brrr.....It's Cold!!!!

Well as you can tell by the title it is really cold right now!!! You must wear multiple layers, scarf, gloves to even stand a chance at being warm and your face is definitely not going to be anyway! Here is the forecast for the next week. Keep in mind in Ukraine forecasting isn't as accurate...could be colder or warmer. But for your enjoyment .... Friday (h -11 C l -14 C feels like -19 C), Saturday (h -8 C l -17 C feels like -22 C) Sunday (h -9 C l -20 C feels like -27 C) Monday (h -12 C l -20 C feels like - 28 C) and it continues for next week. So maybe if it will be -20 they might close some schools and stuff. Ukrainians are much more aware about cold weather and scared to venture out into it for fear of being sick. As for me it is cold but a new experience being a Florida boy! (as for the photo...you can guess for yourself...and yes i took that photo...poor little birdie)

We started last week our "Youth Club" ministry. We wanted to have it in this store we own here in Horodok, but the building is too old and we couldn't make it warm, so we were in our apartment. It was good for a first meeting. There were about 8 youth there. So we watched some videos, and sang some songs, and had tea and cookies. This youth meeting will be like our evening meetings were at camp in the summer. A fun time with singing and interaction with the youth. This will be every other Saturday. This Saturday we will start our Ukrainian/ English bible study. I invited many people from camp last year and who we know from the neighborhood, so I am hoping again for about 8 people minimum. Please pray that God would lead me to the people he wants to be in this group and that I would have the wisdom to invite them and they the courage to come! This is the most important group we have here in my opinion and ask that you please pray about it.

Also I will start teaching classes in L'viv again once or twice a week. For these classes I teach English and then after English they have a Ukrainian bible study, so it is also important that I do a good job, so that many people come and hear the Word of God. So please pray for this as well and that God would lead me to where he wants me to work this year. I still am praying for him to open up opportunities to teach such classes as these in some of the schools here in Horodok. Once again thank you all for your love, support, and prayers. Talk to you soon! God Bless. And enjoy your Florida weather ;)

Back in Ukraine

I finally have internet, at least for a short while, and some time so here I am back in Ukraine posting for the first time in 2012! I first want to thank all my friends and family and fellow brothers and sisters at Calvary for all your very, very generous donations which are the only reason I am able to be here! I thank God for all of you. Such generosity is really such a blessing to me! I have more than met my goal for 1 year (without having to sell my car), and I even have a good portion for a second year. Praise God!!! If still you want to give or wanted to but didn't have the chance you can of course give to Calvary with my name on it and it will find its way to me, and I will just stay longer here =) As of now though, my needs for this year are well met and I am not in need of anything besides your prayers!

Today is January 6th, which in Ukraine is Christmas eve. Tomorrow will be Christmas here. It is maybe the first time in a long time that there is not snow for Christmas which is a little crazy...and for me bad because it is so cold but without snow. It will still be great though. They have so many Christmas traditions...the children sing carols all day at your door for money, also they come to your door and throw buckwheat at the threshold...also for money! Also there is "holy supper" which is a traditional 12 course meal for Christmas, which I will celebrate with Andriy and Alona the young Ukrainian missionary couple living and serving here in Horodok with me. Here is a picture of Andriy and Zachar...their son. They are doing well. They like it here and have a real heart to reach this place too...which is great. And also living with me is Marko another young Ukrainian man who is serving here as well.

Anyway...just wanted to update everyone a little and let everyone know I made it here safely and am back living here in my apartment. Almost like I never even left! Although I am grateful for the precious time I got to spend with friends and family and with my church for the 3 or 4 months I was back home. Thanks again for all your love and support and keep the prayers coming! Will update you more soon. This week we will take some presents to some poor families in Horodok. Games and stuff for the kids and food for the families. So please pray that this would open many doors for some evangelism and for building some good relationships, or strengthening some existing ones! God bless you all!!! and thank you, thank you, thank you again!!! Have a great new year =D

It's Almost Time to Come Home.....

