The Exterior is Finished

This is the grand unveiling. It probably goes without saying but we are so very blessed to have this gift. Thank you, all of you, who have given so that we have a home here on the YWAM property that we can live in and minister from. Here in the picture you can see the exterior is finished. The interior is drywalled and the heating is on, but otherwise unfinished. We’re hoping its only another month to finish inside, but if it turns into two that will be ok too.

A Few Details

Front door is over on the left side, eventually there will be a really nice pathway where the dirt road is right now. This path will wind through the middle of the YWAM property to the front gate.

The two corner windows just right of the front door is kitchen and the three big windows is a little nook, these 3 windows face the river, which is not too close but pretty much unobstructed. Directly above is the master bedroom with a great view of the river. The two windows on the left on the second floor are the kids bedrooms. Cassie, as a growing young woman will get her own room while the boys can share.

The last thing that you need to know is this great place has a spare bedroom downstairs and a small second bathroom. There’s room and we’d love to have you come visit, just tell us how long!

2015/01/03

View from the Water

2014/12/02

Teaching in Asia

On of our teacher intern teams was sent to Asia this fall, here is a part of an update from them. Keep in mind that because of the nature of our work we cannot post explicitly the names or places where they minister.

Time is flying, more than half of the outreach is already over. Let us honestly share some ups and downs from our life here in Asia.

Down: Power cut, right when all our lap top batteries were empty.
Up: Meeting friends of friends, YWAM is like a family!
Down: Crazy, cursing driver for 9h on our way from one city to another over the mountains.
Up: Adore God‘s gorgeous creation on our 9h ride.
Up: Smetana (sour cream). Smetana makes everything good. All is well.
Up: Our teaching makes people hungry for more!
Down: Power cut. Again. Shower in the dark.
Up: Every time Nadia and Julian get to hold a cat!
Down: Nadia‘s computer cord melted. Literally.
Up: No diarrhea for quite a while now! Yay!
Up: Spending time with locals as well as missionaries.
Up: Doing a good job at teaching very spontaneously.
You see, there are more ups than downs! Life is good!

We taught 3 weeks in a underground Bible school in one city, which is actually a seminary for leaders‐to‐be. We have some new books in our repertoire now: Ephesians and Jonah. We also got to teach in a Kyrgyz church, where we had very eager students who had great testimonies to share.

Right now we are in another city. Tomorrow we will leave to teach in a village 6h from here for a week. We will teach pastors how to study the Bible inductively and have Bible studies with other people from the village. –end update–

What an amazing update – leaders and congregations in Asia say THANK YOU for sending Bible teachers!

2014/11/22

Go Canada!

Ben and Ang are forcing me to write a blog about my first impressions of Ukraine and YWAM and YWAM in Ukraine, which is a dangerous thing to do when I am so jet lagged… Luckily, my impressions so far have been good ones. I will elaborate with a three point sermon:

First of all, the people here (on the YWAM base) are very friendly and welcoming, which has been beneficial considering I have to share a bathroom with 8 of them. The leaders on the base seem to really know what they are doing and they have a clear and vibrant vision for their ministries (yes, this includes Ang and Ben). I would go into detail, but that’s their job. They are doing a good work, but are overstretched which is probably the norm when doing ministry. They all seem to wear many different hats, and in my short time here they have been an inspiration considering that they do all the things they have to do without complaining or arguing…as far as I’ve noticed anyway.

Secondly, I have had the opportunity to see a little bit of the city so far and have been told about it’s history. It is amazing, beautiful and complex all rolled in one (much like whoever is reading this, I’m sure). There is lots to see, lots of people and lots of things I do not understand. (By the way, if you are thinking of coming here, which you should, learn from my ignorance and consider learning a bit of Russian before you come, it would be beneficial.)

Thirdly, I have been astounded by seeing what Ben and Ang can accomplish with three kids along for the ride. I will blow their horn for a while, so hopefully they won’t delete this part. They are a testament to patience and grace. I’ll tell you why. First they have put up with me for the past three days, and they have two months to go. I have not seen a grimace or eye roll from them yet, not even a sigh of exasperation. Kudos to them for that. In addition, every experience I have had here, whether it was actually flying here from Canada or even trekking through this massive city, I have imagined doing with three kids with me, and each time I’ve imagined these scenarios I found myself racked with imaginary anxiety. Seriously people, my sanity would be hanging by a thread if I was them. I don’t know how they do it (probably because of Jesus), and because they go through life with such amazing attitudes I find myself inspired. And because they still are completely sane, thriving, faith filled human beings I have a new found belief in miracles.

