The Diary of Anne Frank

So I think it's official.  I am a really lame blogger!!  I can never seem to make the time to write and post-- there is always the next pressing thing to do.  So, if anyone is still out there--here is a little update!

May has been, as it always is, a CRAZY month!! I direct the school play every year at Kiev Christian Academy and the show runs the second weekend of the month.  So with 2 weeks of solid rehearsals and then all the graduation celebrations and goodbyes that quickly follow the play, May has this way of being a month where I burn the candle at both ends.

This year I directed "The Diary of Anne Frank"-- and wow, what an amazing experience it was. I was very tentative to take on this weighty piece, as I've generally stuck to light romantic comedies in the past (that and the set intimidated me!). But I decided to try something different this year, and the result was fantastic.  This is one very proud director of her students.  These kids always have a way of pulling it together at the last minute and wowing me and the entire audience.  We had 3 full nights and 3 standing ovations.  Not too bad I'd say!  It was clear that people were moved by the story and the performances.

Rumor has it that this may have been our best production yet!  Here is a little peak and what we were up to:

yes, we even worked with a live cat--a first for me on stage!

my lovely cast!

 

Service Projects & Life Skills

Aren't these faces adorable?  Every time I'm in the gypsy communities in Western Ukraine I meet these darling faces-- kids that we have a team regularly serving through the work of Orphan's Promise.

Mukachevo is one of the locations in Ukraine where OP is doing the greatest amount of practical ministry.  Primarily we are working with the Gypsy (Roma) people to bring education, programs and assistance to their communities.  We have an amazing team on the ground regularly working with the children teaching them Life Skills, Reading, writing and Ukrainian language skills they lack and providing lunches 3 times a week for hungry kids.

I was blessed to bring a team from my Kiev church's youth group. I serve as a youth leader for our gathering of young people called 'The City' (primarily ex-pat kids) and was honored to be a part of a group of about 30 youth spending their spring break serving in a variety of facets in west Ukraine. My group consisted of about 8 young people and we served in one of the gypsy communities were OP is working.  The kids did crafts, a lesson and games and then we went to another location and spoke with youth studying English in Mukachevo.

Having visited this community several times it was a privilege to get to see it through the eyes of these youth as they were faced with the poverty and the need and asking themselves the same hard questions I have often asked-- 'What can I do to help?'  

Our team with the English club

All our youth at the Uzhgorod Castle. We were all divided into various ministry projects throughout the week.

Tonight I'm headed back to Mukachevo again. (Oh the joys of being on a train for 14 hours!)  I'll be traveling with two co-workers to bring our Life Skills Training and Curriculum to the staff we have working in Mukachevo so that they will be able to have more resources as they work with their youth.

Our training in Kiev last week

We held a training just a week ago in Kiev for another group of volunteers and I'm continually amazed by the need for this material.  We've been doing training for nearly 7 years now and have trained close to 1,000 people to work with teens.  Each time we put the training and resources into the hands of people working with at risk orphans and youth we are overwhelmed with the response.  Gratitude. 
 Always gratitude for being given new information and new strategies for working with youth.  It is very humbling to be a part of this work and to know that even 7 years later it is still so needed.


Please pray for our team as we'll be training about 30 staff and local people in Mukachevo to use this curriculum!  And pray I can get some sleep on the train and arrive ready to teach!

Adventures in Israel

So it seems like I have yet again gone on a hiatus from writing! And it isn't for lack of things to say...it is for knowing where to begin!

For those of you that are Facebook friends you know I had the amazing opportunity to venture to the Holy Land in March! Talk about the trip of a life time!  I have dreamed of going to Israel for quite some time-- I just always thought it would be something I'd have to plan well in advance-- not the spur of the moment, 'hey, let's go in 3 weeks' kinda trip that we ended up taking!

One of the pains of living in a foreign country is having to work on the documents to be able to live here legally.  However that pain brings with it an amazing perk! Travel!! In order to renew your visa to live in Ukraine, you have to leave Ukraine in order to do it and go to a Ukrainian consulate abroad.  I had planned for this to happen while I was in London...but long story short- it didn't work out, so thus the trip to Israel at the last minute with auntie and cousin in tow!

So while we waited the week for the visa to be processed we had a Holy Land adventure! We were able to go to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Galilee, Tiberias, Bethlehem and Judean Samaria!  We were on our own for the first 4 days (adventures in rental car!) and part of a passover convocation with a ministry friend for the last 4 days.

