Today's Hope for Ukraine

The main square in Kiev, between the police and protesters ~ Feb. 20, 2014

The pressure in my heart for the trials and aches of the creation is so overwhelming today. If I take even a minute to quiet myself tears well up in my eyes and freely flow. I feel the turmoil and tension in the people around me and hear the desperate cries of those in far off lands for justice and truth to prevail. Can a nation be born in a day? Today I believe that it can. Can nations be recreated in a day? In the case of Ukraine, perhaps, but this labour has lasted longer than a day and appears to have not reached its appointed delivery.

For me, this is the first time that I have identified so closely with a people and nation that is going through a revolution and my heart is breaking at the realization of the destruction and loss of life that corruption and greed has fed to the appetites of control and power. Knowing the good-hearted, hard working, simple folks who comprise this people and their desperate hope for a future that boasts change from the past, I can’t stop the anger that rises up inside of me when think about the lack of freedom to demonstrate and express their hopes in public space.  Certainly, there are wrongs and error on both sides of the battle, yet our focus must remain the heart of the nation, which are the people themselves.

There is a painful joy in the reality of these happenings, for it reflects the soul and will of a nation to declare its identity, and vision for the future. The voice of Ukraine is being heard in the heavens and on the earth. It is a groaning that longs for more than economic prosperity, but whose true desire is for the righteousness and justice of the Heavenly Kingdom on earth that brings lasting transformation, of which economic and political health weighs a fraction of the success that is to come in its establishing.

Protests in Kiev, Ukraine at the beginning of "Euromaidan"

I am certain that God has heard and is answering their cries, but my sense is that the cries will only increase in volume and mass. God is responding, and what will the nations do in response? The true face of the national leadership has been revealed through the measures it has taken to oppress and cut down the freedom to speak and demonstrate against its conditioned grain. Leaders are speaking out against the actions of those “at the head”, but what action will be taken that does not also punish the Ukrainian people? We are left to watch and wait with anticipation for courageous international leaders to also stand in true justice and righteousness.  The death toll rises as people stand in peaceful protest and are shot down by police, and as others act out of rebellion and provoke attack and mortal reproof.

Yet in the midst of it all, there stands a nation, a people, with hope for change burning in their hearts. With the dream of being a country liberated from the oppression of corruption, greed and power-hungry control. In a land where the only hope for the future was to cross the border and get “out”, there is a glimmer of change and a restoration of the dream of God that was buried under decades of brutality, famine, murder, and war; all of which that have remained dormant and covered by circumstance, but in this time the layers of bitter soil are being tossed into the ditch and a trench of hope is being dug so that the age old wounds might be healed and this nation, Ukraine, can be born again into her God-ordained identity.

Let us watch and pray with hope and joy in believing for her day of true delivery.

Growing up with God!

It has been a very interesting season - LOTS of TEACHING and totally see God's hand in opening so many different doors to share and invest in others with His amazing word!

One thing that God has been impressing on my heart lately is the privilege to be able to share and walk with other people in their lives. In the past month, I have met and served over 20 world changers from different countries and with different passions, but the gift to be able to empower and equip each one to walk in the will of God and fufill His purposes is PRICELESS!

How He values each of us. How He has placed treasures and gifts and fire in His kids. He get so happy when we share that with the world around us and the world far away! Just like earthly parents, our heavenly Daddy loves it as we grow up with Him! How fun for me to get to be a part of seeing others grow up too! 

September / October 2012 Update

CHANGING SEASONS : SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2012
NEWS / UPDATE

PRAISES TO JESUS for all of these things (and more…)

LANGUAGE BREAKTHROUGH
After returning from Germany, I noticed that my conversational ability in Russian was
flowing stronger than ever. On our way from the bus station in Lviv, to the train station
to return to Ternopil I shared Jesus with the Taxi driver in Russian. THIS WAS A
FIRST FOR ME – I have not before that shared the message and love of God in Christ
in Russian! The driver understood me, and I him. It was a miracle..and since then have
been able to communicate better, although there is still a lot to learn!

UKRAINIAN VISA RENEWAL & REGISTRATION
It was a lively experience applying for my visa in Germany, but thank God, I have it.
Now I am in the process of becoming registered in Ukraine, so I can come and go
freely with no border issues or fines. Praise God He has provided everything for this
process: a good lawyer, finances, patience and JOY!!

TEACHING YOUTH IN DISCIPLESHIP TRAINING SCHOOLS
October 15th I had the privilege of teaching 11 young students about Evangelism. It was
AWESOME, short, but sweet. (See video link to see more). October 17th and 18th I was
a guest teacher for our DTS in Ternopil, teaching on Intercession in practice and then a
day on Spiritual Gifts. It was such a blessing and the students were deeply touched by
God’s word and their amazing value and gifting that they have to give!

