We thought it would be fun to share with you some of the songs that you may recognize from churches in the U.S. sung in Ukrainian and Russian! The first two songs below are in Ukrainian and the last two are in Russian. Welcome to worship at Церква Живе Слово!
One of the most wonderful things about visiting churches in other countries is the reminder that even though we speak different languages and have different cultures, all over the world, we have brothers and sisters in Christ who worship the same God! What a wonderful bond that brings us together as a family. Worshiping with bodies of believers in a foreign language is a small, yet poignant, picture of John's description in Revelation of a worship service with people from every tribe, every tongue, and every nation worshiping the true and living God! (Revelation 7) At Living Word Church (Церква Живе Слово), worship services are typically done in both English and Ukrainian; most worship songs are led in Ukrainian (some in Russian), but lyrics in English are also displayed as well. We thought it would be fun to share with you some of the songs that you may recognize from churches in the U.S. sung in Ukrainian and Russian! The first two songs below are in Ukrainian and the last two are in Russian. Welcome to worship at Церква Живе Слово!
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Hagar Calls God "El Roi"In the Bible, there are are so many names for God. Different names are used for God by different people in different contexts, as these people experience the many different attributes of God's character. One that we want to share about is found in Genesis 16, where God is referred to as "El Roi", meaning "the God who sees" in Hebrew. First, a bit of back-story about the circumstances surrounding this passage: Many years prior, God had promised Abram (later to be called Abraham) a son, but after many years of waiting, Sarai (Abram's wife, later to be called Sarah) had not become pregnant. Sarai and Abram (who were getting old) decided to take matters into their own hands. Sarai told Abram to sleep with her servant, Hagar (an Egyptian), so that God's promise of a son would come about. Abram did so, and Hagar became pregnant. Naturally, some tension arose between Sarai and Hagar. We are told that Hagar despised Sarai; Sarai, angry, mistreated Hagar. So Hagar ran away. This brings us to Genesis 16. A runaway Egyptian servant girl, pregnant because her master slept with her at his own wife's suggestion, is alone in the wilderness. God would not be pleased with such behavior as was exhibited in this situation, so we might expect Him to turn a blind eye to this girl. But He doesn't. We are told in Genesis 16 that the angel of the Lord came to Hagar and ministered to her. He told her to return and to submit to Sarai, but he comforted her with the promise that the descendants through her child (Ishmael) would be too many to count. [Just as Jews descended from Abraham's son Isaac, who was born later as a result of a miraculous pregnancy in Sarah, Arabs in the Middle East today descend from Ishmael.] When Hagar, this Egyptian woman, experiences God in this deeply personal way, she calls Him El Roi, the God Who Sees. This name of God points to the way that He saw her situation, comforted her, and took care of her. He Is Still This God!Through our ministry to the poor in L'viv, we have had several opportunities that have allowed us to witness this aspect of God's character, and we wanted to share them with you. In both of these cases, the God Who Sees saw the needs of an older woman, who was asking Him for practical help. NadiaToward the beginning of the year, on a Saturday while doing the Poor Ministry, we were walking down a new street. Our friend Valya, who faithfully helps with the poor ministry, noticed an old woman in the doorway of an apartment building. Although this woman didn't look particularly ragged or dirty, Valya noticed her and felt she should talk to her and offer her some groceries, so she did. This 90-year-old woman was overjoyed and asked Valya to carry the groceries into her apartment, as she was unable to carry them. She shared with Valya that all of her family members have passed away, so she is alone now. A social worker visits her weekly, but she had been praying that God would send a Christian believer to her, so that she would have someone who could be like family to her. We now visit her every two weeks, bring her groceries, visit with her, and pray together. Over the course of the past several months, we have gotten to hear about her life, and have pieced together portions of her story. (She tells stories disjointedly and non-sequentially, so getting a clear timeline is difficult. We're also only able to understand her stories fully through a translator, and we don't always have someone with us to translate.) We'll share a bit of her story. During her growing up years, Nadia's father was a believer in Jesus, and their family had a Bible, which to our understanding was rare in Soviet times. As a young girl, she describes herself as a pretty good person; she never stole, lied, cheated, etc. She was a teenager when World War II broke out, and she was taken to a concentration camp in Germany. (We haven't heard the story of how she was taken there, but she says that many young people were taken to the camp to work.) During her time in the concentration camp, she tells a story of waiting in a long line of prisoners, who were being escorted into a building, one after another. Just as she reached the door of the building, with no reason or warning, the door was suddenly closed, and she did not have to go in. She soon learned that this building was a gas chamber; for some reason, God had chosen to spare her life, as everyone in front of her in line had been exterminated. At the end of the war, American and Russian troops liberated the remaining prisoners from the concentration camp where she was. One American man thought she was beautiful and wonderful, and he asked her to marry him and move to America. She sadly refused his offer, because she told him that she needed to return to her home town and be with her mother. But when she returned home, she was devastated. While she had been in the concentration camp, unbeknownst to her, her village in Ukraine had been burned and pillaged; her mother and niece (and potentially other family members) had been burned alive in their homes. She still expresses regret that she didn't take the soldier up on his offer to move to America. Nadia eventually married, but her marriage was difficult, as her husband was an alcoholic. We believe she had a daughter, but if she did (we couldn't tell if she was talking about a niece or a daughter), her daughter has already died. Much of the rest of her story is a bit fuzzy, except for the fact that she became a believer in Jesus at some point later in her life. One day, she was having a hard time, and she decided she needed to go to church. She visited a Greek Catholic church and lit a candle in this church. She says she felt a voice in her spirit saying that this act would not bring her peace, and that she would not find the answers there. So she spoke with some people from a religious group - either Jehovah's Witnesses or the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When talking to them, she also felt in her spirit that they did not have the answers she needed. She ended up visiting a Protestant Church, and she felt in her spirit that this was the place that she needed to be. She loves to read God's word, sing hymns, and pray with us when we visit her. Nadia tells us that she is ready to die and to go home to be with God, but that God obviously doesn't want that just yet. She is too frail to go to church, although she expresses a desire to do so. Even now, she tells us that with no family, and virtually no friends, she has no one but God (and her two cats) for companionship. Yet she expresses such gratitude for who He is and all He has done for her. One old woman, having suffered great hardship in life, was alone and yearned for companionship. The God Who Sees saw her situation and chose to connect us with her, so that we could have fellowship with her, show love to her, and so that we could all mutually encourage one another in our lives and in our walk with God. Watching her complete reliance on the Lord over the past six months has been an encouragement and a challenge to us and the other young adults who visit her. Seeing her life, we are reminded of the 73rd Psalm. Whom have I in heaven but you? OlenaA couple months ago during another Poor Ministry Saturday, we were walking along a new street we don't typically go down, and we saw a woman in a doorway, bent over with her back to us. We weren't sure if we should stop, because we couldn't tell if she