The new year gives a great chance for evaluation. How was last year? What will this year be like? In a few weeks we will be submitting our annual report, but for now let me just say that God has been so faithful to our family in every way.
We were able to move into a house closer to the kids school; they walk everyday!
We continue to use our gifts of teaching to help multiply new Bible teachers.
We also remain deeply tied to our friends and coworkers in Ukraine by praying, communicating, hosting, social posting and writing newsletters on behalf of YWAM Kyiv (not to mention zooming in for leadership meetings and promoting Waves of Hope).
We joined a small group of families here in Budapest that all came from Kyiv and continue to work within Ukraine while living here due to the kids going to school with our kids. It has been extremely life giving.
Ben has enjoyed teaching a second year at the school (it is easier a second time around!), has become more involved with coaching sports, and was able to participate in YWAM Budapest work a bit more.
We feel we are in just the right place for ‘such a time as this’ and are trusting that one day the war will end. In the meantime, we keep working to use our gifts and talents in obedience to God.
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.
While I was in Amsterdam teaching, Ben decided it was time for him to make soup. This coming from a man who is not a big soup fan, and a man who is not a big cooking fan! But he did make soup, and it was pretty tasty according to the kids!
The next surprise was that he decided it would be fun to watch seeds grow- so a new experiment of planting different kinds of seeds in jars began!
Finally, on Sunday we were home from church and Ben decided to make soup AGAIN! This time he looked up a recipe for homemade tomato soup and it was delicious, served with grilled cheese, so yummy!
So this is the crazy life with Ben. It is never a dull moment as he constantly looks for new adventures in life- even in the kitchen or in a homemade garden. I love this man!
In his memory, we are grateful to Loren Cunningham for being a faithful leader. He was brave as a young man to listen to God and start Youth With A Mission, which went from a late-night vision of waves of young people reaching every continent, given to a 20-year-old in the Bahamas, to a global ministry with over 20,000 workers. He visited Kyiv, Ukraine multiple times and we were so grateful for his wisdom and support. It was during one of those visits that Loren encouraged us to buy our current property rather than a different one we were considering, and we are so grateful because our beautiful beachfront land is just the right place for us with lots of room to grow. We will miss you Loren and YWAM Kyiv will continue to ‘Know God and make Him known.’
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!
