An interesting article
I was preparing for a prayer time I will be leading in Kyiv in a few weeks when I came across this article. I found it very interesting as public opinion is usually quite negative towards missionaries. See what you think
It is my mom’s birthday
On March 4, every year, I will remember how thankful I am to have had the best mom. If she was still here, I would have called her, wished her a happy birthday, have sent her a beautiful bouquet because she loved flowers, and have had a nice chat about what she and my dad have done today to celebrate her. I miss her so much.
Lately I have been going through our family photos so that I can make a memory book for each year. Of course, I come across so many that make me smile, especially ones of my mom and dad being amazing grandparents, and sometimes my mom just being silly (like holding up a book about Cranbrook). Here are a few from 2011 when we were in Canada visiting, and from 2012 when my parents came to Ukraine after Kai was born.
Teaching Children To Think
Currently I am reading Sally Clarkson’s Mission of Motherhood (this is one of those books I would buy for all new mothers if I could). She shared a story about how her family loves to talk, debate and discuss issues. This sounds a lot like our family. Since I am one of those peace-loving people that usually feels uncomfortable in a strong discussion, I have been trying to encourage myself to allow for these strong debates that naturally occur in our family. Here is what Clarkson says:
“This story (told in the past few paragraphs) depicts our everyday lives – opinions stated, issues debated, topics taught and learned, questions asked, books and experts quoted, and heartfelt convictions passionately shared while washing dishes, eating meals, or sitting around the living room drinking tea. And even tough they may occasionally get out of hand, these discussions, perhaps more than any other family activity have shaped our children’s lives for the better.
Why are such discussions important?…They teach our children to think about Jesus – and to think biblically about every aspect of their lives! They are part of an ongoing process of sharpening minds, focusing thoughts, and allowing biblical truth to shape our mental processes as well as fill our hearts.” Clarkson, S. (2003). The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child’s Heart of Eternity. WaterBrook. p. 100.
I am thankful for a family where we all allow each other to grow, learn and be challenged – even if that means sometimes the peace is disrupted for awhile.
Testimonies from Titus India
We can’t post photos due to the sensitive location of these teachers, but during their debriefing and celebration times here were some of the testimonies shared:
“I learned to focus on the audience.”
“It was exciting to train godly youth leaders, I really see this area growing.”
“I discovered I am not just an okay teacher, I am actually a good teacher!”
“I was able to overcome fear.”
1 of the 4 outreach teams went to an extremely remote location and found that the churches were very excited to have a team come, we hope to send more teams back to them. The other 3 teams went to different areas of India and built upon ministry that other teams had done in the past. One participant even had a chance to serve with her team in her home church. Thank you for praying for Angela and for sending her to India as we seek to help pioneer a new Titus Project location.
Fun family!
YWAM Budapest
We don’t often write about our involvement with YWAM Budapest because of the strong focus we have right now on YWAM Kyiv and also the Bible teaching we are doing around Europe. However, we do want to highlight the work happening here in this beautiful city.
YWAM Budapest is a team of staff from many backgrounds, and they are involved in a lot of different types of work. Steve and his wife Barbara are the base leaders and have been here working for 30 years! They have seen tremendous changes over the years here in central Europe and have raised their children all here at the same school our kids are attending (International Christian School of Budapest). They are really wonderful people that love the Lord and love Hungary. The rest of the staff are very diverse, from Serbia, Macedonia, Poland, America, Canada and Germany and of course Hungary (I’m probably missing some).
Some of the good work they do here: They own and run a fantastic cafe called Selah that employs Hungarians and others and functions as a meeting space for churches, organizations and just every day people. Every Tuesday is what they call the ‘Sandwich run’ where they make sandwiches and bring them around the city to the homeless people. This ministry has been going on for over 10 years and Rosie who leads it knows almost every person living on the streets by name. Of course, there is the DTS that runs here, there are art workshops and there is much more work that the staff do, but that is just a little picture of YWAM Budapest.
They have really welcomed Ben and I to be a part of the community here while we are living in Budapest, and while we don’t have much time to contribute to all of the work they do, they are quick to let us be a part of whatever we can be, and for that we are grateful!