was just a "babusya" (grandmother/granny, what little old ladies are called) or if she was in need. (Many babusyas look poor, even if they are in a decent financial place, so we use our judgement and ask God for wisdom when trying to decide whether to approach someone or not.) Valya felt that we should go to her and see if she needed groceries, so we walked up to her. As we got closer, we saw that she was hunched over eating a sandwich. When we saw her face, I (Maggie) thought that we probably shouldn't have talked to her after all. She had a beautiful headscarf on, and she was wearing makeup that made her look quite nice. With food, decently nice clothes, and makeup on, I assumed she wasn't one of the people we want to give groceries to, as these things are not common for the people in great need. Valya started a conversation with this woman, whose name was Olena, and asked her if she needed any food. Olena was a bit confused, so Valya explained that we had a bag of food for her, from our church, that it was free, and that it was for people truly in need. She explained that if this woman was in need we would like to give her a bag of groceries. Olena said yes, she was in need, and as we handed the bag to her, she burst into tears. She wanted to know what she needed to give us in return, and Valya reassured her that she had to give nothing; it was a gift from God for her. After collecting herself, Olena and Valya went on to have a long conversation in Russian. (No one was able to translate at the moment, and Valya doesn't speak much English, so she couldn't translate.) The woman cried a couple different times during the conversation and was clearly overjoyed at the gift of a single bag of food. We prayed for her, Valya invited her to church, and we both hugged her before leaving. When we returned to the group, Valya told one of the English-speaking Ukrainians what happened, and they translated for us. Apparently, Olena didn't have food (or money to buy some). She had been praying to God to give her food. Shortly before we arrived, someone came up to her and offered her a sandwich. While she was still eating this immediate provision of food, we came up and offered her basic staples that she could prepare at home for the next few days. She had broken into tears because she was overwhelmed at God's kindness to her in answering her prayers for food. On one Saturday, a poor woman sat in a doorway, asking God to meet her need for food. Although she didn't know where her next meal would come from, the God Who Sees saw her need, and He knew. He sent a stranger to offer her a sandwich. Thinking her prayer was answered, she turned her back to the street to eat this provision of food. And as she enjoyed the nourishment God had provided, the God Who Sees led us to her and allowed us to meet her need for food for several days. We hope these stories are an encouragement to you to remind you that our God is the God Who Sees. He is involved in our lives on a daily basis, He cares about every one of us, and He sees the needs of everyone in the world who has them. How about you? Do you know this God? Do you see needs around you in your daily life? Is there a small step you could take to help meet someone's need? Have you ever seen God meet a need that you had in a very practical way? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
We have been wanting to update everyone about all the exciting things happening here in Ukraine, but we've been so busy that we haven't had time to write about anything in the past 6 weeks! Although we've been MIA from the blog-o-sphere for a month-and-a-half, in the coming weeks, we're hoping to be more present to share some more about what has been going on in our lives and ministry. We wanted to dedicate this first post-hiatus blog post to an incredibly exciting event that took place in L'viv last weekend after nearly a year of planning - the Festival of Hope! Planning for a Successful EventLast weekend, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and local Protestant churches of Western Ukraine put on the Festival of Hope in Arena L'viv, a 35,000-person soccer stadium built for the Euro 2012 championships. Festival staff and hundreds of volunteers have been coordinating and planning the event for the past 8-10 months - nearly the whole time we've been in Ukraine. In addition to church members inviting their friends and family, the organization put on a mass advertising campaign (billboards, posters, ads, etc.) to tell people about the free festival as well. The week before the festival, a British team came to help hand out flyers and do street evangelism in L'viv's historic city center. Along with a team from the U.S. and volunteers from our church and another church, we helped this team spread the word about the festival. We handed out thousands of flyers to passersby, and our team had many conversations with people about the Lord and about the festival. The British team performed songs, shared testimonies, and shared the Gospel on the street. It was wonderful to see God open people's hearts; several people trusted Christ through this ministry on the streets. The ProgramAfter months of planning and weeks of advertising the festival, June 20th finally came! Weather was gorgeous during the week leading up to the festival, but the night before and the day of the festival were very dreary and chilly. We prayed for the weather to improve and especially that it wouldn't rain, since Arena L'viv is an open-air stadium. During the first part of the festival, we felt a few sprinkles, but after that, it never rained, and halfway through the event, the sun was shining, accompanied by a blue sky with non-threatening clouds. Praise God! And actually, it was probably better for the crowds to be a little chilly than to be sweating the whole time! The program included performances from several American musicians (including Michael W. Smith), performances from several Ukrainian musicians/musical groups, and a gospel presentation and invitation by Franklin Graham. Maggie's cousin Bria performed a song entitled "Надія" ("Hope") that she wrote for the festival as well. One incredible aspect of the festival was the choir, which was made up of over 2,800 people from all over Western Ukraine! This choir performed several songs - some with the featured musicians and some with the full symphony orchestra on stage. Everything about the event was done with excellence and professionalism. Participating in the festival was a great experience! Combining Cultures: Avoiding an "American" EventOne of the challenges undoubtedly faced in planning this event was the cultural and language difference of the locals versus the American festival staff. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has put on other festivals like this one elsewhere in Europe, but Ukraine has a much smaller English-speaking population than most Western and Central European countries. With so many performances and the main message given by Americans, we felt that there was a lot of potential for the evening to feel like an American event simply translated for Ukrainians. But we were very impressed with the balance struck between the two cultures. All speaking, aside from Franklin Graham (e.g., introductions and transitions), was done in Ukrainian, some Ukrainian musicians performed traditional Ukrainian Christian songs, and the choir sang hymns in Ukrainian. In fact, in his first song, Michael W. Smith didn't even sing; he simply played piano to accompany the choir, which sang in Ukrainian. One of the highlights of the evening occurred during the performance of an American couple who sang a few duets in English. Halfway through their last song, to everyone's surprise, they broke out into Ukrainian (with very good pronunciation, I might add)! The stadium erupted in cheers and applause, because it meant a lot to everyone that an American couple would take the time to learn and perform a song in their language. Overall, while still including some American influences, the event was culturally sensitive, rather than being overly American for the Ukrainian audience. god's Work and the Path ForwardAll the planning and advertising paid off; the stadium was packed out over capacity with over 39,000 people in attendance! Nearly every seat was taken, people were standing behind each seating section, and event staff even opened up the field for people without seats to sit and listen. At Franklin Graham's altar call, about 2,000 people came to the front of the stadium! It was an incredible and moving sight to see so many people indicating a desire to start a new life through a personal relationship with God through Christ. Hundreds of people from various local churches who had been trained in counseling prior to the festival also came to the field to