Back to Prison...

Here is a video of our time with Sash going back to Sambir 3 years later.. There was some good healing and we are so proud of him.

Fall Camp Video

You should check out this amazing video that Anika Bachle made of our fall camp. It was such a fun time and this shows a glimpse into our weekend!!!

October Fun

Time has been flying by...It has been a month since I have been back and I am wondering where October went. This month has been been packed full of ministry. We have had birthday after birthday.

We had fall camp a couple weeks ago and it was so much fun. We had a total of 42 people which is by far the most we have ever had. Our speaker Vova, spoke on fear, which was a good topic for our kids to hear. I was so thankful that we had warmer weather and it actually felt like fall.  We had some amazing friends from the states that helped us with camp and we had some great fellowship.

We have had many new graduates come and stay with us on the weekend so they do not have to be the only ones left at trade school.

We have had hospital visits to Yula, who they thought had a heart problem. Then she came and spent last weekend with us.

And this past couple of days we traveled up to Shostka to visit Losha, who used to live with us. He now has a house with his girlfriend and 7 month old baby.

So much goodness happening...

My "sons" Birthday :)

Celebrating Tret's birthday with our American friends.

Our group at camp...

Yula teaching us how to make an Italian dish

Our night out to the movies with Yula

Meeting Losha's son Ivan

Loved spending time with Ira and Losha. They were great hosts.

Helping make green Borsch

Losha teaching me a thing or two about Borsch

My beautiful friend

I have said before that Dusya(one of our girl graduates who now has two children) is the strongest woman I know. Over the years she has become one of my very dear friends. Dus lives in the village where the orphanage is and has a really hard life. Yet, when we see her she is almost always joyful and she is an incredible mom. But I know the last couple years have been hard on her and little by little I see her joy lessening. We went to the village yesterday and it was my first time seeing her since I have been back. She rarely asks for anything but when we called she sheepishly asked if we could bring some groceries because she said this month they are really low. This is supposed to be the coldest winter and let me tell you, IT IS COLD. It snowed today.... Ummmm what? snow? already? So, she lives in a village where she only really has one friend, no money, now work, and it's super cold/depressing. I was sitting talking with her and she was telling me how she is not talking to one of her friends but this "friend" was spreading rumors about how Dus' kids are dirty and not taken care of. If you know Dus, you might as well of just slapped her in the face then spit on her. She LOVES her kids. As she is explaining all this to me she said how she told the girl she was talking to that she won't trust anyone again except for us. My heart was breaking for her because you could just see the hurt as she was talking. She doesn't understand why people keep hurting her for no reason. I was feeling sorry for myself yesterday and a little frustrated because there are some people and relationships that have hurt me. Or people who have made it so very clear that I am just not important to them. Then I thought Dus and all that she has and is going through. And she rarely complains. She even said, "I start to worry, then I just tell myself that everything will be okay." Even though I have had these people who have been so hurtful I have true friends and family who love me. She doesn't have family that she really count on or friends. I have a lot to learn from this amazing girl.
 It made me really proud that we have finally gained her trust but I want for her to have other friends who she can trust and who will take care of her. I couldn't be more thankful that God has given me Dus in my life.

Back again...

On Wednesday, I left America and traveled back to Ukraine. I left sunny California and returned to a cold Ukraine where there is snow in the forecast for this week. WHAT? SNOW? It is supposed to be the coldest and longest winter in 130 years. I am definitely not looking forward to that but I am excited to be back in Ukraine with all the kids that I love and missed. And as always, we hit the ground running. I got in at almost 11pm on thursday and we went to bed at 4:45am even though we had to be up by 9 on friday. We met with a friend then we went to look at a camp we were hoping to buy. Well, let's just say the camp was a complete DUMP. We were so disappointed but it just means it is not the camp for us and we will keep waiting. Over the course of the weekend we had 9 kids and 6 which stayed the whole weekend.  On Sunday, it was Yura's birthday(my little brother who I have written about in the past). I cannot believe that he is already 20. It seems like just yesterday he was a little boy, stuck to my side, at the orphanage. I am so very thankful that he still in my life. These next couple of months are going to fly by and I am going to try to soak up all the goodness of birthdays, holidays, and camp. Thank you so much to all of you who prayed for my trip back it was probably my most smooth one yet. And for those of you who know me, I almost never have smooth trips :)

OAU Walk

On Saturday, we had our first annual OAU walk. Whenever you do anything for the first time it turns into a lesson for how to do it the next time. We learned a lot and are already excited for next year. Thank you so much to those who came out and for those of you who couldn't come but supported anyways. We had a fun time showing off our awesome t-shirts walking around Concord, Ca. A special thank you to Angie and Konni who put the event on. I am deeply touched by your wanting to support OAU. Here are some pics of the fun day!

