Montage

What's a mission trip without a good video montage of some highlights right?
So i put this together as a way to share the laughter and love that kept our spirits high in Ukraine. Wanted to share the faces that we went to help and those that left an everlasting etching on us. As you can see there was lots of dirt, dust, drama and of course some silly dancing (courtesy of yours truly). There are still hundred of photos that need to be processed ad uploaded till i get some more time carved out the video will have to do.






Its been a week since i started back at work and i am having a hard time adjusting. There is some to be said for working with your hands toward a goal of helping someone in need that is so rewarding. We talked about it at church Sunday, and its funny how alive you feel when your in God's presence and building and being an active member in the kingdom. Far to often i "check" things off my "to do list" for God. sunday church...check, bible study..."check"...accountability..."check" i'm sure you can go on as well.

All that said, i don't know why i have to have something big happen in life or feel like i need to leave the country to feel his presence or make a difference in the world. I don't. Heck, none of us do. So i challenge myself to do better about making out to the Mercy House and helping serve dinner and get to know the guys there.

Thanks again for everyone that said a prayer and contributed a dime to the effort to help the Shalbetskay family. It changed our lives too.


TTFN

Doc

Day Two And Still Truckin

I shared a little with you yesterday about the thoughts and sizing up of the group in the eyes of those here in Simferopol. Tonight i had another insight as to what was happening. We got talking more about why this has been such a success with the work that has been done. We laughed and said "yeah, why didn't we bring Ryan and Jeremy along, they are the ones that would be great on this demo and building project. They are the ones that would make this team strong and something to look at."

Chuck began talking about the parable of the talents and what we each do with the talents God has given to us. How do we use them? None of us are builders or know a whole heck of a lot about building or demo. (well unless you count us "boys" who have an innate ability and desire to break, blow up tear down destroy anything nice mom or dad brings home.) That aside we are really not the A list group that should be here. Maybe not even the B or C list. HOWEVER, i think it safe to say that all of us have been given talents and a drive to serve to get this job done. These talents have been multiplied 10 fold through Gods magnifying glass. As Chuck talked more something else hit me. The parable of feeding the 5,000, this rag tag group of nobodies has been blessed and multiplied to serve beyond our own capabilities. Yeah, you can call it synergy or whatever, but thats selling it short.

Today we did a little bit of everything. We started by ripping up the floor to prepare the area that is to become the foundation. We are gonna get a tractor in to clear all the rubble and then pour the new foundation. Tearing down this building was crazy. It was like looking into the past as seeing the same type of building brick material that the Israelites used and made. The mud and stray bricks. They house was pretty sturdy for being nothing but mud and straw.

We ripped off a section of the roof and then pulled up the concrete of the same room so that the family can build down creating a basement bedroom for the family. The proved to be quite the undertaking. Only after everyone had taken a turn being a human jack hammer did we hear Karen say "Oh hey, we got a jack hammer over here." WHHAAAA oh...she was joking. Not really sure why we thought se might be serious. Maybe the heat was getting to us all a bit.

Again there were numerous events were laughter floated then even soared around the demo team and the rest of the house. Never have i seen as much laughter and dirty stinkin' sweat mingle so closely that the task at hand disappeared into joyful fellowship. That said we got a heck of a lot tore down, cleared out and sorted today. Looking back on it we are still all amazed at the progress.

There was so much fun and laughter to day on some BEAUTIFUL one-liners thrown around that there may be something special in the works, but for now i must again call it short and head to bed. I probably wont be able to post this till the morning but sleep well and know that there is now way this would be a success without your support and prayers.

Love you all and can't wait to share more with you later.

TTFN

Doc


Good morning now to you all. Here are some fotos that i was trying to share last night.

Askan is on of the teenagers living in the house we're staying. He has been a workhorse as well, doing heavy lifting at the house. He also beat me in this game of Chess.

Yesterdays Photos

So i found away around my elbow to get these pictures up and share what the sights look like here in the village. It's not real easy to make tags for all the images individually without sorting through code here this morning and we are pressed for time before we start todays work so forgive the lack of info as to what and who are in the photos. I tried writing a comment or who it was in the foto name so click and read the title of the photo where available.

These photos are from the first day of work at the Shalbetskay's house. I think we were all amazed at the number of kids that pitched in to help get everything done! I think that some of the one there were friends of the Shalbetskay children.

Hope you are encouraged and look forward to seeing you all soon

Doc

Ahead Of Schedule

Good morning all,
todays post will have to come to you with out photos. They will be coming but i am out of battery and no converter yet. Plan to pick one up today when in town. The host family is kind enough to share there computer with us as well as there home.

