Spring Cleaning and New Projects

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.