With Love from Ukraine...

Leaving the Land I Love...

2013-04-17T08:44:00.000+03:00

This post is a challenging one for me to write. It is difficult to put words to your deepest emotions, especially when you know that those words will be read by many. However, I believe it is important that I address the way I feel about our family having to leave Ukraine. I want my children to read these words one day and understand the struggle that their parents faced when making such a permanent, life-changing decision. I also want my readers to understand how very emotionally difficult it was for us.

We spent 10 years of our lives laboring in Ukraine. Before that decade, we spent 18 months raising support on deputation to live and work in Ukraine. That is a huge chunk of our lives dedicated to one country!

In an upcoming post, I will better explain the nitty-gritty technical side of why we had to leave Ukraine. But, for now I just want to talk about the leaving part.

Every bone in our bodies have been created to serve in missions. We never, ever once discussed or even played around with the thought of one day leaving the field. In fact, we were so prepared to stay the rest of our lives that we had even begun building our home after 7 years of being on the field. After 3 years of building, we were living quite comfortably... the most comfortably we ever had lived. We had most definitely planted ourselves physically and emotionally to stay a lifetime. We also had our (airline) return tickets purchased and left almost everything we own in our home, where it remains to this day.

When it became apparent that God was moving us permanently, we struggled with several issues:

What about our ministry? Praise the Lord that we were working for Missionary-Pastor Bob VanSant whose visa still does not expire for awhile. The church is not without a pastor, and the pastor is not without some wonderful people - Ukrainians who have been trained for ministering.
What about our house? (If you are also wondering, our answer is that we are still trying to figure this one out ourselves).
What about the Russian language we have labored over, sweat over, and cried over to learn? Only God truly knows the answer to this one, but I will say that there are Russian communities right where we live now and God may one day see fit to use our Russian-speaking abilities here. Also, those language skills were not in vain during our time on the field. As soon as we could speak Russian, we were using it to teach and minister.

I also want to state that we are, in most cases, against missionaries leaving the field. To us missions is a life-time calling. Though we are not on a foreign field, missions will be our heartbeat until the day we die.

I have also struggled with the whole idea of being back in America - the land of comforts and conveniences. In fact, there was a time that I really struggled with the idea of *maybe* serving in Israel permanently for the very same reasons. Then, my hubby lovingly pointed out that you don't have to "do without" some things to be serving God. Ah, yes.... right. I guess this loosely comes under the same category of "you don't have to go to a country that speaks a foreign language to be a missionary." I know that some missionaries struggle with the fact that they are in an English-speaking country and therefore do not "qualify" as a missionary as much as others who struggle over a foreign language may.

So, have I moved to America and completely walked away from Ukraine, not looking back? Nothing.... nothing could be further from the truth. I love that country with every ounce of my being. I have Ukrainian friends that are dearer to me than I could ever say and it pains me to know that I will not see them on a regular basis anymore.

I love Ukraine. It was not my birth country, but it is the country in which I poured my heart and 10 years of my life. It is my heart country.

I {heart} you, Ukraine!

Another update on Joshua from his Mommy

2013-04-02T07:56:00.000+03:00

Remember my preemie nephew whose early days of life were so very fragile? You can see some more updated pictures posted by his mom Ruth on her blog by clicking here. Isn't he just adorable and looking fantastic?! Thank you, Lord, for the gift of a precious life!

{BTW, I encourage you to subscribe to Ruthie's blog while you're on there. You'll be glad you did!}

Meet the Missions Director

2013-03-30T09:14:00.001+03:00

After a year of struggling with visa issues and wondering what God was doing....

After six months of praying about a particular ministry opportunity that was presented to us....

We are happy to announce that on Sunday we became members of North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, California (Pastor Jack Trieber). On that day, my hubby also became the official missions director for Golden State Baptist College.

You can see us join the church and watch the testimonies we gave by clicking here and fast-forwarding to the 48-minute mark.

Though we will be living stateside now, our #1 goal and purpose in life will always be missions. We are called to it, and will still be actively serving in missions through many upcoming trips overseas.

We pray that, in our lifetimes, more souls will be won to Christ by our training missionaries. After all, who better to be trained by than someone who has lived it their entire life? Since my hubby was born on the mission field (Mexico), served on a different mission field (Ukraine), and speaks three languages fluently, he certainly has something he can share and teach. Really, missions is all that man knows. He is the grandson of missionaries, the son of missionaries, the nephew of missionaries, the cousin of missionaries, and the brother of missionaries {Whew! That was a mouthful!} Yes, missions runs all through his family.... and through his blood. It is his heart and heartbeat, and I am excited for those who get to sit under his teaching and be influenced by him.

Our change is a big one, but one that we know God has been in right from the start. Though we were prepared to stay on the field forever (and would still go permanently if we knew God wanted it), God had something different in mind for us. He wants us to be willing to teach, encourage, train, and share, and we are up for this new challenge and phase of our lives!

