Be still

My days are not as busy right now as I am not homeschooling anymore. I am waiting to see what opportunities God is going to bring my way. I will be doing some volunteering as well as helping out with some things at church. It is hard to believe that it has been almost 2 months since the kids have gone back to school. I haven't been sitting around the house looking for things to do. My afternoons have been busy with three kids in sports, but that has been very enjoyable and almost done. (I will have to put some pictures up.) There have been a few days that I would say have been a little more idle than others, but for the most part, I have been working on a few projects that have needed some attention. Areas of organization that I am not always the best at.

I have really enjoyed some time to sit back and talk to God a little more. The house is quiet for the first time in many years. This is my "be still" time. It is hard to be still. I still have things that I want to do and places that I want to go. Even when I am "being lazy", I am usually working on a craft project. So now I am working on listening to what God wants me to learn as I step into another phase of my life. It's a little scary. I commented to Dan that the past few years have been one change after another. As I look at the next few years, I see plenty more ahead. Peirce is a sophomore this year. Next year we start looking at colleges. As we've learned with three kids close in ages, when one starts doing something, the others are close behind.

I'm thankful that I have this "be still time." I don't know how long it will last. I have a feeling that it won't be much longer. There is an urgency to catch on quickly because I know that I have so much to learn.---could it be that in my last year of my 30's I feel my age catching up with me?

This may be ramblings from my heart, but it is where I am right now. I guess that I am contemplating where I am in my walk with God and where I should be.

Life is calling....more projects to get to, but let me encourage you to take the time, even in the midst of a busy day to BE STILL.

Ukraine English Camp '09 Part 3

The rest of the week followed the same schedule as Monday, each day building on the others as far as teaching them more and more about Jesus, who He is, and our need for Him. By Friday we could see many of the kids thinking through the whole process. Many of these kids had grown up in church traditions, but not ever learning of a relationship with Christ. Many others of these kids have grown up with basically no knowledge of God. Quite a different set of ideals, but both of them lost. We had many Christians in the group who had brought many of the other kids with them. We spent so much of our days building relationships with the kids. They kids would have trivia to ask us or homework questions like,"What is your favorite type of food and why?" if the class was talking about food that day. We did games in the evening with our Bible Reading/Conversation Groups. (along with everyone else) We had some goofy ones. One of my favorite days was the waterfight on Thursday or Friday. They were having a bunch of games with water balloons. One minute they were throwing the balloons at each other and the next there was a deluge of a rain shower. It was quite funny! One of the girls from our English Class had asked us earlier in the week when it was raining if it was raining cats and dogs. We told her not then. Dan told her that it was raining puppies and kitties. After the water balloon fight, I told her that that was raining cats and dogs. She said that she could feel their claws it was raining so hard! Friday evening is Gospel night. We spent quite a bit of time in prayer that day. We knew that many of the kids had been thinking through what they had been learning that week. I could truly see "wheels turning" in a few of our girl's minds in our group. One of the conversations that we had had earlier in the week that came back on Friday was that the Americans that they had met had so much happiness. They thought that it was due to our political freedom. We were able to tell them that the Americans that they have met were Christians (our youth group has gone there for the past 3 years and has had English club when they have been there). Our joy is due to the fact that we have a certainty on our future. This brought one of girls into more deep thought. Friday night was amazing. I know that God is incredible, and I should expect the impossible, but we saw it. Each night, one of the Americans or Canadians would share their testimony. Friday night, one of the Americans and one of the Ukranians gave their testimony. Alonya, one of the Christian translators, shared her testimony. She was saved the year before at camp. It was exciting to see how powerful her testimony was to those who were going through the same thought process that she had last year. We saw 13 kids accept Christ at camp. It was wonderful to listen to them share what they were thinking and feeling. Saturday was our last day at the camp. We were finishing up classes as well as keeping up relationships--we weren't done yet. Saturday night we had a banquet decorated with Canadian flags. It was fun. There is no national pride in Ukraine, so it was good for them to see a National pride. At the end, we left the camp. We spent our last 4 nights in the town of Odessa with one of the missionary couples. There were 8 of us in their apartment. We spent our days doing things with the kids. Sunday was church, picnic at the Black Sea and pizza and Fireproof. Monday we saw Odessa, shopped and did an evening talent show. Tuesday we did a WWII war museum and memorial. This was interesting to see from the "Russian" side". Tuesday night was the goodbye evening. We watched a slide show of our week and said our goodbyes. We were amazed at how many of the kids did these things with us. Some of the people were coming from far away to spend a few hours with us. We are on facebook and emailing with a few of the kids. This definetely was a lot of work, but it was very rewarding. It was a great opportunity to feel the ministry of the team in Odessa as well as see God work in a different way. If anyone has questions, please ask. I wish that I could write more, but time and my poor writing skills keep me from doing that. My pictures are all in the album Ukraine English Camp'09. I'll have to add photos soon.

