Lance asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday and I just told him I wanted to go on an adventure. This is just some way for us to relax and be refueled. He did manage to plan a get together for some ladies the day before my birthday but on my birthday we decided to go out and find some castles and old buildings.

Castles and old buildings we did find.

Our first stop was at a castle not too far from us but it really was not as exciting as we had hoped. It was not on a hill, there was no view and the city had grown up around it. It looked strange mixed amongst the normal sites of the city. We gave it a 2 out of 5. (We’ve started rating the castles we go to so we can remember which ones are the good ones.)

Our second stop was an old building that had been abandoned. As much as Lance and I tried to find out what the building used to be we could not find out much. It was obviously a palace at one point and had been used by different groups during different time periods. We could see at least three very distinct attempts at fixing things.

This was our favorite stop, it just had such a unique style and feel to it. It had marks of beauty even though the walls were falling down. You could tell there was so much history that the building held wanting to be told but slowly being forgotten.

Our last stop was another castle that nature was also reclaiming. All that remained was a few walls and tunnels. Even though there was not much there it is still interesting to see the skill that was needed in building stone tunnels. We enjoyed our adventures out and returned home to relax with a cup of tea!

Ternopil, Ukraine was transformed into Middle-earth for one day in March. Actually, it was transformed into the mines of Moria to be exact. Every year for about ten years now, a few faithful followers gather to watch Lord of the Rings… in one day. Did I mention it was the extended versions? Yeah, that adds up to almost 12 hours!

Not only do they just gather to watch the movies, no, no, no. That would be boring. No, here we go all the way. We decorated the room to match a scene for the movies. Past themes have been Minas Tirith, Shelob’s lair, flags of Middle-earth, the library at Minas Tirith, Moria, and this year, the bridge of Khazad-dum. We even included the balrog as a shadow formed from red lights.

Many other YWAMers came from other bases to watch the movies. It was a fun gathering, about 20 people in all. We did pause for lunch which consisted of “lamb” stew (aka chicken soup), and lembas bread (or biscuits.) There were a few other snacks through out the day but primarily we remained focus on the movies. We all enjoyed being able to see friends from other cities and chat a bit during a least favorite scenes.

No, it is not pronounced heed-e-beak, its pronounced hide-eh-bake. It is a small village in Holland, on the outskirts of Apeldoorn, which is about an hour train ride from Amsterdam. Lance and I have not spent much time in Holland in the past. Lane has actually never been outside the airport and I only spent a day and a half over ten years ago. This was a new experience for us and we are always up for adventures!

Our reason for traveling to Holland was to attend a European YWAM leaders gathering. We were invited to go and we both felt that it was important for us to go and build relationships with other leaders as well as to hear what is happening in YWAM Europe overall.

There were about 70 leaders in attendance from many different countries through out Europe. We had devotions together in the mornings, we were able to pray together for Europe and for each other. Lance and I were happy to be able to tell people that Ukraine is a safe place and teams are welcome to come to Ukraine. We left Heidebeek happy and with a sense of accomplishment.

A second blessing in coming to Holland was that Lance and I got to visit our dear friends Dave and Astrid! For those that don’t know them, they are friends from Washington that moved to Holland last year. It was so much fun to see them both again. We enjoyed spending lots of time together just talking and seeing a bit of the Dutch countryside. We can’t express how full our hearts were when we left the Swadberg family!

Family, Friends, Supporters,

This is our first state of the Roberts address together as a married couple. Obviously, there have been many changes in the last year.

Health Care
Physically
There were no major illnesses or accidents. There were only a few small head colds. Lance hopes to get new glasses in the next few weeks too.
Mentally/emotionally
This year was truly a roller coaster of emotions. The year began by us learning to work together and to communicate clearly to one another. The year ended with us learning to communicate with staff. We agreed to take up the leadership role of the base in October and this has brought many challenges with it but we are learning quickly and know that God is with us.
Spiritually
Lance and I have been reading through the Gospels together and are now into Acts. Lance is reading The Book That Made Your World, How the Bible Create the Soul of Western Civilization by Vishal Mangalwadi and has thoroughly been enjoying it. Megan just finished In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen, a book on Christian leadership. We read together every night and jump between spiritual books and other classics.

Foreign Policy
Lance and I did not do too much traveling outside of Ukraine this year. We made a trip to Moldova to teach in a DTS staff training and to get our Ukrainian visas. On our way back we stopped in Romania to spend some time with DTS staff there.  We received temporary residency and no longer have to make border runs, which is a huge blessing. Lance and I have made a point to explore more of Ukraine though. We felt that it was important to know more of the country that we call home. We have explored castles and other cities. We hope to visit other major cities in our oblast (state.)

