Look What I Can Do

I was glad I had a camera near by when Emma said, "Mama, I can yo-yo and dance at the same time!"

Ukrainian Genocide: Holodomor

On Saturday I took Allyson to Kiev for a quick visit of the city. While we were there we came across a huge memorial service. Thousands of people from all over Ukraine were meeting in Kiev to remeber those killed during the forced famine ordered by Joseph Stalin from 1932-1933. Only one year ago today, was Holodomor finally recognized by the government as genocide. These are a few pictures of what we saw in Kiev. If you are interested in reading more about the famine, click here. As you think about those who died, please remember those who are dying here today. There are millions of people in Ukraine who do not know Christ. They are sick and tired and starving for a Savior. Please pray for the souls of Ukraine.

Time with Allyson

On Gavin's birthday we drove to Kiev to pick up a very special friend at the airport. Allyson flew in from Turkey to spend Thanksgiving with us. I have known Allyson since she was one year old. It was so fun to have such an old and dear friend here. The kids will definitely miss having her around. She was constantly entertaining them and of course she brought them gifts which always catches their hearts.

Allyson lives and works in Turkey. On Sunday she shared with our church about her life there, the friends she is making and all that is happening there. We were greatly blessed by her testimonies.

Allyson, thank you for coming. You are missed already. We can't wait to see you in January!

Big # 6

Tuesday Gavin turned six! It's pretty unbelievable that our little boy is getting so big! Gavin grew up a lot this year. He started losing teeth, he grew a couple of inches, he started going to the boarding school with Conor, he learned how to read, the list goes on. The most memorable thing that happened in Gavin's fifth year was in February. He came to us and told us that as he was laying in bed, talking to God, he asked Him to come and live in his heart! The best thing a parent could ever hear! We pray that in his sixth year, Gavin would know God and love Him more.

This week has been a non-stop party for Gavin. Monday night we celebrated with Auntie Reenie and Auntie Chris before they flew to America. Tuesday, Gavin's actual birthday, we took the kids to their favorite place near Kiev where they have a giant jungle gym and a lot of fun games. Our friend Allyson flew in from Turkey on Tuesday night and we celebrated with her. Wednesday we had toffee bars with the church. And finally, Thursday, as we gathered for Thanksgiving with the Fournier's, we wrapped up the celebration with a "super-hero," chocolate cake.

Snow Day

We got a foot last night. It's our first big storm of the season.

Lost Another One

Getting The Word Out

The Washington Post put out this article on how missionary groups are using technology to bring the gospel to unreached people groups all over the world. There are so many ways to get the Word to people these days. Reading it encouraged me and got me thinking and praying about what more could be done over here to reach people with Gods Word.

Wednesday Night

I've been wanting to take some pictures at church, but I never can seem to get around to it. So last Wednesday night, after the service, I finally got a few. There were a lot of people that couldn't make it to this service. I will try and get more on a Sunday soon.
Right now we are going through the book of Nehemiah. On this particular Wednesday we were studying chapter eight and had a great time of worship and prayer.
Here are a few of the family.

Many of you have spent time with us in Chernigov and know our church. Please feel free to leave a message for them here in the comments. Russian or English is fine.

Prayer Request

So, I thought I would shoot this thing up again for two reasons. Our good friend Gretchen Fournier had an operation today to remove some gallstones. The operation went well and she hopes to get out of the hospital on Friday. Please pray for a quick recovery for her. The second is that we are watching the 3 Fournier children during this time. They are really good kids and it's great having them with us, but their 3 and our 2 all are sick with bad coughs and colds. My hat goes off to all you family's with 5 or more kids! Reenie and Chris are watching the two girls at night which is a huge blessing! They are also helping out a ton during the day. We could all really use your prays for healing and strength. Thanks so much!

( Danny, thanks for the new prayer beacon.)

Emushka

I was looking through some old pictures of the kids and I came across this one. Emma is almost 2 here. Little girls love to play dress up and they usually dress up like princesses. Not our little one. I think she was going for the babushka look here. She looks just like the babushka that lives next door to us.

Friends & Photos

A few nights ago we had Victor & Tatiana Velichko over to our house. These two lovely people are the proud parents of Olya Velichko. Olya is a young lady that goes to church with us, but at the moment is working as an intern with . Usually she is here with In Lumine working to get great christian books into peoples hands all over Ukraine and Russia. Olya is a good friend and we are missing her a ton! But, in her absence we have made a new friendship with her parents. Lately we have been able to spend time with Victor and Tatiana, getting to know them better.
They took Koren and I to the Chernigov Philharmonic, in which Olya's older brother Kolya plays the violin. The other night they came over and shared with us pictures that Viktor had taken, which is the real reason I am writing this post. I really want you to see some of the pictures he has taken of our beautiful Chernigov. He has a real talent and loves taking them. This first one is my favorite. Koren thought it would look good in black and white. Thanks Danny for doing that!

Constitutional Authority

.

One of the things that I have always appreciated about my Dad is that he has a great sense of humor. He has worked for INS for over 27 years and has some pretty interesting stories! He emailed me this one today.

Dad, thanks for all the laughs.

One of my officers was testing an applicant for citizenship on his knowledge of U.S. civics and history. The officer asks the, to that point, seemingly astute applicant the following question: "Under our constitutional form of government, who or what body has the authority to declare war?" After just a moments hesitation the applicant responded with confidence "the Republican Party."
After living here as a legal resident the last 7 years, he thought he had this one nailed, for sure...