5 in 2012

2013-03-19T06:56:00.002+03:00

2012 was a year of many changes for the Sloan family... a year of many different sleeping arrangements, to be more specific! The year started out like any other, with us living in our own comfortable home in Ukraine. Rather unexpectedly, we found ourselves seeking the Lord's direction as to a country to move to, due to not receiving visas to remain at home.

In March, we felt God clearly opening the doors for us to move to Israel for three months. In a time of unrest, we had never felt more peace about where we should be during that period of time. It was definitely a feeling that only God can give when you know you are in His perfect will.

However, when June rolled around, we were equally happy to return to our own home and the ministry God had called us to. Summer 2012 was a busy, fantastic one!

Without visas, we were only allowed to be back in Ukraine for 3 more months as "tourists." The final days in August found us furiously packing for a furlough back to the USA, trying to finish up school (the upcoming fall semester that we had worked on throughout the summer months) so that we would not need to travel throughout America with school books. We reached our goal in the nick of time and were relieved when we realized the weight limit for luggage would have not allowed us to take those school books anyway.

The next three months were amazing! We traveled, reporting to churches, and enjoyed having a "summer break" in the middle of the school year for most kids. (For some reason, my kids find extra pleasure in knowing they are enjoying something different than most. Of course, that is when they are on the good side of life. It wasn't looking as pleasant when they were working on school during the summer months while everyone else was on vacation!)

Then, the month of December found us traveling throughout Mexico, my hubby's childhood country. We traveled to several different churches, and were amused that now our kids and I were foreigners in the land where basically hubby's entire family lives and ministers. Of the 33 grandchildren on hubby's side of the family, our kids are the only 4 who do not speak Spanish. (But they DO speak Russian, so all 33 of the grandchildren are/will be bi-lingual as they grow up!)

We enjoyed a week and a half of our December staying in the house hubby grew up in, with his sweet mom and other family members who had joined us for the holidays. We got in lots of family time and made some of the sweetest memories ever. What a joy it is to be part of a family where everyone serves the Lord, is faithful to church, and has a good relationship with one another!

So, if you count the three summer months where we moved BACK to Ukraine, you can say that we moved 4 times in 2012. If you count the original three months in Ukraine at the beginning of the year, then our grand total of places lived in 2012 was FIVE. This, of course, excludes our constant traveling once September rolled around and we were in a different bed every couple of nights for the rest of the year.

Total number of different countries lived in during the year 2012? FOUR

But, just for good measure, we DID spend one night in London where we actually left the airport and stayed in a local hotel. So, if you want to get all technical and add another number to our statistics, we actually slept in beds in five different countries in 2012! Wowsers! And who says missionaries don't enjoy adventure?!

So, how would I wrap up my thoughts about 2012? In many ways it is a year I would not want to repeat. After all, traveling with four children ages 10 and under is no piece of cake. If you were starting to get the impression we were sipping lattes and munching on scones, that little picture could not be further from the truth. We were, to the contrary, packing and repacking, shuffling sleeping arrangements, weighing and then lugging heavy suitcases, working on school six days a week part of the year, etc...

But, 2012 is also a year I could repeat. Never before have we felt so much like God was placing us in key areas of service for specific time frames. We saw people saved in each location at God-appointed meetings.

In 2012 I watched God provide over and abundantly when we had needs that only He knew about. Our emotions were sometimes on a roller coaster as we felt complete disruption of our lives time and again, yet God proved Himself faithful to us.

Yes, 2012 was one of those years... a year that will go down in our family books as monumental.

Thank you, Lord, for 2012.... for a topsy-turvy year of change, movement, and adjustments. We desired to see Your hand in 2012, and, boy, did we ever!

A precious Jewish family

2013-02-19T22:59:00.000+03:00

These pictures just came in from Israel {where hubby currently is}, and I wanted to share them here. The first time I ever went to Israel (December 2007) was specifically by request from my pastor to meet this family. David and I are the same ages as this couple, and three of our four children line up exactly in ages too (they have another son not pictured).

My childhood pastor, Dr. Vineyard (pictured on the left in the picture below) met this precious lady during a war in Israel. Bombs were being sent over to Israel from Lebanon, and he was staying in a hotel where she was working at the front desk. She was understandably afraid, and God used him to calm her young mama heart by reminding her that God was in control and on her side. She loves Dr. Vineyard now like a father.

David and I have stayed in this family's home on a couple of occasions, and we consider ourselves blessed for how they have accepted us.