speak with these people, answering any questions they might have, talking to them about placing their faith in Jesus Christ, and pointing them toward local churches for the new believers to get plugged into. In all, over 1,500 people placed their faith in Jesus at the festival! Praise God! Many people in western Ukraine come from either an Eastern Orthodox or Greek Catholic (sort of a mix between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox) background. Although incredibly devout, many of those who come from a more traditional faith background have never read the Bible, trusting their priests to read and teach it to them, because they view it as sacred and not able to be understood by common man. These traditional faiths are highly suspicious of protestant churches, and typically view them as a "sect" (more or less a cult). Several of our friends who have become believers in Jesus have faced intense reactions from family members, ranging from severe anger to the silent treatment to threats of committing suicide on account of the disappointment they have caused by going against their parents' beliefs. Undoubtedly, many of the people who began a personal relationship with God through placing their faith in Jesus at the festival will encounter similar reactions from family members and friends. Please pray for them: that the Lord would give them strength to bear up under the challenges and struggles they will face and that He would connect them with strong, Bible-teaching local fellowships so that they can begin to grow in their faith and knowledge of God. The wonderful thing is that even though the Festival of Hope has come to an end, it is only a piece of God's great work in Ukraine, so it's just the beginning! We hope and pray that God will use these new believers to reach their friends and families (even those who are initially resistant) with the Good News of the Gospel - that our sins can be forgiven and we can have relationship with the One True God! Below are more photos from the event! If you are viewing this in an email, click here to view the blog entry, with the slideshow in your browser. We were so thankful to have Trey's parents visit us in L'viv last month! We had been looking forward to the visit with great anticipation, and despite the chilly weather, the four of us had a wonderful time together! It was a great chance to spend quality time all together, give them a glimpse of our daily life in Ukraine, and take some time to explore and enjoy the city. As an added bonus, they were here for Mom/Miss Kim's 60th birthday, so we got to celebrate with her! Before they arrived, the weather forecast was showing cold temperatures and rain almost every day. We prayed for better weather, and although it was still very chilly and cloudy, we ended up getting very little rain during the visit. For the first few days they were visiting, we had snow/flurries for a little bit each day. Although it wasn't enough to stick, Mr. Don and Miss Kim, who live in Louisiana (where it was t-shirt weather at the time) enjoyed seeing snow in April. And they were glad they brought their coats! The Stewarts arrived a few days before Palm Sunday (which was the same day as Easter Sunday in America this year) and left on Good Friday. Visiting during Holy Week turned out to be an interesting and unique time to visit L'viv. Not only was the Easter Market in full swing in L'viv (which, among other things, meant that Ukraine's beautiful, world-famous, hand-painted eggs were out!), but numerous locals were on holiday from work and were attending the city's Greek Catholic and Orthodox churches for special services, times of prayer, or visiting the stations of the cross. This time of year carries a lot of unique traditions (read more here), which added another wonderful dynamic to the experience of visiting L'viv. (It was also an interesting year for the Stewarts, as they had 2 Palm Sundays this year, but no Easter!) During their visit, we participated in some of our normal ministry activities, including English Club and a work day at Bethel House. (Unfortunately, the orphanage has been under a flu quarantine for several weeks, so we couldn't visit the kids.) We spent a lot of time seeing Lviv's beautiful churches, walking through the city center, and visiting in some of our favorite cafés and restaurants. Below is a slideshow with photos of our time together in L'viv. If you're viewing this as an email, the slideshow won't show up; click here to view in your browser. Below is a slideshow of photos of some of L'viv's beautiful churches that we enjoyed seeing with the Stewarts. If you're viewing this as an email, click here to view in your browser. Well, we have an announcement to make (no, Maggie is not pregnant haha)… After much prayer, waiting, and consideration, we have made a decision about our next step after our time in Ukraine. We plan to move to Austin, Texas for Trey to pursue a Master's Degree in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin!!! We are, of course, still very much enjoying our time here in L'viv and are trying to be fully present here with our friends and in our ministries. But, we are also looking forward to the next step in our lives, and wanted to share about it with you! You may remember from our initial support letter and our website that we planned to spend a year serving overseas between working at our jobs in Northern Virginia and Trey's anticipated start of graduate school in Fall 2015. During our time in Ukraine, he planned to decide which programs and universities he was interested in, to apply, and to decide where to go depending on his acceptance. (He took the GRE while we were still in Northern Virginia so he'd be ready to apply.) The whole time here, we've prayed about this and asked the Lord to lead and guide our steps if our plan wasn't aligned with His desires for us. Although we planned for Trey to pursue further schooling, we asked God to show us if He wanted us to stay in Ukraine after this summer, to return to Northern Virginia to work, or to do something totally different. We pursued our plans while remaining open to the Lord's leading, should He direct us elsewhere. In this post, we want to share with you the process and the story of how God has been directing us and opening doors over the past several months. First, Some Back-storyFirst, we wanted to share some relevant background information. Trey LOVES the University of Texas. [As a sidenote, we're pretty sure this helped Trey get on Maggie's dad's (a UT alum and avid fan) good side when he started dating her.] He has been crazy about this school and the city it's in for as long as he can remember. In addition to being located in a unique city and having strong academics, they are an outstanding athletic school. He has always been a fan of their football team, and as a swimmer, he was always impressed by their swimming program - one of the top in the country. (To give you an idea, their men's swimming team has been either national champion or runner-up out of nearly 150 Division 1 schools in 10 of the past 15 years!) In fact, when Trey was a senior, he was beyond excited when UT's swim coach recruited him to join the team. The opportunity to swim at one of the top schools in the country that he had loved since childhood was a dream come true for Trey. However, UT wasn't able to offer Trey as much athletic scholarship money as Virginia Tech did, so he had to make a tough decision: attend VT and finish with an average amount of student debt or attend his dream school and rack up twice as much debt. He chose Virginia Tech - a wise and responsible decision, but also a painful one to make. Fast forward a few years past our college years, dating years, and our wedding... After paying off student loans from college, Trey's interest in graduate school remained, so he began to consider programs in a few different scientific and engineering specialties. He decided that he would probably like to pursue either a PhD in the sciences (probably in Chemistry) or a master's degree in Chemical Engineering (although he was open to several other areas of study as well); as he began to find the engineering-related areas of his work more enjoyable to him, he became more interested in pursuing the engineering route. The possibility of attending UT always stayed in the back of his mind, so about a year ago, before we had made plans to come to Ukraine, Trey looked into the possibility of getting master's degree in UT's Chemical Engineering program. To his dismay, he learned they only wanted PhD students, and admission to the program for a student without a very strong chemical engineering background would be nearly impossible due to the rigorous Chemical Engineering exams administered to students for entry. His degree in Biochemistry and his