(The political views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Conor & Koren. Nevertheless, they did find this pretty funny!)
.

Prayer Beacon

I know, I know... Your shocked at what a wizard I am with paint. Ijust feel like I need a bat-beacon sometimes. We could really use your prayers! Emma just got over pink eye and then had a head cold at the same time. She is getting better, but still has a really bad cough. Then Koren just came down with strep throat. She started taking antibiotics today. She is really hurting. The past few months there has been a lot of sickness in the family and I wanted to ask for prayer. Thank you!

Only Jesus

Going Somewhere

.

Koren and I have been thinking a little about our next visit to the states. Lord willing this winter. Koren has spent hours online looking for deals to get our family back the cheapest way. As many of you know once you tack on a couple kids the price starts to get scary! We were shocked at what it was going to cost us for this next visit. Then we remembered a travel agency that we used once when Emma was sick and we had to fly to the states last minute. It's a group called Golden Rule Travel. They're a christian travel agency (if you couldn't tell by the name) that specializes in international adoption, humanitarian, and missionary travel. We ended up emailing them just to see what they could come up with and were really happy with what they found. Great tickets, times and prices! I was just thinking about all my fiends here in Ukraine with big family's and everyone I know going on short term mission trips all the time. Anyway just wanted to let you know about these guys before your next trip. They can probably help.

.

[© Flickr Bubba ]

Preach Jesus

I posted this when I first started our blog in June. I was reading it again tonight as I prepared for tomorrows service. I love how it just crys- Jesus is everything! I really enjoyed reading it tonight once again. So I thought you might as well.

.

Posted June 17 2007-
In 1999 I was in a used Christian book store in York, England. Books lined the walls of this little shop and I scanned the room for something interesting to take home. At the time all I wanted to do was find a cool, old, book that I could take home as a souvenir. What I ended up finding that day was much more then just a souvenir. It was a book entitled Papers On Preaching. It was published in 1887. It is a series of articles on sermon preparation and preaching written by different pastors. Since that day in York, England I have probably read one particular chapter well over two hundred times. I have not come across such powerful words in any other book, besides the Bible, that encourages me so much to lift up the name of Jesus. I read these words often before I teach. They have brought me so much encouragement in my life that I thought I would share them with you.
.

I.

BY THE RIGHT REV. MAURICE S. BALDWIN, D.D,

BISHOP OF HURON.

"We need a ministry that believes in Jesus Christ. I mean by this, a ministry that believes in Jesus Christ against the whole world; that not only merely believes that Jesus Christ is a power, or even a great power, but that all power in heaven and earth is His; that he is before all things, and by Him all things consist; that He is not only King, but King of kings, and Lord of lords; that believes when it enters the pulpit, Bible in hand, to lift up Christ as the infinite salvation of God, a blessing not only may, but must follow, because He is the power of God, and because this is the hour when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.This is the ministry we need: one not afraid , as has been well said, to step out on the deep blue of God's promise and trust where the whole world derides ; not afraid to stake the awful inviolability of Christ's word against the despair of a nation, and to rejoice in sunlight where the world sees only the blackness of the storm. Oh, we need always to be wrapped round in the very folds of the Redeemer's garments, to realise Him so personally present, that above us we can see His glorious form towering up into infinite divinity ; His head crowned with many crowns, and shining above the brightness of the sun ; beneath us, as the Rock of Ages upholding the whole church with the omnipotency of His power ; around us, as the hills are about Jerusalem, that we being encircled with His presence may be saved from all our adversaries, and rest in the fulness of His peace."

.

A Flickr Of Ukraine

I was surfing on flickr the other day and I ran into ERayza's photos. This guy has quite an eye! He captures the feel of things here in the winter very well I thought.

.

There Was A Little Girl.........

.

Soviet Art

Today as I was signing on to my blog and I saw a list of blogs that are getting a lot of attention. One of them caught my eye and I had to take a look. It's called A Soviet Poster A Day. This guy posts a new soviet poster everyday and writes about the history of each one. For me it was fascinating looking at the different artists work and reading the story behind them. Here are just a few of them. I thought my friends (especially on this side of the world) would enjoy taking a look at this blog.

To fly higher than all, farther than all, faster than all! D. Pjatkin, 1954



Resintrust Galoshes V. Bayuskin, 1925

The finishing ribbon says: all world records must to be ours. Govorkov V. I., 1935

.

7 Great Years

I love you too my boy! God has blessed us with a wonderful marriage. So many wonderful memories! These are some pictures I dug up to celebrate our special day, only a few of the happy times we've had. I looked forward to a million more! I love you!

7 Years

I should be preparing for a Bible study right now, but I just have to do something first. You see, I have a date tonight after church. I'm taking out a wonderful, amazing, beautiful woman that I've been married to for 7 years today. And I really want to leave her a note on here.

Koren, I love you! I am so thankful to God for you. The grace and love that God shows me through you speaks to me everyday. I love being married to you! Thank you for your love these past 7 years.

O.K. I'm good now! Just really excited about today and my date with my girl. Back to studying...........


.

Jump Back

Sorry it's been so long since our last post. Things have been really busy lately. Lots of good stuff the Lord is doing. I hope to get posting and share a bunch of it with you. For now I want you to meet Tolik , he's 10. This is some footage from the other day while I was at the boarding school I introduced you to a couple posts back. I knew Tolik could play soccer better then anyone I know but I had no idea that he could do this.

.

Conference Collage

(HT: Daniel Foote)