Cross Culture Ukraine

Friday with the Teens

2009-06-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

We had a great day today with our middle school kids. We are studying the Fruit of the Spirit and today's lesson was peace. We had about 15 kids attend. The most exciting thing they did today was begin making scrapbooks of our summer together. We had lunch together, then played Wii and other games in the worship room, swam, rode ripsticks or played together outside. We were together from 9 AM until 6 PM. Enjoy the pictures.

Horseback Riding and Service Project

2009-06-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

Every Friday this summer our teens are having special events and service projects. Today we went horseback riding at a riding club here in Gorlovka. The kids loved it. When we finished riding, we had lunch at the worship room. After lunch we painted the fence around the playground. The kids did a great job all day. We are studying the Fruit of the Spirit and today the lesson was "joy." The kids learned that there is great joy in having fun together and in doing a great job working together.

Teen Lock-In

2009-06-14T01:58:00.000-07:00

We hosted our first lock-in with the new youth group last Friday night. They were incredibly excited about it. They stayed up until about 6 AM and then all crashed until 8 when we made them get up and clean the worship room. We played Wii, Play Station, many other games, had a devotional and, of course, ate half the night!

Neighborhood Service Project

2009-06-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

A babushka in the building adjacent to ours has been working hard this spring to make her garden beautiful. Recently I asked her if she would like a fence like the one around our garden; of course, she was thrilled with that suggestion. Last weekend we built the fence and then the neighbors painted it. Our youth group kids helped me build the fence.

ABC Kids

2009-06-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent photos from the ABC program. Thank you for continuing to bless their lives through your generosity.

Young Children's Class

2009-05-24T03:20:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday morning Lora sent Lexi, Dima and I on a mission to find a frog and some tadpoles. It was an adventure, to say the least -and we came home with both. They were for Lora's class Saturday morning. Her topic was God created everything. It was a fun class and the kids really enjoyed the frog. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Spring Cleaning and New Projects

2009-05-08T10:19:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy working in the neighborhood. We ordered a truckload of sand to use to refresh the sandbox - the kids love playing in the sandbox and in the left over pile of sand. We ordered a truckload of topsoil to add to the garden beds and to create a new garden area opposite the playground. We also ordered three truckloads of gravel - 15 tons - and spread it all over the place. (My back still feels that today!). It is looking great and we are so thankful that the neighbors are taking such pride in the neighborhood and are always willing to help out. Enjoy the pictures.

Sunrise Service and Easter Sunday

2009-04-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter Sunday in Gorlovka. We started with a sunrise service at "The Sea of Gorlovka" - a large pond on the edge of the city. We rented a bus and took 26 folks to the pond at 5 AM. This was the first time for this event, so we had no idea how it would go. Everyone enjoyed the service and we had breakfast together following at the worship room. We also had our regularly scheduled worship at 10 AM followed by a fellowship meal. There were many visitors for this event. At 2 PM we had two egg hunts, one for young children, hosted at Sasha's home, and one for the older kids at the worship room. I am posting separate posts with pictures about these events so please scroll down to see them.

Egg Hunt for Older Kids

2009-04-20T07:17:00.001-07:00

The older kids had their Egg Hunt at the playground and garden area adjacent to the worship room. We had more than 40 kids attend! Although the weather was chilly and there had been rain in the morning, the event was a great success.

Egg Hunt at Sasha's Home

2009-04-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

The little children had their Egg Hunt at Sasha's Home. The weather was cold and rainy and they hunted their eggs inside. Ira and Lora put together a great party for the kids. Enjoy the pictures.

ABC Program Update

2009-04-16T07:16:00.001-07:00

Today we bought and delivered Pampers and other supplies to the Baby Hospital. Dasha got her driver's license and she drove to purchase the supplies and deliver them. We currently have 16+ children. (We have sixteen that are officially abandoned and then several others who are not technically abandoned, yet their parents are not visiting them or providing any support so we take care of them as well).

The nurses helped us carry the supplies from the car to the first and second floors of the hospital where the children live. I have included several pictures. Then we took a tour of the floors and heard the stories of the various children we are providing for. These stories always touch your heart and cause you to pray for these precious children. We have several children with severe medical conditions and that is always an emotionally difficult thing to see. Please keep all the children and staff in your prayers.

Those who are sponsoring children, please know that your sacrifices are making a tangible difference in the lives of these precious children.

March Update

2009-03-31T06:52:00.001-07:00

The weather has warmed up in Gorlovka for the past couple of days. Kids are everywhere - on bikes, in the playground, and on Ripsticks (Dima has two that are shared with the neighborhood kids). Several neighbors have started working in the garden - planting, cleaning and replacing missing bricks. Everyone is ready for winter to depart and spring to arrive.