plans to pursue a master's degree were not a good fit for the program, so again, he gave up on the possibility of attending UT. Where to Go After Ukraine?For the first couple months in Ukraine, we were absorbed in adjusting to the culture, lifestyle, and getting to know people here. Of course, this is to be expected when relocating to a new country and culture. We both continued to pray about graduate school plans for Trey, but as he continued to look for chemical engineering programs, nothing emerged as something he was sincerely excited about and interested in. He didn't know exactly what he hoped to do, but wanted to learn a practical skill that could result in a job in the US or overseas in underdeveloped countries and could be used to help people. We knew application deadlines were approaching, but Trey still didn't feel sure of what kind of program to pursue, much less where to do so. He was even considering completely changing direction and was considering professions in the medical field as well. Coming Full Circle - Austin Re-enters the PictureAmidst this consternation about Trey's future, one day in November, we had a Skype call with Maggie's cousin (a UT alum) and his wife, who were living in Austin at the time and were preparing to move to Thailand for full-time missions work. As part of this conversation, they told us about their church in Austin that has small groups specifically geared towards people interested in international missions. In addition to functioning like normal small groups, these communities provide formal missions training and encourage members to consider how they can live as missionaries in their normal lives. We were very excited to hear about something like this, because we have a heart for missions, but don't know if God will lead us to do international missions work in our future. We felt that by being part of a small group like this, we could receive some formal missions training while pursuing the next phase of our life, staying open to God's leading. Needless to say, this part of the conversation was very exciting to us and got us thinking. Shortly after this phone call, we were both sitting on the couch, thinking about the future and looking at our phones. We talked for a few minutes about how we'd really like to be a part of something like those small groups in our next phase of life. Thinking about how much we'd both love living in Austin, Maggie asked Trey if there was anything other than chemical engineering he would be interested in studying at UT. Trey was quiet, but we were both obviously thinking. At that moment, Maggie thought of Environmental Engineering as a field that might appeal to Trey because it combines engineering and science, the water treatment field is geared around helping people, and there is a need for it in undeveloped countries, as well as the US. She went to UT's Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (EWRE) website on her phone to check it out. But before she had a chance to say anything, Trey answered her question, "What about something like this?". He showed her the website he was on; it was the same exact webpage: EWRE at UT! The more we talked about it, the more sense it made. In particular, the water/wastewater treatment specialty appealed to Trey. In addition to the aforementioned benefits of environmental engineering, water treatment is likely to draw on Trey's pharmaceutical industry experience in purification. Trey decided to contact the department to introduce himself, share a bit about his background and experience, and ask a couple of questions. His biggest concern was his lack of engineering degree, as many top engineering programs require students to take several undergraduate engineering classes before being admitted. We were shocked by the incredibly positive response given by the graduate advisor. He told us the program usually doesn't accept people missing as much engineering coursework as Trey, but that Trey's performance in school and athletics, as well as his work experience and even his service in Ukraine seemed to indicate that he would be a good fit for the department, and thus, might be an exception to the rule. He did indicate that if accepted, Trey would have to make up the undergraduate engineering coursework he lacked, but strongly encouraged him to apply. So, with just under four weeks before the application deadline, Trey decided to apply. God Opens an Unexpected DoorJust five days after this initial contact, Maggie's grandmother passed away. We had not planned to take any trips home during our year in Ukraine, but we were so grateful when God miraculously provided the documents for us to go to the US for the funeral so we could be with Maggie's family to celebrate Gran's life. The funeral, a sweet memorial for a wonderful woman, was held in Fredericksburg, Texas, which is only an hour-and-a-half from Austin. Just before leaving Ukraine for the funeral, Trey decided to contact the graduate advisor at UT on the off chance that he would be able to meet with him the day after the funeral. Once again, we were shocked by the response. Not only did his contact make time to meet, but overnight, he arranged a full 4-hour agenda for Trey, filled with back-to-back meetings with 6 different faculty members and 1 graduate student (who also had a biochemistry background). We attended these meetings together, and they turned out to be a valuable experience. We were impressed with the people and the program, and meeting faculty face-to-face only solidified Trey's interest in the program; he left the interviews with increased excitement, tempered by his knowledge of the risk of not getting accepted. He completed his application after we returned to Ukraine and submitted it just before the deadline. With no other clear leads at other schools, we put all our eggs in the UT basket, trusting God to give us direction if it didn't work out. Doors Continue to Open!We shared about Trey applying with a few friends and family members so they could be praying along with us, knowing rejection was a real possibility with his lack of engineering undergraduate degree. We were praying not only for admission to the program for Trey, but we were also praying for a funded graduate assistantship position for him (something the department had indicated would be unlikely for at least the 2015-2016 school year due to his lack of engineering experience). We were also praying that if Austin wasn't where God wanted us next, that He would make it clear in our hearts and/or totally close the door. After two months of praying and waiting, we were ecstatic when we learned that Trey had been accepted to the program! We still didn't know anything about funding, but with growing excitement, we started to look forward to the possibility of him attending his dream school. We kept praying, but waited to make a final decision until we received information about an assistantship/funding. If he didn't receive funding, he was considering the possibility of deferring admission for a year, taking math/engineering classes at a community college, then reapplying as an in-state studenta year later. But a couple of weeks ago, we heard some great news... Trey was awarded a fully-funded graduate assistantship from the department - complete with free tuition, health insurance for both of us, and a monthly stipend!!! We are so grateful for the Lord's provision for us in this way and for the way He chose to reward Trey's hard work and accomplishments through giving him an assistantship position that seemed unlikely at best. Needless to say, Trey accepted the offer that day, so he is officially a Longhorn! What Now?Maggie plans to look for job opportunities in Austin in the coming weeks and months, and we look forward to seeing what God has in store for her. We're starting to think through the logistics of moving back to the US, seeing our friends and families, finding a new home in Austin, getting our things out of storage in Virginia and down to Austin, repairing or selling our car (currently in VA) with major problems, potentially attending a cousin's wedding, wrapping up our year in Ukraine with meetings in our key supporter locations (Huntsville, Alabama; Luling, Louisiana; Leesburg, Virginia; and Winchester, Virginia), and being ready for Trey to start classes all within a few short weeks. It's a little overwhelming to think about, but we know that God will help us figure out the best way to do all of it. For now, we are thankful for direction God has supplied for our future, yet also very thankful that we still have a few months before all of this happens. We have such wonderful friends here, and working with the Blessing Ministry has been a privilege and a tremendous experience, so we are really glad we don't have to think about saying our goodbyes just yet!