If you scroll back up to the first photo and sneak a peek of their daughter in purple, you will catch a glimpse of a special pouring of God's grace. About five years ago, this dear mama was heavily considering having an abortion. It was an unexpected pregnancy, finances were tight, problems were escalating, etc... I called her from Ukraine and begged her to keep the baby, reminding her that God was the One who placed this new life in her womb, and He would provide for the needs of another little one. She thanked me over and over for reminding her and promised she would not go through with it. A few months later we heard the happy news that her wee one was born and healthy! When she was one year old, I was able to hold that precious girl and thank the Lord for the small part that maybe I was able to have in her little life. It may or may not have been our telephone conversation that made the difference, but I find joy in the fact that it just could have been.

{Below} Picture of this couple's daughter when she was one year old. I just couldn't keep my eyes off of her big, beautiful, brown eyes!

A true sign of friendship is sharing your hearts over a good cup of hot tea or coffee. One of the sweet memories David and I have from this home is being introduced by this couple to delicious Moroccan tea, that they call "Louiza" {lemon verbena in English}. Several times we watched them clip the leaves right off of the plant growing in their backyard and enjoyed a steamy, hot cup of tea sweetened with raw sugar minutes later. The flavor is better than anything you can ever get out of a tea bag, I guarantee you!

Image Source

When I think of Jewish families, I always think of this family first. They were my first Jewish friends and will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Traveling makes you richer

2013-02-18T10:21:00.000+03:00

Oh, the places we have been in a year's time! My next post will be a round-up of countries we visited or lived in during the year 2012.

2012 was definitely a year for our family to get to know one another. Six people living together, many of those nights in one room, and traveling together in one mini van gave plenty of opportunity for each to see each other at their best and worst.

And looky there - we survived! Not only did we survive, but I think we drew closer as a family. It gave us the opportunity to work through things as a team, and learn how to put one another first (not that we always did, but we were learning.) In hotel rooms, the children rotated who would sleep on the bed and who would sleep on the floor. In the van, the three older ones constantly rotated seats and learned what it meant to leave a clean seat for the next person. One bathroom with one shower... it was all good for us.

And here is what I got to see whenever I wanted to turn and look around in the van...

{Below} Love that little boy's leg, hanging over the side of his car seat.

Very little sleeping went on in the van as we traveled... my kids just are not sleepy travelers. Oh, but they sure did enjoy the open road as we traveled from September to December! I think I would sum up their year as a big lesson in learning to live in tight spaces and be flexible... great life lessons that we can all use some brushing up on from time to time.

Many people feel sorry for missionary kids because they "miss out on so much." But, really, missionary kids get to see so many more places and experience so much more than they would if they were "normal." Yes, they do miss out on some material things, but they trade that for something bigger. And when we're having a "chips and soda" kind of day, I like to remind them, "Isn't it fun being a missionary kid?!"

Image Source

Vimeo to Mimi

2013-02-16T09:14:00.001+03:00

I watched a missionary video online this evening and came across a video we uploaded nearly a year and a half ago. It made me smile, so I thought I would share it in this post. ;-)

My hubby begins his journey to Israel in less than two hours. He is already at the airport, and I am already missing him. After a week in Israel, he will fly to Ukraine to run a Men's Conference. I will try to update you on his trip as much as I can.

This 22-second video upload is a fine example of what being a missionary can do to a family. Even though we are Americans, hubby is speaking Spanish and then the children say, "I love you, grandma Mimi" in Russian.

The children were especially emotional when their Daddy left. They miss Ukraine. It made my heart smile to know that, even in the midst of all they are enjoying in America, a part of their hearts remain in Ukraine.

As you watch this video, please whisper a little prayer for my hubby as he travels. My heart deeply thanks you.
Click here to watch "To Mimi" on Vimeo

David Sloan family 2012

2013-02-08T10:36:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I shared individual pictures of the kids from our photo shoot last July, and today I am sharing some of the rest. This is just a small percentage of what I have on my disc, and it was not easy choosing favorites, hence the excessive amount of pictures I am over-sharing today. I promise you, though, there are still many more that we will just enjoy ourselves.

For some reason, our oldest son, Davey, ended up with only one picture all by himself (shown in yesterday's post). The photographer was extremely apologetic when we picked up the disc, explaining that he had planned to take more in a different setting and forgot. Good thing the one he took was downright perfect!

Our prayer card picture was hard to choose. We were deciding between this one {below} and the one we actually used. We couldn't decide if we wanted to go for more of a fun look or something more serious. We finally opted for serious since it was, after all, for our prayer card and not for our living room wall.

{Below} The picture we used for our prayer card and display table. And want to be let in on a little secret? I cropped David's face in this picture for the back of his book!

See there? The quality on the book {in real life} is so good that it looks like an individual shot! Yay for great photographers!

