YWAM Kyiv Newsletter after the 1st Wave of Hope. It isn’t long and there are some really cool stats and stories. Content compiled by Angela 🙂
EN: https://mailchi.mp/99376a016878/riding-the-wave-of-hope
RU: https://mailchi.mp/f6265b…/riding-the-wave-of-hope-6058954
UA: https://mailchi.mp/ywamky…/riding-the-wave-of-hope-6058950
Every year we begin to prepare for the new season. Not spring, or winter or even summer or fall… but birthday season! From April 15-May 25 we celebrate all of the kid’s birthdays. We sit down with each child and ask, “What do you want for your birthday breakfast and dinner? Is there a special dessert? Do you want a party with lots of people, or just a small one with a few friends?” Each of the kids always choose different things, but we hope that each knows that they are loved and celebrated. Of course, throw into the crazy birthday month an exciting volleyball season, a high school musical ‘The music man’, awards ceremonies, and let’s not forget mothers day…oh and… well let’s just say that it has been a full month!
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!
Yesterday we couldn’t help but reflect on the past year. It was a year like nothing we have ever experienced before. As Canadians, we don’t have nearly the same experience our Ukrainian friends have had, but at the same time, as someone reminded us, ‘Your family, too, has been displaced from your home and work.’ True. We are quick to remember that there is always someone that has had it harder (like our close friends who have been separated from their husband and father since February 24, 2022) but it is also important to let ourselves grieve and see the difficult year this has been for our family as well.
We really miss Ukraine, our teammates, and our friends. The work we had been doing there was starting to really build momentum. Our Bible teaching team had reached 18 people and we were really beginning to multiply (not to mention that our entire YWAM team had grown to just under 50 people and all of our ministries were growing and being really effective)!
Now many of our staff have moved on, our team of 18 Bible teachers has shrunk to 13, others on our staff have left, and the 20 students who were going to study the Bible with us last March may never do that (because we were the only Russian option for an inductive study through the whole Bible). If we are able to run the course in 2024, hopefully some students will still be able to, but life changes, and people move on. This brings a particular sadness for us.
But, thankfully that is not all we see. We also see the tremendous faithfulness of God. He has provided for us in every way. We found new ways to serve as Bible teachers in Europe, made new friends, found a new school for the kids, Ben has a new part time job, we have a new house to live in for now. And not only that, but we still have our friends from Ukraine staying with us from time to time. We even have friends from Ukraine living here in Budapest. Plus, we are still VERY involved with all of the humanitarian work going on in Kyiv and surrounding regions.
And so, this was a passage of scripture from Habakkuk 3:17-19 that was very meaningful for us at the beginning of this year and still encourages us today:
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Saviour.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
He has enabled our feet to tread on the heights, and no matter how hard it has been, we will continue to rejoice in the Lord, and be joyful in God our Saviour.
If you saw Jay a few years ago, he had straight hair. Now, with that crazy introduction of being a teenager with new hormones, his hair has gone curly, and his biceps are growing, and he even has a little mustache!
He has been playing basketball for the past few months and it is always fun to watch him take the ball down the court, go in for a lay-up, or shoot from the top of the key. He is really growing up in so many ways, but especially in his maturity. He is learning to love those who are more challenging to get along with, and he is finding ways to be himself (silly and fun!) while still showing respect to teachers and classmates.
We are so proud!
One of our family values is, “We offer to help.” This is one of the ways that Cassie shines! Yesterday I was not feeling very well, but Cassie made sure to come in after school and see if she could help me with dinner or anything else. She really shows empathy and love so easily.
Another example is this photo taken on New Year’s Eve. We do a chocolate fondue every new years eve, and Cassie always helps to cut everything up, get the chocolate ready, and make it all look beautiful! Our family just wouldn’t have that special touch without her!
We all headed back to work after a few days of unpacking and settling into the house we have rented for this year in Budapest. Pray for us to be fruitful, bringing beauty and order and life to everyone around us in the name of Jesus!
Every Sunday night, I (Angela) send out an email to the team that Ben and I lead. Just a quick overview of the week that is coming up in each of our different Bible teaching ministries. I thought it might be interesting for some of our friends and family to read one of them- this was from two weeks ago:
Good morning everyone! On Sunday I had the privilege of preaching on “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Blessed are the meek…This is actually a quote from Psalms 37 (take a look). I love Psalms 37 because it is so rich with the wisdom of meekness means waiting for the Lord and trusting in His timing for justice. For they shall inherit the earth (or land- same word in Greek)… As we all know, Jesus’ audience for the beatitudes wanted justice for the Romans and to have their land back, but at the end of Matthew, Jesus explains that this inheritance of the land, this justice, has now become “Go into all the earth (same word from the beatitude) and make disciples…” The land of inheritance is now the whole world.
