The work we do in Ukraine and all over Eastern Europe/Western Europe is very rewarding. We love it! But one of the hardest things is being far away from family and friends. This past month we had Ben’s sister Lisa and her whole family come and be with us for a week after they spent some time serving in Romania. What a huge blessing that was to us! The kids loved having their cousins here, and we spent lots of days just being together. Eating, playing talking, and hearing about their amazing time in Romania. Thank you guys so much for coming to visit us in Kyiv, Ukraine! It meant so much! There are some great pictures (taken mostly by Cassie) to explore.
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Well, it is official! He is now 8, and he wanted to have a big party with his friends playing lazer tag. We negotiated a little and decided he could do the big party if he was not expecting any gifts from us. It was a bit of a struggle, but the lazer party won out over a gift, and a great time was had by all! It was hard to get photos in the dark, but we tried :)
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Every year we report on what we have done in the past year and what is coming up to our home church and our supporters. We thought some of our friends and family might be interested in reading it as well, so here it is :) Let us know if you have any questions.
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Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
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So the other day Cassie tells me she has made a fort. It was a little corner in her room where the dresser is pulled out a bit from the wall and a blanket covers the entrance. I thought this would be fun for just one day, but she has been sleeping and reading in this tiny little corner for weeks! What a crazy girl!
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One day we were in the shopping mall and I wanted to test Jay’s ability to read Russian cyrillic. I pointed to a sign and asked Jay- “Can you read that?” He said, “No, the words are too blurry Mom”… and that is when I knew.
After a few tests at the eye doctor it was confirmed, Jay has Myopia :( Sad but at least he found some cool glasses to wear, and it is so nice for him to be able to see clearly!
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Dynamics of Leadership CD Set
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- 1-01-Intellectually-Grounded-In-Christ
- 1-02-Socially-Balanced-In-Christ
- 2-01-Emotionally-Stable-In-Christ
- 2-02-Spiritually-Enriched-In-Christ
- 3-01 Getting Into The Word
- 4-01-Prayer_-The-Christians-Secret-Weapon
- 4-02-Enriching-Your-Solitude
- 5-01-Salt-And-Light
- 5-02-Five-Reasons-For-Creativity
- 6-01-Principles-For-Love
- 6-02-Growing-A-Marriage
- 7-01-Christian-Education-Is-Homemade
- 7-02-A-Message-Of-Mistakes
- 8-01-On-The-Edge-Of-Eternity_-Part-1
- 8-02-On-The-Edge-Of-Eternity_-Part-2
- 9-01-On-The-Edge-Of-Eternity_-Part-3
- 9-02-Mandate-For-Mentoring
- 10-01-Effective-Coaching
- 10-02-Dynamics-Of-Discipleship_-Part-1
- 11-01-Dynamics-Of-Discipleship_-Part-2
- 11-02-Dynamics-Of-Discipleship_-Part-3
- 12-01-Dynamics-Of-Leadership_-Part-1
- 12-02-Dynamics-Of-Leadership_-Part-2
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“One of my highlights from my preschool is I like to eat breakfast at home and I like getting my snack ready. Some of my low lights are I get owies on my knees when I slip, and sometimes I have to play by myself and I don’t really like playing by myself. And another one of my highlights is just going to school. I like school.”
~Kai- Age 5 -
We are so thankful for a white Christmas- it has been snowing for over a week and it is getting deeper :) We’ve built snow slides, snowmen, snow forts, and a snow volcano. We really enjoy snow, especially during the Christmas season.
Tomorrow we will go to church and make a gingerbread house in the evening.
Christmas morning we will open up some gifts from Grandparents and family…we will eat cinnamon buns and have all of the ywamers over for a Christmas dinner (at least the ones that aren’t gone to be with their families). It is a wonderful season of rest, family, and wonderful traditions.
But I guess, the most challenging thing about Christmas is remembering that it is about Jesus. Immanuel. God with us. I hope that as a family we will be able to find that sacred time where the kids are settled, and the parents are in a good mood :) and we can talk a bit about why we celebrate Christmas- how it isn’t about the presents and the food, but about Jesus coming to be with us, for God ‘so loved the world that he gave his one and only son…’ This can be difficult to really celebrate and have our hearts in the right place, but it is worth the effort, to have the fullness of the season. We hope your Christmas is deep and meaningful!
Merry Christmas!
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SBS Video 2017 from YWAM Kyiv on Vimeo.
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Nadia, Sonya and I (Angela) are in Georgia teaching people how to study the Bible. We started with Philemon, now we will spend two days in Ephesians and one more day to study Jonah with them.
There are 10 students in our Bible course from many countries. Azjerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, USA, Armenia, Iran.I can’t put a picture of them in this newsletter because some of them are not allowed to be Christians in their country. It is so interesting to hear each one of their stories. One girl is a very new Christian and as we talked about when the letter to Philemon was written by Paul she said “Well, I guess it had to be written after Jesus rose from the dead.” Good point. :)
Most of these students want to do the 9 month course we offer. Thank you to the many people who help keep Ben and I here overseas, we couldn’t do it without you!
A few years ago I asked some of you to consider supporting financially our missionary Ukrainian friends Nadia and Sonya. It is a pleasure to be here with them teaching and I wanted to say thank you also to those who responded to that request and have faithfully supported them monthly.
Be encouraged, people all over the world are still responding to the call of Jesus, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-10) and as you send us and pray for us you are a part of that!
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Cassie’s Blog- I just got into school, well maybe three months ago. Me and mom are reading a book called Anne of Green Gables. It’s about an orphan girl that’s adopted into a family that wanted a boy. She’s VERY dramatic she’s a Drama Queen… only much more expressive.
It snowed yesterday the big fluffy kind. I was so happy!
Fall breakit’s more like winter break is coming. School is the best ever! My teacher is nice but firm. In science were learning about plants and animals were growing them in class. In history were finishing up are unit about The American Revolution. In math were learning about data and probability. -
Well, Jay fell off of a hammock as he played with Egan. I’m sure spinning around in the hammock was great fun, but now we have a boy in a cast. Thankfully, the hospital here in Ukraine was excellent!
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We looked back and thanked God for all He has done (that is the feature picture, if you zoom in you can read all of the papers). We looked forward as well. But most of all we just listened. We took time to listen to God and to each other and it was a GREAT day! Of course there are still many things to think about and plan fort, and we wish we could have more time together, but we are thankful for the day we had! And Ben and I are thankful for this great team that we can spend time with and work with every day! See more pictures from the day here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/badoerksen/
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Ben and I don’t work alone. We are part of a large missions team of about 45 people here in Kyiv Ukraine called YWAM. And in that big group of 45, about 10 of us are a part of the Bible teaching circle. So our main role is to help people understand how to study the word of God for themselves, and we train up new Bible teachers too. I thought since we work with so many wonderful people I would put up a picture of our Bible teaching team. I’m so glad we have such great people we work with! Here is a picture of the whole big community as well :)
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We had a great summer in Ukraine!
Dad was busy with running the SBS, but we decided it didn’t mean that the summer wouldn’t be full of adventure…
and of course he joined us when he could.Cassie made this short video with the highlights.
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I love fall. I love the colours changing, I love the new season of beginning. The routine after a summer of relaxation begins.
The kids are back in school and SBS is in the final quarter! It will be a great fall that is for sure! There are 22 DTS students coming from around the world and from Kyiv to have their lives changed and turned upside down! They will learn what it means to live with an eternal perspective. They will practice living life with spiritual ears turned towards God and both hands outstretched towards others to help in this life.Picture and videos to come in the next day or two from summer and kids going back to school!