You may remember from a previous post that Christmas is on January 7th instead of December 25th in this part of the world, since Ukraine follows the Orthodox calendar. Easter is similar; here, it almost always falls on a different Sunday than Easter in the western world. This year, the two were only one week apart, so we celebrated Palm Sunday while our friends in America celebrated Easter, and we celebrated Easter this past Sunday. We are so grateful for this holiday because of its rich meaning that is the foundation of our Christian faith. In L'viv, we are just now starting to see trees bud and plants sprout little green leaves. What a beautiful reminder of old things being made new, life coming out of death, beauty from ashes. Last Easter, we were so blessed to be with one of our best friends from college as he made a decision to place His faith in Christ, and this year, we had the opportunity to watch 3 of our friends who have been coming to Living Word Church for quite some time choose to acknowledge Christ as Lord and King in their lives. Jesus said that He came so that we might have life - and not only life, but ABUNDANT life. Choosing to place our faith in Christ and walking with Him is not a restriction on our lives or following some set of "good Christian" rules. Believing in Jesus and walking in humble surrender and obedience to Him actually frees us to experience the abundant life that God intends for us. If you aren't experiencing this abundant life, what better time of year to ask God to help you do so? Ask Him to open your eyes, to give you faith, and to give you new life. What's the Deal With This Holiday, Anyway?Maybe you went to church a week and a half ago and heard the Easter Sunday message. People put a crown of thorns on Jesus and put Him up on a cross. When He died, He was put in a tomb. Three days later, the stone was rolled away from the tomb and He had risen from the dead. Maybe you've heard it a hundred times, and at this point, it goes in one ear and out the other. Maybe you have some questions or are skeptical. So people actually believe He came back to life after being dead? Why do people make a big deal over Jesus' death on a cross? What do people mean about Jesus "dying for my sins"? Why do we have this big celebration of this important historical figure coming back to life anyway? What a weird holiday. And what on earth could this event 2000 years ago possibly have to do with me and my life today? You may feel guilty wondering these things (especially in church) and you may choose not to voice these questions, because doing so might "rock the boat" with your friends or family who actually believe this stuff. But these are good questions, important questions, questions that may change your life if you find the answers. So don't stuff these questions to the back of your mind until next Easter! Be brave enough to face and ask them, courageous enough to look into possible answers, bold enough even to ask God to show you the answers. Know that there are HUGE implications of Jesus' death and resurrection for you and your life today. This blog post may not answer all your questions; in fact, it surely won't, as it's just an attempt to condense a huge, incomprehensible truth into a few hundred words. But we hope that perhaps it may be helpful. The Weight of DebtAre you in debt, or have you ever been in debt? Although mortgages, student loans, and car loans are the norm in the United States, being in debt isn't the ideal way to live. You must work, not only because it's a natural part of life and it makes the world a better place, but because you must make regular payments to those from whom you have borrowed. (Have you ever seen that bumper sticker "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!"? It's so true for so many!) Debt is like a cloud that hangs over one's head until it's repaid. This cloud may not feel so dark or so big to people with a steady job, a mortgage within their means, and credit cards that they pay off each month, but if this is your situation, can you imagine suddenly having your entire mortgage paid off? Can you imagine how free you'd feel? (Not to mention all you could do with the money you put towards your mortgage each month!) Let's think about a more extreme example though. We recently watched a news feature about title loan and paycheck advance companies that charge ridiculously high interest rates and trap often already-poor people in a spiral of debt. Some of these people find themselves owing thousands on a debt that started as a couple hundred dollars when they've already paid several hundred dollars off! All the money they paid went to fees and interest - none of it to the principal. In some cases, their car was taken, as it was the collateral for their loan; and in these cases, people often lose their job, as they have no transportation to work. Can you imagine being in such a position? Without intervention from a third party, these people are utterly hopeless and have no hope of escaping or recovering from this situation, much less even providing for basic needs like food and a home. The Relief of Debt Paid OffImagine yourself in such a position. You are hopeless, broke, jobless, without transportation, wondering how you will eat your next meal. You receive a 24-hour notice of eviction, and you do not know where you will sleep after you leave your home. Now, imagine this. A very official-looking letter arrives the next day in the mail, just before you're getting ready to leave your house. Curious, you open it. This letter says that someone has offered to pay your debt off completely. Your heart skips a beat, but you try to stay calm, looking for the fine print. Not only does the letter say your debt will be paid, but it also says if you accept, your mortgage will be paid, your eviction notice revoked, you will receive a working car, and you will receive access to a bottomless bank account that will meet your needs for the rest of your life. You re-read it, studying the letter for broken English and a request for your social security number and routing numbers that will prove this is one of those scammers in Nigeria. Not only is there no fine print, but the letter states that literally nothing is required from you to receive this gift. You only have to choose to accept the offer. If you have too much pride to accept the offer, you will remain hopeless. But why would you want to refuse this offer? There is no other way out. Humble and grateful acceptance of this undeserved and unable-to-be-repaid gift is the only logical response. Back to EasterThe reality is that every single person in all of history was or is in the position of this debtor described above - not necessarily having a deficit of finances, but a deficit of goodness in our hearts and actions. We are debtors to God, because we can never, ever measure up to His holiness and His perfection by ourselves. His standard is complete sinlessness, and we can never achieve this; even if you're a good person by human standards, you still fall short of God's perfect standard. The reason we celebrate Easter is because Jesus' death and resurrection was that official-looking letter offering each of us freedom from our debt. Those of us who have a relationship with Jesus Christ have accepted this incredible offer, knowing that no matter how hard we try, on our own strength, we fall short, and we have no other response but to humbly and gratefully accept His gift of forgiveness. This is why we love Easter! This is the significance of the cross and the empty tomb! Jesus, God's son, lived on earth as a sinless man, so He was the only one in all history who has lived a human life but owed no debt to God. Because He owed no debt, He was able to make the payment for sin, which is death. In doing so, He died as a substitution for you, me, and for the whole world. (This is why we say "Jesus died for my sins".) He made the payment on our behalf, and if we choose to accept this free gift, our debt is forgiven, and He gives us abundant life. Not only do we receive forgiveness for our sins as a result of His mercy, but He redeems our lives, turning us into new people with new life. Through His grace, he offers us numerous blessings, including eternal life, freedom from the power of sin, joy, peace, healing, contentment, and most importantly of all, a restored relationship with Him. