While everyone else was dressing up and collecting candy in the states, we celebrated Thanksgiving. Sometime ago, we decided to pick a new day for a day of Thanksgiving. This was for two reasons, at one point there were more Canadian staff than American and Canadians have Thanksgiving in the beginning of October. We needed a day somewhere in the middle of the two Thanksgivings. The second reason was, we thought it was funny to choose one holiday unique to a particular nation and have everyone celebrate it despite where they were from. The American holiday of Thanksgiving didn’t have much meaning to anyone else besides Americans. When we created a new day and made it all about being thankful, it had a new meaning and everyone could really get into the holiday. As a base, we chose the last Friday in October to be our day of thanks and this year that happened to be Halloween which is not celebrated at all here.

Besides the feast of food, we introduced some new games. We hung apples from string and had an eating contest. The kids loved it and even some adults got into it. This was the first time that we had played games during a family night. We had pumpkin bowling where we had to roll a small pumpkin down into squares with point values. This was a fun time filler for everyone. We played another game before we moved into sharing what we were thankful for.

Now we did not just stand up and share what we were thankful for, everyone does that. We had everyone sit in table groups and within their groups, share what they were thankful for and then come up with a creative way to present what the group was thankful for. We had some great presentations! We had a group rap, we had some creative readings and a few skits. Everyone enjoyed the process of sharing and laughing with one another.

Singing a rap

Dramatic reading

The evening ended with a dessert contest. When I originally announced the contest, I told people that the dessert had to have pumpkin in it. A few people had big eyes and worried looks on their faces and I suddenly remembered that pumpkin is not a common food in Ukraine and most people don’t know how to cook with it. I reworked the required ingredients to include pumpkin or apple. After all the scared faces and worried responses, I was the only one to submit an apple dessert entry!

The judges were very full by the end of the night!

We randomly selected two judges who had a nibble of each. There were seven entries; two pies, a pumpkin chiffon cheesecake, two types of cupcakes, some tarts and my apple pie. Since there were two judges, there were two winners. The pumpkin chiffon and one of the pumpkin pies won! There was a plethora of dessert options for everyone to choose from!

During the Equip school, we had a special guest speaker for one day. Coach Tim Powers came to Ternopil to run a short Fit to Serve seminar. What a fun day we had!!

Ready to learn, AND move!

The day started out with some simple teaching but quickly went into some practical elements. We did not just learn about how to keep our bodies fit but we actually practiced! We started out with some simple calisthenics outside in our courtyard.

Stretch!!!

Then we went back to the classroom for some more teaching but it was only a short teaching because we soon headed right back outside to the local track stadium for some running exercises. The day was PERFECT for fitness; not too hot, there was a nice breeze to cool us down.

Skipping backwards is no simple task!

Sweaty but happy together!

As the day wore on, we became increasingly more stinky, sweaty and tired. A strange foul smell began to take up residence in the classroom but we only noticed it occasionally. After lunch, we had a short break but jumped right back into some teaching and then some more fitness.

The only piece of equipment Coach Powers brought and had us use was the ladders. We all thought it would be easy but let me tell you- THAT IS A LIE!! Try to imagine doing brain exercises with your feet, it took a lot of concentration! We ended the whole day with running sprints, not my favorite thing in the whole world but I know its good for me.

Trying to skip through the ladders

And for the record, I was very, very, very sore the next day, Lance was only a little sore.

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.

For those that receive our email updates, you will have seen the monthly picture of the progress on our new building. (If you do not receive our monthly updates go to our About page and click Subscribe.) I am STOKED to tell you it is finally finished!! I can’t even begin to tell you how many hours were spent on our knees scrapping paint and grout off of the tile floors. Just way too many…

It seems appropriate to show you some before and after pictures, mostly after actually.

The base as I first saw it.

Front view 2010

Back view 2011

That cute little house to the right was our kitchen/dining room/office. Once the water line to it broke, we knew it was the en, though all its cuteness and quaintness couldn’t save it. A good friend made a fun video of the destruction of this quaint building, you can see it by clicking HERE.

Once our little office building was removed from the picture, the digging began!

Beginning of July 2012

End of July 2012

End of August 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

After December, much of the work had to stop due to snow and cold weather. We had a long and cold winter that year and work could not begin again until the end of March!

March 2013

April 2013

June 2013

Sadly, I left Ternopil in July to begin my trek back to the states to get married. I forgot to get a July picture and was emailed a picture from November of that year after it was painted.

November 2013

April 2014

July 2014

The finished product is amazing! We are so happy that it is done as well as to have extra rooms for more ministry and activities!

Opening the new building with worship

The new classroom is being put to good use!