
Some of the children will be back for the church service here at 3:00, but until then we will be able to rest, do our own praise and worship and prepare for the next two camps. We did have a great day today and many of the kids prayed for salvation through Christ's forgiveness. Personally, I am rejoicing for Ira, Christiana, and Dasha, who prayed with me!
Great games, songs, skits and even water balloon games filled the rest of our day. Awesome day! Thanks for your prayers! Tomorrow after church we head back to Odessa!

We have had a great, albeit very emotional, day. The students wrapped up the week of lessons by reviewing the skits and stories and how they demonstrated the different characteristics of love that we have been studying. We finished with small groups, reviewing the salvation message again. We had a chance to talk to all those we requested prayer for, plus others that were not there Thursday. I truly believe that all those we spoke to this week were changed by our being there. Some received the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, some rededicated their life to Christ because of the witness of our team and the love shown them, and some had seeds planted that will blossom and take root as time goes on. Such precious children, both the orphans and the village kids!


There were no dry eyes as we said our last goodbyes. You may be thinking how could we get so close after only 5 days? Jesus' love flowing through us to them and their need for unconditional love; that's how!


 We hit the road again, driving to our next adventure, to the village of Elizabethovka. This time we were not too far from the main highway, and the village is in a beautiful setting. Rolling hills, a blue lake in the distance, green fields and a cool breeze greeted us. This is a combination church and foster home. Children who have been taken away from parents are living here in the same building we are staying in. Living conditions are good- the girls were really excited about improved bathroom amenities!


Tomorrow other children from this village and two others will join us for a day full of songs, skits, lessons and sports. We will all be together for a short time before church on Sunday also.


Please pray for many children to come and for everything that we do to be God's plan for the day. Also pray that we will have abundant energy and the ability to establish quick relationships. Also for our health- a couple have had upset stomachs. We are having some interesting food - last night we had cream of wheat for supper and the night before rice in milk... all part of the cultural experience. :)
Love, Carol

Praise and Prayer

A great day! We shared the Gospel today and used the evangecubes in our small group time.  There were about 35 kids who we prayed with individually to receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord. 

We ask special prayer for some older boys who have not prayed; Sergei, Artem, and Yarik. We pray that their hearts will be softened and open and will want what our students have shown them-the saving grace of Jesus Christ and for them to commit their life to Christ. It's a lot to pray for but our God is BIG and wants all to come to the truth and saving faith in Christ. 

Also, pray for safe travel to the next village and for flexibility when we get there because it is all unknown!

Carol

(this is Pam) I would like to add that we pray for the local church to follow up with these kids so they can grow in their understanding of their new faith in Jesus. Also so that the one's who have not yet prayed will have their seeds watered. These older boys have heard the Gospel the last few years and I know God's Word will not go void. There is a small Christian church in the village and I hope it is growing and reaching out to the kids in the village. We can pray for a revival in that church. The church is not the building, it is the people. They are very sweet, loving people and I know they care about their community. May God use them in a mighty way for His glory and may that village be known for their love for God and their love for God's children-especially the fatherless.

Wednesday's update from Carol

Carol sent some pictures from the orphanage in the village. The first picture shows the skit today with David and Goliath, which was the best yet! The second picture shows the kids watching the Bible story being played out in front of them. Some of the kids live here at the orphanage, and some of the children walk from all over the village to come and be a part of the "Bible School". Years ago, before SACS ever came to minister here, the two groups never mingled together as one. God has done great things here.


Here is Carol's message from their day today:
We are doing great and everyone says "HI" to their parents! No one is getting sick and we are getting used to a different level of cleanliness and having a great attitude. We are really appreciating showers when we get them. We are having a lot of fun with both the orphans and the village kids. Thursday we will be presenting the Gospel. Please pray that we will have boldness to speak what God wants us to speak. Pray that the children will understand our message and that they will accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Our prayer is that their names will be written in the book of life and that they will have a personal relationship with Jesus now as they walk through their daily lives. 
Also pray for our strength, that we will not be tired, but mount up with wings of eagle! Praying for healing for Diana's foot problems and another boy orphan.
So good to hear from Carol and see pictures! :) 

"I'm in love" and a prayer request for baby Mark

Claire sent this picture to her mom with the caption, "I'm in love" 

This is Maxim. This is love. Thank you Claire for sharing this picture with us. Thank you all for being the hands and feet of our Savior to these precious children.

I just saw on Facebook that one of our Ukrainian friend's little boy has a possible serious injury that we need to be in prayer for. Alyona is the young lady who helped us with our adoption and who used to lead all our mission trips. From what I understand, she will be with our group in the village this coming weekend. Her 3 year old son, Mark, fell off a chair and hit his head between his eyes and cracked the bone. He is going to be ok, I'm sure, but we can just imagine how badly that hurt and how awful that looks. Not to mention, how scary that was for the family. Let's pray for a very fast recovery for little Mark, who is very much all boy and will not stay down long, I can assure you. I'm sure Alyona will appreciate prayers for her family during this time of recovery.

Monday in the village

Monday night Carol texted a message to Dee Dee to let us know what an awesome, full day the team had. 
She said "Wow, What a day! I had to ask myself tonight-is it still Monday because it was a very full day!"
The team had a great program in the morning and then they had games, songs, and a skit in the large group in the afternoon. They broke up into small groups to do crafts and lesson discussions afterwards. After supper, the group played with the kids and showed some videos. Carol said us parents would be so amazed at how our teenagers are connecting with these kids through all the activities. The children are flocking to our teens. They had more kids from the village join them in the afternoon and evening as word spread that the missionaries were in town. 