In conclusion, this city is great, YWAMers are great, Ben and Ang and their kids are great, God is greater because He has made all these things and gives them all strength to carry on. If you support Ben and Ang and their ministry in any way, which you probably do if you are reading this blog, then I have a deep respect and appreciation for you and, after being here, know that it is a great thing you are doing to support them. Thanks for your attention.

2014/11/22

An Update from Paraguay

Here is an update from one of the teams that we sent out to Paraguay.

Imagine you come to a place as a stranger and after a week you leave friends behind. That happened to us in Indepedencia.

The contact with the German family happened so randomly. We went into a shop in the Mennonite colony to buy a mirror. We shared with the Lady who runs it, what we are doing and why we are in Paraguay. She said that she has a friend, who started a small church not too long ago and might be interested in our program. Later we bring her our information letter and she takes it along to her friends house during her next visit, which is about 3 hrs drive away. The response to our information came almost immediately and some dates were arranged.

When we got there we were welcomed very warmly. They had a little guesthouse ready for us, where we could stay as a team. Our host family is the third generation of former immigrants from Germany, but they are no Mennonites. They own a ceramic factory. Every Monday they start the week with devotion in the factory. The church evolved out of this, because more and more workers decided to follow Jesus and needed a place, where they could bring their family. So the German family renovated an empty house next to the factory and turned it into a church.

We taught the Bible Panorama from Tuesday till Friday. Every day we had rain until late afternoon. The roads here get very muddy and dangerous to drive. Nevertheless we had 20-30 people every evening, who came anyways. One girl wasn’t even a Christian. She is dating someone who was raised Christian and turned away from Jesus. Now she is asking a lot of questions and he has to explain the biblical truth to her. God has interesting ways with people… This girl said, that she first didn’t want to come for the evening program, because she felt shy, but when Edith, who knew about her through someone else sent her a text message inviting her personally, she changed her mind. Well, she came the next day as well and the next day and the next day…

Saying goodbye at the end of this week, wasn’t easy. We were one in the same spirit and had some great fellowship with this Paraguayan-german family.

2014/11/11

Communication

Going Fishing

by Charles R. Swindoll

Billy Wilder, the great movie producer, openly admitted: “I have a vast and terrible desire never to bore an audience.” With tacit agreement Jack Parr once declared: “The greatest sin is to be dull.”

Those two statements ought to haunt anyone who regularly practices the fine art of communication.

Communication is a competitive field. Like it or not, the teacher, writer, speaker, or preacher contends with ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Rush Limbaugh, magazines, paperbacks, CDs, the theater, the cinema, the thrilling excitement of sporting events, and a zillion other attractions. Pity the missionary whose letter arrives in the same mail with Sports Illustrated or Newsweek. God help the Sunday evening services across America that do battle with60 Minutes and Masterpiece Theater.

Today’s communicator faces a stiffer challenge than ever before. This means that we who communicate Christ must work especially hard at winning and then maintaining a hearing. This doesn’t mean we need to put on a better show or shout louder or attack our competition. What it does mean is that we must meet at least three demands.

We must be prepared. Basically, it necessitates doing our homework. But it also means we must determine what ought to remain behind the counter, held in reserve, and what ought to be placed on display. It’s the art of verbal economy.

We must be interesting. We must paint verbal pictures for the uninitiated, preoccupied mind to see. To do this we need energy, subtlety, relevance, and changes of pace.

We must be practical. Communicating the Scriptures is more than dumping out a truckload of biblical facts; it means using those facts to meet practical, everyday needs.

Communicating is like fishing. We need to provide the right lures and bait to attract our listeners.

Check out Paul’s address on Mars Hill (Acts 17) or Stephen’s defense before the Council (Acts 7) or Jesus’ great sermon on the mountain (Matt. 5–7) or His conversation with Nicodemus (John 3). Not a rusty hook in the bunch!

Funny thing about fish: They keep their eyes open even when they’re bored and sound asleep. Myopic communicators tend to forget that.

– See more at: http://www.insight.org

2014/11/10

We find what we look for!

We will find in the Bible only as much as we are looking for:
Great things and divine things
if we look for great and divine things,
important and historical things
if we look for important and historical things,
nothing at all
if we do not look for anything at all.
-Karl Barth, Theologian

2014/11/09

Why?

It is a good question!

We encourage our kids to ask it lots, but do we? Why do we do the things we do? Live in the place we do? Work the job that we do?

Today in our staff connection time we asked our staff the question: Why?

Why do you do your ministry?
Why in Ukraine?
Why with YWAM Kyiv?

For me, I’ve thought about this lots, as have most of our staff, because so many people ask us, “Why are you working in Ukraine? Isn’t it dangerous?”

