Distractions

I should be packing,... our house is looking quite topsy-turvey, action packers piled high, stacks of stuff that needs to be sorted through and really thrown away, but will stay around and finally be thrown out on the last days. You know the stuff that just is too good to throw away, but not good enough to save...

I should be packing...most of our kitchen is already in boxes, the landlord's stuff is back in the cupboards. We are having some friends over to make Thai food together on Monday...hope we can make do with what we have...

I should be packing....I go from room to room bringing something to the room with the box full of "that" stuff and find another project that needs my attention and get caught up in that project, forgetting what I was originally doing. It is hard to stay focused.

I should be packing...on Monday Jerry will take a load to the storage place. That will help me see what is still needed to be done. I think we have just a bit left. It is always a challenge to figure out what will fit into our suitcases that we are bringing home with us and what needs to be put in a box.

I should be packing...but all of these nostalgic feelings come to my mind as I pack up our stuff again. I remember that when we first came over here, our kids were little...their whole lives ahead of them. Now they are adults ready to lead their own lives. I have been stepping into this new phase of parenting for a few years now and it still feels like someone else's life, not mine. I just packed away Parker's hand print from 5th grade, it makes me stop and count how many years that has been, and I begin to think of how he will start college this year. Beki is finishing up her first year of college. Laurel and Trent are getting ready to have their first baby.

Somehow this all snuck up on me. It seems that the kids were little just the other year and now they are grown up. When we come back, it will be just the 2 of us. Wow! time ticked right by us!

I should be packing, and I am...it just takes me a little longer as I stop and remember the times...

I should be packing....but we keep having friends over for one last goodbye, I keep reminding myself that God has a plan and He will accomplish it in these dear lives...I just need to be faithful to pray for them...help me to trust....

elevator music

This past month has been filled with special memories, meals and events with all of the good friends that we have made here in Kiev this past 19 months. One of the special friends, is Vitya. He has been studying medicine for 4 years, on his way to becoming a doctor. We met him a year ago and have met with him weekly this year, watching movies, eating food and speaking English with him. He has become a good friend. We have also gotten to know his parents and some of his friends. On Wednesday we had a fajita dinner at our place with his parents and a friend and then we went to an organ concert. It was a lovely evening together.
Vitya will be in the states this summer, we are really hoping that we can get together with him. We are trusting God and will be praying for him this year. Please pray with us for Vitya.

Our good friend and neighbor, Enver, wearing all of his medals from his service in the Soviet Army.


A Victory Day dinner at our good neighbor's home. We enjoyed getting better aquainted with another couple from our entrance. Our friend, Enver has personally introduced us to nearly all of our neighbors. We love them and are praying for their souls!

Another walk through the Botanical Gardens with Iilya, our good University professor friend.

They love to debate philosophical and spiritual topics.

May Day

Jerry and Vitya, our good friend in front of a monastery and lilacs.

We have been celebrating the many May holidays in Ukraine these past few weeks and hanging out with our friends as we begin our good-bye saying. The first of them was May Day, May 1st. We have met friends at the National Botanical Gardens just down the street from us. It is beautiful this time of the year, as the lilacs are blooming. The smell is at times overpowering and the views of the surrounding Orthodox monasteries are so beautiful!

We are trying to take all opportunities we have to spend with our friends here before we take off to the states.

We will miss them.

Sasha again

Finally, we're back home and back to ourselves.

(I reread our last entry and want to update you on Michael Merrill. He is in the US and is still undergoing treatments. At this point the doctors have not been able to come up with a solution that's going to work long-term. Please keep praying. Trevor Hope has recovered from the sickness he had on our travel to Germany.)

Back to Sasha: to make a long story a little shorter, I wrote back to all the contacts I'd received from the website manager. One of the people I wrote to again was Sasha. He was interested in meeting to talk about life. He suggested one of the many McDonald's restaurants we have here in Kiev, near a school where he is learning English. We talked about his walk with Christ, which had stagnated over many ears of D.I.Y Christianity- no church attendance, no Christian friends, only that whole 'I can worship God where ever I am' type of deception that so many people try to make work.

Anyway, we had a good talk about where he was and where he needed to be headed if he wanted to get to the Abundant Life that Christ promised. This was on a Saturday so I invited him to an English international church service the next day. It turned out the church was within walking distance of his apartment so he could have gotten there easily, though we did meet him in our car. [We're looking for a buyer for our car before we leave in 45 days, please pray]

Anyway, he loved the service and determined to go to a Russian-speaking small group, which he also loved. And since that first meeting 4-5 months ago Kim and I have been meeting with Sasha weekly for discipleship.

But what was interesting was his attendance at a gathering of some old friends of his who invited him to come to a 'religious' group meeting. He went because of his re-newed interest in spiritual things and a renewed desire to tell people about life change through Christ. He was surprised to find a group of disciples of a woman, who had recently died, gathering to pray to a pyramid...

That's it for this entry. We'll try to get back to this story soon, (which I can already tells you ends, as of this writing, with a group of new believers meeting in our apartment).

Thanks for reading along.

Quick update

Hi to our readers...you know who you are,

We just wanted to give you a quick word on what we've been doing and where we've been.

2 1/2 weeks ago Parker came home for Spring Break. We had a nice time in Kiev together but we are quite busy with ministry nowadays, which we didn't realize until we tried to find 'just hang out with Parker' time and we found it difficult. Anyway, all was good. Parker and Jerry did spend a full day working through college acceptance letters (George Fox University, in Oregon and Wheaton) and financial aid packages (a word to young fathers: start saving now). Parker had all but decided on GFU until the Wheaton financial aid info came and the amount they offer makes the choice difficult again. Oh well, on Life's Big Scale of Problems this one doesn't weigh anything.

So, as Spring Break was winding down our Russia (and Ukraine) Field Forum was gearing up in southern Russia. Kim, Parker and I went to Anapa, on the Black Sea, for this annual gathering. It was especially nice for us to be there as a family so that Parker could do his goodbyes for the last time with kids he's known, or know about, for his whole MK life. He had a good time there and we had a good time watching our nearly full-grown baby (18 years old this month) interacting with his friends.

Then, with school starting in Germany the kids had to get back. I had the job of escorting them (since Lisa Merrill (who was the original escort) is in America trying to help her son Michael deal with a chronic health problem. Plllllllllleeeeeeeease pray for Michael. He's one tough kid but he'd really like to get his medical issues resolved so that he can get back to school.)
The need for an escort was only too clear as a couple of the guys got really sick. Trevor Hope, another tough kid, was indescribably ill every hour or so all day l0ng, including airports, airplanes and trains. I haven't heard but I hope he's better today.


Well, anyway, I'm typing this in Parker's dorm while waiting for him to come back from school. This is our next-to-last visit to BFA, at least as parents of students. We'll be back in 7 weeks for graduation. For all the difficult stories that you may have heard about missionary kid boarding schools we can only say from our own experiences with Black Forest Academy that we have nothing but positive things to say. This is true about the quality of school and social life and especially about the spiritual input our kids have received.
Our thanks to all the professionals who have sacrificed time in their careers to give something to our kids.

Ok, that's it for this update. I plan to be back at my computer tomorrow in Kiev and will try to remember to continue the Sasha Saga for those of you who might have been waiting.

Bye for now.
Jerry