FIRST WORSHIP AND PRAYER NIGHT IN TERNOPIL
October 12th marked the first official worship and prayer night that we hosted at
YWAM Ternopil. This has been in my heart for a long time, and after the visit to
Herrnhut I was re-inspiried to just begin. There were over 20 people present, mostly
under 20 years old from different churches. It was a POWERFUL time together and
God’s presence was very real and leading…we are planning these once a month to
begin, and we will see from there. The awesome thing is that other than a few of us
missionaries, they were all Ukrainian youth! PRAISE GOD – they are rising up in
strength!

NATIONAL PRAYER TEAM IS STARTING TO FUNCTION
The national prayer team that God spoke to me to establish in Ukraine has been
meeting regularly and seeking His face every week. Already, we can see Jesus is
speaking very clear areas that He is asking us to intercede for and prepare the way
for…I feel His pleasure in this greatly!!

Video Message Links:
September video:
http://youtu.be/PTWshj74ZqQ
October video:
http://youtu.be/mjfgOlyfGOQ
Teaching in Kiev DTS:
http://youtu.be/siOWGc18_6o
For FUN: http://youtu.be/dIdgyxuZHek
Worship night: http://youtu.be/9kBCXEHH0Qo


Exciting ANNOUNCEMENT:
I am being sent on assignment to CYPRUS November 13 – 24th.
I will serve in evangelism with the churches of the island at the New Age
Expo, where we minister to spiritual seekers, and other areas of ministry.
I will also bring encouragement to the churches and ministries (antitrafficking
and Pregnancy Care Center) we served in 2009, as well as build
new relationships with the YWAM base/ House of Prayer and others.
I KNOW THAT GOD HAS SPOKEN, APPOINTED &
ORCHESTRATED this time and I am very honoured to be going with Him
to serve, bless and encourage the nation of Cyprus and build new
relationships for future ministry and Kingdom networks to come.
I am already excited to share the testimonies that will come…..

Thoughts from Berlin
I could write a lot, but briefly, a city of so much beauty, history, death and sorrow. I was almost in tears each day, being reminded of the bloodshed and lives lost in WW2, and as a result of the “thinking” that came out of Berlin. The sites of the Nazi Headquarters, the Holocaust Memorial and the Berlin Wall were very impacting for me. The metropolitan city was a treat, yet still feels so empty and vain. Berlin needs Jesus. There is clearly a huge need for the message of Christ, as I found out later that Eastern Germany is one of the least reached places in the whole world, boasting 43 million confessed atheists. After Hitlar, Communism and after communism, European Union….still waiting for Jesus!

YWAM TERNOPIL NEWS
As a ministry we have entered into a new season! Praise God!! The building project is still underway, which has been slower than expected, but the walls are being raised up! Our transition into “Settlement” stage (aka – not always functioning in pioneering mode, so setting some needed structure) has been going well. It is hard to embrace change at different times, but we can see how God is working and bringing wisdom into our hearts to see the benefit of having “necessary” systems to help us all work more smoothly and efficiently.
I am working in the area of finances and accounting and I have been able to learn the new data base and create some systems that will work well for us. It is a time of creating, testing, changing and retesting in all we are doing, but everyone is remaining flexible and humble before God and others, giving lots of grace!! Another large area for me is worship and intercession, of which we are moving forward in, cultivating a heart that seeks after God first in all things. People are starting to note some changes and a great hunger rising – Praise God, this is an answer to prayer and one of the reasons that I felt God send me here!
I am a witness & co-worker with the Holy Spirit working and building and establishing in YWAM Ternopil and in the church in Ukraine to cause this nation to send many missionaries in the nations of the world – all for the glory of God!


THOUGHTS FROM HERRNHUT: YOU MUST GO!!! The history of the Moravian Missions movement and the heritage of prayer and lifestyle Christianity were real inspirations. I shared some very special times with Jesus, just walking through the forest, praying in the prayer tower and worshipping with other believers from many nations. God took me back to the “first things” and “first love”, reminded me that I serve Him in the nations because I love Him and it is His heart and call for me! I was renewed and refreshed on every level! The YWAM base was also inspiring, and I was reminded that we do what we do, not for ourselves, but to raise up the young and equip them to lead. They are an example of that, with many staff and leaders in their early 20’s! WHY NOT??

PRAYER REQUESTS
~ Ukrainian elections (Oct.28th): for righteousness and justice of the Lord to be seen in them!
~ Personal health and protection, especially in travelling
~ A hunger and thirst for God and His word above all things
~ The favour and grace of God to be upon me
~ Open doors to share Jesus in Cyprus; especially to the northern Turkish Republic
~ Financial provision for Cyprus & monthly living
~ Unity in the churches in Ternopil and Ukraine
~ English for Missions School 2013: for wisdom, anointing, students, and all details!
~ YWAM Ternopil: for grace in this process of transition and for the building to be completed
~ For my family in Canada, for the revelation of Jesus & His salvation to come to each of them
~ For my home church (Word of Life) and Pastors (Brent and Chani and family); the peace and plans of the Lord to be on them all!