Ukraine English Camp '09 Part 2

Monday started early with a Clear Lake team meeting at 7:15. We met each morning in order to talk over prayer requests and to see how we were each doing. At 7:45 we had our camp staff meeting. We started with the Odessa staff, the translators, and the Americans and Canadians to sing, have a short devotional and discuss the day. The translators would then leave to have their meeting while we discussed any prayer concerns that each of us had. We then split into smaller groups for a time of prayer. Our team was very unified the whole week, and I am sure that this time had a lot to do with it. It was hard getting up early each morning, but we really bathed that camp in prayer.

After breakfast we met in the large

meeting room for announcements, a silly English song like Wadaleacha, head and shoulders...etc, and our trivia of the day. Our trivia of the day was designed to get the kids to speak to the Americans/Canadians. We would have two questions each day that they needed to find out who the answer was. Even some of the kids who spoke very little English would walk around with their paper. They had to ask the question in English. We would then break for Bible reading time. Our group for Bible Reading was a mix of English reading levels. We had a translator to help us. The students were given a Russian New Testament and an English New Testament. We would read the passage in English and then have them read it in English, read it in Russian, or translate it from Russian into English. They can read English fairly well, but they don't always know what it means. We then had questions that we would ask them. The Bible is viewed as a good piece of literature in Ukraine. The kids knew that they would be hearing about God at camp, so this was not a surprise. We were still trying to help them with their English while learning about God's word. Monday's theme was who is Jesus. We studied Jn 1. Each day built on the day before.

After Bible reading, the groups changed for English Class. For these, the kids are divided into classes by level of conversational English. Dan and I had the Advanced, Advanced speakers. There were six in our class, three of which were actually translating that week. Grammar is something that they know well, so the focus of the week was to teach them conversational English, not grammar. Our English class would spend 45 minutes going over vocabulary words, two word verbs, and idioms that fit our theme for the day. Since we had the advanced group, we let them choose the themes that they wanted to discuss. The next half of class was spent playing games. Monday, we played Boggle. I was very amazed at how well they did finding words. We ended class with an homework assignment that would help them speak English. For our class it was usually a question that required an answer and an explanation. We also sent articles for them to read and report on the next day.

Lunch was next with a few hours to rest, plan for the next day, and spend time with the kids. 3:00 was an optional craft time. 4:00 was an optional discussion. They varied each day. One day was Creationism, another day, Dan and I discussed dating. Before dinner, we had our Conversation group which was the same people that we had Bible reading with that morning. Conversation time was just that--conversation. We had topics or questions that we could use. After dinner, we had an activity that was meant to help us get to know our group better. Monday we played carnival games. We had a short service in the evening. We would sing worship songs in both English and Russian and then listen to a short challenge. Monday started the theme of "What brings happiness?" It was a great start to an incredible week.

Odessa, Ukraine Part 1

Thursday morning, July 23rd, 4 of us left Clear Lake at 5 am to get up to Minneapolis. I travelled by myself to Chicago where I met up with Dan and John VanGerpen, another of our group, from California. Overnight, we flew to Germany, Romania, and then Odessa, Ukraine. We were met by a large group of people; our team members from Canada, Iowa, North Carolina, and California, and the Odessa team. From the airport, we travelled to the camp which is an hour outside of Odessa.

