Leaving...

Well, it seems I have been in this place before... It feels a bit like deja vu. But Anika and myself are leaving on Wednesday to head back to Ukraine. That is the plan anyways. It seems we take life literally one day at a time. We heard that Lufthansa is having a strike starting tomorrow so that affected our flight getting into Ukraine. But Anika talked to the airlines and they were able to reroute us so that is good. Thank you all who have been praying and supporting me/OAU. We also moved the date of our Spring Camp to the following weekend of April 11th-13th. It would have just been a little too crazy for us to get in the 3rd and try to start camp the very next day. We are not as young as we once were ;) I will keep you all updated as I can. Please continue to pray for us as we head back and for Ukraine.

Fall Fundraiser Tea

$10 each to reserve your spot at the tea.
Contact Melissa for more information.

Click here to donate $10 to reserve your ticket for the tea. 

Click here to reserve more than one ticket or donate a different amount. Please specify your number of tickets. 

Uncertainty

It is so crazy how life can change in an instant. It seems as though my life has been in limbo for the past month. I was supposed to be going back to Ukraine March 5th. And it was not until I think, 2 days before that I knew that was not going to happen because the unrest there. It was such a hard process. To this day, I hold so much guilt about not being there. Ukraine has been my home for 6 six years.  We have worked hard to rid ourselves of the "American" stereotype and to build trust with the kids there. I feel as though we had finally gotten there and when things got hard or unsafe we left.  Now, I know there is so much more that went into it. It was with a lot of prayer and discernment from others that we came to the decision we did. But it doesn't make it any easier.  Okay, enough of my rambling. The plan right now is to fly back on April 2nd. This is of course if there is not a full blown war and we are still able to go. I know this makes many of my family and friends uneasy. But I have to believe that God will protect me in the way He sees fit. I still feel called to Ukraine for now and this includes when things are in chaos.  My time is not finished yet, at least I hope not. We have escape/evacuation plans we are working on if need be.  I do appreciate everyone's support and love. And please keep the prayers coming. I will try and keep the updates coming as I know what the plan is.

Open Arms Team

I know it has been a a very long time since I have wrote a blog. I am sorry for that. I am getting ready to go back to Ukraine next week. Please keep me, my team, and Ukraine in your prayers. I found this video that our team was asked to do for a church. I will say, it is pretty long. But it might give you a better understanding of who we are and why we do what we do. And I promise to try and be better about keeping this updated.

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