Let’s be reminded this morning that it is a great blessing to in meekness wait for the Lord and His timing for ultimate justice (the return of the Lord) and while we wait for his second coming, let’s continue being faithful to make disciples here in Kyiv, Ukraine and Eurasia (and even from around the world)!
What is happening this week in our team?
Monday Prayer- See you at 11 under the tree in front of our house.
SBS Team- Back together with 3 of our 5 online students now joining us! Don’t get too close because they are still under quarantine- let’s be mindful of protecting those in our community. Kings Week!
Local Ministry Team- Finishing 1st Samuel tonight and Kings on Thursday. We also have our first monthly pray and plan, where we will talk specifically about our local ministry here in Kyiv- this will be at Ben and Ang’s place (for those not on the SBS team).
Online SBS for Russian Speakers- The team is coming together!!! Keep praying and before we know it, we will have an option for people who want to study in the SBS but for whatever reason can’t get to Kyiv.
Have a great week!
Col. 3:16-17 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Kai has such a soft, loving heart. The other day before bed he said to me, “Tomorrow, it will be your day of rest!” The next morning when I woke him up he made me sit on the couch while he made my coffee, he helped me make lunch, loaded the dishwasher, and overall kept me ‘resting’ as much as he could. He looked in my eyes at the end of the day and said, “Mom, you always do so much for us, I hope you enjoyed your day of rest.” Of course, my eyes teared up realizing that my sweet son had done all he could to bless me that day, and he recognized my daily hard work. Thank you Kai for my day of rest!
We are praying and planning as a team for our next 5 years of ministry. Here is a report from last Saturday.
I think that it is one of the hardest things because: 1) I love my kids so much 2) I want the best for their lives 3) I don’t always know the best way to help them get there which can feel overwhelming at times.
I really enjoy listening to Sally Clarkson’s podcasts. I feel like she really helps me think through my goals, encourages me that it is worth it, and reminds me that teaching a child doesn’t mean tell them once and they get it, but it means saying the same thing over and over again, and hoping that by 18 they get it :) That has been a really valuable addition to my life over this past year. I like to listen to her while I do my dishes in the morning.
I made this little poster to put on my door so that I see it every day- it helps me to be a better mom. Happy Mom’s Day to any of my friends reading this. Mom, if you are reading this, I’ll talk to you tomorrow! Love you more than you know and am so thankful for the love and care you put into raising me!!!!
This time in history reminds me of when the disciples were in the storm and they wondered why Jesus was sleeping…and then he challenged them, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Most people agree that the gospel of Mark was written early, to Christians likely suffering persecution for their faith.
It feels a bit like suffering to not have freedom of movement and the ability to plan into the future, but I am trusting that Jesus can calm the storm, and that no matter what happens, I know he is right beside me in the rocky boat.
It is true, he really does. He is athletic, funny, and musical, not to mention mischievous and smart. He wanted to try his hand at producing some music and videos. Check out his youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQg0vqxKqSVeSSMiArtD4qQ
| Well, we are spending lots of time together :)The airports in Kyiv will close in a few days and as a YWAM leadership team we have made a decision to have our staff do a self-quarantine. That means that for those that live here at the Missions Center, we will not be going into the city, nor taking public transportation. The only thing we will do is travel to the small grocery stores nearby for food. So what does this mean for us and the work we do? 1) We will continue to teach our night Bible course but we will offer it online rather than meet together. 2) We will still begin our 9 month SBS on March 22. The students have come early, and some will do it online until they are able to fly in when it is safer. 3) We will both still be teaching and also continuing to help lead our organization through this time. 4) Angela will be homeschooling the children through their assignments that have been sent home by the school. We are so blessed to live in a beautiful place. Our kids can still run around and play outside, and we can still be doing what we have been called to do. Thank you for praying for us during this time. Our biggest prayer request is that no one in our community will get sick because we do have some staff that have compromised immune systems. We also pray for our family and friends all over the world to be safe and healthy. Of course, our lives will one day end, and we are thankful to know that the God of this universe has more planned for us beyond this life. In the meantime, we want to be faithful here, enjoy our relationship with Him and with each other. We want to walk in faith, not fear; joy, not sadness; expectancy, not anxiety. |
| I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. ~The Apostle Paul Philippians 4:13 |
This winter quarter begun after a nice Christmas season. Our main focus is to train people in how to study the Bible for themselves and also to train them to teach others how to do that. At the end of December our Bible school graduated a new batch of students. It was exciting to see each one of them realize what an accomplishment it has been to study every verse in scripture, reading it from the context of the original reader and then applying it to their own lives. The goal is really to see life change in the students and it was so wonderful to see them loving each other, serving one another, and excited to head into the next chapter of their lives, whatever that may look like.
We also said good bye to two of our teammates. One of them was a young Brazilian who had served for two years with our Bible program, the other was a long-term Indian teammate who served with us for five years. It was difficult to say good bye to both of them, but that is the nature of the life we lead.