And speaking of great photographers, you will not believe that we paid the equivalent of $30 USD for all of these pictures (a 1-hour photo session) and the disc with 114 pictures on it. No watermarks. No copyright policies. Done deal. Yes, missionaries have to fork out the bucks when it comes to airline tickets, paperwork, etc..., but we do get our price breaks in other areas. Our photographer already knows that he is our photographer from now on. He took our pictures last year (you can see the family picture here or lots of shots on our Meet My Family page before they get updated) which were a huge improvement from the year before when we used to go to an indoor studio. When you have multiple children, the friendliness of the outdoors is a much easier environment for gaining cooperation from every age group. They are smiling anyway.

Someone has anonymously paid for our family pictures to be taken again while we are in California {thank you, anonymous!!! A parent can never have too many pictures of their growing children.} which is partly why I wanted to go ahead and get these pictures uploaded. We will most likely get them done next month which will put us at 8 months between photo shoots. Since both are/were outdoors, I think we'll enjoy the March weather much more than the 90-degree July weather we were trying so hard not to show on our faces the last time around. Even though some pictures were not usable due to the strong winds that day {I'm sure you noticed flying hair in some of the pictures}, we were grateful we had it.

Thanks for taking the time to look today!

Three thorns and a rose

2013-02-07T11:10:00.005+03:00

How is it that these four children get sweeter and cuter with each passing day? I like to joke that we have "three thorns and a rose," referring, of course, to the fact that I have three boys and a girl. Of course, my boys are not thorns by any means unless that just translates to the fact that they are the protectors of their one and only sister. In that case, being a thorn is not a bad thing at all!

These pictures were actually taken last summer, in July, not long before our departure from Ukraine. We were in the midst of teen camp preparations, finishing up a semester of school, and packing up our suitcases for furlough. As the veteran missionary we work for likes to say, uploading these pictures to this blog was on my to-do list, it was just written "at the bottom of the fold." Have you ever heard that thought? In other words, if you had a list written on a piece of paper and folded that paper in half, where on the paper would something come in order of importance - the top half or the bottom half? Great concept, right?

Apparently, it has taken me awhile to reach the bottom half of my to-do list! But, I have been busy taking care of the precious ones IN the pictures, so I am not going to beat myself up for just now getting around to this project.

I never posted teen camp pictures either. Hmmm.... now that I think about it, that was written at the "bottom of the fold" too! Now to start working on the list at the bottom of that fold...

Packing for a trip

2013-01-23T11:32:00.001+03:00

Well, hello there from a stranger! Yes, it has been way too long and I have missed this little space. Since we have already spent more than four months on the road, I thought I would dedicate this post to something I have learned... how to pack a suitcase more effectively.

You see, with six of us traveling together in one mini van, our quarters can get cramped quite easily. So, we have adopted a couple of traveling principles that have helped us stay sane and kept us getting along like one big, happy family.

First of all, we decided that each person gets their own suitcase and it can only be carry-on size. "If it doesn't fit in the suitcase, you have too much stuff." *ouch* This has been tricky for us since we have traveled through all types of weather - from hot, summer days to cold, winter-type weather. Also, our line of work requires clothing of all types - from casual, play days to Sunday church services that require suits and ties for the boys, to everything in between. Yes, that adds up to all types of clothes needed, but we have managed to stick to our spacing budget. As long as we don't stay anywhere more than a couple of days, no one ever notices that we are wearing the same things over and over again!

After a few trips back to the states in the last 10 years where we traveled for several months each time, I have have had my share of suitcase frustration. It is easy to feel organized when your trip first starts, but after a day or two of getting into your suitcase multiple times throughout the day, these cramped little quarters can quickly turn into a disaster zone. {Ask me how I know.} Since living in Israel for three months in the spring of last year and traveling in the states and Mexico in late summer and fall, we literally lived out of a suitcase seven months in 2012 - more than half a year!

It didn't take me long to realize I needed to come up with a better solution to packing. The way I used to pack went something like you see in the picture below... nice folded clothes in stacks. The problem with this method is that I found myself constantly digging to the bottom of the stack for something I couldn't see...

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After a couple of digging sessions, I had a mess on my hands. Then, I started taking those same stacks and arranging them differently to come up with a whole new solution...

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After you turn 'em sideways, you slide them into your suitcase and solve the problem of not being able to see what is at the bottom. With this method, everything is constantly seen from the top! In fact, this method works so well that you will find that you don't even have to organize your clothes by type, color, or anything else. You can just fold them and stack them randomly (i.e. as they get washed and re-packed) and never have to worry about not being able to find something at a glance. I'm a mom of four, after all; I don't have time to go into over-kill with my organizing methods.

This little trick has saved me tons of time because the clothes stay organized, even after several days of pulling clothes out. A total win-win situation in my book, for sure.