So back to the update. Yesterday we arrived and began the demo of the rest of the room that was still standing. There were a total of two walls that needed to be taken down and the rubble hauled away. It was amazing to have worked and completed what we did. We were all blessed but cloud cover for most of the day and stopped and smiled extra wide when Simferopol shared a breeze with us; almost as a thank-you for blessing here children.

Before the demo and children's programs began we got to do an introduction of the family and the group. The family went first and introduced the children and what they like to do and there talents. It was pretty amazing. They laughed and said they didn't know for sure how many they had total till yesterday when they did a head count. 14 adopted children, 2 biological daughters that help out and mom and pops. That's right 18 people in one home. I have to admit my thoughts of wanting a bigger place made me feel ashamed. (Sorry, Julie that bigger house is gonna have to wait.) It doesn't look like they are going to slow down any time soon.

After lunch or really what they called a snack..which was at noon and was what i considered lunch...we jumped back to work and knocked out most of the work that the family had planned for us to accomplish in the 4 days we were going to be here to work. At lunch (2nd lunch at 3:30) the families oldest daughter Lena, started off by apologizing to the group. At first i was wondering what in the world she could be apologizing for, she then shared her thoughts of the group at first glance. Im sure we looked like a bunch of sleepy Americans that weren't going to do much apon arrival at the church Sunday. (Remember we just got finished with the 2 1/2 days travel at that point. Little sleep for the most part. She told Chuck "you brought boys and women to do a construction project." What were you thinking type of comment. Well after the one days work we were able to get quite alot of work accomplished. Not on our own...I know that i had energy that i dont know where it came from. Your prayers played a larger part in yesterdays success. \

The family laughed as said "what are we going to get them to do for the rest of the time here, we need to make up projects for them to do. Maybe move rocks from one side of the house to the other." Hope to have more photos available to upload this evening.

Stay tuned and keep praying for our effectiveness and health as we are here. Or spirits are high and enjoying playing mime games with the host families. Lots of laughter feeding our souls here!


Love you all and i'll write more soon. Running late for the morning meeting.

TTFN

Doc


P.S.
Bill O'Rielly i know you're wondering still. Who was it... me this time.

Good morning everyone.

We have arrived and had service this morning at the Living Vine Church. Off in a few moments to have lunch and start meeting the families that we'll be staying with.

Wanted to share some images from this mornings arrival in to Simferopol. Thanks to all of you for your prayers. I think there may have been some of us that forgot to not use the local water to brush our teeth...so pray for our health. :)

TTFN 

Doc

Kiev Train Station

Hello all we are here in the Kiev train station. Right now we are taking a breather before the train departs for Simferopol, Crimea. We don't have a wireless signal but i thought that i would start on a post while we do have some down time.  

I think the travel has finally caught up to everyone here. The train ride will be a welcome event...mostly so everyone can stretch-out on a bed (except Chuckles). everyone is doing well.We thought that we had two missing bags once we landed in Kiev. However, once we stood in line for about 5-10 minutes after luggage stopped cycling through, i looked back over to check and saw (my bag) and Will saw his missing bag. I was relieved cause it had my clothes in it. I had come to terms that i was going to make due with 1 extra underwear for the trip. Luckily, now i dont have to. Wills bag had most all of the soccer balls that we had packed.

Its a bit grey and rainy right now, it was wonderfully cool and the sky was a brilliant blue as we walked out of the Kiev airport. We got all the way to the van before we turned around and noticed Chuck had driven back up to surprise us and hang with the group. He had left about 3 1/2 days earlier than us to help get things set up and ready for us to jump in and work come Monday. I enjoyed watching Chuck talk in Russian to his friends Nicoli and Andre that had come down to help get us from the Airport to the train station. 

The treat of rain looms over our efforts to continue demoing the house Monday. The mud that would be made it the concern. It sounds more like what the tar pits would have been like to hear Chuck and Karen describe the mud.

 

Tomorrow holds a church service at the Living Vine church that Chuck and Karen helped plant back 6 years ago. After church, we are off to meet our host families and get things "moved in". The a debriefing of the work scheduled to take place. Always keeping in mind that we'll go and work on what the spirit leads for the day. Our schedule is not written in stone.

We are getting ready to head out and grab the tickets to the train. More to come later. 

Thanks for the prayers

TTFN 

Doc

Here are some images from the last few days of travel.

Frankfurt, Germany

Boarding in Kiev

Safe in Ukraine.

Preparing to board the train.