Classes, worship and events at the church are back to full speed. The College class is Studying the Book of Revelation (their choice!) on Saturday evening. The Young Teens are studying Stories from the Life of Jesus on Sunday afternoon. They also have classes on Friday and Saturday afternoons taught by ladies in the church. The church family is working through the Gospel of John on Sunday, and studying the Book of Deuteronomy on Wednesday night before prayer meeting. (This class was moved from the morning to evening to help boost attendance - it is working). The College class on Thursday night (designed for Institute students) is studying Parables of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke. In addition I have started my Institute classes on the Shack and they are going well.

Please keep the church family here in your prayers. There is a lot of uncertainty right now because of political unrest and the continuing fallout of the global financial crisis. While we are all keeping our eyes on Jesus - the problems are touching the lives of many people we know and love.

Working with Kids

2009-03-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

In 2000 we moved to Ukraine and started working to plant a church in our neighborhood. One of the first things we did was start playing with kids in the neighborhood (Leanna was seven years old). We soon met Dasha and Masha, sisters who lived in our building. Eventually they were both baptized and they are still active in our church family. This afternoon I took Masha and one of our ABC babies to Donetsk for a consultation. Masha has nearly finished medical school and is doing her residency requirements at the Baby Hospital working under Dr. Sergei Korotya. The baby was found abandoned in the snow in January and there are some problems with the child's back due to the exposure (the result of the consultation is that the child should be fine).

Taking Masha to the hospital with one of the ABC children in her arms took me back to those years when Masha was a kid playing in the neighborhood. I remember the time we "prayer walked" around Gorlovka praying for the various things we were working on as a church family at that time. Masha was part of that walk - and one of the places we stopped to pray was the Baby Hospital. It is amazing how God works in and through our lives to lead us in his ways.

We are now working with a whole new generation of kids. It will be great to see what God does in their lives in the coming years.

Great Sunday in Gorlovka

2009-03-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

This was our first Sunday back in Ukraine and also International Women's Day. We had a great morning of worship, a warm fellowship following and then a great Bible class for the young teens. There were thirteen present for the Teen Class in the rain.

We are still trying to get over jet lag. It snowed the evening we arrived and was cold for a couple of days, but the past couple of days it has warmed up to over freezing and the snow is melting off quickly. It is supposed to be warmer for the next week - everyone is ready for that.

Thanks for your prayers concerning our safety in travel and for our luggage. This was one of the fastest and easiest trips we have ever made. Our layovers were very short and the total trip only took 24 hours and all our luggage stayed with us the whole way!

Happy New Year

2009-01-14T08:40:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that we are already two weeks into 2009. We hope that you and your family had great holidays together. The Payne family is in Panama City currently and will return to Ukraine on March 1, 2009. We will be traveling trying to raise support for the next several weeks.

Several have asked how the dispute between Ukraine and Russia concerning natural gas is affecting people on the ground in Ukraine. I received an email from my friend Kostya Farkovets that said there has been no disruption in gas service in Gorlovka, although there are rumors that other cities have been affected. Kostya did say that some heavy industries have been ordered by the government to reduce their gas consumption. Kostya also added that it has been incredibly cold for the past few weeks, so they are praising God for having the gas to provide heat!

Dasha sent me some pictures of the babies today and I wanted to share them with you. Enjoy. Thanks to everyone who continues to pray for and support our ministry in Gorlovka. We are grateful for your partnership in sharing the love of Jesus with the people of Ukraine.

Church Family Fellowship

2008-12-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

Sunday, December 14, 2008 was our last Sunday in Gorlovka until (hopefully) March 2009. We had a good crowd for worship. Lena was baptized on Saturday and we wanted to have a little going away party on our last Sunday, so we had a fellowship after worship. The church is doing well and the feel at worship services and classes is very warm and loving. We are thankful for the blessings God has poured out on our church family.

Lena's Baptism

2008-12-13T04:09:00.000-08:00

Seventeen members of our church family were able to celebrate with Lena today as she was baptized into Christ. Lena began attending classes and worship a couple of years ago. Lena's granddaughter, Dasha, has been attending classes and Children's Bible School for many years. It was a day of great joy for Lena and for our entire spiritual family.

Church Family and Emerging Youth Group

2008-11-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

We had a good day of worship today in Gorlovka. It is late November and we are still waiting for our first snow (thankfully!). The fellowship at the church is warm and inviting. Today we had a birthday party for Lena, a neighbor lady who has been attending regularly for quite a while. Lena's granddaughter, Dasha, has been coming to classes and Children's Bible School for years.