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. The front of Living Word Church on Easter Sunday. The traditional Easter Sunday greeting is "Христос Воскрес!" (khrees-tohs vohs-kres, "Christ is Risen!"), to which the other person replies "Воістину Воскрес!" (voh-eest-in-oo vohs-kres, "Truly He is Risen!"). May you celebrate the true reason for Easter. Христос Воскрес! If we may, can we challenge you to think on these things? Do you have freedom from your sin through life in Christ? Have you ever thought of yourself as a debtor who could never escape from the sum you owe? Are you willing to humble yourself to accept this free gift from God? If you have a relationship with Christ, are you enjoying the abundant life He offers? If not, is there some area of your life where you are holding on - not surrendering to Him? Do you fully trust Him? Click here for more information about starting a relationship with Jesus. If you have any questions, we would love to Skype or correspond with you, and we'd be happy to answer your questions to the best of our ability. Please share your thoughts with us as well. If you feel that you are unable to accept this free gift, or have some hold-up in your heart or mind, we would encourage you to pray to God and talk to Him about what is holding you back. Faith is a gift from Him, and He has the power to change hearts and minds. Let us know, too, so we can be praying for you!
Aside from a long weekend trip to the Carpathian Mountains with the Blessings during our first month here (and a quick pit stop in a small town near Lviv for a stamp on our residency permits), we didn’t visit any other Ukrainian cities during our first 6 months in Ukraine. We love seeing and exploring new places, so we were glad for a day trip to Трускавец (troo-skuh-vets) at the beginning of March with our friend Taras. Taras, one of our friends who started attending Living Word Church a couple months ago, works in Lviv and attends seminary part-time. He has a heart for ministry and is a very talented musician. Taras recently wrote a worship song called "Неймовірний Ти", which translates “Incredible You”. The song talks about how amazing God is, the sacrifices Jesus made for us, and how He is our life. A couple months ago, he asked Maggie if she would work on a violin part for the song and record it; after thinking and praying about it, she agreed. After recording the main tracks (vocals, guitar, drums, etc.), Taras was ready for the violin track to be recorded, so the three of us made plans to take a day trip to Truskavets (where Taras was recording the song with his friend Volodya) together. Truskavets, a town that is about 60 miles (a 2-3 hour train ride) from Lviv, is famous for its special mineral waters that supposedly have healing properties. The town boasts a few salt-water springs, each with different mineral make-up, and a spring of particularly famous water called “Naftusia”. Most of these types of water are ingested by people who want to take advantage of their healing properties, although one in particular is used for soaking/bathing. We met Taras early in the morning and rode the train to Truskavets – our first train ride in Ukraine and Trey’s first train ride ever! (Taras had a hard time believing us about either of these.) We went to the church where the recording studio was, and Maggie, Taras, and Volodya spent a couple hours recording, selecting, and editing the violin track while Trey hung out and read. After we finished, we walked to the center of town for lunch and to see the city while Taras worked on some more recording he had to do. We were blessed with beautiful weather that day, so we enjoyed strolling around the center of town. Naturally, we decided that we needed to visit the springs, since that’s what the town is famous for. We figured we might fill up our water bottles with some of the water from the town’s central building (free admission, free water) where the water is dispersed from about 50 faucets in the walls at various temperatures – hot, warm, or cold. We read the description/chemical formulas of each kind of water and realized that the mineral waters were basically salt water, each with varying salt concentrations. The one whose description particularly shocked us was Naftusia, which is described as “hydro-carbonated, magnesium-calcium, lightly mineralized water with a high content of organic matter from oil origin”. It contains hydrogen sulfide, so it smells like rotten eggs. And this one isn’t used for bathing – it’s used for drinking! We had a hard time believing that stuff could be healthy, but people travel for miles and miles just to come and drink it! We saw numerous Ukrainians standing in groups, talking and drinking Naftusia (and other mineral waters) out of special cups that looked like mugs, but had built-in straws. This was an interesting experience for us, as we’ve never been to a place like this before. We decided not to fill up our water bottles, but decided that we should buy one of the special mugs as a souvenir, since they are unique to Truskavets. Naturally, after we bought the mug, we decided that it was only reasonable that we go ahead and try the water, so with all the courage we could muster, we decided to give it a try. The salty mineral water wasn’t terrible; it was basically like drinking ocean water. But the Naftusia really got us. To cleanse our palates, we went out for a delicious Ukrainian lunch together at a great restaurant near the town’s center. (Trip Advisor has yet to fail us! It’s our favorite resource for finding good places to eat.) By the time we finished lunch, it was time to meet up with Taras to catch our train home, so we headed back to the church. The ride home was long, hot, and stuffy, as it was a 3-day holiday weekend for Ukrainians, and many had gone to Truskavets for the weekend. Every seat on the train was taken, and people were standing in the aisles. To make matters worse, because of a common superstition/belief here about drafts of air, people won’t open windows to let in cool air. One window would open for a few precious moments when the train was at a stop, but that’s all the fresh air we got! At the end of the day, we were glad to be home, but were thankful for a successful, wonderful day and for the chance to see a new city. We will definitely take Jesus, the Living Water, over the water in Truskavets though! Here are the lyrics to Taras’ song, as well as the rough Google Translate English version. We have not included the recording, because we don’t want to distribute it widely without his permission. It’s a beautiful song; we’ll pass it along info about listening to/buying the song when we know more!