Thank you to you all, for being faithful in this journey. I thank God for your prayer and encouragement and financial support, which is a demonstration of your faith and heart for the nations and for me! I can say, it has only JUST BEGUN! It is an honour to serve Jesus with you together and to know that you are cheering me on. I continue to pray for you all and will continue to thank God for each of you. Be encouraged today to shine His light in your family, city and nation. That Canada, America, Australia, or wherever you are may reflect the glory of GOD! Let’s rejoice that Jesus is coming again!

Praising Jesus in Ukraine!

Here is a very small view of the passion and hunger for God that is present in the youth of Ukraine. What a blessing to be a part of it! Go Jesus!!


Here is my latest update....without any flavour or photos....just text!

Building Project / Staff Retreat

Kings’ Kids Camp

I’ve MOVED!

Youth Camp / Russia

Worship / Intercession

Wow, well it has already been three weeks since I have been back in Ukraine! I just wanted to give you quick update on some really awesome things that God has been doing since I have been back!

Building Project / Staff retreat:   We are building!! I have made a short video, and attached the link, of the first part of the year long building project we have begun. We first had to tear down the old building, and now have built a fence and prepared the ground for the builders to come and begin laying the new foundation. We are expanding to make room for more missions teams, training schools and general hosting capacity. The YWAM staff have been working hard here…and it has been a blessing to be here in such a foundational time!

Tuesday, July 10 we all leave for staff retreat for three days. All of the staff and volunteers of YWAM Ternopil will go away together to the country. We will camp, cook over a fire and draw water from a well….and most importantly have focused team time seeking God for vision, dreams and future personally and corporately.  I am honoured to give leadership to our times of organized worship and also will be leading a session on Encouragement and Blessing for each ministry team.

King’s Kids ministry has a vision to equip families; parents and children and everybody in the family, in ministry and missions. We have three staff that ran a weeklong Kings kids camp here at the YWAM base in Ternopil. There were a total of 13 kids/youth, ages 7 to 14, and I was super blessed in serving them by helping in the kitchen, cooking for them, and also leading them in worship. I was very touched and by God to see how He moved in their hearts and spoke to them in so many different ways.  Today one girl shared that the Holy Spirit spoke to her during worship that she needs to visit orphanages more often. Visiting orphanages is one of their ministry outreaches that they're doing in this mini-missions camp, along with receiving Biblical teaching and team building skills. This was a SUPER blessing!!

I have moved in with a dear Ukrainian lady, Totya (Auntie) Olga. She is probably in her 60s and she is going to have me stay with her at least for the summer months. One of the purposes is to put myself in a language/cultural immersion (Russian and Ukrainian). Olga is a believer and she's so excited to have me as a missionary and believer I live in her house and and become a part of their family. She has been a widow for over 20 years and has two children, both married and four grandchildren.  Her daughter worked with YWAM and is now married and living in Korea. She is familiar with our work and heart to reach out and has already shown me so much hospitality and care. She talks very slowly to me (lol!!) and I am learning more and am trusting God that this will be a time to integrate into the community and build more relationships with local people. Another highlight is that I have to walk to the base/office through a beautiful park!! This is such a blessing for me, and I just see that God is answering many of my prayers to serve and bless Ukraine, through this move and change, although I am not ignorant that there will be some challenges as well! It has already been strange and different having to go “home” at the end of the day!!

I AM GOING TO RUSSIA! Truly by God’s grace, I will be going to help the discipleship training school (DTS) staff lead a youth missions training camp and outreach to Russia with local Ukrainian churches. I have applied for my visa to Russia and was granted a tourist visa! PRAISE GOD – this is a new nation for me and I am very expectant to go and co-work with Holy Spirit!  We will go to Eastern Ukraine for 10 days to train youth at the camp. I will be teaching one session on cultural differences in missions, and one session on spiritual world/ worship & intercession. For me it is a great honour to have part in training young Ukrainian believers and walking with them as they rise up in Evangelism, outreach and missions.  After the camp, we will break into three teams and go on 10 days of practical outreach, preaching, praying, building relationships and partnering as God leads us. One team will go to a new church plant, one team will help a woman who started a new work in another city from Rick Renner’s church in Moscow, and one team will go to a new city, where there is no church or Christian witness.  Trip dates : July 16- August 6, 2012

