What's New With Us - Update Fall 2016

It is a crisp, beautiful fall day here and I decided to post an update. It has been a while since I have written here. I actually like writing here, but when I'm busy and when it seems that no one is reading this, then the desire to write can sometimes fade away. However, I hope first that someone does read these posts, and that it is an encouragement for them, and second that I can use this to "store" my ideas and show some of the ways that God has blessed me this year. Then, in the future, I might just be reminded of God's greatness in certain situations that I have forgotten about. Although this wasn't the longest gap I have had posting, I think things have definitely changed drastically since my last post. Probably if you know me and you're reading this then you know that I just was married this last summer on July 10th here in Khotyn, Ukraine.

It was a small but beautiful wedding in the Khotyn Fortress. My mom, dad, and Nicholas came to Ukraine for the first time as well! About a month after the wedding we went to Florida to visit our family and friends there, and kind of had our honeymoon as well. Many of you who are reading this we saw while we were there, and maybe even had the blessing of having you at our reception that we had at Calvary. It was also small but beautifully decorated, and the catering and casual atmosphere was a real joy. We also were hugely blessed to be in the states for the births of both my friends the Hodae's 5th baby, and my sister Leigh Anna and her husband Kyle's first baby (Addie Anne who was due about a week after we were supposed to return to Ukraine). We really enjoyed our time in the US, with friends and family, which made it even harder to come back here. However, now a couple of months later we have pretty much adjusted to life back in Ukraine with all it's joys as well as hardships. We are currently looking to buy an apartment here, which has it's mix of excitement, frustration, and stress, but we know God is in control of all things and we will live where he wants to put us. It is a big decision, but when we looked at how much we are spending on rent we decided it was a good choice, and a wise investment for our future. Both Yuliia and I are studying in the L'viv Theological seminary in the International Missions faculty. So in the last few weeks we both also had our week long sessions, one of 6 during the year. I am in year 2 of 4 and my group studied the Old Testament from Job to Malachi; Yuliia just started this year and had her first session on "Spiritual Development." It has been great digging deeper into God's Word there and learning more and more about him. Another thing I have been doing since we got back is a lot of repairs. For the first time I fixed plumbing inside the toilet here because it was leaking (after 3 tries I might add), and now I am trying to figure out why the dryer is acting up. The list of things I have learned here is growing and growing! We meet on Thursday's still for our "home church" group.(photo on the left is from this group) We are studying both on Sunday and on Thursday the gospel of Luke. This Sunday I will have the opportunity to preach on Luke 1:39-56. We actually do post most of the sermons online so if anyone is reading this and would like to watch it just let me know and I'll get you the link.

I constantly pray that God will use me here and everywhere that I will go for his glory! Whether it be through my sermons, english classes, or just building relationships throughout the many things we do here, I pray that I will make God known, and that I will make him look good here in L'viv Ukraine. Now as a married couple we also have the opportunity to reach out more to families or to couples. I also pray that God will use us in this way, and that we would be bold to branch out and make new friends. Our church is really focusing on discipleship now and we are doing that in 3 ways: first we hear the message on Sunday, then on Thursday we talk about the message and how we can apply it to our lives, and finally we think about ways and find ways to share what we learned with others. In this way we are trying to make disciples as Jesus commanded us all in the Great Commission. It isn't enough to just go, preach, baptize them and then leave. Jesus says go and make disciples. So we are focusing on making good strong disciples in our church that go out and make disciples in the world! Please pray for us in this, that we would be faithful servants. Well for now that is all. If somehow you do read this, please leave a comment so I know. It is an encouragement to me to keep writing, and always nice to hear from someone. For those of you in Florida now or on the east coast please be safe as Hurricane Matthew makes it way by the state. Praying for your safety and God's protective hand. God bless and until next time!