This was the theme of the conference I went to in Kona, Hawaii. It was jam packed with so many good things. Just to set the record straight, this was a business trip, not a vacation!

Start of the Day

Our days started at 6:15 (if you weren’t jet lagging that is, I woke up between the hours of 2 and 5 generally.) The whole conference had worship and devotions together. We did a study on Colossians. I highly recommend the devotional which you can find here. We always had a morning session which lasted until lunch, then after lunch there were different breakout sessions that lasted until 4:30. Dinner ended at 6 when the evening session started.

Me in front of the main center of the University of the Nations

I had a wonderful time understanding the University of the Nations and all that they do. Students who complete the English for Missions school that I am starting, will receive credits with this university. The university’s goal is to start more schools to allow students to get degrees. The big thing with these schools is to equip people to make disciples. It is very reassuring to know our English school falls into this easily!

Watching the waves, the one time I got to see them

I was able to meet with other English teachers from various countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Azerbijan. Many of these teachers have been in YWAM for 20, 30 years and have taught English for a large portion of those years. I definitely felt like a youngin amongst them! I attended a session for English teachers too so we all got to share ideas.

Last evening session standing on a giant map!

The ESL teacher in Kona, gave me many free books and materials that we needed in Ukraine. My suitcase was filled with books and supplies for the trip home! I was able to network with many other people. Any free time was largely spent meeting with people. I am so glad I was able to go just to meet people and understand what the University of the Nations is all about.

Actually she’s already been to town and left. I just haven’t told you about it yet. This was in the beginning of August.

Yep, my little sis came to visit me! What an honor it was to have my sister here to see where I live and work. She came in on a Wednesday, we got home that night after a bumpy ride home. The next day we just relaxed together mostly. Alison met some of my buds, I took her to the park, showed her where I spend most of my time. That night, we went to a concert in the park of which we left early and went to a Ukrainian style restaurant with some other friends. There was some live music and good food. We went to the Ternopil museum, chatted, had wraps, saw some churches, chatted, ate ice cream and chatted in the park. What else are sister supposed to do?

The bathroom stalls in an old restaurant

On Saturday, we went to Lviv with my roommate Marichka who is from Lviv. Marichka knew all the sites, she was our tour guide for the day. We went to a little outdoor market, visited several beautiful churches and buildings. Since it was Saturday, there seemed to be a wedding going on in every church. This didn’t stop us from going in or going right on up to the front to get pictures. I discovered a great Ukrainian wedding tradition that day, when the wedding ceremony is over and the bride and groom step out of the church, the bride throws candy out to the crowd waiting. We just happened to be nearby and candy just seemed to fall right at our feet. It would have been a shame to not pick it up.

On the way to Lviv

Old city gates in Lviv

Lviv is a beautiful city that also happens to have chocolate factories. Gotta stock up on that! We ended the day back at the market and hopped back on the train home. Once home we still had time to go to another outdoor concert and left early again for pizza.

In front of the Lviv theatre

Sunday, Alison got to see where I go to church and meet my family there. I took her secondhand shopping and chocolate shopping before we had some friends over to play games and have tea. We made our trip back to Kiev on Monday and said our goodbyes until we see each other again. It was such a blessing!

I took a trip with Vitaly and his brother-in-law David to Krakow to apply for visas back in mid July. We left late on a Sunday night and got there early Monday morning before the embassy opened. We only had to wait about 45 minutes after I accosted some guy that came out telling him that it was past time and they should be open now. He didn’t speak English, but we figured out that there was actually a time change between Ukraine and Poland. We were an hour early. Lesson learned.

Something cool

The Grunwald Monument commemorating the 1410 battle of Grunwald (ironic right?) That's the slain leader of the Teutonic knights on the bottom

The visa process was easier then expected. I walked up to the window, gave the man my documents, he told me to go pay at such-and-such bank and return with a receipt. David and I both did this; we paid at the bank and returned with the receipt stapled to our documents. The man now told us to come back after 2 to pick up our passports. Sweet!

Vitaliy in front of St. Florian's Gate, part of the original city wall

St. Mary's Basilica, which has a really cool history that I won't go into here

We had several hours to kill before 2 so we figured out how to get to the center of the city and hopped on a tram. We explored the old city; saw the old walls, churches, clock tower, and statues. We also discovered a mall, which, once inside, was like being in a mall in America. There was McDonalds, Subway, KFC, and my favorite, Starbucks!

Yum!

At 2 we returned just as it started to rain. The man gave us our passports with out any trouble at all. No questions asked. I like this kind of service. Then it was on the road again. We got back home mid-morning on Tuesday. Praise the Lord for a quick and easy trip! I would love to return to Krakow sometime now, it was a gorgeous city.

The YWAM base in Ternopil has been so busy this summer. Team after team has come to work here. Different camps and projects having been demanding attention and assistance. Everyone has been here and there, this way and that way. We have needed a good time away to spend time together and simply rest without hurrying to answer the door or phone.

Sasha, our leader, stirring dinner

Everyone who is considered staff or a volunteer at the Ternopil base headed out to a village about 20 minutes outside the city on a cloudy, overcast Wednesday afternoon. We all settled in (there were 9 girls in my tent!) and ate pilaf for dinner. MMMMMMMM!!! That night we set up the projector and watched two movies before we dragged ourselves to bed.

Jumpin around

The next day, the sun was shinning, we set up a trampoline, brought out the volleyball and ate lots of food. Oh yes, there was shashlik, baked potatoes, salad, we had stir-fry and of course there was lots of desserts and tea and coffee. There was also a type of kite; it was like a full body kite. It provided some entertainment for most of the boys. Many people took walks in the woods or out in the fields. We had some worship and devotions together as one team as well.

Volleyball in the field

Alison trying to fly

 One of my favorite parts of the day, was when Roman and I set up a teambuilding activity. Hee, hee, hee. Some people considered it a form of torture, but really it was just helping them to learn to work as a team. I can’t give all the details incase some reader may partake in this activity, but it involved being blindfolded, ropes, and a bell. Pretty simple really. We enjoyed watching people suffer, [cough] I mean, work together. People enjoyed it, despite their earlier claims of torture.

Leading the blind

Joanne and I brought marshmallows to share with everyone. We roasted marshmallows and sat around the campfire chatting. One fun moment was at 1 in the morning, when there was only a small group of us left at the campfire, Elizabeth (6) and Annabella (3) were still up and wide awake. Elizabeth had already been sitting on my lap for an hour and wanted me to tell her a story. I started telling her Nancy Drew stories. She liked them so much I think I told her ten until she finally fell asleep at 2.

Dima playing with fire and my dinner

The party started to end on Friday before lunch. We had some more worship together and began to pack up our stuff. Some people left before lunch, while the rest of us stayed for some green borsch and more relaxation. Everyone enjoyed the time together and we all longed for our time to be extended. I look forward to more time their next year.

I just thought I would add some of my favorite questions from English club this week.

1) What do ballerinas where while dancing?

a. tutu                  b. toga                   c. tuxedo

My group got a good laugh out of that one. They had no idea what any of those options were.

2) Maria put cookies in the oven to __________.

a. burn                    b. bake                     c. boil

At first my group thought boil was really bowling. Once we got that straightened out, we decided this question depended on how well Maria cooked. I still had to explain what bake and boil were.

3) In the last month, the company suffered a ________________.

a. lost                       b. loose                           c. loss

I am sure you know the right answer, but can you explain why?