Saturday was spent training and preparing for the campers. We had a lot of planning to get ready for. There were 16 of us from Canada and the US. There is also a great team in Odessa. Since we had not all met, it was a great time getting to know each other as well as hearing what was needed from us. Sunday morning came very early. We started with worship time just for camp staff and then got ready for the campers. The students arrived right before lunch. After eating, some of us game them placements tests in order to put them in the right English class. I really enjoyed the testing time. Some of these kids did not speak a whole lot of English, but they were very nice. This was a good time to get to start relationships with some of them.

After testing we had the job of putting the in the proper classes. I'll explain later how the classes were split up. We had a short time meeting our Conversation Class before dinner. After dinner, we had some games and then an evening meeting. Our evening meetings were our only "preaching" type meetings. It was very exciting to see the progression of these evening services. Many of these kids knew very little about God. They really didn't even think about God. Many of the others are from the Orthodox church. We spent the week telling them about Christ little by little.

Prayer list for Ukraine Trip

This is the list that we sent out to our church; I thought that many of you would enjoy seeing what we are doing. I also hope that many of you will pray for us.

ODESSA TEAM PRAYER SHEET

Pastor Dan & Deb Jordan, Greg & Julie Nicholas,

Pete Faust, Lindsey Calhoun, Eric Hansen

Thank you for the prayer and financial support given to the Lord on our behalf. Here is a Daily Prayer Guide to give you some idea of the work and timeframe of this Odessa , Ukraine mission trip from July 23-August 5. Keep praying about your own participation on a mission team. Keep in mind that Ukraine is 8 hours ahead of the Central time zone. Consider praying for this ministry the day before. On behalf of the entire team, thank you for your prayerful support of the English camp ministry.

July 15^th (Pete Faust), July 20^th (Lindsey Calhoun), July 23^rd (Pastor Dan/Deb, Greg/Julie, Eric Hansen) departure days: Pray for safety and protection while traveling. Pray for connections with team members from other states, that there will not be any delays in the airports, that security screenings will go smoothly, and that our luggage arrives with us.

July 24 – Arrive in Odessa , Ukraine . Pray for the team as we adjust to the Ukrainian culture. Pray for team unity. Prayfor our flexibility, our witness and our strength.

July 25 – This is camp preparation day for the youth camp at the campsite facilities. Pray for the team as it plans, prepares and prays for this youth camp. Pray for everyone who will be attending this English camp. Pray for the work God is doing in their lives and our lives and the changes He is going to make.

July 26 – Pray for safe arrival of the campers in the afternoon. Youth Camp will begin this night. Pray for friendships between staff and campers.

July 27-30 – Pray for these elements of the youth camp.

English reading time: We will be using Scripture to teach English and to learn about Jesus. Pray that the campers will have open ears, hearts, and thoughts to these lessons.

English classes: Pray that the lessons challenge the camper’s English speaking skills. Pray that each student will gain confidence in conversing in the English language.

Please pray for our team members while they travel and serve. Specific requests are listed below:

Translators: Pray that they will accurately translate for us and clearly communicate our love of Jesus to our new Ukrainian friends. They must always be ready to translate for us and often without any notice.

Pray for each one who gives a testimony during the camp.

Pray for the evening activities. Relationships will deepen as we have fun together.

Pray that optional activities will be relevant. Pray that unplanned moments interacting with the campers in a relaxed setting will make an impact in their lives.

July 31 – This is the last full day of camp at this campsite. The evening activities will include a campfire, s’mores, and the gospel being shared. Specifically pray for those campers who are close to making a decision to accept Jesus. May they overcome the enemy and take a step of faith.

August 1 – The camp moves from the campsite to Odessa . Pray for safe closure and travel.

August 2 – Camp continues with a worship service at Living Hope Church in Odessa , a picnic near the Black Sea , and pizza and a movie with the campers at the church in the evening.

August 3 – Greg & Julie Nicholas return to Iowa . The campers take the rest of us on a tour of Odessa .

August 4 – The youth camp ends today and it is time to say “good-bye” to our new friends. Pray that we will finish well.

August 5 – Lindsey Calhoun, Pete Faust, Dan & Deb Jordan return to Iowa . Pray for safe travel and re-entry to home life. Eric Hansen continues on at a family camp until August 17.