Carol asks that we keep praying for water pressure. All the girls have showered, however, the boys have not been able to shower since Saturday night. They were hoping and praying for showers Monday night...I haven't heard if they happened yet. But they are praising God for the connections they are making with the kids in the orphanage and the village.


Last time I was in the village, the indoor showers didn't work. I'm not sure how it is this year. The outdoor showers are quite a site. It is a concrete type building that is scary to walk in to. It looks like a building straight from a WWII concentration camp scene in a movie. The water is heated by coal being shoveled into it. The coal is shoveled by two old men who are not very patient about our wanting to take turns in the showers and not taking them all at one time. Hopefully, the kids get to use the indoor showers! :)

Nikolaevka bound

Carol has a video on her Facebook. I was trying to put it on the blog but so far, can't figure out how.

 The video is very short and it is from the church service this morning. Colin is playing the guitar and a few of the girls are singing. They are in Igor's church, where we usually spend at least one Sunday in worship while in Ukraine.

After church, they have lunch and pack everything they need for the week at the village and head to Nikolaevka on a big bus. The drive is about 2 1/2 hours away from Odessa and is usually a lot of fun. They sleep and sing and play with balloon animals most of the way there. The kids from the village and the orphanage will be super excited to see that bus drive into their village again. The first year  our team went to the village was the first time they ever had Americans come to visit them and share the love of Jesus with them. It was huge. 

The team will not have internet service while they are in this village so we probably will not hear from them. There is an internet "cafe" they can go to if there is an emergency message they need to get to us but other wise, just know that everyone is doing great. They really do not have free time when they are in the village. They are with the kids from the time they get up until the time they crash for the night. They sit outside in the evenings and watch movies on the wall of the buildings. The kids love this time with the teenagers.

This is a link to a YouTube video from the first Nikolaevka trip in 2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqHb-PBZTnk

 This is a good video to watch if you want to see what it's like in the village. You'll see the team standing in beautiful flowers, passing out balloons to the kids as we walked door to door to tell them about our Bible School, one of our teens dressed up as a tiger to make it more fun, and see how the kids love to sing along with us during the singing time. You can be 100% sure that your kids are going to have a blast this week. And, like Ron Bracy said, they will give their hearts away. God will pour His love through them in a way they have never experienced before.

Boarding the last plane!

The comforters we bought for Camp Viktoria

Touring Odessa

The whole group in front of the Opera House

playing games amd making friends at Viktoria

We just finished a great devotion after a very FULL day!  Started out shopping where we had the chance to buy some souvenirs and gifts for the orphanages.  Then we enjoyed a little of the USA at McDonalds for lunch.  We saw some of the sights of Odessa after lunch like the famous steps, the promenade, statues and the beautiful Opera House.  It was a beautiful day and we saw at least 15 wedding couples posing for photos around town as we toured the city.  Then our favorite part of the day was visiting Camp Viktoria!  We played games, made balloon animals and paper airplanes, and shared Jesus' love to the kids!  Everyone was surprised at how fast they made friends and how open the kids were to our visit.  Can't wait to go back in a week!  Thanks for your prayers!  
Tomorrow its church and then bus trip to the village of Nikolaevka. 

Safe Arrival!

We've made it hear safely!!! Thank you so much for the prayers!  Amy Weeks had a little glitch because they overbooked the flight and she had no seat, but she was able to connect back up with us at Dulles.  We met our translators tonight and we shared our first delicious Ukrainian meal with them.  Now we are headed to bed to try to get some much needed sleep.  Tomorrow will be 7 kilometer market where we will buy some supplies and gifts for the orphans.  This is a huge market and our prayers are that it will not be too overwhelming since we will still be jet lagged. Then its off to downtown Odessa for lunch and then join the orphans and other kids at Camp Viktoria in the afternoon.  Pray that we will quickly bond with them and be able to do our program well, as well as draw them into sports and crafts. Thanks again for the prayers, Carol McG

Safe Arrival!

We have safely arrived in Odessa and settled in for a couple nights.  Thank you so much for your prayers!
We met our translators and shared our first Ukrainian meal with them.  It was delicious and fun!  Now we are off to bed because we are all exhausted.  Tomorrow morning we will visit the 7 kilometer market where we will buy supplies for the orphanages and maybe some souvenirs.  It's a bit overwhelming this early in the trip, but its our only chance to go, so pray that all will go well.  Then it will be off to lunch in the downtown area and then our first chance to visit the orphans and other kids at Camp Viktoria.  Pray that we can quickly establish close relationships and that we will have a chance to do our program and some fun crafts and sports.  Thanks, Carol McGilvray

Final preparations have been made and the SACS team will be leaving tomorrow morning (Thursday) bright and early.  Please keep all of us in prayer as well as the kids that we will be reaching out to.  Pray that the doors will be open and kids' hearts will be softened to hear our lessons and the good news that Jesus loves them and died for them. Pray that our flights will all go well and that we will be safe in our travels.  We will arrive in Odessa Friday afternoon and get settled in for a couple nights' stay.  Then Friday evening we will meet our translators and get to know them a bit before we start our ministry on Saturday!  I am writing in Pam's place and will be updating the blog on the Ukraine side.  Pam will probably do some posting too because we will not always have internet.  Thanks again for your prayers!  In His Service, Carol McGilvray

Final Preparations!!