I am a bible teacher because I believe that God left us this beautiful collection of writings that span over 4000 years to teach us about Him, His purpose for the world and His Kingdom that will one day be fully established on Earth. It is a powerful book that cuts to the heart.

I am in Ukraine because I feel that this is the place that God wants me to be. It is a country that needs the truth, love and freedom of Christ. (www.ywamkyiv.org)

I’m with YWAM because it is an organization that focuses on adventure, young people, hearing God’s voice, community and faith in God to do the impossible (www.ywam.org/)

It is good to remember these things, because in the tough moments, the challenges of life, the way I answer the question ‘why?’ is what helps me to persevere.

2014/11/02

Thoughts from Greece

On of our outreach teams went to work in Greece. Here is a small update from them:

We are now already for a week in Greece, Athens, and started teaching the Bible overview to Afghan Refugees. They are amazing. These people are so hungry to hear more about God. Some of them come from their villages that are 3 hours away from us, just to be able to learn more about how amazing God is. We are all very impressed by them.

In a land that has experienced Christianity from day 1, there still remains so much blindness to the truth. Pray with us that the Lord would open the eyes of the blind and set the captives free!

2014/10/13

Foundation Finished

The foundation concrete is all poured and drying. There is plumbing running through it that will soon hook up to the septic field. Imagine two floors above this of windows and walls and you have the soon to be ready home for the Doerksen’s. We are really looking forward to this after already a month living in an apartment in the city.
Thank you to those who have partnered with us, this project is especially exciting for us but everyone here is watching it come together as they also dream about the future of ywam ministry here!

2014/09/19

We made it!

It is great to be back in Kyiv! Our friends welcomed us at the airport and today we made it to the property where DTS and Titus programs are in full swing.

You may notice the boat behind us in the picture. One year ago a team came from Kilcona that renovated the exterior of the boat. This summer, two of our staff worked to finish up the top – thanks Kolia and Dima!

2014/09/13

What’s Coming Up

Supporters- Mission Overview and Schedule 2014-2019

Of course, you can never really know what the future holds, most of us have seen that in our lives. We have too but that doesn’t mean we don’t make plans. It means we make plans and then submit them to God – whatever his will is, that is what we want!

Click on the file above to take a look at an overview of our work and our tentative plans for the next few years.

2014/07/19

Phileo Xenos – Loving the Stranger

Hospitality comes from two greek words:
Philao – φιλό is one of several words for “love” in Greek. Being a more precise language than English, classical Greek has a few different ways to express the word “love.” In this case, the word that is used means “brotherly love” or “to love like a brother”.
Xenos – ξενος which makes up the second half of the word we render “hospitality” actually means “stranger” or “immigrant,” and is where we get the word xenophobia which is the fear of strangers/immigrants.

Most people have never really experienced hospitality, as opposed to being entertained. When you’re invited to your friends house for the game, go out for dinner together and your friend pays then you’re being entertained. Few of us have ever been in a strange place without our credit card or a hotel reservation with a restaurant.

But some of you have. You went on a short-term missions trip. You probably went to build a house or do some skits. The people were poor, much poorer than you. But after your program you were invited to one of the homes of the congregation. It wasn’t lavish, even if they were the wealthiest family in the church. They brought out some soft drinks and ice. Maybe a plate of fresh fruit. And you sat around making smiles and gestures to try and communicate with them while waiting for lunch. Someone brought a fan to cool you down a little. Lunch was a specially cooked chicken and lots of rice or corn. You ate first and your hosts only had a little at the end. Compared to back home, it really didn’t seem like much. But you knew, this was the best meal anyone in the whole village had made in months. And they made it for you.

That is hospitality. You, a stranger, are welcomed into someone’s home, welcomed to the best they have because you come in the name of the Lord Jesus. Maybe you’ve never experienced something like that. But if you have, you might know what its like to accept a costly gift from someone who doesn’t have anything to give. Even though its nothing to you, you treasure it because it cost so much to the one who gave it.

We might not be strangers to most people who invite us over for dinner or dessert or out for coffee. But our time at home has been an experience in receiving hospitality. One family makes a special meal for us, another prepares a fancy dessert, a stroller for our youngest, another takes our eldest to get a pedicure, another prays for us daily. Maybe sometimes you don’t hear thank you from us because we forget or we’re busy or whatever. I hope you know that we thank God for you. Every person that shares with us shows us the love of God, shows us that they care about us but also that God cares about us because he hears the prayers that you don’t. Thank you!

But lest you think your gift ends with us, don’t. When we live in Kyiv and invite someone over, they enjoy your hospitality, they share in your gift. They see that Jesus cares for them too. Usually we say thank you for sending us.

