Submitting for Court Tomorrow

Pictured Top- Paula and I with Yana, Marina, Nina and kids out on the town. Middle- Hanging in the flat. Bottom- Us, the Plaias, and Nastya (translator from 2005) with husband Kostya.

We meet Yana and Nina in about an hour to sign another piece of paper for the court submission tomorrow. Nina is the unofficial mayor of this town. She knows the judge and everyone else here. Think of Clara on the Andy Griffith Show, but much nicer and not quite as nosey!

I am going into withdrawls without our daughter in the apartment. It is so strange for me to have a 14 year old girl around who has not always been with us. My other kids are used to my weirdness by now.

Pray for Oleg, our driver. I believe God may be opening a door for conversation about the Gospel. He works 2 other jobs in addition to being a driver. He bends over backwards to help us here because he is so happy about what we are doing for the children of Ukraine. He said that he would like to do something for them as well, but he cannot afford it. The taxi company and the governement take 60% of what he makes driving a cab. What can I tell him? Work hard and all your dreams will come true??? The Gospel is the only answer for them here.

There are many here that feel the same way he does. Capitalism only works well if 3 components are in place: 1) Political freedom, 2)Freedom from too much regulation, and 3) Moral restraint. Thomas Jefferson said that democracy can only thrive and last when it is has a moral foundation, the Judeo-Christian ethics (paraphrase). Ukraine is like a 3-legged stool that is ready to topple. We have had the opportunity to talk with several Ukrainians (all over 50) who grew up in the USSR, and they all remember it like the "good old days". Perestroika, which brought freedom, also opened the floodgates for every immoral and lewd act to be brought out into the light. You can't imagine their TV commercials- it's as if a half-naked woman is necessary to even sell cat food! Paula and I have spent a lot of time talking about what our lives might be like if we had been born here in communism, transitioned through Perestroyka, and now left to fend for ourselves. God has blessed us somewhere between this and we call the "American Dream." I know He loves us all the same, but the differences are staggering, profound....and absolutely heartbreaking.

Please pray for those we have a lot of time with- Yana (translater), George and Nina(faciliatators), and of course Dasha. Pray that they will see Christ in everything that we do. I desperately want them to know Christ. Yesterday Nina was telling what she liked most about America (she's been twice when the kids were hosted). She said the people in America are so different than here. Ande remarked that is because she has always been around Christ followers. We tried to explain that these Americans are different because their lives are centered around Christ. Pray that God will open hearts and doors.

Blessings to All,
Ande

Ephesians 2:10- "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do."