A Week of Training and Conferences

It seems like a world away from our work in Krygyzstan.  We have been in Ukraine since Tuesday doing social work training, ministry training and sharing in the very first adoption conference in this country.  Held in downtown Kiev, this awesome conference was sponsored by LAMb International, Father's House and CBN Ukraine among others. It has been wonderful to meet adoptive parents in this country who have such a beautiful heart for the orphans here.

May our pictures tell a small part of the story. As we share these pictures, please know that we are deeply humbled by these opportunities and trust that we honor God in the work in Ukraine.

   WEDNESDAY TRAINING AT THE NEW ILCD OFFICE IN KIEV

Lynn and Ruby conducted caregiver training at the new office of the International Leadership and Development Center.  This is a separate organization under LAMb International whose purpose is to offer leadership training for ministry, social work and business.

This is the first group to enjoy training in the new location.

Wednesday evening David spoke on the Power of Deadly Emotions.  The responses were extremely positive. The pastor reported a number of calls the next day from people who were impacted by the session and felt God had brought healing into their lives. 

While Lynn and Ruby were in one location, David and I were in another.  This is a light hearted moment in our training on Thursday afternoon.

AN AWESOME OPPORTUNITY

Prior to the conference on Friday, we had the opportunity for an interview for the television program - 700 Club of CBN Ukraine.  Our book, Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child, has been translated into Russian and was the subject of the converation. This is on one of the sets of CBN Ukraine that we visited after the interview which was filmed in a private home earlier.

PREPARING FOR THE ADOPTION CONFERENCE

A valued moment of prayer before this Christian adoption conference begins.

Families from all over Ukraine

        Another view of the crowd, while Anya, one of the ILCD staff shares announcements.

Ruby shares to a packed room of interested families

Sharing from the book, Telling the Truth, which was given to everyone attending. Sitting next to David  in the front row on the right is Ruby and to her right is Lynn.  This conference happened due in a very large part to the vision and work of Lynn and Ruby.  They have been working in Ukraine for over six years.

After our work is completed on Tuesday morning here, David and I will fly to Poland for another round of new experiences and new people.  We will be training government social workers and Polish adoptive families on Wednesday through Friday and flying back to Kyrgyzstan on Saturday morning.

ALLOW ME TO BRAG FOR A MOMENT…..

The pictures above from an awards event. They are of our daughter, Kristy and her husband, Rick Matheson, the award recipients and a picture of Kristy with the award.

Last Friday night, Springfield, Ohio, North High School had an honors banquet and presentation.  The occasion was to present 10 former students dating back to 1950 with the DISTINGUISHED ALUMNAI AWARD. This award was presented to those persons whom the selection committee had decided had made significant social and humanitarian contributions since their graduation. 

Jayne was one of those chosen.  Since we are out of the country and could not attend the banquet, presentation and other activities surrounding the event, our daughter, Kristy and her husband Rick, were there to receive the award for Jayne.  We are very grateful to them for being there and representing the family so well and honorably. 

I have included some pictures above from last Friday night, April 16.  Thank you for allowing me to honor someone very special to me and to so many others.

Thank you and may God bless all of you….The Journey Continues

David

 

Possiblities Improving

Just a brief note - it does look like our trips to Ukraine and Poland are a go.  The Kiev airport opened tonight and that was key to our getting to go.

 

What is happening next week is very exciting.  Lynn, Ruby, David and I will be joining national speakers in Ukraine at the first adoption conference held in that country. Among the co-sponsors of this event are LAMb International and CBN Ukraine.  We are to arrive there on Tuesday, will have two days of social work training and then the conference on the weekend. 

 

A week from Tuesday, David and I will fly onto Poland for three days of training both social workers and families.We will be staying in the home of an adoptive family while we are there. We return to Kyrgyzstan on May 2.

 

We are truly humbled by these open doors as we continue to ask God's leadership in what we are doing. 

 

Thank you for sharing our journey....

 

First the Revolution and Now the Volcano

Greetings again to each of you. It is Saturday night and I just finished my message for tomorrow.  It is about the power each of us possesses—that is the power of choice. 

Thank you for letting us know you are out there and that you are praying for us.  The tension of the revolution is dying down some even though we still do not know the course this great country will take after the new government is installed. We have resumed much of our responsibilities at the University and else where.   

We just went through the revolution of a government and NOW we are experiencing the Icelandic volcano eruption which has closed most of Europe and other parts of the world to air traffic.   We are scheduled to leave on Tuesday morning for Ukraine and to Poland, however both airports we fly into are closed and there is no reason to believe that circumstances will change any time soon.  We were to do adoption conferences in both countries.  It will be a huge disappointment to those there as they have planned much and have done much work in preparation for these meetings—not to mention the cost involved.  So, it looks like our plans are changing again.  We are safe, at peace about it all, and honored to be a part of something far bigger than we are.

   

Giving Hope to Akiela

Each and every week we see incredible needs. Recently, we all felt we should stop for this one. Two weeks ago we met a 3 year old little girl in an orphanage. She has heart problems and some other issues.  She is beautiful in every way.  Her heart condition was worsening, but there were no resources in place to enable her to be taken to the hospital for treatment. However, that all changed.

On Thursday, little Akiela taken to Bishkek hospital and will get some much needed medical attention.  Because of the gifts some of you gave to us for humanitarian use, we will be able to provide 10 days of personal care for this beautiful little girl. Thank you to those who made this, and many other things, possible and thank you for sharing the journey with us.

 

Back to Normal and a New Level of Busy Days

The tense atmosphere in the country has lessened thankfully and we are returning to usual level of very busy days. I told David I thought tonight we would be home early and his response was "what makes you think that, we never are!"  We love the work here.

 

Due to difficulties getting on the blog when I have time to do it, plus preparing for the university and our upcoming training trips to Ukraine and Poland, I am taking a shortcut to posting. I know my friends, John, Julie Wright and Lynn and Ruby won't mind my linking to them this week.  So much is going on with the team here and they have posted it on their blogs.  Please take a moment to visit:

 

www.lambinternational.blogspot.com    and www.actofkindness.blogspot.com

 

Over the weekend, I will share what is happening with us personally and thank you for sharing the journey.

Beautiful Stories....

One of the exciting things about the work here is the diversity of the team.  David and I have been spending alot of our time with the university students and also on some humanitarian runs.  Lynn and Ruby have a gift for building relationships with many people. One of the most significant is their relationship with the head doctor at the baby hospital.  They consistantly go there finding out what the needs are.  One of the most recent trips personally impacted them as now, according to culture, they are godparents.  How did that happen. Ruby tells about their experiences the best....

Please visit their blog at http://www.lambinternational.blogspot.com/