So hard to belive we have been here for almost 3 weeks! It has been fun and exhausting; exhilerating and frustrating; but above all I think it has made an impact on those we have ministered to and their families.
I am happy and sad at the same time that by this time on Wednesday we will be headed home.
We arrived in Ukraine the last Thursday evening in June, by Sunday afternoon we were at youth camp. We stayed at camp from Sunday-Saturday. It was rainy and cold most of the week, but so much fun!! Even cold showers and locked shower rooms couldn't dampen our spirits....only damp things were our feet and clothes. They weren't just damp but soaking wet most of the week! The kids who were allowed to join us (many parents would not allow their kids to go to camp with a group of Baptists) really opened up by the end of the week and had many questions about what they were learning during Bible time.
On Saturday morning the kids left camp around 12:30.....we weren't so lucky! Our ride "home" arrived at 7:30 that evening. It was a long day of sitting around waiting. We were back at the hotel by 8:30 pm, happy for hot showers and a bathroom we didn't have to hike to...at times only to find the doors locked.
Sunday after camp was a busy day with meetings to talk about how camp went and pray about how we could follow up with those who went to camp, talk about the day camp we did this past week and pray for that event, then go to the stadium to decorate and to walk around town to invite children to attend.
Monday dawned bright and early...we were excited to minister to the children in Horodok, not just the youth but children of all ages. We were not sure how many children would come...or what the day would look like- an adventure in the making!
Many children came each day and despite some rainy days and some very hot days we had a great week doing crafts, playing games, teaching Bible, singing and just hanging out together. Camp went from 10-2pm each day. Each evening we met at the feild from 5-8 for sports and games.
We had lunch between camp and sports and dinner after playing sports. Many nights we were eating dinner at 8:30 or 9:00 - it was totally exhausting but lots of fun!
Camp ended Friday at 1:00, then we invited parents to come to a closing program at 3:00...only one set of parents attended (which was a little disappointing) but many kids came back.
Saturday was a FUN day...the boys went to play paint ball with a group of youth from Horodok. Tanya and I went shopping at the market...for 5 hours!!! It was so nice to be able to take our time, look around, and purchase things without the "boys" saying are you done yet, aren't you ready to go? We did take a break and go to McDonalds between window shopping and buying. When the boys called and said they would be another hour we finished up shopping and went back to McDonalds for a snack.
Sunday we left for church at 10:00am and did not get home until 9:00pm! The kids from camp all met in Lviv and we went to an amusment park for the afternoon. They had a GREAT time just hanging out and riding rides. It was a long, exhausting day but well worth it for the follow up with the campers that took place.
In a few minutes we will head to the stadium for one last time with the kids, then off to Lviv this evening. Joey and Seb leave for camp for the next 3 weeks, tomorrow.
Guess that catches everyone up on what has been happening here....sorry not to post on the blog regularly but internet has been a problem to use this year. Joey and Seb's does not work much of the time, when it does work it is very slow. We really have not had time to get to the internet cafe.
Thanks for your prayers.
Merrie Spencer

We made it!

Hello from Horodok, Ukraine! Merrie and I were greeted by Bogdon, Sebastian, and Joey at the airport in L'viv after more than a whole day’s worth of air plane rides. We are thankful to have made it here safely with all of our luggage. We had a delicious dinner at Ukrainian missionaries, Olona and Andriy's apartment. They have a beautiful 3 month old baby and his name is Zhar (Zachariah in English), and we also met Olona's little sister Daria, who is very nice. After that we went to the futbol stadium to reunite with friends and play catch with a baseball. Our friends were very excited to see us and made us feel very welcomed! On Saturday the weather was cold and rainy, so we stayed in for most of the day, playing Uno, Mafia, and Science with our friends, and then had a Bible study on the book of Luke. It worked out well because we read in English and then Ukrainian after each verse; so that we could all understand what was being read. We are looking forward for this upcoming week because we will be at an overnight camp for with about 20 kids, and we are praying for good weather! Hikaru will arrive tomorrow morning all the way from Japan, and he will add much comedy to our team. It is clear that Joey and Sebastian have made a great impact here in Horodok after being here for almost a year, and all of the children adore them. They have built strong relationships with these children, and are wonderful examples to them all. I look forward to the next couple of weeks and can’t wait to see what unfolds.
Much love, Tanya!

Busy Summer!

It seems like only yesterday I was posting about how it was already spring. Now it is already summer! I can't believe this year has gone by so fast, but we still have a lot of work to do. This summer will be very, very busy for us. Already it is more busy than usual because we have started doing more activities in Horodok since the kids are out of school. It has been pretty hot and some days it feels to me like Florida, but then it might rain and cool down for a day or two and you might even have to grab a light jacket or sweatshirt again. In general the evenings and mornings are pretty comfortable which is nice since we don't exactly have an air conditioner.

Some of the activities we have recently started doing is on Friday we go to the big stadium and play many games. Relay races, sports, and even a sort of tag game where you choose prince, princess, or dragon (like rock, paper, scissors) are among some of the games we play but it is a great time getting to know some of the kids and families in Horodok better and connect them with some of the Ukrainians that are also working here. This picture doesn't show all the kids there were more than 30! Also on Saturday our group is still going strong, we have been trying to meet every Saturday and get our group reading the Word and much as possible than discuss it. It has been pretty cool. Even one week we had only 2 people because a few were busy studying for exams so we thought this week we will just maybe play games, or go outside and play football or something, but one of our students asked, "well aren't we going to read the Bible?" That they actually wanted to read is a very good sign I think, and very encouraging to us, and I pray, and hope that you will pray also, that God will really work on these young people here in Horodok.