I wrote in my journal quite a bit while in Jerusalem, and thought I might share some of those thoughts here...but I'll spare you the words and instead let the pictures speak for themselves.

On the Mt. of Olives over looking the old-city

wailing wall

the Sea of Galilee

on the Mt. of Beatitudes

The Dead Sea

Church in Bethlehem

my beautiful cousin Honnah

The Garden of Gethsemane

The Golden Gates

In front of the empty tomb

Our Passover meal

my prayer at the western wall.

a spectacular sunset in Samaria!

my lovely traveling companions

The boys on my mind...

When it comes to adoptions in Ukraine, girls always tend to be more 'desirable.'

I think there must seem to be something cuter, or sweeter or more 'manageable' about girls that draws adoptive families to statistically prefer girls over boys in adoption.  Although I get this concept in 'theory', I have to add my 2 cents and say that after years of working with teenage girls, and after being one myself I think the assumption is not very accurate :).  Girls are complicated and emotional...and well...you know....let's just say a lot of drama comes with the territory!

Now boys on the other hand....

The statistics point to there being more boys living in Ukrainian orphanages than girls--and from personal experience I would say I've observed this to be true in all locations we have worked.  There isn't really a good explanation for this statistic other then what was stated above-- more families (local and foreign) want to adopt girls than boys.

So the boys remain waiting.
Fatherless.
Without positive male influences in their lives to teach them.
And with 1/2 a dozen 'mamas' in the orphanage, none of which fill the void of a real mother.

So I want to use this post to advocate for the boys of Ukraine.
3 of them specifically.

There is one sweet boy I just can't get off of my mind no matter how hard I try. I don't know why it has taken me this long to post his picture and share his story.  Maybe it is because he is 12 going on 13 and I know that 12 year-old boys can be some of the hardest to place.  (he is blonde smiling face pictured on the left here)

 I met him in December in southern Ukraine and was so moved by his kind heart and his sweet smile.  He has a slight limp to his stride due to a bad leg.  He has faced a life of rejection and teasing because of his disability, and yet he was one of the most helpful children I met in the orphanage that day.  He was quiet and yet kind and won my heart in the short amount of time spent with him.   He is a smart kid, but because of his leg issue he is in an orphanage for kids with learning issues and as a result is not getting a good eduction.  He could thrive given the opportunity.

4 months later after meeting him I still can't stop thinking about him.  So I'm sharing his story here, in hopes it will resonate, in hopes that someone will hear.

He's available.  Will you pray for him to find a home?

And then there are these two boys that a good friend of mine is advocating for. Two boys that she knows very well and two boys that need a family.  They aren't brother's but they live in the same orphanage in the south.  Bogdan, on the right is an active 9-year-old little boy who loves to read the Bible and pray and talk with his care-givers for hours on end.  Daniel, on the left is 10-year's old and loves to play soccer and play and help around the house.  Both are sweet boys and both are ready for a family.

Will you share their story? 

 

 

I don't often use this blog to advocate for specific children, as I know it can be complicated.  For some reason, tonight, these three are weighing heavy on my heart-- knowing that their age and their gender are working against them.  

And to think that these are just three little snap shots to represent the thousands of waiting boys in Ukraine.

O Lord Jesus, in your mercy provide families for these boys, your precious sons.  May they be able to know the love of a father and mother and see your hand over each detail of their lives. Help them to know you and walk with you all their days.  Amen.

"But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand.  The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless." Psalm 10:14

**Feel free to send me a personal message if you'd like more information on these boys. My email link is under contact information on the side bar.

English Wedding

I had the joy to fly off for a week to London a couple weeks ago for my friend Jenny's wedding.  I've known Jenny for about 5 years or so, as she has made numerous short term trips to Ukraine working with orphans.  She has become a dear friend and I was thrilled to celebrate her special day with her. And it was the added bonus to be able to be in one of my favorite cities in the world.....

LONDON.

I love everything about London.  The buildings, the buses, the sights, the tube, the trains, the tea, the people.   Okay, I don't love the prices.  But other then that, I would love to live there.  For now, it will remain my favorite place to visit.

 The wedding was simply beautiful! Jenny is English and her now husband Rudi, is South African, so it was wonderful to be able to attend such an international wedding!  I arrived a few days early so I was able to help with some of the decorations and such. I love weddings-- and this one was lovely. So much honor and glory given to the Lord and so much LOVE just radiating between these two amazing individuals.

The bride and her mother with all the 'foreign' guests (I love her hat!!) 

I managed to see a little bit of the city while I was there....before I had to run back to Kiev! :)