Come Join Us...

Open Arms Ukraine is having their first annual walk. Please come and join us Sept. 14th at 8:30am for registration and it will end around 1pm. To register go to openarmsukraine.blogspot.com or melissajkeane.blogspot.com. The walk will be at 4977 Concord Blvd at Ygnacio Valley Christian School. If walking is not really your thing then come anyways and check out the booths we will have. Just please let us know you are coming. We look forward to seeing you there. For more info you can email Melissa Keane at melissaoau@gmail.com

Open Arms Walk Information

September 14th at 9am we will be hosting the 1st Annual Open Arms Fundraiser Walk! It's going to be so much fun! All the info you should need is on the Open Arms Walk page on here (click above or on that link). Please check it out, send me your registration, submit your walk fees through the donate buttons on that page, and I will look forward to seeing you on the 14th! And please feel free to share the info and invite your friends to join us too.

1st annual Open Arms Walk...

On September 14th we are going to have our first ever Open Arms walk. My sister and her friend so graciously offered to put it on.  There are many ways to help for those of you interested. For those of you who are local, you can register and spread the word, donating food(hot dogs, buns) or drinks(water), bake some goods we can sell, people to man some booths, and I am sure I can come up with more ;) We would love for you to spread the word. It will be in Concord, Ca at Ygnacio Valley Christian School. We are getting a registration page up soon. PLEASE PLEASE SAVE THE DATE and we would love to have you involved. You can email me melissajkeane@gmail.com or send me a fb message if you want to help. Can't wait to see you there :)

Summer Grad Camp goodness....

Here is a little glimpse into how fun summer grad camp was. Thank you again all who have supported and prayed. 

 

Good friends

I am so thankful for technology that allows me to stay in contact with the kids and our friends in Ukraine. I know I recently said it but I am so very thankful for our friends from church in Ukraine. They really help us keep ministry going while we are in the States. Ira has stayed at our apartment the last few days. She invited Anya, one of the girls we do a lot of ministry with, to stay the night. She also has been making food and inviting the boys over to come and eat. They of course have been taking her up on that :) Boys sure do love to eat. I can honestly say it has really helped my heart to know people like Ira and Gala are still really investing in the kids. Here are some pics they just sent me.

Ira...

Sash during his English lesson

Boyko making pancakes for everyone.

Life in America

I cannot believe it has already been a week since I have been home. Life just never stops. I will be honest, the transition this time has been a little harder than in the past. Maybe it was because I was in Ukraine longer than I have been the past few times. Do not get me wrong, I LOVE being home with my family. It's just that life here is different. But in the the week that I have been home I have already been to Tahoe for the weekend, celebrated my birthday, my niece's birthday, signed up for the gym and gone, and so much more. Life in the States never stops.
But just because I am home does not mean I am not still thinking about Ukraine and all that we have going on there. So the week before we left we found out there is a good chance we are going to get kicked out of our apartment. I have said it many times before but I do not know what we would do without Sasha Peevniv. As he is right now running the Ukrainian side of OAU. He has dealt with all that apartment fiasco and done phenomenally. We still do not know the outcome but I truly believe that God is going to give us the money soon to be able to buy something. No more of this renting... There is a camp we have heard about that if you can buy it straight out they will sell it for $50,000. This is IDEAL.... it is on the outskirts of the city so it is an ideal location. Or maybe we are going to be able to buy a house where we can have a garden and a dog!! I so badly want a dog :) So here are a few things you can be praying for....
-Something to buy
-Money to buy it :)
-The boys while we are gone
-Sash who is taking care of them while we are gone
-Lots of opportunities for us to fundraise while we are home
-I need to find some work while I am home

If you would like to be more involved check out on my blog other ways to get involved. Or shoot me an email. melissaoau@gmail.com

The boys just sent me this pic the other day. I am glad they are eating :)

Loving time with my nieces and nephews.

Orphanage Summer Camp

We had grad camp and then a day in between starting orphanage camp. To say that the month of June was crazy would be an understatement :) It had been 4 years since we had been allowed to do a camp at the orphanage. It was an awesome time getting to love on the kids and share Christ's love. Here a just a few pics that show the great times that were had.