Well, it's been a full month since our last post, and so we are long overdue! We thought it might be fun to have a light-hearted post highlighting some of the differences we've observed between life here in Ukraine and in the United States. We have highlighted a few of the interesting differences we've experienced, so hopefully they make you smile. As we mention at the end, if you have ever experienced any funny (or just insightful) cultural differences between your country and another foreign country, we'd love to hear about them! 1. There is Dill in EVERYTHING!Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration...but seriously, Ukrainians seem to LOVE their dill. In the US, it seems like dill is a sparingly used flavor. But in Ukraine, it is probably the most commonly used herb in cooking. And when it's covering your dish, it definitely becomes the featured taste. When we visited the Carpathian Mountains earlier in our time here, we laughed because every dish we ordered at the local restaurant where we ate most of our meals seemed to have dill in it. For example, in the US, if you order an omelet with cheese and greens, you might expect a cheese omelet with some spinach in it, perhaps with a little parsley as a garnish. But in Ukraine, here's what you get... To be fair, a lot of Ukrainian food actually has very minimal seasoning. For instance, when we had Christmas Eve dinner at our friends' apartment, we were shocked to learn that the amazing голубці we ate had no seasoning, aside from a bit of salt. All the flavoring comes from the way the vegetables and meat are cooked. And of course, we have to keep in mind that dill levels vary based on the cook. Because голубці from a local restaurant came with a pile of dill on top. Thankfully, it was more scrape-off-able than the dill that was squished into the melted omelette cheese. 2. Sign of the CrossWe have a lot of relatives and dear friends at home who are Catholic, so the sign of the cross definitely isn't foreign to us. But before coming here, the only times we would see a group of people simultaneously making the sign of the cross would be after a prayer or during mass. One day we were on a маршрутка (mar-shroot-kuh - try to say that while rolling your R's!), which is essentially a mini-bus that is a common form of transportation here. While riding, we kept noticing that every so often, the majority of the passengers would simultaneously do the sign of the cross. We decided they probably weren't telepathically connecting with one another to silently pray for the safety of the marshrutka and its passengers - although with the way driving in Ukraine works, we wouldn't blame them if that was the case! A few days later, on another bus, we realized that people were making the sign of the cross every time we rode past a church. That was a new phenomenon for us. From a little internet reading, it seems that this is a common tradition for Catholics in many parts of the world, but to us it was new, so we thought it worth mentioning. Another difference worth mentioning is that here, people make the sign of the cross in the opposite direction of our Catholic friends at home; they cross from the right side to the left side, rather than from left to right. We believe this is the case for both the Orthodox and the Greek Catholic faiths here. 3. Paying for a Marshrutka RideSpeaking of marshrutkas... The system used to pay for your ride - particularly when you're in the back of a crowded one - is kind of incredible to us. These bus rides are very cheap - costing only ₴3 (3 hryvnas or gryvnas) per person. When we first came here, this was about US$0.25 per ride. With the substantial inflation that has occurred here, at the current exchange rate, it's about US$0.13 per ride. If you get on in the front of the bus, you pay the driver, who then gives you your change - nothing too exciting, unless he's also navigating the busy Ukrainian streets while doing it (which is frequently the case). Paying for the marshrutka gets most interesting when you board in the middle or rear and it's too full to walk to the front to pay. At this point, it becomes an honor system and you simply hand your money to the person in front of you and tell them how many people you're paying for. The first time we did this, we were on a chaotic, super-crowded, very large marshrutka (which really should just be called a bus, not a marshrutka, since the latter term implies a smaller bus). We didn't have small bills totaling an even ₴6 on us, so we handed a ₴10 note to the person in front of us, telling them "два" (dva), Ukrainian for "two". We looked at each other and laughed, agreeing that there was no way we were getting our ₴4 change back. But sure enough, like clockwork, our ₴10 made it to the front through probably 10 hands, "два" made it to the driver like a flawless game of Telephone, and ₴4 in change made it through the same 10 hands and was given to us within a minute of us paying. Normally "money changing hands" could be a term used in discussing corrupt government officials that are unfortunately so common in this country, but in the case of paying for a marshrutka ride, it is a term that an be used to describe the cooperation and teamwork that we really appreciate about the culture here. 4. So. Much. Mayonnaise.We never knew there were so many kinds of mayonnaise in the world until we moved to Ukraine. Each one has a different purpose and different flavor. Thankfully, we had a few people who pointed us toward a couple kinds that most resemble American mayonnaise, so we didn't buy too much that were weird-tasting to us. 5. PackagingSpeaking of condiments...as you can probably see in the photo above, another thing that is different in Ukraine is the packaging for condiments. Rather than coming in jars, tubs, or squeezy plastic bottles, condiments come in bags - most of which have a handy screw top in the upper corner. The exception to the screw top rule is sour cream, which typically comes in a plastic bag that we cut the corner off of and fasten with a clothespin when we are done using it. We aren't as thrilled with the sour cream packaging, because it definitely results in more slimy messes. (To be fair, we could get a tub of sour cream, but those are more expensive, and being able to squeeze out a stream of sour cream can be pretty nice.) The condiments from our fridge. Mayonnaise, three types of mustard (Dijon, "American", and "Strong"), ketchup and sour cream. Ketchup typically comes in the pouches here, but we splurged for good old classic Heinz in a bottle. (Some of the Ukrainian ketchups we had tasted weird, and we decided it was worth it to have ketchup that tastes like home.)
Spices and baking ingredients (e.g. baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder) also come in different packaging here than in the US. One big advantage is that spices are far cheaper here than at home. Each little packet typically costs 8 to 15 cents. The biggest disadvantage is the cocoa powder cloud that explodes out of the package if you accidentally pick it up or put it down incorrectly. Also, finding the right spice can be a challenge when spices aren't organized alphabetically, and many of the Ukrainian names are totally different than the English names!
