It Just Keeps Coming Down

We thought February would bring some better weather and a little less snow... We were wrong! It as been snowing for the past three days.

There has been so much snow this year that some weeks it has been impossible to drive down our road.

Our church sign now sits high on a snowbank letting people know where the church is.

Gavin and Emma hope that snow keeps coming!

Christmas Concert

This year our church decided to put on a Christmas concert at the Philharmonic of Chernigov. A small mission team from Atlanta, Georgia, was able to come and help us with the event. One of the men on the team, David Carnes, is a concert pianist and he agreed to play at our concert. David played his own arrangements of American Christmas songs and Ukrainian folk/Christmas songs. The audience really enjoyed the music. After, Pastor Jake was able to share about Christmas and God’s loving plan of salvation through the incarnation of God. People from our church baked homemade desserts which we served with coffee and tea. Our church worked hard to make it a special evening for our guests. We spent the evening talking with people that normally might not step into a church. It was a wonderful time, a simple and fun way to get to know people and share Christ with them.

We were really excited to be able to rent the Philharmonic for the concert.

Mr. Carnes doing his thing! He is amazing!!!!

Pastor Jake did a wonderful job explaining the the true meaning of Christmas, showing everyone that it is all about Jesus and what He as done for them.

Vlada was the perfect hostess for the event.

Miss Padiy has some great pictures of the event on her blog. Check out Underwater to see her take on the night.

Just A Little

That's a picture of Gavin around the same age.

The Money Box

Yes, "the money box". It all started with a little cardboard box with a hole in the top. While we were in CA this summer, Emma came to me with a shoe box and asked me to cut a hole in the top. So, I did and didn't really think much more about it. But them Emma kept on asking me for the change in my pockets. "Papa, do you have any coin money?" Every time she would see my wallet out she would ask, "Do you have a one dollar I could have? Please, Dad! " We started to think that this little girl was getting a little money hungry! Then, after being asked yet again if I had any money for her "money box", I asked Emma what she was planning on doing with all her money. Her answer was this, "I want to buy toys for the kids with no moms and dads at the orphanage when we get back to Ukraine." Hearing this response made Koren and I so happy. Our little girl was not becoming a little miser. God was working in her heart love for others.
Soon after, Emma had the idea to put up a Lemon-aide stand at Grandma Kathy's house to see if she could raise a little more money for the kids. (I think that Grandma bought most of the lemon-aide). As word spread about Emma's box, the Lord put it on a dear friend's heart to give a donation for the children. We soon were informed that a church had given a donation as well. It blew us away how the Lord provided this money and how He was using Emma to be a part of His work.



So here we are... Yesterday we took that "money box" money and bought soap, toothpaste, tooth brushes, shampoo, fruit, and a few other things and made up twenty-five gift bags. Recently we found out about an orphanage that we didn't know existed. It is a home for children that have just lost their parents or have had to be taken from their homes for a number of reasons. I was told that there were about twenty kids right now and that they ranged from ages three to sixteen. After visiting the place a few times by myself, we thought that it would be a great place to use the money. We told Emma about these 2o kids and she thought it was the perfect place to take gifts. After talking with the staff we thought that tooth brushes and that sort of thing would be the best way to use the money. You can see by the pictures that the kids were very excited about these little bags.

Emma was so happy to see this whole thing coming together!

It was all up to the kids to get these bags ready.

It was a wonderful time with the children and the staff. The head teacher even asked me if I would say a few words to the children and the entire staff about the gifts. It was a great time to share who these gift were really from. I was able to share with them how much God loves them and what He has done for them! The head teacher also invited us to start coming in weekly from now on. Please be in prayer for this orphanage. There are currently twenty-four children living there. The Lord has opened wide the doors for us to minister there. Gavin and Emma are thrilled to be a part of it and we are excited to see the Lord using them.

Thank you Lord and thank you for using our five year old!

We love you Emmushka!





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Our Winter Baby

Arden ventured out today to play in the snow with her older siblings. She will be 5 months in a few days.

Click here to enlarge.

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"Christmas" What Is It Really?

I thought this short film was worth watching. I hope you like it and I hope it makes you think. May us as parents not let our little ones miss out on really knowing and celebrating this truly beautiful holiday. The Christ has come!

That's Christmas! from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

HT: Justin Taylor

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Snow, Snow and More Snow

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Smiles

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Halloween Masks

This Halloween we didn't see many ghost and goblin masks here in Chernigov, but people were wearing another kind of mask. The H1N1 flu virus was reported to have reached Ukraine about a week ago. Authorities have blamed the virus for numerous deaths in Western Ukraine. The goverment has issued a quarantine for the entire country. All schools, universities, outdoor markets and public gatherings have been canceled for the next 3 weeks. We have been asked to shorten or cancel our church meetings and we are not able to visit any of the orphanages during this time. Many people are in a real state of panic here. I have heard of some that refuse to leave their homes and how some stores won't even let you in to shop if you are not wearing a mask. Please pray that people here would look to Christ during this time of fear and sickness and find eternal life.






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More High Fashion

These McNamee girls know how to dress!

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High Fashion

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Coffee & Chan

This morning Koren and I had a wonderful time just hanging out together. The kids were gone and we sat back and drank coffee, talked and rested. One thing that made the morning so good was a Bible study that we watched given by Francis Chan. A good friend of mine turned me on to Francis Chan about a month ago and I have loved studying the Word with Chan through his podcasts ever since. The reason I like listening to Chan is that he always brings it all back to loving Christ and how if that love is real it will translate into loving people. Francis Chan is the teaching pastor at Cornerstone Church, Simi Valley, CA. I have posted the message that we listened to this morning. Enjoy!

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