Life has had some serious changes this year for us here at Open Arms. There have been many ups and downs, sometimes the downs seemed to outweigh the ups. But I am so excited to get back to Ukraine next month! Four of us friends/team members (Anika, Chelsea, Sasha and I) bought a house in Ukraine last year and will be moving into it next month! We will be living in the village this time around which will be a new challenge for us. We've always lived in the city and just visited the village, but for the time we'll be there this summer we will be village people. Our house (which is almost 100 years old) has no running water other than a hose hooked up to an electric pump outside, no toilet, no shower, no kitchen... It'll be interesting. We do have electricity(most of the time), and an outhouse that has a soup pot used for the toilet. And a little less than 2 acres of land. We might be crazy, but we're excited. The village where we'll be living is called Ivanivka, and it's the same village where the orphanage is and Dusya and her family. We have a huge heart for this village. As always, we have big ideas for how to best serve.
I am about to book my ticket back to Ukraine for a little less than a month from now and I am suddenly overwhelmed by the need for support and prayer. I'm just going to get the money part out of the way because I hate talking about it. If you would like to supporting me through Open Arms, I would very much appreciate it. Whether its 10 bucks or 500, one time or monthly, it all helps! To set an online donation through Open Arms, you can use the link below to get that going through our PayPal account. To make it an automatic monthly donation, select the box that says, "Make this recurring" for it to go automatically every month. Thank you so, so much for all you've done in the past, whether you are able to continue or not.
If you prefer to send a check, you can mail it to us as Open Arms Ukraine, PO Box 1148, Oakley, CA 94561. Please make sure to note my name and/or account number (1216) on the memo line.
Please be praying for us as I'm sure there will be moments when we question our sanity in choosing this particular move. Let’s be honest, I am not as young as I once was... Pray for funding as our fundraising in the last year has been lower than normal. Pray for the people of Ivanivka's hearts to be open to God and to us being there. Pray for God to raise up Ukrainian leaders to lead a church in Ivanivka. Pray for our health as sanitation in the village is a bit of a struggle.
Thank you again for your support. I am so blessed to be able to do this and so very thankful for your part in allowing me to serve in Ukraine.
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