We are working on building up a new youth group with young teens. They have three classes each weekend - on Friday with Olga Farkovets teaching, on Saturday with Ira Grabko teaching, and on Sunday with Kenny Payne teaching. They are still a "little wild" but they are good kids with a great deal of potential. When I teach them and play with them I always remember starting our first group about nine years ago.

Please keep the church family in your prayers. The financial crisis is hitting many of them close to home - with forced leave without pay from work, and the constant fear that pensions will not be paid each month. Of course, it is always the children, the elderly and the poor who suffer first and suffer most in such difficult times.

Church Fellowship and Party

2008-11-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

On October 31st we had a great party for the children (I think the adults enjoyed as much as the kids!) in our church family and the neighborhood. We had a lot of games set up like Basketball Free throws, Go Fishing, Darts and Balloons, Coke Bottle Bowling, Ring Toss to win sodas, and more. We also had a haunted tent that was quite a hit. In addition we served chili and also had a small bonfire where the kids could roast hot dogs. We had nearly 70 present and it was a great event. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

ABC Children and Caregivers

2008-10-22T00:07:00.000-07:00

We visited the Baby Hospital yesterday and heard the great news that three of our babies found homes in Gorlovka this week. I remember the time when we rejoiced if three babies found a home in a year! Please be praying for those children and the others who have yet to find their forever families.

The staff at the Baby Hospital continue to amaze us with their love and care for the children. It is still sad that so many children are abandoned, but we are grateful to God and to our donors for being able to help these precious children.

Yalta Congregational Retreat

2008-10-07T06:03:00.001-07:00

We had 29 people attend the Congregational Retreat in Yalta last week. The retreat was October 2nd - 5th at the Yalta Intourist Hotel. Our theme was: "So Loved..." Living In the Love of Jesus.

We had classes each morning and evening related to the theme of the Love of Jesus. Our evening worship was on the beach of the Black Sea - a truly beautiful setting. Each afternoon was left free for excursions. Groups went to the Botanical Gardens, a Palace, and we all visited the Yalta Zoo.

One highlight of the Retreat was the baptism of Victoria Mezavtfova. Vica has been attending worship services for awhile and she is the mother of Olesya - one of our college students.

Everyone was encouraged and left the retreat determined to live more securely in the Love of Jesus and to share that love with our family, friends, and neighbors.

College Class

2008-09-28T11:46:00.001-07:00

Our Campus Ministry is off to a good start. I am teaching at the Language Institute each Thursday. I have second year students and I am in charge of their home reading assignment. We are reading the novel The Shack and discussing a couple of chapters each week. The students are enjoying it and we will soon be deep into the book and dealing with rather complex theological issues. It has been a long time since I was allowed to teach theology at the Institute.

On Thursday nights we meet at our worship room for a couple of hours. We play games, eat a meal, have a time of worship and then have a lesson. Right now we are studying the life of David. It is well attended and we hope that deep relationships will develop with some of these students.

Last Thursday one of the guys brought a cake! He said, after the good meal you fed me I just had to bring something back to you. That sense of appreciation and generosity took me back over 15 years to my first visit to Ukraine. (This young man was about Lexi's age then!).

We will have our congregational retreat this week in Yalta. Please keep us all in your prayers for safety and a great retreat.

Campus Ministry

2008-09-11T12:28:00.000-07:00

One of our goals this fall is to work with the Language Institute and reach out to the many students who study there. Last week we began hosting a class for students on Thursday evenings at the worship room. This week I began teaching three groups of students at the Institute using "The Shack" as a textbook and planning discussions based on the book and passages from the Bible. I had a total of thirty-six students in classes this morning and we had about twenty for the class tonight. Lora cooked Lasagna for the students which - as typical college students - they enjoyed immensely.

Children's Bible School

2008-08-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

Children's Bible School 2008 was a great success. We averaged 60 students per night, and had a lot of parents attend with the younger children. Our theme was "Stories Jesus Told: Love God, Love People." We focused on learning the Lord's Prayer and the verse to love God with all your heart, soul., mind and strength. The church family worked diligently to make Bible School a special event for the children. Enjoy the pictures...

Babushka Tea Party

2008-08-22T00:46:00.000-07:00

As a spiritual family, our focus for Fall 2008 is to grow deeper in our faith and reach out to those who do not know Jesus. To help reach out to some of our neighbors, the Babushka Class that meets on Wednesday decided to host a "Neighborhood Tea Party." We had twenty two people present and eleven of them were visitors (ten babushkas and one diadushka). Everyone had a great time and we hope that some of our neighbors will begin attending classes and worship with our spiritual family. Please be praying that we will grow strong and larger as a spiritual family.