USNOF

Saying Goodbye

Today is our last day here in Rivne. So much has happened, we played with the kids, messages were said, songs were sung, stories were told and most importantly, friendships were formed. It was a pretty emotional time. As I reflect and think on this whole week and what I was able to witness, I am truly blessed by God. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to see that God is working in all our lives and this has strengthened my trust in Him. I've been struggling with trust issues due to the past. This really helped me.

Early in the week, God had me meditate on Psalm 81:7 -
In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
God was testing me and my faith, whether I trusted in His ability to provide for me and He does, just as He promised.

The first day when we talked about Creation in story time, in the recreational time we gave each child a beanie baby. I was wondering if we had enough. We gave the children all each a beanie baby and then gave the kids at the Intake Facility each one, and ended up having some leftovers that we were able to give to the Baby House. On Wednesday we had an overwhelming group of kids that suddenly appeared and the VBS team was exhausted in the middle of it all. When we left and break for lunch we were all exhausted. I had prayed for energy because we still had to go to the older kids and God gave me strength. I ended up playing futbal with them and I thought I couldn't move anymore! Thursday when we talked about Easter and did Easter Egg Hunt with all the children, again I doubted and wondered if we had enough eggs for them. Each little kids were able to get 4-5 eggs and the older children had about 6-7 eggs. It was the perfect amount. God does provide and He provides just enough!

On Friday the older kids did a little performance for us by singing and gave us gifts that they made. We treated them to a pizza party and gave them a copy of the Bible. I also realized that trying to buy a Bible in Ukraine is not that easy. We had to go to a Christian book store in order to get some. Back home, it's so easy to find a Bible in almost any bookstore. We, as Americans, are so truly blessed that this great book is so easily accessible.

Ukraine is a great place. I love the time here and all the Ukrainian friends I made. They all shared with me a little about their country. Each one of them are proud Ukrainians, but like most government in any countries, it needs work. Government is corrupted by selfish leaders and law that does not get enforced. Common people struggle with everyday life, and even with the difficult struggles, my Christian Ukrainian friends are content and thankful for God. So much so, that they are so willing to serve God by helping others even though their situations are not the most ideal. Each of us have different circumstances and struggles, but all of us are capable of helping one another.

Before i end this blog, I'd like to share that there's a lot of pizzas here in Ukraine. Every corner in Rivne seems to have pizza and I hate pizza. I was able to go to one pizza place that had the best pizza I ever ate, it's called La Rivera (I hope I spelled it correctly). It's right by the river/lake/pond. I was able to eat real Ukrainian food and found that they eat mostly potatoes, dill, meat, sour cream, mayo (mostly on their salads), dill, pickles and did I mentioned dill?

Oleg, my new friend, said his wife is a great cook and that she makes everything by scratch. So, if I do come back to Ukraine, Kiev, I am inviting myself to his house and try out his wife's food. Thank you Oleg, for making my mouth water while listening to all the wonderful dishes your wife makes, while I eat the "Ukrainian Pizzas."

Our final wrap-up days have been just as busy as the rest of the week, and also just as fulfilling. We've done so much in the last two days I'm not really sure where to begin. I am ready to go home yet it's strange to think that we leave Rivne early tomorrow morning and start making our journey home. It always goes by so quickly. We're filled with ideas and passion, and are already talking about what we should do next year and what we can bring.

Thursday was a productive day. We visited Pahinets in the morning and had our annual meeting with Tamara to learn about all she's done and hear hysterical stories about the children. She's had enough rooms renovated and received enough money from the government that she can finally extend her ages past 8 years. In September she'll start the first class for 9-10 year olds. Now Pahinets will serve children from the age of 2 months to 10 years. Her hope is to eventually serve children to 16 years. About 3 years ago, after our sessions on parent advocacy, Tamara had intense discussions with a few parents and promised to extend her school through 3rd grade. I was ecstatic, but it didn't happen, until now. The other great part of the day was that she agreed to help us with Nikita. Nikita is the 17 year old we agreed to help last Sunday. A young man who's never attended school. Tamara agreed to start slowly with him. Sending a therapist to his house once a week, and then hopefully have him attend school once a week and eventually receive some job training. We were supposed to meet him on Thursday afternoon, but he was resistant to riding in the taxi so he didn't come. We had a really nice talk with his grandmother and younger brother though. We met at the OMNI center in the afternoon and reviewed the conference. They seemed pleased. They'd really like even more specialized, practical classes next year.

On Friday every year we visit the baby house.  I've included some photos so you can join me in loving and praying for these sweet children.  Normally, the director gives us a tour, but this year he had a colleague show us around.  Unlike the director, this colleague let us hold and play with the children.  It was heartwrenchingly glorious.  We were frequently cautioned against taking photos of certain children because they're in the process of being adopted.  I was surprised, and of course, overjoyed at the large number of  children being adopted.  Even a couple of the children in the special needs group!! 

After the VBS group finished their annual pizza party at the Intake Center, we drove over to the "mall."  The best part is that it has an ice skating rink in the middle and it's probably the only place in Ukraine that's COLD.  We spent the afternoon shopping at the mall, the linen store, and the amber store.

The best part of today though was having dinner with Victor, Irina, and their son Anton.  Anton is now 8, graduated from Pahinets (his parents hadn't heard they'd extended the classes), and he'll be attending a "school" in the fall called Special Child.  Anton is speaking wonderfully now and has made a lot of progress academically.  He's a delight.  I had a great time chasing him through the park and giving him piggy back rides.  For those of you who don't know, Victor is the father that waited in the hotel lobby several years ago for Karen Feathers (founder of USNOF), and made the organization aware that parents such as himself were keeping their children at home rather than placing them in the orphanages and asked USNOF to help them too.  This man in essence expanded USNOF into helping the parents, OMNI, Pahinets, and eventually the educators.  He's amazing!

Thank you once again for all your support, thoughts, and prayers.  It means so much to me.  People are flying in many different directions and spread across a few airlines.  Please keep us in your prayers as we fly over the Atlantic.