Back From Ukraine

What a trip. So many experiences and so many people. It was pretty overwhelming. I can't believe it's over. Wanda and I had an amazing time and were stretched more than we thought possible. We hada few hiccups (lost bags on the way there and back, girl lost her passport in London) but nothing we couldn't over come. Check out the pictures below because these ones are definitely worth a thousand words.

Ever wonder what the Southeastern coastline of Greenland looks like from 36000 feet? Wonder no more. Took this one on the way home. 

Kyiv is indeed the city of churches. This is one of the many beautiful structures in the city, St Michaels.

Note to self, if you are ever in Ukraine again, no more than 5 to an elevator. Us 6 were stuck in an elevator for 40 minutes. We needed to use a tire jack to wedge the doors open so we could crawl out.

We worshipped on Sunday at Hillsong Kyiv

This is Steppo. He has 3 more years at the school nd then he wants to be a preacher. He really connected with Wanda. 

Mmmmm. Get me somma dat SHASHLEEEK!! 

On our last day there we did a kids program for the orphans. They really liked it. 

These were our cooks for the week. Natalia on the left and Oxana on the right. 

More of God's beautiful children that live in the Dobromyl orphanage. 

These are some of the orphans from the orphanage we worked at. They came back from camp our second last day there. 

This is Ivan. He works for the town of Dobromyl. He wasn'r very sober in this picture but we gave him a Bible in Ukrainian and he says he's looking forward to us coming back. 

Kids in Ukraine love balloon animals. Who knew?? 

Wanda got to take a special trip with our girls to a girls orphanage an hour away from Dobromyl. Wanda said it was specail and very very hard as most of the girls are severely handicapped. 

We did a lot of singing in the city square in Dobromyl. Here's Rae and I singing uhhh I dunno what we're singing. People would come around to hear us and the team would talk to them and we would do some dramas. This happend pretty much every night we were there. 

This is Mikola or Kola for short. He was an orphan in this orphanage as a child, now he returns here every second weekend to do ministry with a team from the seminary in L'viv. He is a real man of God. 

Hey it was my birthday while we were there. No candles so we used a flashlight. 

This is a picture from Valeri's house church. He pastors this small congregation. At the end of the service we prayed for the people. 

A picture of Jonathan, His new bride Vera, and Rob Petkau, one of the leaders on the trip and the youth pastor from Sidney. 

Jon Willoughby on the is a PAOC missionary in Ukraine. Valeri Fillipovich is Dean of Students at the Seminary in L'viv. He arranged all the work in Dobromyl that we did. 

Wanda & I at Buckingham Palace. We stopped in London on the way there. 

A picture of the boats getting in place for the fireworks in English Bay 

A God Moment on Davie Street

I'd like to tell you what happened to me on Wednesday Night as I was walking back from the fireworks. As I was waiting for the fireworks to start, I was reading a book that a friend gave me called "God in the Alley" written by an urban pastor in Toronto. The first chapter talked about not only being Christ to others but SEEING Christ IN others. I was walking down Davie Street on my way home. The street was closed off so there were literally tens of thousands of people walking down Davie Street with me. I was listening to my iPod on shuffle. The worship song "Breathe" came on. I felt the presence of the Lord so strongly as I heard the words "And I, I'm desperate for You. And I, I'm lost without You". As I hear these words singing in my ears I look to my left and there is a homeless man begging for change. I look to my right and there are two men walking hand in hand. Walking towards me against the flow of people is a girl wearing next to nothing arm in arm with her tattooed "Macho Image" boyfriend. I began to see Jesus in their faces. I felt like heaven and earth were intersecting and it was (honestly) a little too much for my senses to take. I began to cry as I walked down Davie Street with at least 30000 people. There is so much mission to do in Vancouver. Wanda and I are there for a very important task. I want to reach my city more than ever. Hope this story gives you a glimpse into my heart and stirs your own heart for your mission field.