I have included a picture of every person's suitcase in our family to show you that this trick works for every age and every size of clothes. Our family's ages range from nearly two-years old to adults and we pack the same way for each person. The only difference would be in how you fold (more folds for the bigger clothes and less folds for the smaller ones). Just make sure that the edge of the folded clothes start at the bottom of the suitcase and end at the top, where the zipper is located.

There you have it! If you are wondering about our shoes, we keep all of those together in a separate bag which we ever-so-creatively call the "shoe bag." (I know... three cheers for our originality). This way, no shoe odors collide with clothing and we only have to take the shoe bag in with us whenever we are dressing for a different occasion... in other words, not every day.

Each of the kids have a small backpack that they keep their random toys, books, and crafts in, and hubby and I each have our own small bag for personal treasures near our seats as well. Other than our display board items, this is basically all we travel with. Well, except for each other. Like I said, "one big, happy family!"

This method may not work for every one, but it has worked like a charm for us and I wanted to share, in case someone else {possibly another missionary's wife} can be helped by the tip. In fact, this system has become so familiar to us that I even fold our clothes into our drawers at home the same way and we all love it. {A popular online organizing tip}.

Yes, our clothes still have to be ironed, but when you are cramming that many clothes into one suitcase, even the fool-proof method of rolling your clothes to prevent ironing doesn't quite work. So, we have just gone this route to enjoy the benefits of finding our clothes easily and keeping our suitcases in order.

Happy travels, my friends!

Holiday Giveaway winners

2012-12-07T08:01:00.000+03:00

I used RandomPicker to choose three winners in the recent giveaway for the book "In Support of Israel," and they are:

1. Mrs. Hogge (comment #3)

2. channonsworld (comment #7)

3. Sandra (comment #2)

There were 21 commenters, and if any of you who did not win are interested in ordering this book, just let my hubby know by e-mailing him at sloans2ukraine (at) gmail (dot) com. The cost is $5 plus $2 shipping. Several have written to order, deciding to just buy instead of trying to win. And that is a-okay too. We have really enjoyed having this book available as we travel, as it has helped many friends {old and new} with their questions about what is happening in the Middle East today and how it relates to the Bible.

Congratulations, winners, and a big thank you to everyone who participated! Hubby and I both really enjoyed your heartfelt comments!

Holiday Giveaway!

2012-11-27T19:25:00.001+03:00

I almost let November slip by without a single post on this blog. I have definitely come to the conclusion that traveling {especially with multiple children} is most certainly not conducive to blogging or computer time. And I'm okay with that. But, it is nice to know that I have been missed, so I thank those of you who have written to let me know that you have noticed my absence.

Not long ago, I mentioned that hubby has written a book. And in my last post I promised an upcoming giveaway. Well, here she is, folks! We are giving away three of these books in one week, and you'll find instructions at the end of this post on how to enter.

Have you ever wanted a little additional information {to what is already available in the Bible} about Israel that would be helpful for a Christian to know in modern times? When you hear Israel mentioned in the news and on headlines, do you wonder what direction this tiny nation's future is headed? As Christians, we have a natural desire to know God's purpose for Israel. This booklet, written specifically to be a condensed easy-to-read source will help today's Christian understand God's purpose for His chosen nation.

This book was written by my hubby, David, a man to whom God has given a specific passion and knowledge about Israel. He has been to Israel multiple times and spent three months living there at the beginning of this year. David has personal friends in the Israeli parliament and on Israeli military bases that have helped him, along with his personal Bible studies, understand from a biblical perspective what is happening in the Middle East today. He has taken that knowledge and condensed it into this booklet to share with Christians to help them comprehend their need to support and defend Israel.

It is heartbreaking to see how many Christians have been persuaded to reject Israel and the Jews. God chose Israel and we unashamedly stand with her. Period.

Beginning November 27th through December 4th at midnight, anyone who comments on this post and tells us

(if you have been there) what place you love the most in Israel and why. --OR--
(if you have never been there) what you would love to see in Israel and why.

Three winners will be chosen and announced soon after the giveaway ends, so please be sure that you leave a way for me to contact you if you are chosen.

For those who are interested in ordering a copy of this book, you may contact David at sloans2ukraine {at} gmail {dot} com. The cost is $5 plus $2 shipping.

I have heard many pastors comment to their people their need to purchase and read this book. I hope you will heed their advice!

Friends all over...

2012-10-12T10:01:00.002+03:00

With beautiful inside-and-out teenager, Stephanie, from a supporting church

One of my favorite parts of traveling on furlough is not the good food, not the great shopping, and not the pretty hotels, homes, and missions apartments we stay in {though I love, love, love those things!}. I mostly feel a really special joy when we visit a church and someone walks up to me, introduces themselves, and lets me know that they...

know us

pray for us

read our prayer letters and/or this blog

know what God is doing in our ministry

There is just something special about knowing you are loved by someone else. It is humbling. Truly, truly humbling.