BASE WORSHIP / INTERCESSION: I've had the privilege of leading worship to three times since I've been back already and really just so expectant to be the one to set my heart to see heartfelt worship and intercession birthed anew, here in YWAM Ternopil and also for YWAM Ukraine. I have started praying with another missionary in Kiev for YWAM Ukraine and it has been blessed. Durning our prayer time, we both realized how precious and important seeking God on behalf of the body of Christ in Ukraine is!  Also, I have made some really awesome God connections with YWAM Herrnhut, Germany. This is the home of the Moravian Church, the Moravian missions movement and the birth place of the 24/7 Prayer movement. The Moravian Church is known for its 120 years of 24/7 prayer which sparked the largest missionary movement in history. YWAM has a very active base there, and they are right now running schools of intercession, worship and school of the kingdom, frontier missions, etc. They are willing to host me for a time just to receive impartation, vision and refreshing in those areas so that I can bring that heart back here to Ukraine and see it established and implemented here at our based in Ternopil and in Ukraine at large.  Right now the tentative date for this adventure trip with Jesus is September 11 – 24…ish J!

God is good and certainly ALIVE! It is so good to be back in Ukraine and I really see a greater hunger for God growing in all of our hearts as we continue to seek Him and I get into His word. It is a time of TRANSITION here at the base and so please keep the prayer coming!  Thank you for your prayer, support and encouragement in financial giving. I am so thankful to God for His grace, His provision, His call and for the wonderful relationships He has given me in all of you. The Father God bless you all and I continue to pray for you all and look forward to hearing from you and giving you all the great reports from these different things that are taking place! 

Caves and Castles!!!

So a couple of weeks ago we went on an amazing adventure on our day off....first we went on a caving adventure which turned out to be WAY MORE INTENSE than what we had expected. For us North American females we thought we would go on a relaxing guided tour of some caves, see some crystals and rocks and just have a gentle tour. OH NO....that was not it at all. 

Here is a little clip of our pre-cave excursion! 

After this video was taken the serious adventure unfolded as we were led on a 3 hour journey into some of the world's largest gypsum caves. I did not believe I could fit through some of the small cracks and holes that we did....it was stretching and challenging - I LOVED IT! There were some moments (I will post those videos later!) where I really felt like I could not survive or pass through the suspended crevices. I certainly cried out to God a number of times and He came through - even in an adventure activity! He loves us so much!)

There is much more to write on the cave experience....it was so much piled into one day - fun, team work, testing, physical work, victory, fulfillment of prophetic vision for my time serving in Ukraine...and MORE!

A word about the prophetic vision:

When we first came to Ukraine in May 2010 the Holy Spirit gave me a very clear vision that He was bringing us to an underground cave that was very large. I was inside the cave and as I praised and worshiped Jesus light came into the cave and I saw beautiful painting on the walls. It was very high ceilings...and it was a stronghold. God spoke to me, that there has been a stronghold of faith in Ukraine for a very long time and it is beautiful, but has largely been hidden and underground. He spoke that as we seek His face and PRAISE Him, intercede and worship that He will shake the foundations of even this stronghold and begin to enlarge it for more to find refuge here....(making His family bigger here!!)....

It was almost one year later when I found out that Ternopil region (where we live and serve) is famous for its caves....and boasts Europe's largest Gypsum caves!!! I got so excited and new that I needed to get on the inside of these real caves, understanding the parallels in the supernatural!

We sure praised Jesus when we were in those caves, as we admired the crystal and overcame personal and team weakness by His grace!

So excited for this playing out in the spiritual more and more....!

About the castles...that will have to be another post...stay tuned!

YWAM Ternopil Staff Retreat

Here is a short video I took from our 3 days of Staff Retreat in August. It was a great time of camping, cooking over the fire, outdoor adventure and just plain family fun time!

For me, this was the first "family" camping trip I had been on since being a younger person...and it was a blast. IT was so great to be out in the fresh air of the country. Ukraine is so beautiful! We saw many horses pulling loads of hay, had some great long walks in the forest, some times together being challenged as a team....and more!!

One of our friends, and fellow missionaries, Slava, brought a huge human kite out to the dacha....I tried it a couple times...and it was wild! It is the kind that you have to harness yourself into and that could cause you to fly!! I did not fly, although it was close a few times as it dragged me here and there...it was a blast for sure!

Another highlight was spending time with all the kids! They were great...especially their excitement with the entire experience...getting to wear their pijamas outside (that was really cool!!), roasting marshmellows, playing together and more! Lots of amazing laughs with them!

How good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together in unity....this was a time of renewing that bond and love for one another and allowing God to make it go deeper :) Jesus is crazy about strong, loving, relationships....and so am I!

Back in Ternopil - Kings' Kids Outreach Team

Here is a little glimpse of some outreach in Ternopil....summer 2011 has been super busy! This is just a small look into a time full of God's grace and goodness in and through so many people!!  This outreach was happening when I arrived in Ternopil. I helped cook for them a bit while they were here...it was a blessing :)