This summer was filled with training! Lance and I were both staff in the Equip school in Ternopil. This was the same school that Lance and I were students in way back in 2012. You can read all about it HERE.

Guest speaker, Arlen, shares Philippians with us from memory.

We all received the award of Professional Communicator!

Last summer we ran an Equip school in Ternopil, so this year it was our second time and everyone felt much more organized! We had 8 students from Russia, Ukraine, USA, and Finland. The effects of the school would spread even beyond those borders or any physical border though. Many students feel that what they learned in the school would not only apply to Discipleship Training Schools or just to YWAM or just to missions, it was life skills for followers of Christ.

Got to love technology! Guest speaker, Darlene Cunningham, shared via Skype!

It was 7 weeks of intense training, full days of lectures, homework, time together, and preparation. We had all sorts of topics, from being a disciple to staff development, from confrontation to communicating with God, and from leading the classroom to crisis management. All different topics that leaders need to be trained in. Students were reading different books, they were making presentations and doing research.

Jim Isom comes to teach on how to disciple students from difficult backgrounds.

Sharing the Gospel on the streets of Ternopil.

The panel of experts on crisis management.

Everyone graduated at the end of the 7 weeks and took home a plethora of resources. Many of those students have already jumped into leading schools and some are staffing schools that are about to begin. They are putting into action what they have learned and will pass on to others.

“You’ve heard my message, and it’s been confirmed by many witnesses. Entrust this message to faithful individuals who will be competent to teach others.” 2 Timothy 2:2

Graduation!! As the DTS goes, so goes the mission!

Youth With A Mission Ternopil has been in existence for 20 years now. That’s 20 years of ministry, 20 years for training, 20 years of sending teams out, and 20 years of serving the Lord. That is a lot of time. We wanted to honor all those that have been a part of this base and the time they have invested into building the base up as well as serving the community and the nations.

Worshiping God together

We had two days of celebration. Many people who used to be staff in Ternopil came as well as leaders and pastors from the community. Day one started out with worship and moved into a time of sharing history. Many leaders, friends, and pastors shared how YWAM has impacted them.

Saturday was spent in worship again but we accompanied worship with a time of prayer for Ternopil and listening to what God had to say about YWAM Ternopil. It was great to be able to have others give insight into what God was saying for Ternopil.

We ended our celebration by going to a park for shashlik and fellowship. We sat around in the sun, gorged ourselves on roasted meat, snacked on yummy desserts and chatted with all those who had a hand in building YWAM Ternopil and the kingdom of God.

Ahhhh, run for your lives! Craziness and silliness will ensue when the Murray girls unite!

Together again!

All three sisters were together for a short time in Ukraine!

I can’t even begin to say how wonderful it was to have my sisters with me in what I have been calling home for almost three years!

We did a lot of sisterly things, like eating out…

Yum!

Shashlik!!!!

sightseeing…

Clock tower in Lviv

Looking at old churches

Castle in Lutsk

Visiting more castles

and of course, just being plain ole silly.

We need more weight!

Sadly, Alison had to leave after just 5 days together. Kathryn stuck around though to help with YWAM Ternopil’s 20 year celebration. We had a whole 9 more days together! Kathryn helped organize my kitchen, she worked hard in getting things ready for the 20 year celebration and just over all hung out with us where ever we were.

Just thought it would be interesting for some of you to read Ukraine’s national anthem in English. There are many different translations, this is just the one we chose. The lyrics were adapted from a poem written in 1862 by Pavlo Chubynsky, the music is arranged by Mykhailo Verbytsky.

Держа́вний гі́мн Украї́ни

The Anthem of Ukraine

Glorious spirit of Ukraine shines and lives forever

Blessed by Fortune and brotherhood will stand up together

Like the dew before the sun, enemies will fade

We will further rule and prosper in our promised land

We will lay our soul and body for the cherished freedom

Cossack blood will raise the nation of the joyous people

For the liberty the folk strives ardently from San to Don

And will let no alien power in our common home

Grandfather Dnieper* and Black Sea rejoice

And Ukraine will see daylight and live by Fortune’s choice

We will lay our soul and body for the cherished freedom

Cossack blood will raise the nation of the joyous people

Passion and hard-working hands prove bright future true

Song of freedom, loud and clear, guides us all the way through

Over mountains and steppes it flows, over ages told

Valorous Ukraine stands strong in a striving world

We will lay our soul and body for the cherished freedom

Cossack blood will raise the nation of the joyous people

*Dnieper is a river that runs through Ukraine.

Painting done by a young girl, displayed in a shopping center.

Things in Ukraine have been changing hourly for the past week or so.  It has been a real emotional roller coaster here.  So to begin, I will take a look at the bigger picture and then get into specifics.  At least from my point of view.

It is hard, sometimes, to listen to commentary about the Ukrainian situation from outside Ukraine.  Most big news organizations portray this unrest in terms of people mad about not being aligned with EU.  Sure that is what started this whole movement, however it was never really about being with EU in the first place. It was more about getting away from Russia.  Being a part of the EU trade circle will not all be pie and diamonds.  It has the potential to be really rough for the country.  However, most Ukrainians see it as better than Russia.

That all said. The current movement does not have much to do with the EU at all.  It is a movement towards freedom from oppression.  A friend of mine did an interview with a US news station and summed that all up quite well.

To really understand why this unrest got to the place it did, you have to look at the demographics of Ukraine as well as the history of the people in power.  The country is mostly split into two major demographics. The ethnic Ukrainian Ukrainian and ethnic Russian Ukrainian. The ethnic Russian population of course has stronger ties to Russia.  This is where the currently former President comes from.  Not only that, he was in prison twice and basically a mobster.  When the Soviet Union fell, a lot of mobsters and corrupt officials became leaders of the country since they had the money.  The region where he came from is strongly influenced by fear, manipulation and corruption.  So you can now see, his presidency has been very much that of fear, manipulation and corruption.  In his side of the country, this has worked well for years but not in Western and Central Ukraine where it is predominantly ethnic Ukrainian.

Ukrainians are fighters.  In the past few hundred years they have had about 80 years of freedom  and only a little over 20 of that being since the Soviet Union fell.  This entire time, they have fought against the oppressor. So a new oppression in the form of a president who was acting more like a dictator/mobster did not do him any favors.  (Just google “Yanukovych palace” and judge for yourself if this president was on his way to joining the dictators club.) He was bold enough to use his tried and true tactics on the nation of Ukraine (such as imprisoning the opposition, putting friends and family in important positions, stealing money from Ukrainians etc.) and it totally backfired. Character has a funny way of coming out no matter who you are and this was the case with the president.  He eventually saw violence as the answer… big mistake.  So now you see a nation taking charge of it’s future and fighting for freedom.  Side note, this is the first time in recent times, people have actually died for freedom.

So, the former president seems to be running things, the protesters want to make sure change happens before they back down and true leadership for the country is uncertain.  The nation really needs prayer during this time. Not every Ukrainian is happy with what is happening.  A lot of the Ethnic Russian population sees this as a loss. Whatever happens, Ukraine is and will be different.  Most Ukrainians want change in a big way, just ask Lenin. His statues are coming down all over the place.  It is the Ukrainian symbolic gesture that screams “we are done with the old and rooted corruption, we want something better for our nation!”  They proved this with their lives.