We really are not anyone important. But, we get to do a BIG work for a worthy Savior and it just blesses our hearts to know when individuals are equally excited about that work.

The Weiss family drove 2 1/2 hours to see us!

So, if I have had an opportunity to meet you since we have been traveling because you have been brave enough to come by and introduce yourself, I truly thank you. To friends we have already known and been able to see again, thank you for loving us and welcoming us "home" with loving arms. It just really warms our hearts. We have had friends drive several hours just to see us, and we just feel supremely blessed.

Friendship truly is a treasured gift from God. And how blessed we are to enjoy friendships all over this big, wide world!

In the video included below you can see one of the many things we enjoy doing as we travel: singing as a family for our Savior. We are not mega talented by any means, but we do love singing {in Russian these days} to the churches we visit. Though he is not pictured, hubby (the one with all the talent!) is playing the piano and singing tenor. Click here to watch the video if you are reading this post in your inbox or through a reader and cannot see the video embedded below.
In my next blog post, I look forward to sharing hubby's new book with you, and we'll be having a giveaway so that some of you can have it sent to you as a gift from us! Be sure to check back soon so that you don't miss it!

Crazy Eights

2012-10-06T08:27:00.001+03:00

Our Nate has turned eight and now you can hear silly little chants like this wherever we are near:

Nate the great who now is eight is never late for his date.

What can I say? After all, he's a unique kid whose name rhymes with a number. Don't you act silly in your home too?!

Nate is a funny guy with enough personality to go around for several kids. I'm so glad God packaged him all up and sent him to us. He dreams of becoming a pastor one day, and if that is what God has in store for him, then I can already see how his personality would line up with such a job description... talkative, dramatic stories, love for people, charisma, and devotion to God.

We were still in Ukraine when we celebrated Nate's birthday. When we returned from Israel, after having taken Davey to a safari park for his 10th birthday, we decided we would do the same for Nate. A new safari park had recently opened about 25 minutes away from our home, so we decided that the drive would be well worth it to make our little guy feel special.

We paid extra and waited in the scorching sun to get several shots like the two pictures below, but we are so glad we did.

Just before we walked out of the cubs' cage, Brianna reached down to pet the lion cubs lying under the bench. When she did, the tiger cub on top of the bench swiped at her head and caught his claws in her ponytail. It scared her, but she sure did love having a big story to tell her friends later! After all, how many people can say that they have had their hair pulled by a tiger?!

After spending a couple of hours at the safari park, we went to visit Alina who was turning 20 on this day. It is our yearly tradition to drive to her house, congratulate her with a gift and song, then get a picture of the two birthday "kids" together.

Then we went home and grilled hot dogs, Nate's requested meal. He invited Caleb and Anna {other missionary kids who live on the other side of the city, whose parents are starting another Baptist church} over.

Here are how our hot dogs come packaged:

Even though the frosting on Nate's cake was melting down the sides due to the sweltering heat {did I mention this was late July?}, we still managed to throw some decorations on there to go with our safari birthday theme this year. And guess whose creative mind came up with this idea? Yes, Nate himself!

And, a picture made just for you, Nate:

Enjoy this "crazy eight" year to the fullest, my sweet boy!

Prayer stickers for furlough

2012-10-03T10:19:00.000+03:00

I have shared in the past how we make "prayer stickers" available at our display table when we are visiting churches. (Be sure to click the highlighted words to see some of our past ones and read through the comments there to get ordering details for how we do this.)

I thought I would share our updated one with you here today... I think this one is my favorite yet! This continues to be an inexpensive, yet popular item of interest, especially for the little people who come to visit our table. It is always nice to have something to give children who are brave enough to meet the missionaries. Usually when we are handing them out to children, adults start asking for them too... and I love it!

This idea also works really well when we receive a "praying for you" note from a children's Sunday School class and we are writing back. These flat stickers are so very easy to just tuck into an envelope along with our letter. I love having something to give in return for those prayers!

So, please feel free to copy the idea, missionary friends. A few other ideas I've seen out there, other than the traditional prayer cards are key tags such as these, only featuring the missionary's picture and contact information:

Image source

Or, how about refrigerator magnets that look like mini prayer cards? I've seen those too, and they just have a way of not getting lost as easily as a prayer card! Basically anything you can print on can be another way to leave a little reminder in homes of your need for prayers.

Whatever it is we do to get our prayer partners to remember us, the important thing is just that... getting our prayer partners to remember to pray for us. Oh, how we covet those all-important, fervent prayers of God's people calling out to Heaven on our behalf!

What unique ideas have you seen as missionary prayer reminders? I'd love to hear your feedback!

Emily Ruth

2012-10-02T09:46:00.003+03:00

Before I get back to my regular blogging, I wanted to share some pictures of my newest little niece, Emily Ruth. This beautiful baby girl was born August 31st to hubby's youngest sister Elizabeth. She and her husband Ulises live in Mexico and work very, very hard in establishing churches. God has given them many amazing successes, and we are constantly fascinated at what God is doing through them.

