The building is coming together! It is super exciting to see the building finally coming into existence. It has been a long time since the thought was first birthed and now it is being born!

That's one big hole!

My YWAM base was started in 1994. It has gone through many changes since that time, people coming and going, foci changing and most notably from not having a building to having one. Now we are going through another major change, we are expanding! This essentially means we are growing!

Mysterious paths...

Growth is exciting, where there is change there is growth and where there is growth, there are almost always growing pains. The growing pains in our case comes in the form of being flexible. We have lost our kitchen and office space. The laundry room was converted into the kitchen and the lobby and living have become the offices. The kids room was turned into the laundry room while washers were moved into the girls and boys bathrooms. Things have all been moved around and changed, I’m still trying to find out where the mops went to… Everyone is having to adjust.

The paths become walls...

And we fill the rooms with dirt...?

Watching the the construction has been interesting. I was expecting to take pictures of them pouring cement for the foundation, but instead they brought these huge cement blocks and a ton of bricks. Bricks are cheaper than wood here so everything is made with bricks. When the basement was being built and the walls were coming up, I watched fascinated, as they filled the “rooms” next to the existing building with dirt. The new building will be attached to the existing one by the way. I thought “what in the world are they doing? Maybe it’s just a holding place for the dirt?” Nope, it’s a building code here meant to protect existing buildings from structural damage if the foundation settles on one building but not the other. (I hope that made sense, it’s my interpretation from a more knowledgeable source.)

Brick by brick...

We have also had some excitement. Last week a pipe broke, and we had to turn all the water off in the building since it was pouring into our new basement! The men on staff dug a trench, replaced the damaged pipe with a sturdier one, and filled in the hole. We are anticipating more such adventures…

This past week we held an English camp for kids. We had gone back and forth on whether or not we should have a theme. We eventually landed on virtues. This gave us a direction for our English lessons as well as being able to teach kids Biblical values. We chose, friendship, manners, honesty, and work.

Presenting... the "good" friend

I taught on friendship on the first day. It was a fun time teaching what makes a good friend and what the Bible says about friends. We had about 30 or so kids the first day, but they seemed to keep coming as the days went on. We had almost 50 by the last day!

The kids did various activities, they sang songs, did crafts and of course learned some new English vocabulary! They made friendship bracelets, politeness pillows, promise tickets (promising their parents that they would do a certain chore) and an honesty train. Each day ended with a list of vocab words that corresponded with the topic of the day.

Where's Megan?

Parents were grateful for the opportunity to have their kids come and learn virtues that are important in most any culture. One parent remarked “thank you so much, there is very needed. Please do it again next year.” Hopefully, we will be able to do something like it again!

So I’m running out of time and wanted to just throw up some random pictures from my time at home. Here are a few (in no particular order):

The Fam being goofy...

Surprised Lance in Montana 🙂

Sister time at Glacier National Park

Broadway with Alejandra in NY

Mother's Day picnic in the park!

Some of you asked about what church is like and what the spiritual atmosphere is in Ukraine. I thought I would share a bit of what was told me this past week that may shed a little more light.

A friend was sharing how several churches came together for a conference in my town not long ago. A speaker was sharing on unity and was reading from the Bible on the topic when an elder stood up and asked “how can we talk about unity when half the men in this room are wearing short-sleeved shirts?”

Really?!

Another church in the city had a discussion on ‘how to pray.’ This was not about what to say, but how to stand and where your hands should be. They decided your hands should not be in the front nor behind you, they should be at your side with your head tilted slightly.

Seriously?!

My previous roommate visited the church across the street and knowing they were very strict on outer appearances she wore a long skirt, head covering, and no earrings. She thought surely a necklaces would be ok. Nope, the topic of the night was on the evils of jewelry and it was directed at her!

All of these instances are true and are unfortunately common in many churches. Ukraine is still a young country spiritually. They only received religious independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to this atheism was encouraged and any religion was oppressed by the Soviets. When the Soviet Union fell, many people were not able to receive training on being a pastor. They were able to freely read the Bible now, but without any training it was interpreted however people wanted it to be. For example, several time in the Bible it talks about tucking your garment into your belt (2Kings 4:29, 2Kings 9:1, Acts 12:8), this is taken as you must never have your shirt untucked.

There are many churches that are not as strict as some, many are becoming more relaxed and free. There is a Hillsong church in Kiev and the church I attend is alright with wearing jeans. Even where churches may not be legalistic there is a lack of training or teaching for the congregation. I met a middle aged woman at our English club who had never read the Bible yet considered herself devout Orthodox. She was amazed at some of the verses we told her and wanted to know where they were in the Bible.

Many pastors are looking to connect with other pastors and gain further understanding and training. Biblical teaching is needed in many rural areas and cities where religion has a tight grip. I am grateful for the church I attend and am blessed by the missionaries who come here to plant churches. Continue to pray for eyes to be opened and for spiritual revelation to happen in the people.

My family had a quick little retreat to the ocean while I was home. The ocean is one of our favorite places to escape to and we found a great place to hide away! We stayed in a little home not far from ocean shores.

Modified bocce ball on the beach

Riding a bike... an invisible one in the air...

We basically played around on the beach, played board games, swam in the pool, went shopping, soaked in the hot tub, watched movies, and went for walks. It was wonderful. I have the most amazing family ever and we always enjoy our time together.

Doesn't everybody play Guess Who at the beach?

Happy as a clam on the beach!