On June 5th, 2012, Ree and I stepped of a small plane for the first time as a couple in Kyiv, Ukraine. Although I was overwhelmed and bombarded by new sensory input, Ree was much more calm (she had been here before). Since her old passport had a picture of her smiling, she walked up to the agent at passport control and smiled, and perhaps as a foreshadowing of our time in Ukraine, he smiled back. (I did not get a smile.)
I can't believe that it's been six years since we arrived in Ukraine. As a family, we've grown 150%. We've also seen a lot of progress and growth in the church both in Ukraine and throughout the CIS Field! We learned quickly that both ministry - and life - happens slower in Ukraine than what we were used to, and language acquisition had not been as fast as we hoped. However, God is faithful, and over the years we've learned to both love the people, where we are ministering, and figure out how to live here fairly well.
Thank you also to those who have supported us over the years - some from the very beginning! But we could not have made it without prayers, giving and words of encouragement from all of you!
I can't believe that it's been six years since we arrived in Ukraine. As a family, we've grown 150%. We've also seen a lot of progress and growth in the church both in Ukraine and throughout the CIS Field! We learned quickly that both ministry - and life - happens slower in Ukraine than what we were used to, and language acquisition had not been as fast as we hoped. However, God is faithful, and over the years we've learned to both love the people, where we are ministering, and figure out how to live here fairly well.
Thank you also to those who have supported us over the years - some from the very beginning! But we could not have made it without prayers, giving and words of encouragement from all of you!
We're still on Home Assignment...
As of writing this we have about three more weeks left of Home Assignment before flying back to Ukraine. Currently I'm sitting at my brother's house, and this evening we begin speaking throughout Western Washington.
Although there have been some harder times throughout this trip (as predicted of traveling with small children), we are so thankful to all the churches and communities that we met with in the last two months. We have not named them all for public recognition because it would be too long of a list to count - 33 churches/groups so far! But thank you to everyone who we have met and who hosted us!
Although there have been some harder times throughout this trip (as predicted of traveling with small children), we are so thankful to all the churches and communities that we met with in the last two months. We have not named them all for public recognition because it would be too long of a list to count - 33 churches/groups so far! But thank you to everyone who we have met and who hosted us!
Correction and Revision!
We noticed that there were some errors on our initial group of prayer cards. The address to the General Treasurer of the Church of the Nazarene is as follows:
Church of the Nazarene
PO Box 843116
Kansas City, MO 64184
Also, our giving link has been updated to: https://give.nazarene.org/fund/sumi
Church of the Nazarene
PO Box 843116
Kansas City, MO 64184
Also, our giving link has been updated to: https://give.nazarene.org/fund/sumi
Finally, if you have not signed up for our Facebook prayer group, please contact us for the link.