In January we ran Titus Project again and trained up 11 new Bible teachers. Currently they are all in different countries teaching others how to study the Bible (Armenia, Kazakhstan, France, Switzerland, India and we are leading the team here in Kyiv, Ukraine). We are also running our evening Bible school for professionals. For 8 weeks we have a class every Monday and Thursday evening and we are studying the Pentateuch. Of course there is the regular weekly duties of accounting for Ben, Personnel for Angela, and the leadership team. Ministry continues to be full and rewarding.
Whenever we get a thank you card, we gather them in a special place, and then once a year we scan them and send them to our friends and family that send us here to Ukraine.
Maybe you are one of those people that take time to pray for us, think about us and care for us? Then these thank you cards are to you as well! Enjoy!
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery _builder_version=”4.3.4″ gallery_ids=”4533,4534,4535,4536,4537,4538,4539,4540,4541″ fullwidth=”on” hover_enabled=”0″][/et_pb_gallery][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]Back in 2006 I was reading the Bible and I realized that there were so many celebrations for exciting moments in the life Israel. I decided to celebrate my own festival every year on February 1st to commemorate choosing to do what it says in the book of Romans 10:9…
| If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. |
Every year I celebrate in different ways, sometimes alone, sometimes with others. This year I’ve been taking an online class that is a mix of philosophy, religion and logic. It has been very interesting and one of my assignments was to summarize why I believe what I believe: I want to share it this year as a way to celebrate.
Step 1) I think every human has the question inside, ‘Where does everything and everyone come from?’ I heard this funny story: if you landed on a planet and saw some rocks arranged in a triangle you could make the case that they landed like that randomly. It would be questionable but you wouldn’t have to posit an intelligent designer put them like that. But if you kept walking and then came to another set of rocks arranged in a message that said, ‘Hi Angela ‘ it would be very difficult to believe that it was chance. When you look at the human DNA strand, or the complexity of the eye, or the brain, it is very difficult to believe that it is just like that by chance. That is almost like saying a bunch of letters were lying around in a warehouse and there was an explosion and now we have a dictionary. To me it takes more faith to not believe in a God. Now that is step one for me.
2) There are other things I consider (like where does the innate sense of right and wrong come from, and how do we distinguish the difference, explaining the miracle of love, and the concept of relationships) but I do come back to Jesus and I need to do something with him. With all the historical references to him right during his life time, even by authors who were not sympathetic to him, it is pretty much impossible to say he didn’t exist. But if he did, and if he wasn’t God in flesh, then what happened to his body? And why were the people who spent the most time with him, and then who ran off in fear when he was crucified, ready to suffer extreme pain and die for him (all but one died because they kept telling people Jesus was God and that he rose from the dead)? The best explanation of the evidence is that he really did rise from the dead. So that means I should probably take what he said seriously. He claimed to be God and that his death and resurrection brought new life to anyone who would receive him. So 28 years ago I remember closing my eyes as a young teenager, and saying to God, “Jesus, without you I feel purposeless and helpless, and I feel shame. I invite you to come into every area of my life. Thank you for dying for me and for giving me your resurrection life!” I knew that day I was forever changed.
Happy freedom festival to me :)
When I (Ang) was little and I had nothing to wear I would sometimes go down the hall in the opposite direction of my room. I would enter into the sacred space of my parents room :) I would go to my Mom’s closet, open the bi-fold door and peruse the options in front of me. It was so nice when I was finally around the same size. Well, this morning I was hit with the fact that Cassie has grown up so much. She wore my coat to school today because she likes it better than her own. How is my sweet daughter already 11 going on 20?!
SBS has been very challenging, but also very possible to complete, and I have learned so much. Understanding the background of each book and the historical setting has given a new level of clarity to them. Did you know that the nation of Syria and Assyria are not the same thing? I didn’t!
A while ago I had a conversation with a woman who was nervous, because she met someone who told her that the Bible was against the celebration of Christmas and Christmas trees. I thought that was interesting, so I looked with her at the verse that was used against her. It was Jeremiah 10:3-4, “For the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with a hammer and nails so that it cannot move.” She felt that because of this verse, all of her family celebrations of Christmas were actually sinful. I remembered what I learned in SBS, that you have to look at the context of a verse to figure out what it meant.
I looked and showed her the very next verse, Jeremiah 10:5, “Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.” So upon closer examination, Jeremiah was showing the people that it was pointless to take a tree and fix it into an idol, not a Christmas tree.
On top of this, Christmas was established as a celebration of the Birth of Christ sometime around 0 AD, while Jeremiah spoke during the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, over five hundred years prior to any potential existence of Christmas.
I told her that she can look into the history of the custom of Christmas trees if she wants, and decide whether they are sketchy or not, but this verse is not talking about Christmas. The woman was so relieved to find out that she had not been in sin her whole life.
I was very thankful for the training I had received to not just take a verse a face-value, but to look at what it would have meant to the original readers.