Ice cream is also packaged differently here than it is at home. Sometimes it can get messy, but we hear it makes great homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches! We still need to test that out. 6. Customer ServiceOne interesting cultural phenomenon here is the lack of customer service/the-customer-is-always-right mentality that we are so accustomed to in the US. Most people we've talked to about this regard it as a cultural carry-over from Ukraine's days as part of the Soviet Union. This would makes sense, as a communist society doesn't value things like customer service, since a store or restaurant doesn't stay in business based on how friendly, inviting, and helpful the staff are. People here don't seem to expect much customer service, and many places don't provide it. However, particularly near the more touristy city center, many restaurants actually have customer service that is pretty good; from what we hear, it's a world of improvement over how it was in the early 1990's. One example of this is when Maggie went to take advantage of a cheap manicure one day. (It costs about $2.50 for a manicure without polish here and only $10 for a shellac-polish manicure!) When she got to the counter, the worker asked her to come back in 20 minutes because she was trimming her own nails behind the counter! When Maggie came back for her manicure 20 minutes later, a second worker gave her a manicure while the first worker (who had asked her to leave and come back later) had a third worker do her nails! 7. Treating People Like People...This is one of the differences that we have noticed that we really appreciate about Ukraine. It's funny, because sometimes it seems to contradict the last point about customer service, because it gives people consideration. We call it "treating people like people". It's a world of difference from what we experienced a majority of the time in Northern Virginia. One example of this phenomenon occurred on Valentine's Day. We decided to go on a date to a nice restaurant, so we asked if we could reserve a table for 6:30 pm. They told us that we could arrive anytime after 5 pm and stay as long as we wanted up until 11 pm, as there would be special music playing the whole time. Unlike American restaurants, which, in our experience, would want to get in at least 2 seatings on a big night like Valentine's Day to maximize revenues, this restaurant reserved our table for us all evening so that we could enjoy ourselves and feel no urge to rush. The other two examples that come to mind to illustrate this point both involve marshrutkas. (Food and buses seem to have unintentionally emerged as the theme of this entry!) When walking along the street (typically towards a bus stop to catch a marshrutka), if your marshrutka comes down the road, you can just put your hand out and wave them down. On most marshrutkas (except for the very large buses), the driver will just pull over to the curb and let you hop on - regardless of whether you are near a bus stop or not; similarly, bus drivers will often let people off where they want to get off, even if it's not at a bus stop. Bus drivers also usually notice people running or walking toward their bus at a stop, and will almost always stop pulling out of the stop to give the person a chance to hop on. Another funny story illustrates this point about "treating people like people" perfectly. Our Ukrainian teacher told us that one time she took her cat somewhere and he had to go to the bathroom while she was on the bus. She explained the situation to the marshrutka driver, who promptly pulled over, let her get off to put her cat in the grass so he could do his business, and proceeded to wait for her cat to finish and her to get back on the bus before he went on with his route. If that isn't considerate beyond reason, I don't know what is! 8. The Active ElderlyOne of the things that is hard to miss here is the fact that old people in Ukraine, in large part, remain very active into their elderly years. Life here requires a lot of walking, climbing up onto public transportation, carrying everything by hand, etc, so many of the elderly people carry out these tasks just like they always have. We think that in many ways, these activities keep them younger and flourishing, even though they look old. The old ladies all wear head scarves tied under their chins, so seeing them everywhere reminds us we're in Ukraine! It is common to see old women (and young, as well) selling produce from their gardens along the sidewalk throughout the city. One of Maggie's favorite sights in Lviv is the old men who gather daily in the city center to play chess or cards on the city benches when the weather is nice. Seeing elderly people out and about as active members of Lviv's daily life is a refreshing sight. But most of the beggars in the city are also people in this age-group who have no family (or have family that doesn't take care of them) and do not make enough on their government pensions to provide for their daily needs. 9. ArmpitsJust a fun fact we recently learned. Apparently it's very normal for Ukrainian guys to trim their armpit hair or even shave their armpits. If a guy goes to the gym with his friends and has armpit hair remotely similar to that of most American guys, his friends will probably tell him that he needs to trim or shave it! [We thought about asking our friends that shave/trim their armpits for a picture to share with you all, but decided to spare us all.] Ukrainian friends, do you have insight to share on these? Or differing opinions? What are some of the differences you observe between American culture and Ukrainian culture? Friends from America or anywhere else, what are some differences you've observed between your own and another culture? How have they led to comical situations or just to a better understanding of people? We'd love to hear your opinions and stories!
If you receive this blog as an email subscription, you will probably have to view this entry in your browser to see the video. Click here to do so. In late January/early February, Maggie helped the Blessings make a video for them to use to update their supporters about Bethel House. (Mark and Rhonda are currently on a trip to the US to visit family, friends, and supporters.) We thought our friends and family might also like to see this video, as you've heard about Bethel House, but haven't really seen much of it. During our time here, we have been helping with various small projects around Bethel House - first when we stayed there for a month-and-a-half and after that, during weekly visits to the house. When the Blessings return in mid-March, we will probably go out there to help more often, as there are some big projects (e.g., laying flooring in the old house) that we'll be helping with. Bethel House is the Blessings' home and a ministry house that is located in a village outside of L'viv. They use the house for ministry purposes already, but when construction is complete, the house's capacity for guests, and thus its ministry capabilities, will increase. Work is completed only as the Lord brings in finances, so the construction phase of the project has been ongoing since the foundations were laid in 2006. Check out their website to read a short version of the amazing story of how they came to own Bethel House, as well as the reason for its name. Completion of Bethel House is targeted sometime in the coming months, so the Blessings can host a dedication this June. We hope you enjoy this video, as it shows some pictures throughout the years of Bethel House construction, as well as a tour through the current house. Even with video stabilization, it's a little bit jerky at times; sorry! Click below to see the video. 1. The game doesn't start at 1:30 a.m.
2. Superbowl food. You can buy Dorito's, Cheeto's, and Frito's. 3. Commercials. Watching streams from Canada results in a lack of classic American Superbowl commercials and an abundance of Tim Horton's advertisements. [Maggie here] I barely made it to halftime, so I'm off to bed. But I should also say that we definitely are thankful for the internet and the ability to still be a part of American traditions like the Superbowl, even from Ukraine. Also...Katy Perry's performance wasn't worth staying awake for. (At least the last 2 minutes of the first half were.) |
BLOGIsaiah 6:8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me." SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOGSUBSCRIBE TO OUR Prayer Request UpdatesArchives
July 2015
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