Ukraine Bound

I only have a few moments, but I wanted to write something before Dan and I are out of the country for two weeks. We leave early tomorrow morning for Odessa, Ukraine. Please pray for us as we will be far out of our comfort zones. We will be teaching English at a Youth Camp. Please pray for our children and my mom also as they will be here. I really have to get finished packing. So much to do and literally so little time.

Where have I been?

I can't believe that it has been two months since I have posted. I have been on facebook. Which I do enjoy using keeping up with people on. It is not as if nothing has gone on here. I really did not spend a lot of time on the computer during a lot of that time. I don't think that I can get everyone totally up to date, but I can talk about recent history in our family.

School has been out for a few weeks. We spent one week relaxing after we were out. Dan's (and my) niece, Megan came out from WI for a 5 day visit. We had fun showing Megan around town, taking walks, going to the pool and the Viking for ice cream.

The day after Megan left, we took Mitchell to camp. He had a great time there last week and now it is Kirsten's turn to be at camp. Peirce is in South Dakota working on an Indian reservation with our youth group. We have a quiet house this week.

Last week was Bible School at our church. Peirce and Kirsten both helped with corralling kids for classes. Peirce helped with 4th grade and Kirsten with preschool. My job was to teach music. It was amazing how tired we got, but it was a wonderful week. The kids learned some amazing truths. We had a neat project during the week called "Shoe Me". We had the kids bring money to buy shoes for orphans in the Congo who don't have good shoes to walk the miles needed to get to school. We started with a goal of $200 which will buy 20 pairs of shoes for this program. The kids had raised $400 by Friday and Friday evening at the program the kids and parents topped it out at $703!!! They were so excited to have something to tangible to be able to give toward.

Fun signs of Spring at the Jordan house

Spring was here this week.  I don't think that it will be here next week, but I have enjoyed it greatly.  It is raining right now and gotten cooler, but we did need the rain, so I will be thankful for it and the sun that preceded it.  I had a wonderful blessing brought to my house this week.  You may wonder what ugly plant I am taking a picture of.  One of the men in the church knew that I LOVE red raspberries.  I really, really, really love them. Well, Les brought me over 12 volunteer plants that had come from his plants at home.  What a sweet blessing!  Did I mention that I LOVE red raspberries.  My family will attest to this.  When we lived in South Bend, I was able to go to our cousins in Coloma, MI  and get some from their fruit farm.  Even when we lived in PA my aunt used to freeze some for me so that when we were home I could have some.  I think with 12 plants, I may even get some into the house to make a pie with.  Dan may even get some.  My dear, sweet husband does not usually eat them as he knows I love them.  I call them gold as they are so expensive and precious.  I know, I just wrote a whole paragraph about raspberries, but it was a sweet blessing for me.

Another sign of spring----I hung my sheets out to dry.  I don't have a whole lot of line out, but there is enough to hang our sheets---one set at a time.  I love that smell of line dried sheets!

Peirce's track meet

Another first in our lives.  We are now in the world of track and field.  Neither Dan nor I had ever been to a track event before Tuesday evening.  Fortunately this one was close to home so the two hours between Peirce's events was not an issue.  We'll see how we keep ourselves occupied at the away events.  Peirce is doing the long jump which is a difficult event.  He is working on it.  The winners at our meet were over 19 feet.----High schoolers!  Amazes me.  The world record is 29'4".  Today we went out to the field for Peirce to work with a friend of ours who was a long jumper in high school.  He once held the state record for a few hours.---I laugh, but have I ever held a state record in anything???  We had a good time as Peirce learned some fundamentals and then beat Dan at a 400 yd. race.

Resurrection Sunday

It has been a while since I have blogged.  I have pictures to post and more, but time has been a little tight the past few weeks.  Kirsten and I have been working on some projects together.  I'll have to post some pictures of those.  She is becoming quite the crafter and baker.  She made an angel food cake for our company today by herself. (It was from a mix, but she did do it all on her own.)

Today was such a great day!  The past few days have been part of today, so I guess that I need to go back to then.  Friday evening was our Good Friday Service.  A few years ago a book entitled, "On a Hill Too Far Away"was brought into our lives.  This was the first year that we did a Good Friday Service while we lived in South Bend.  This service was different than what we had done there, but it was a somber service focusing on Christ's suffering and death.  Each year I am touched in a different way.

