The Voices of Ukrainians

London is brilliant. We went two weeks ago to get away for a bit and reset our visas. It was seriously the best vacation...everything was in English and I almost cried. We were able to stay with some of Daniel's family, thus saving us money (London is expensive), and we were able to do a variety of things. We did some tourist stuff, such as visiting: Buckingham Palace (just the outside)... ...and then we happened to see cool guys on horsies. Westminster Abbey St. Paul's Cathedral (where Lord Nelson is buried). At the top of St. Paul's. We climbed somewhere around 550 stairs to get here. The happy couple! Then we went to the British Museum and saw thousands of artifacts from the ancient world. What is pictured above? I'll give you a clue: it's black and grey. There were so many interesting things to look at, and we took way too many pictures.  Somebody's horse. Daniel walking among the ancient Egyptians. My favorite picture...

In July we organized a two-day Olympic-themed program for the kids at their camp. Once again I must remind you that orphanages in Ukraine close for the summer and the kids go to camps spread across the country. There are ten kids from our orphanage that are at this particular camp, plus about 90 other kids all ranging from 5-16 years old. Camps here are generally unstructured, and so they love it when we visit them and bring things to do. Our team consisted of 13 people: Doug, Suzie, Suzie's mom who was visiting from the States, Benjamin and Megan, Lexi, Meisha, Patsy and Kristian who were two Americans from the building team, Maggie (an American that married a Ukrainian), Paulina (a translator), Artyom (more about him later), and another translator named Nadya. There is strength in numbers! We left early and had lots of plans upon arrival. First we were going to divide the kids into countries. I had flag stickers to keep the kids organized, and then we were going to have kids...

Well, two more building teams have came and gone! They accomplished so much work and we were so blessed to have them. Arriving first was Team One, and that included Jerry, Chris, John, Jodi, Tanya, Kevin, Patsy, and Kristian. Team Two included Jerry, Chris, Randy, Tanya, and a different John. Somewhere between Team One and Team Two came Philip, but he mostly wandered around and smelled flowers, so we'll just move on with the story. Because the 2nd floor of Smile House is basically done, our volunteers focused on the 1st floor, basement, and outside. They poured mass amounts of concrete (when in Ukraine!), did sheet rock, painted, framed walls, did electric work, cleaned, organized, and tiled two miles. Here's some picture proof: Randy cutting tile. He might have broke a nail, but otherwise he was pretty tough. Tonya installing baseboard for dear life. She is truly a woman of all skills!  John standing there looking charming. Oh, and he did electrical work and ate ...

On Saturday August 11th, we went up to one of the camps where kids from Komarivka are staying this summer.  It was almost the end of the summer, and it was only the second time I had been able to go up.  And this was the only camp I had been to visit, even though our kids were spread out amongst 4 or more camps.  The past year has been crazy.  We spent so much time learning Russian, which for most missionaries is their primary focus their first year.  But we had a few other issues that were very pressing.  We wanted to be involved at Safe Haven which was located on the other side of Kiev.  We visited the orphanage almost once a week.  But working on Smile House was definitely the biggest focus of our year. We needed to finish the third floor, fast. Then we needed to finish the Second floor a few months later.  I’m actually working on an article about all the hats we wear, because being involved in so many different facets is one of the most ...

Uncles are great. Everyone should have one. Seriously. One of mine is named Uncle Jim. He was our very first visitor in Ukraine. Daniel's Dad came over with us when we moved here, but since we came here together I don't think that fits the technical definition of visiting. But, back to the story, Uncle Jim went on a mission trip to Russia and decided to stop by Ukraine on his way back. It was so exciting having family here!     To honor his arrival, I decided to slice my knee open in the morning right before we were leaving to go take our teammate Lexi to the airport (she just happened to be going to Prague that day), as well as pick up Uncle Jim. Daniel and I were moving the van seats back into the van, and I stumbled, dropping my half of the seat on my knee. Oops. Note to kids: do not try this at home. And now, a quick glimpse into Janiel dynamics. Daniel "I'm going to get some bandages and stuff, you need to hold the cut together." "No, I can't!...