We ask expecially for your prayers in the coming weeks as we will be taking a few of them to camp where they will pretty much hear the Gospel everyday, without distraction or interruption. The first one will be July 4th-9th and we will take 20-25 students away to some lakes not far from Horodok. We will be staying there for 5 days. I will try to take a 3g modem or something so we can keep everyone updated while we are there. The next week we will have a day camp like we usually have here in Horodok with games, bible stories, and other activities. Please pray for this also and that God would use us, and draw these people to Him. After this our team from America this year (Merrie and Tanya) and our friend from Japan (Hikaru) will be going back home and Sebastian and I will be going to 3 camps in a row with GrapeVine church. It will be in the mountains. We will do a social camp, youth camp, then family camp. We will keep you updated on this as well, although I am not sure what internet capabilities we will have in the mountains. Thank you everyone for all your prayers and support and we ask that you continue to pray for us as we start our camps in a couple weeks. Talk to you later and God Bless!!!

Spring Is Here!

After a much colder winter than I was used to, I think it is safe to say that spring is here. Although it could get cold again and it was snowing a little only a week ago, today was warm and comfortable. Still it is chilly when the sun is down, but not really uncomfortable. All in all, even with the cold weather, it has been a nice change from Florida.

We have still been very busy and we even added some more work to our schedule. We are teaching one more English Class on Wednesday for our friends at GrapeVine and have met 2 times already. It is going very well. I have around 8 people for that group and Sebastian also has a group of beginners each Wednesday evening. It is great to see these students show up every week for English, and then stay for the Bible study which the Ukrainians do after our English lessons. I think I mentioned it before, but GrapeVine does an amazing job at building relationships with students and people that attend their camps. They are always willing to help them and try to include them in whatever they can. They don’t just have them at one camp, tell them about Jesus, then say good-bye, but they build strong friendships with them. Sunday we spent time with some of them at one of their houses and had a really great time playing a version of catch phrase, eating together, and just enjoying one another’s company.

A couple weeks ago we had a week long English camp every night in L’viv with Trinity Church. It was a long week, but a good week. There were probably around 60 people there every night and we had a really great time. A team of 7 came from Texas from Clear Creek Community Church and we were blessed to get to know them and to serve with them during the week. Each night we had 1 hour of English, 1 hour of bible study, and 1 hour of games and singing. Many students, 26 to be exact, said they would be interested in continuing in some sort of Bible study, and many of them wished to continue with some sort of English lesson, and so after this camp we decided to add a Bible study class in English and Ukrainian and will be starting on Monday.

Our Saturday group is also still going strong. Every week we have had no less than 9 people and usually there have been around 11. Please, please, please pray for this group. We have been going through Matthew and are currently on Matthew 7. If you aren’t familiar with these passages or haven’t read through them in a while, please read them. There are so many things in this book. It is a very heavy book, and I also ask that you would pray that God would give us the wisdom as what to say about these verses and how best to explain them to our group. We can’t just read through this chapter in English and then in Ukrainian. There is just too much there that we want them to fully understand, and so we are bringing in a friend to translate and Sebastian will be presenting the Gospel to them. Once again please pray for this. Your prayers are our biggest need right now!

Also we have some good news regarding our friends and fellow family working here in Horodok Andriy and Alona. They had their first child yesterday and as far as I know everything went well. I haven’t seen them yet, but I think they both will be home on Saturday. Thank you for your prayers for Alona and her baby. As far as I know everything is great with them.

On top of all of these things we are doing every week, we celebrated Sebastian’s 20th birthday last Wednesday. We invited many friends and students to go ice skating at the big mall in L’viv called “King’s Cross.” It was a great time to spend with friends and celebrate the birth of such a great guy as Sebastian. If you haven’t yet wished him Happy Birthday, I’m sure he would love to hear from you! Thank you for everything you all have done for us and continue to do for us! We love you and appreciate all that you do very much. God Bless you and I will fill you in again soon!

Small Group

Well tonight was exciting and I just wanted to share about it with you, my friends and family. A few weeks ago we started a group in our apartment for young people… they are between the ages of 15-19 and we have had 9-11 people each time. It is wonderful! We actually had to buy more mugs this week and for next week I think we will need to find a few more chairs. I am glad to have and really praise God to have such a problem as this! For group we usually start with games, then tea and cookies, and then we have an English/Ukrainian Bible study. Tonight was the first night we had a Bible study and everyone stayed for it! It was great to read the Bible with them in English and then in Ukrainian. To listen as they tried to understand what it was saying in English and so, of course, they had to understand what the Bible was saying in general. Please pray for this group. The Bible is God’s Word and I know it can and will do great things in the lives of those who hear it.

Isaiah says in 55:10-12

10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.


We know and trust that the Bible will do what it says it will do, and without it and the power that is in the Word of God, we can do nothing! Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I can’t thank you enough! Thank you Calvary and Pat Marder for getting together and sending us some Bibles so we can continue to minister in this way! We love you all and miss you. God be with you and Bless you! Oh…. And don’t forget to read the Bible for yourself!

Other prayer requests:
- We could really use a printer for our ministry in Horodok.
- Sebastian and I are still without internet which can be hard sometimes.
- Alona and Andriy, missionaries living and serving with us in Horodok, are in need of a baby bed as they will be having a baby in the next couple months!