Education
The first bit of teaching that Lance and I did, was debriefing the Ternopil DTS when they returned from outreach. We spent almost a week together looking over the last six months and what God has done. In the spring, we went to Moldova to train DTS staff for their upcoming DTS. That was also about a week long. Lance shared the teaching time with friends of ours who had also come to teach. On our way back, we stopped to visit a base in Romania. We only spent one night here but enjoyed connecting with the base and the DTS staff there. Also in the spring, Megan taught a short class for preparing students to take the IELS test. She focused only on the speaking portion of the test. It was a small class but a great opportunity to be in the community. Over the summer, both of us staffed the DTS Equip school which was six weeks long. There were guests speakers who came to teach but the school staff also taught on different topics. In the fall, we finally had a chance to be taught by speakers who came to teach our staff.

Economy
Lance has set up a new budget system for us which has helped us in managing what we spend on ourselves versus what is spent on ministry. Sometimes those get a little mixed up and this has been something we are trying to just be more aware of. We started the year with a modest income but God has been faithful and each month seems to be more than we thought. We are so blessed by all who support us financially! We continue to set aside money for blessing others around us and for the church that we are a part of. We love our little apartment and have been slowly making it more our own. Our car, nicknamed “The Silver Bullet,” a Daewoo Sens, has been hanging in there. We are realizing that we will need a new car in the very near future. Currently, the car does not want to get into 1st, 2nd, or reverse. We barely made it back to Ternopil from Romania in the spring. We are setting money aside for a new car and are looking into what would be best for us, buy one here, buy one in Europe, or buy it in the States.

This year we also wanted to add something new to our address. Below we have added a chart of where all our spending has gone this past year. It is as accurate as we can make it with using multiple currencies which is nothing short of a headache. We want to be accountable and open with our finances.

Thank you again and again for everyone who has been a part of our lives. You have been an encouragement and support through out this past year. We couldn’t do it with out you!

Much love,

Lance & Megan Roberts

Winter Staff Days has come and gone but we are still working through what God has shown us during our time together.

All Ternopil staff gathered for three days to pray and hear form God concerning the future of the Ternopil YWAM base. We wanted clarity in the future planning, we wanted new ideas, nations to target, and a vision for the future. Of course outside of all this, we wanted to just be together and to have fun as a family.

One of the things we did was study the church in Antioch. We have had several people give a word for the Ternopil YWAM base that they should be like Antioch. Sounds cool, but what does that mean? We really did not know. What I would like to do is to share our Bible study so that you can better understand what we hope to achieve.

 

Timeline

40- Missionaries come to Antioch and preach to Gentiles (Acts 11:20)

42- Barnabas sent from Jerusalem to visit Antioch (Acts 11:22)

43- Barnabas leaves Antioch to look for Saul in Tarsus and brings Saul to teach (Acts 11:25-26) They remain in Antioch for one year.

44- Prophet Agabus visits Antioch (Acts 11:27-28), prophesied a famine in Roman empire.

44- Antioch church sends Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem with offering to help with famine (Acts 11:29-30)

45- Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch with John Mark (Acts 12:25)

46- Paul and Barnabas sent out on 1^st journey (Acts 13:2-3)

47- Peter comes to Antioch (Galatians 2:11, 12)

47- Confusion comes from Judaizers (say believers must be circumcised)

48- Paul returns to Antioch (Acts 14:26-28) and opposes Peter (Galatians 2:14)

48- Jerusalem council held (Acts 15 & Galatians 2:1-10)

??- Judas & Silas go to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15:22)

49- Paul teaches in Antioch (Acts 15:35)

49- Paul leaves for 2^nd journey

52- Paul returns to Antioch (Acts 18:23)

53- Paul leaves for 3^rd journey

270- First Bible School is founded

Main themes

#1 Learning– Acts 11:25-26, 42-43AD

~Barnabas brings Paul to Antioch to teach and they remain there teaching for one year.

-Spent time teaching and studying God’s Word

#2 Concern for others– Acts 11:29-30, 44AD

~A famine is prophesied and the Antioch church takes an offering to send to the church in Jerusalem

-They were not inwardly focused

-They did something for people outside of their bounds

#3 Discipleship– Acts 12:25 & 15:22, 45 & 48 AD

~Paul & Barnabas return from giving the Antioch gift in Jerusalem and bring John Mark with them. Later brought Judas and Silas with them.

-Bring people into what you are doing

-Recruit, train, mentor

#4a Send– Acts 13:1-4, 46AD

~Antioch church commissions Paul & Barnabas on their first missionary journey.

-They sent some of their best teachers

-They didn’t worry about what would happen without their best teachers.

4b Diversity

-The body of believers varied in nationality, economy and religious background

Barnabas- from Cyprus

Niger- from Africa

Lucius- from Africa

Mamaen- Roman nobleman

Saul- Pharisee

4c Time for Holy Spirit

-Believers were praying and fasting together

-They heard the Spirit speak and they obeyed

#5 Accountability– Acts 14:26-28 & 15:35, 48 & 52 AD

~Returning from their missionary journey to the place that they were sent from

-Shared a report after their journey

-Spent time with the church after their return

#6 Interdependence– Acts 11:22, 29, 15:30

-Churches worked together

-Shared resources and helped each other