We performed our Easter Cantata Sat. evening and twice this morning.  My voice is worn out now, but it was great.  It was titled, "The Wonder of  the Cross".  It follows the last week of Christ's life through the resurrection. (For those of you from South Bend, it ends with a familiar song--"He's risen, Hallelujah" from a past cantata)  I'm excited to hear from a few people about some people that came to church today.  We had so many visitors today, but I know that there were a few people in second service who were very much skeptics.  Dan was able to give a wonderful presentation of the gospel.

Well, I need to go to bed--brain is still running, but morning will come, and I still have one student at home.  I pray that each of you had a blessed day!  The title song to the cantata had a wonderful message...." May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of the cross....."

Thank God for my blessings.

So many times I hear a story on the news about something that happens to a child.  I hug my kids closer to me and thank God that they are safe.  I am doing that again but in a much closer way.  This time the story was much closer to home.  I received word yesterday that one of my cousin's sons was killed in an accident.  For those of you that know my family, this is the "Chicago cousins".  We don't see each other often, but we have grown up together and care about each other a lot.  Beth Ann is just a few weeks younger than I, so we have always enjoyed spending time together when our families visited.  Beth Ann's 12 year old son was at their business yesterday afternoon and there was an accident.  Nathan was killed.  Please pray for the Bias and Mate families.  I look at my children and wonder how I could ever be without one of them.  So, go hug your kids and thank God that he has allowed you to hold onto them.

Iowa to Ukraine and back

Peirce has been back safely since early, early on Monday morning.  I am so sorry that I haven't gotten anything up yet, but it has just been a strange week with a lot of different things going on.  Peirce had a good time, learned a lot, and is just now getting over his jetlag. (this has been a busy week for him too)

We received this email from Mark Huffman who is the missionary that the team has gone to the last three years.  I thought that maybe you would enjoy reading his email.  It is a little lengthy but it was exciting to hear what the Lord has done.

As I start to write about the flood of things God did here in Odessa last week during our 3rd annual Iowa/Odessa Ministry, with the youth group from Clear Lake Evangelical Free Church, I am reminded of what my friend Bob Kinzel might say, “It’s like trying to drink out of a fire hydrant.” I think we had three fire hydrants! We had an amazing week with amazing opportunities and an amazing team. Best of all, our amazing God was served and on display all week and He came out shining!  
 
Our team: 
+11 teenagers from Clear Lake EFC. (We miss you guys! Andrew, Blair, Chipper, Dalton, Eric, Janice, Jenny, Jordon, Michael, Peirce, Zach.)
+4 adults from Clear Lake EFC. (We miss you too! Randy, Jeff, Lindsey, Michelle.) 
+3 interns. (Danny, Kostya, Zhenya)
+3 boys. (Chris, Ben, Nate. 2 teenagers and 1 almost teenager.)
+3 ministry partners, IM staff. (Arkadiy, Anneke, and Artem)
+2 others - Kim and me. (Mark) 
26 People (Not to mention many translators, several bus drivers, and 2 cooks.)
 
Our Challenge: Share Christ’s love and the Gospel in three different venues.  
  Venue #1: Basketball Class with 4th, 5th and 6th graders at Public School #72.
  Venue #2: Craft Class with 4th, 5th and 6th graders at Public School #72.
  Venue #3: English Club at the Christian Humanitarian Economic Open University of Odessa.  
   
Our Plan: Divide and conquer. We split our team of 26 into 3 teams, one for each venue.  
 
What Happened? We actually went into a public school and taught their afternoon Phy. Ed. classes for an entire week! Teaching basketball and crafts isn’t a big deal. But, in EVERY class, we took time to clearly and carefully share the Gospel, with full approval of the Phy. Ed. teachers! No one counted, but I expect by the end of the week there were well over 350 kids that came. Every one of them heard the Gospel – many of them for the first time!
 
What else? The third part of our team traveled across town every day and “taught English” at the Christian University where most students are non-Christians. We had an English Club every day which included games, silly songs, small group Bible studies, small group conversation time, Scripture songs, testimonies and the Gospel. Many students came, believers and unbelievers, but they all had a blast and they all heard the Truth.  
 