Emily is this dear couple's third child. They have waited nearly 5 years for the Lord to give them another baby. A year and a half ago, they were devastated by a miscarriage and prayed faithfully for the Lord to give them another child. Ever heard the saying "three's a charm"? Emily is definitely their little charm! All three of their children are precious treasures who have been born into a very loving home.

For Christmas, our family will be heading to southern Mexico and we are looking forward to meeting our newest family member!

Most of you know that my hubby is one of 8 children. All of those children are {fairly} young adults who have an average of 4 children each! Wanna know the grand totals of our family to date?

1 Mimi {Prampa is in heaven}

8 children and their spouses

32 grandchildren

4 in Heaven who live on in our hearts and deserve mentioning

and...
1 on the way!

It is so much fun to be married into a large family!

California

2012-09-30T09:48:00.000+03:00

Been kinda' quiet around here, hasn't it? To say that our lives have drastically changed in the last month is an understatement. Moving our family of 6 across the ocean for nearly a half-year furlough was no easy task. But, looky there... we survived and are still smiling, to boot.

See that purty van behind us in the picture? A completely unexpected blessing was our friends O & H giving it to us to use while we are back in the states. And, you know what? It has sliding doors for our children on BOTH sides of the van. This is our first time to enjoy such a convenience, so we feel like we have "arrived" these days. The Lord is good in providing friends and even better to give us friends who are willing to sacrifice for us. {A big, public thank you, O & H}.

I am determined to get back into the blogging routine. This blog is my #1 way of recording these special memories and blessings for my children. Hopefully {for me}, my recent silence will be squelched.

Do you want to know how a family of 6 survives traveling on the road, how we pack, what we pack, where we stay, what we do as we travel, why we travel, what keeps us busy, etc...? These are some topics that might be worth exploring as we live this part of our lives over the next few months. Since this blog is also my way of giving our prayer partners a better glimpse into our lives and ministry, these topics will definitely give you a clearer vision of what we're up to these days.

Anyway, here are just a few words to describe some of my feelings the last couple of weeks...

Refreshed.

Encouraged.

Amazed at God's provisions.

Through all of these positive feelings, though, we find ourselves missing Ukraine and our dear friends there. Why, oh, why is it that the world has to be so big? And why does everyone have to live so far apart? Why do we always have to be missing someone somewhere... whether we are missing "home" or whether we are missing our "new home"?

So, do you wanna know where I'm sending my love from this time {or did you already catch on?} Not Ukraine. Not Israel. No... this post is being sent...

With Love from California.

Celebrating a Homegoing

2012-08-24T23:25:00.000+03:00

Once again, I wanted to share some beautiful pictures of little Joshua, my darling new nephew with his happy parents (hubby's sister). These are celebration pictures that commemorate the joyful day he was able to go home from the hospital this week.

This will be my last post about this sweetheart baby since he is now safely home and in his Mommy's arms and under her loving care. We once again praise our wonderful Lord for His goodness to His children.

We leave our home in three days. Our journey will begin on an overnight train to the capital city, Kiev. From there we will fly to London and spend the night, spending one more memorable day with my mother-in-law before we part ways until Christmas - her going to Mexico and us to Dallas.

Video presentation completed? Check.

Prayer cards and display table banner printed? Check.

David's book published? Check.

Half a year of school finished, corrected, and put away? Check.

Luggage packed? Uhhh... almost.

Please pray for our safety, health, and for our children to sleep well as their little bodies adjust to new times and new places. As always, I humbly thank you, my friends.

Now, I've gotta go finish that packing...

New Prayer Card

2012-08-17T00:09:00.000+03:00

This is the front of our new prayer cards which have already been ordered {except those dark-colored boxes have information in them in real life that I didn't want to post here}. The days to our departure to America are ticking by quickly, and I wish I could slow that ticking noise down!

Tomorrow we will finish our half-way point of school.... 85 days {loud cheering... can you hear it through the screen?!}. We have been working all summer long, mostly going at it 6 days a week to get to this point. So, while everyone else is talking about "Back to School," we are ready to be done with it! We are all looking forward to a long-anticipated break! Don't ya just love the flexibility of homeschooling? Somehow, though, I think my children will be learning just as much over the next 6 months away from the books as they have learned in the books. Funny how that works, isn't it? Just please don't tell them that, yet... not until they have graduated. {smile}

Really, I am kidding. I have two eager learners, one who works at a snail's pace {maybe because he loves it so much and enjoys working for so many hours?!} but still makes grades as good as the other two, and another who just enjoys dumping the other three's pencils and crayons onto the floor before he is caught in the action.

