It is crucial that we spend time with our staff to communicate plans and expectations as well as just have fun and pray together. We try to have several days a year that we can set aside for just being together. Two days before Lance and I left, we had our staff day.

We could only squeeze in one day but it was a great day for communicating our plans for the future and to hear from everyone. We communicated our plan of having three months for staff togetherness and that everyone should be ready to participate and be present during that time.

We also wanted to hear from everyone what they thought our base vision was. This might seem simple but we have wanted to rework that for years and just have not felt ready for it so we want to slowly work into it and this was one way to start that process. We gave two teams random objects and asked each team to use the items in describing what they thought the vision was. This gave us some direction and understanding of where everyone was at in regards to the vision. It was fun, simple and informative.

And to end our time, we had a team craft that involved a world map and decoupage. Since our building is still fairly new we are ever so slowly decorating and making it homey. This was one way we could all participate in decorating the base while emphasizing missions. All the kids could join in too and now it is a permanent reminder of our time together.

Ten days before we left Ternopil, we squeezed in four days of planning for the next year with our leadership team.

This is always a critical time for us as leaders to reflect on what happened in the last year, look at what worked and what didn’t and figure out how we can improve and grow as a team.

This past year was super busy and we felt we needed more time as staff together, to facilitate that we have decided to set aside March, April and May as a time to focus on the staff. We are not exactly sure how that will look but we want to have some times of teaching/training and also some times of ministry and fun together.

We look forward to seeing what will come out of this time and what God has for us next year! We already have a full calendar for next year but the Lord may change things around so we want to be ready for His will.

Along with running our Equip school we hosted a 17 person team from the states for two months. They arrived shortly before we started the school and then left shortly after the school ended. They were busy the whole time!

We give each team a city orientation and cultural lesson at the start of their time here and then start them in ministry activities. This team did a wide variety of activities, they jumped into helping with a local English camp and a kids camp in another city. Everyday they did evangelism in the city center by singing and holding a sign that said “Come practice English With Me.” They ran our regular English club that happens once a week. They visited a kids shelter once a week and helped give out bread to elderly with a local church.

The team was full of joy and life and they loved building relationships with people on our facility as well as in the community. They showed love to every person they met. It is always a lot of work hosting a team but there are also so many rewards.

We had the great privilege to host a team from Holland December to January. They were a huge help and blessing to us and the city.

English Club gift exchange

We set up a week’s worth of activities for them and then let them make their own schedule. Quite often Christmas season turns out to be a tricky time to host teams because of the weather and unpredictable schedules. This team was super flexible and they were able to make their own plans without needing someone with them the whole time.

Sharing a testimony at the tea

Practicing English

The team helped with the women’s tea, English club, orphanage visits and church meetings. They were able to go to some English classes in the city and they wandered into a hospital to sing Dutch carols. They also made meals for homeless and even though they did not have any interpreter with them they were able to still bless the people of Ternopil.

Youth With A Mission has many different ministries and branches, one such branch is education of the Bible. There is a 9 month long Bible course that takes an in depth look at the Bible and then after that course, students have an option to do a practicum somewhere teaching the Bible. This past fall/winter we had two such teams come to teach!

As we have said before, we love hosting different teams and individuals for various reasons. It was fun to have a team that had a focus for their ministry. We set up some places for them to teach. This was in different churches, one in another city, we had one for English club and one for the staff.

There was a wide variety of places to teach as well as topics. The most requested topic was an overview of the Bible, but the team also taught on Ephesians. This was an important one for us as staff since we felt that the book of Ephesians was something we needed to study together. It was good to spend time as a staff to study together, we enjoyed gathering together once a week for something special.

We will be happy to host another Bible-teaching team anytime!