It does not end there. Who was sharing the Gospel at the public school? American teenagers (including Chris and Ben)! I remember waaaaay back when I was in 4th, 5th and 6th grade, if a high school student would acknowledge I existed I was amazed. Here we had a group of high school students lovingly helping these kids learn to play basketball and lovingly “rescuing” the young girls from Phy. Ed. class J to do crafts. When they took a break and shared the Gospel, we had their attention, 100%! The American teenagers were real celebrities for a week (yes, autographs were signed for free), and they used that platform to share Christ’s love and the Gospel with these kids. The school teachers were totally amazed that American teenagers would care for “their” kids like this.
 
Who was sharing the Gospel at the University? American teenagers! I saw so much growth in these Americans as they lead and shared each day. They were courageous, creative and Christ-like as they loved and shared with the students that came. On Monday some of the Americans had to be encouraged to lead, but by Friday they would jump in before I had a chance to ask them to! I was also shocked by my university students. Several who previously struggled to talk to me about basic things, slowly began to speak better and better with their American peers. By the end of the week many of them had grown from being timid and shy about speaking English to being very conversational! The love of Christ, coming through these American teenagers, gave several students courage to do what they have been trained to do – speak English.  
 
Our continued service at Public School #72 has further established our relationship with the school. We have been praying about starting an evangelistic soccer league in our neighborhood. On Thursday (the fourth day of our work there), Arkadiy and Danny (our intern and soccer expert) met with the Director of the school to ask if we can start an Upward soccer league in their school and she said yes without batting an eye! So, we handed out invitations for an Upward (evangelistic) soccer league with kids in this school.  
 
The story continues. On Saturday we had our annual Iowa to Odessa Ministry picnic. We always invite everyone to come, hoping to build a better relationship with them and hoping to get them closer to coming to church. Last year, I think about 20 or 30 people came to the picnic. This past Saturday there must have been over 200 people there! Kids from the school brought their parents and siblings. University students came with friends. We had a great afternoon, playing card games, teaching American football, playing Frisbee and volleyball, and trying to cook 300 hot dogs over a fire that wouldn’t burn . . . which ended with a tour of the Odessa catacomb museum. Sunday about 8 or 9 of them came to our church worship service. I expect for all of them it was their first time in a Protestant church!  
 
Our little church here in Odessa served well! (Thankfully most of the people in our church are translators.) They were always in the middle of things, translating, encouraging and building relationships with all of the new people. We learned a lot and will be even better prepared next year.  
 
It was an impressive week with a lot of events and a lot of people, but God is not impressed by numbers, He wants our affection and our hearts. What “impressed” God?  
-15 Americans spending their “spring break” working hard, serving Him in a difficult place, instead of the many things typical Americans worship, I mean do, for spring break.
-A church and many people willing to give sacrificially and send part of their youth group, especially during a financial crisis. That is literally expensive worship!
-A team of 26 people (Americans, Ukrainians, 1 South African and 1 Romanian) that united together during some tremendously pressured times, to love Him and love others, making Christ so attractive that hundreds of people would come to find out more.  
-A little new church in the former Soviet Union willing to take many risks and go places where we “should not go” and do things that we “cannot do.” “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” - Philippians 4:13
 
That was a BIG sip from the fire hydrants, but I hope you got a taste of what is happening here!  
 
Please pray for:
+Four young teenage girls who said they would come back for our worship service this Sunday. Please pray they will come!  
+Upward evangelistic soccer league with kids in public school #72 is scheduled to start April 25. Please pray for all of the preparations and planning and for kids with hearts open to the Gospel to register.  
+The “Iowa Team” as they re-enter “real life” again. This can be very difficult after such a spiritual high.
+The “Odessa Team” as we recover from a flurry of activity and follow-up with MANY new contacts. PLEASE pray that we will be good stewards of the opportunities God is giving us here!  
+Evangelistic English Camps – We need more Americans! (Let me know if you want more details.) 
 
We know many of you were praying for this ministry. We are so thankful to have partners like you!!!
“. . . The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” - James 5:16. We felt and saw this power last week. Thank you so much!  
 
