Ukraine
Yalta update (conference etc) By Christine
Yalta update (conference etc) By Christine
It is hard to explain what exactly happened at this conference. I have spoken before at churches, youth groups, and retreats but I haven’t been the primary speaker at a conference before. It was both humbling and terrifying. I knew what the Lord was asking me to do, but I was also aware that it was truly beyond what I could do in my own strength and wisdom.
The first night was very difficult. It was like pushing through mud. The Lord made it clear what I was supposed to talk about. It was on “Hearing the Voice of God” and how that relates to understanding and receiving His love for us. In my own mind and understanding I was fighting this. Having some understanding of the kind of teaching that this church receives, I thought that this was really a waste of time and unnecessary. I am sure they had heard this all before. Well, guess who was wrong. They may have heard it before, although not everything that is taught or preached is for everyone in every season this was a word for some. After the teaching we had a time of silence before the Lord and when that happened, His presence came as a gentle breeze on the hearts of many.
Highlights of the month
Some of the highlights of the month are;
We got to see my sister and family (David's) in the process of adopting a child here in Ukraine. I won’t go into all the details but we were able to meet them in Kiev before we went to Yalta for the conference. It was good to see them and be the first ones to welcome them to Ukraine. Then on the way home to Kharkiv we were actually able to see them again and meet my new niece whose name is Arianna Renatta Schlabach at an orphanage in Simferopal. She is 8 years old and a little giggle box and lots of fun to be with. We are so happy for them and it will be really cool for us when we go to the states and get to see here in her new home.
Christmas and New Year’s Update
Well it is officially the New Year here in Ukraine. After celebrating our Western Christmas on the 25th of December and ringing in the New Year in the early hours of January 1st. As most of you know we also got to celebrate their “Orthodox” Christmas here on the 7th of January. Also they have what they call “The Old New Year’ which is on the 14th of January. We now believe we have covered every ones idea of when the New Year begins.
Never have we seen so many fireworks in such a short amount of time. The biggest display was the New Years celebration. If we didn’t know better we would have thought that the beginning of WWIII had begun in our region. Fireworks are cheap and easily available and from what we can tell not regulated whatsoever. Things were booming so loud and close and flashing from every direction if we had guns we might have got them out just in case. Of course I am kidding but it was a totally different experience than what we are used to. 4th of July celebrations have always taken place at my Uncle’s place and we do pretty much what we want there with fireworks, but this was on such an unbelievably grand scale it is hard to describe here but I think you get the idea.
Finally an update
Dear Friends,
As usual it is hard to know exactly what to say. Since arriving here in Ohio on July 31 things have been challenging and stretching to say the least. We hit the ground running because of Christine’s mom’s broken foot and then her unexpected death in August. Since Christine's moms death we have been involved in taking care of her possessions and also taking care of a lawsuit that she had been involved with. Since Christine is the executor of the estate it was her responsibility to deal with this. It was a very difficult process to try and settle this since it was the only thing holding us back from leaving for Ukraine in early October as originally planned. We felt very much like we have been in a holding pattern. What a challenge to be moving but essentially going no where. Patience has never been either of our strong suites so it was a struggle for us to say the least. It was such a temptation to "go back" to normal living during this time. What I mean by that is to give up and just stay here in the US but yet every time we would pray about it God would say "NO". We know with God nothing is wasted but we have to say that we hope God was able to accomplish something through us being here as we can’t see it with our own eyes or understanding. We cannot express how very grateful we are to all of you for all of your encouraging words, love, prayers, and ministry to us while we have been here. Without you.......who knows where we would be. We are at such a time in our lives where we are continually reminded how we need each other. The thought of being in this thing called life without you, without GOD...I cannot imagine. Just when we had almost given up God moved and now the lawsuit is settled and we are free to go, so go we will! We do not have an exact date but it looks as though it will be somewhere at the end of this month (Feb). When we know a date for certain, we will be sure to let you know. In the mean time if you wish to see us please give us a call as we would be happy to connect before we make the trip over the pond.
David and Christine
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