I love being a mom. I really, really do. So much love and entertainment wrapped into tiny {but growing} packages.

I'm really not supposed to be here blogging today. Really, I should be working on our video presentation for furlough. Hubby has been working on publishing a book {juicy details later} and I have been putting our presentation together.... one. picture. at. a. time. It is a slow process, but a necessary one since this is what we use to report to our supporting churches.

God has been so good. How do you tell that in a 6-7 minute presentation? Guess I had better stop typing here and try to figure out the answer to that myself...

Joshua is going home!

2012-08-13T22:43:00.000+03:00

My sweet, sweet mother-in-law made it in safely, and, boy, are we ever enjoying her! She is such a barrel of fun and all 6 of us are vying for her attention at all times, it seems.

She shared this picture of little Joshua with us today, and I asked her to e-mail it to me so that I could share it with you too. Doesn't he just look like a little man?! When you look at his Mommy's hand, you can understand just how little this preemie's face really is. So tiny, yet so perfect.

We are excited to share with you the news that little Joshua will be going home from the hospital in the next couple of days. How grateful we are for his little life! Thank you for the amazing, positive response you have shown in offering your prayers and words of encouragement to his family. I know they have been encouraged to know that people from all over the globe have come before the throne of grace on their behalf.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,... James 1:17. Thank you, Father, for this good and perfect gift!

"Mimi"

2012-08-12T12:15:00.003+03:00

See what I found in the boys' room yesterday? Yes, we're all excited about hubby's Mom {aka "MIMI"} flying in tonight! There is no less excitement in this home than if the Queen of England herself were coming.

I am sure that the next two weeks are going to be a whirlwind of fun, memories, excitement, and packing. In a little more than two weeks, all of us will be leaving Ukraine - our family will fly to America and Mom will fly back to Mexico. We have very mixed emotions about this upcoming trip. We're thrilled, of course, to soon be able to see friends and family we have not seen in a long time. But, we never love leaving our friends and ministry here.

For now, we'll just concentrate on pampering a very special lady who will be in our home in about 8 hours. Woohoo!

VBS #2 this summer

2012-08-05T23:17:00.001+03:00

A couple of weeks ago, hubby left for a week with a team from our church to run a second VBS in another part of Ukraine. The group came home exhausted, happy, cameras loaded with pictures, hearts full of what God had done, and the wonderful news that...

17 children were saved!

I worked several days to put their pictures into collages. There is an overwhelming amount to look at here, but I have added them to really show you what God is doing in Ukraine. If you support this ministry or our family personally, you can know that your support is not in vain. We are nothing... absolutely nothing at all. But, we are willing servants who are excited to share God's Word with the lost, and we are thrilled that God chooses to use nobodys {and that He gives us other wonderful "nobodys" that we love very much who are willing to work with us}!

Glad to have hubby home and even happier to know that our time spent without Daddy was a sacrifice for a greater cause!

*Thanks to Igor and Lena for these fantastic photos!

Two weeks!

2012-08-04T22:25:00.001+03:00

I have oh, so very much to write about on this blog! Teen Camp just finished, a second VBS to write about, Nate's and hubby's birthdays, and not to mention what we're doing around the house...

But that will all have to wait. For now, I wanted to bring you what you have all been waiting for: news of little Joshua's health. Today marks two weeks since the birth of this sweet preemie, and I have pictures for you to see of his progress:

Just a few more days, and Joshua will surpass the number of days of life this family was able to enjoy their little Jonathan before he went to Heaven five years ago. I know that they are breathing a sigh of relief that God is giving Joshua to them to enjoy for, Lord-willing, a long, long time.

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of life!

Update on baby Joshua

2012-07-28T23:00:00.002+03:00

For those of you who have been praying for our preemie nephew, Joshua, thank you! Here is an update for you from my mother-in-law (Joshua's grandmother):

We are deeply moved by your outpouring of love and words of prayers spoken from all sides of the world. Every single one of you who wrote words of encouragement is beyond appreciated. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

And please keep praying...

Prayers for Joshua needed

2012-07-25T09:08:00.001+03:00

I ask you to be in prayer for little Joshua, the son of missionaries to Mexico, Steve and Ruth Miller. Ruth is my hubby's sister.

Joshua was born 7 weeks prematurely and is having difficulty breathing, a common problem with babies this age. He was 4 pounds, 8 ounces at birth.

The difference is, Steve and Ruth lost a baby boy 5 years ago in this exact situation. Their little Jonathan lived two weeks before he went to Heaven. As you can fully imagine, they are understandably scared for this baby's life. Please pray for Joshua and for peace for his parents.

You can read an entire letter written yesterday by Steve about the situation by clicking here.

Please leave them a comment on this post, letting them know of your prayers and concern. I am sure your words of comfort will be a much-needed encouragement at this time.