For 50 pictures of the Iowa to Odessa Ministry 2009, go to:  
http://picasaweb.google.ru/Huffman.Odessa/IowaOdessaMinistry2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_Ooq-F_tmRkwE# 
 
With Love,
Mark
 
P.S. The end of the Iowa/Odessa Ministry 2009 brought an end of an “era” of sorts to part of our ministry. Artem Kurdov has been with International Messengers for 2.5 years and a part of our team for most of that time. God is moving Artem to something different. Artem doesn’t know just what that is, but he has resigned from International Messengers and is moving back to his home town, Armiansk, Ukraine. Please pray for Artem as he goes through this transition.  
 
P.S.S. Let me tell you about one more interesting thing that happened. Friday night we had an “American game night.” We invited people to come and play American games (UNO, Boogle, Taboo, Phase 10 . . .). We were expecting about 45 total people, but there must have been almost 200 waiting for us when we arrived! I didn’t know how we would handle this, but everyone jumped in and started playing and it went well. Kids came “from nowhere” to meet the Americans that had served in the school so well. There was even a television crew there to film the event! A few of us were interviewed, but I never heard who actually made it on TV.  


   

Safely in the Ukraine

We received an email on Saturday that the missions team had arrived safely.  I think it was probably our considerate youth pastor that had my son and the other boy that was not feeling well also email before the others did.  They are able to use the missionary's computer, but they do not have a whole lot of time.  I have not felt apprehensive about the trip until Peirce got sick, and then I have to admit, I was a little more fearful until God showed us that He was taking care of Peirce by taking his temp away.  It is now 5:30 in the evening there, so I am hoping that they will have an opportunity to send an email to someone letting us know how the day went.  They have felt satan's fight, and I am thankful that they recognize it for what it is.  

One of the missionary's to the Ukraine explained some of the mentality of the people toward God.  Ukraine has a very corrupt government.  For those of you who do not know, Ukraine used to be part of the USSR.  The KGB is still very much alive in the area under a different name.  The people have seen this government all of their lives.  They have to bribe their way to get grades in school, important papers signed, etc....  They have a rough time understanding how God can be a righteous authority.  They so rarely see one.  Sometimes people around us struggle with God as their Father when their father was not good, but at the same time, they could see fathers around them who were kind and loving.  Many people in the Ukraine have never had an example of an authority who is righteous and just.

This information helped me understand a little more how to pray for the team as they are there.  Since Peirce is turning 15 this week, I have been praying for a heart for those around him.  It is so hard at that age and any age to grasp selflessness.  I pray that Peirce can see these people through God's eyes.

Ukraine bound

I just put my oldest child on a van full of 11 teenagers and 4 sponsors going to Odessa, Ukraine.  I really have felt fine about the trip.  I know that Peirce knew that this is what God wanted him to do, so I have not had any anxiety about the trip.  Our youth pastor has been over to Eastern Europe 15 times on these trips, so I felt very sure that between God and Pastor Randy, Peirce was in good hands. ( I don't mean for that to sound like I am taking God's position lightly.  I would not send Peirce with someone I did not trust even though God was watching over him.)  This has been a faith growing time for me as well as for my child who hates change.  Those of you who know Peirce well know that he likes a well ordered world.  He likes to know what is coming and when.  This is one of those times as a parent when you look at your child and are proud and amazed.  It is so neat to see the "adult" changes taking place.

Please pray for this group.  They have a long flight today and a long week ahead of them.  They will be doing a basketball camp, craft time, and an English camp as well as being able to go into the public school there to share Christ.  God has truly opened doors here that have not been opened in this area before.

Yesterday, Peirce stayed home from school because he was very sick -102.6 temp.  We were worried that we might have to keep him home.  My prayer was that God would make it very clear whether or not he should stay or go.  I didn't mind sending him not feeling well if I knew that he would feel well in a day or two.  I got home from the team meeting last night that Peirce could not attend to find him feeling and looking so much better than he had when I had left him with almost a 103 temp.  God is so good.  We all had prayed for him at the meeting.  Peirce had all of his support and was looking forward to this trip, so I am so thankful that he was feeling well enough.  I sent enough drugs (nyquil, advil cold and sinus....)  with him to hopefully keep him feeling ok.