Today we say thank you for giving us your hospitality and for using the things you have to love us! Thank you for loving us like brothers!

2014/07/19

Housing Pledge

For more information click here.

2014/06/24

Kerith Pines

Getaway! Retreat! First time in 6 years we’ve both been away from our kids for more than one night. YAY for those that helped make it happen – family and friends!

So what was a highlight for us? It definitely wasn’t the mosquitoes that could even put holes in stop signs (see pic). Just joking, but they really were overly plentiful. Back to the highlights, it was great to have some counselors to talk to about stress and ministry who experience the same things and could both sympathize and challenge us personally. It was refreshing to enjoy my best friend once again without the pressures of raising 3 little ones. We got a few great resources on feeding the love relationship we have with our saviour – because its not our work that pleases him, he loves us for who we are, not what we do. And the intimate dinner our hosts put on for us was a lot of fun too as we reminisced over nearly 12 years of marriage all over the world.

So to those who offered prayers, finances or childcare, thank you so much!

2014/05/01

Aqueduct: Luke & Acts

Our team in Ukraine will be kicking off an indepth Bible Study Program in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. This is an incredible program that will grow your mind and your love for Jesus! In case you’re wondering the program will run in Kyiv.

2014/04/30

Tremper Longman III

Some friends have been asking what course I will be taking in Calgary in a few weeks. I’m really going to study under a professor, a man by the name of Tremper Longman III. Why is he so special? He wrote the book on the wisdom literature. I’m really excited to learn from him, even if the topics aren’t my favourite. For a more complete list of his publishings, check here.

2013/12/10

Juin was a special student…because he was blind

Titus Project Europe winds up this week. Our participants have all come back to the Netherlands for celebration week. Here is another story from one of the team members in Indonesia:

One of the students who attended the seminar we held at the YWAM base was Juin. Juin was a special student because he was blind. In Indonesia people look down on disabled persons. Some disabled children are even given away to orphanages because the parents think that they are worthless or even cursed. Juin also believed some of those lies before, but when he came in contact with the people of YWAM they encouraged him and taught him he has value. And now he was attending ourseminar.
Although he couldn’t see some illustrations and couldn’t do some of the observation exercises, we tried to involve him as much as possible. The classes were not always easy for him but he was always joyful and in a good mood. Just like the other students he liked to sing a lot.
On the last day of the seminar he shared his dream with us. The village where he came from doesn’t have a pastor. That is why he wants to go there and train the people in studying the Bible. What a privilege to teach him.

2013/11/22

Titus Update and Our Plans

Many of you support us and our work because we go and teach the bible all over the world where they need it. We also train and send many teams. Here is a short little report from one of our teams:

We are now ready for our last part of this trip and will be giving our
very best to the churches here in Rantepao. There are great potential
to strengthen the believers in this area and specially with the focus
on missions. This area has had the gospel for a 100 years… but still
there is much to do…

All of our Titus Teams out there right now are finishing up their teaching trips and are going to be heading back to The Netherlands in just a few weeks for ‘Celebration Week!’ We will hear each other’s stories and share our own. Angela will be there with Kai for the week while Ben remains behind in Kyiv for the SBS graduation. They both happened to be on the same day. Right after the two Graduations, Angela and Kai (and Sydney) will take a train to Cologne, Germany and Ben will drive there with Cassie and Jay. We will meet up to teach in a DTS. After that? Christmas with friends in Hurlach. It will be a full next month so please pray for us if you think about us!

2013/11/07

Titus Team in Indonesia

Right now we as Titus Project Europe have 3 bible teaching teams sent out- 2 in Indonesia and 1 in India. Here is a short write up from one of our teams in Indonesia:

THURSDAY morning started with Corrie teaching the step of Interpretation. Her style was asking questions: A journalist is coming by. It was a fun and interactive morning. With a lot of things to do… Stepping over the wall, imagining we were in the time of Paul, Philemon and Onesimus. Close your eyes… You are no longer in Tumaluntung… now you are in the house of Philemon. …

She really made us believe that we were in a different place. Just wonderful.

In the evening we joined in DTS Commissioning night. It was great.. Stella had the opportunity to share a message to send out the DTS teams to Kalimantan, Papua and Minahasa people group of Manado. But before that we as team, together with two other teams, had to come to the front to show the others how we dance for the Lord. .. so instantly we were thrown out of our comfort zone. It was a wonderful evening and of course we ended with a wonderful snacks.

Please pray for our three teams, they are teaching constantly throughout the week, it is a very busy time! BUT they are doing it because they believe that the way we think changes the way we live, and that the best way to transform our minds in through the Word of God!