In the picture, Peirce is the second from the right in the back row.  He will also be turning 15 next Friday (the 20th).  For those of you that remember, last year we moved on his birthday.

The hills are alive....

With the Sound of Music.  Clear Lake High School is doing one of my favorite musicals this weekend.  I have been so impressed with the acting and singing that a smaller school can offer.  It clearly has shown the dedication of the choir director for good music.  He is a Christian man who truly works with the kids.  I have been so excited to see Peirce get involved in choir and now the play.  He doesn't have a speaking part, but it has been a good experience even though it involved many late nights.  Peirce is one of the contestants at the end of the play. He also was involved in moving some of the set.  We went last night, and we will go again tomorrow afternoon. (makes for a very busy day)  There are a lot of solos in this play, and each person who sang was very, very, very good.  I was blown away by the ability of some of these kids.  I am very thankful that we have this capability of doing a performance of this quality as well as having a Christian teacher.  I know that many schools do not have this, and that is one reason why we felt that we could put the boys in here. There is a very strong Christian influence, as well as a strong influence on good character.  Peirce is in the photo on the far right of the picture on the middle picture.

Busy kid week

I wanted to update a few things so that you can know what is going on at our house.  I've had a cold this week.  It has been one of those that takes you twice as long to get anything done, so I have not blogged.  Peirce is going to be the play "The Sound of Music" this Fri pm, Sat pm, and Sun.  (afternoon).  He has had practices every night this week until very late.  

We had parent-teacher conferences at the high school today. What a joy to hear the teachers say how kind Peirce is and how well he is doing in school.  (Makes a former homeschooling mom glad that I didn't ruin his education.)

One week from tomorrow we put Peirce on a plane to go to the Ukraine on a missions trip.  He will turn 15 while he is there.  Wow!  Due to play practices and missions trips meetings, I haven't had a whole lot of time to really think about the fact that my child will be a long way away for a week.  I am excited because I have seen God's hand on this child.  He's starting to really sense the Holy Spirit in his life, and that is so exciting to see.  

I'll keep you all updated on his trip.  I'll also post play pictures some time this weekend.

Ties That Bind

Last night was our churches annual "Ties that Bind" banquet.  I don't know how long this has gone on.  They have a different theme each year with the main purpose to be fellowship.  They ask that people donate items that are then drawn as  door prize type things.  These are many times a dinner at someone's house....something that for the most part helps people to meet and get to know the people in the church.

We started with a meal.  They have it catered each year according to the theme.  This years theme was the '50's as Clear Lake in February is a '50's wonderland. (especially the first weekend).  This year marked the 50th year of "The Day the Music Died".  For those of you like me who doesn't know a whole lot about '50's rock and roll.  Clear Lake, IA is where Buddy Holly, Ritchy Valens, and the Big Bopper gave their last performance at the Surf before there plane crashed in a field also in our town.  The beginning of February is always interesting here, and this year was the 50th, so it was even more "interesting."  All that to say that was why we had the 50's theme.  A lot of people were dressed in 50's costumes.  It was a lot of fun.

Every year, they do the Newlywed game.  Dan and I were asked to be in this with three much younger couples.  It was a lot of fun.  We won!!!  I didn't know if we had a chance as we have a lot more years to remember than any of them, but we won a gift certificate to a very nice restaurant around here.

It was a lot of fun!  It is so nice to be able to go to a church function and just laugh and laugh.  Sometimes life is too serious.

Color the Wind Kite Festival

Today is the annual "Color the Wind Kite Festival" in Clear Lake. They had to first move the festival due to the fact that at the sea wall where they were planning on holding it, there is no ice.  They moved it to one of the parks on the lake where the ice was still solid.  This enables the kiters to be out on the lake and away from power lines and trees...etc.   Today is 18 degrees with 25 mph winds---feeling like -2.  The wind got a little too much for the kites, so there were not as many.  I did take pictures because I think that this is so neat.  They have some that they "ski" behind, but they were doing that too far out to get a picture.  The big one on the bottom never went up.  It was 30-40 ft. long, but it was too windy to put it up.