Last update from Ukraine!!!!

May 15th - Busy morning and a fun lunch with our dear son in the faith, interpreter and his family, Maxim Kushnir. That evening we were invited to the home of the chief doctor at the children's cancer hospital that we have been serving for the past 15 years.  Her name is Natalya and she has become one of our dearest friends!  When we started helping there they didn't have adequate disinfectant even for the operating rooms, they were using wooden stethoscopes, and because there was no money from the government to pay salaries they were compensated meagerly with cases of Vodka! Things are better but still challenging! We had a great evening together sharing our faith, the needs and some of the miraculous healings we have witnessed there over the years!  As we thanked her for her tireless service and love for children, staff, parents and us she began to water up.  She said this is kind of hard to hear. "I have been the chief doctor here since 1991 and only twice in that whole time has anybody ever said 'thank you'"!   We have a 1000 opportunities a day to do this and it is amazing how much that can mean to people!   I wonder if we miss too often giving people a chance to see Jesus in us with just these simple and sincere acts of appreciation?  As the night wore on, again it was difficult to part!  We probably said good-bye a half dozen times and then thought of another excuse to go upstairs and look at pictures for another half hour...when relationships are sweet our tasks together are always filled with joy...God had a great idea when He made relationship first in His Kingdom! And speaking of relationships, It was also a fun surprise to meet another friend at Dr. Natalya's house - Natasha, who was a single mom 20 years ago without a job. Dr. Natalya hired her as her receptionist and gave her a single room in the basement at the hospital for her and her baby to live in. Dr. Natalya then asked us if we were able to help with her fees to go to college - which we did! She graduated, became a school teacher, her son, Ivan, is 21 now, attending  University and Natasha has recently married. Many of you were the reason we were able to support her through college!  What an absolute joy to see her again! The morning of the 17th we were asked to meet with some of the pastors at Central Baptist Church.  They are all dear friends and it is always a blessing to be with them!  Recently there has been a change in leadership and it had been a pretty rocky transition.  When we first started meeting together years ago there was a well fortified facade about what is really going on but now we can talk pretty forthrightly, even on the most difficult issues. God always comes through and these brothers are open to learning and considering even new ideas that challenge ancient boundary lines. Our conversation ultimately is sweet and the prayer time even sweeter... I have been asked to do some TV interviews and teaching by the government station in Chernivtsi and I keep saying 'no', but God has been challenging me on this and to at least pray before I respond (sounds like a good idea!).  This time I was asked to share whatever topic I want on a Christian Radio Broadcasting network that reaches about 1 1/2 million people.  This is not my comfort zone but the first date has been set up for June 4th.  I would really covet your prayers.  If this is God's idea, then all of this would be for His glory! Lunch was with Vitali and Sveta Manyuk.  They were our first contacts in Ukraine and have been dearest of friends for almost 25 years!  Sveta's sister Nadya translated and we had a chance to share prayer, food and the faithfulness of God in the many ministries He has called us all to be a part of!  If it weren't for them we would never have visited this city of Chernivtsi that God has so powerfully blessed!   That night we were invited by the President of the Region and Parliament member, Ivan Munyan, to a wonderful dinner!  The food was great but the time with Ivan and his family was stunning! God is doing amazing things in their lives and through each of them.  They own a large bakery and real estate holdings but I see more and more of this being used for the Lord.  His sons were there with their wives and children and some of them were young people we had ministered to years before and they gave testimony to all that God has done in their lives since.  Our Savior is so faithful, not the smallest act done for His sake is ever forgotten or lost (Isa. 55:10,11). This was another stunning day and again took almost an hour to say good-bye!  In every meeting we are seeing the fruit of those dear ones at home who are praying and fasting for every good work our dear Lord has prepared in advance for us to do!   We were able to get a little workout in in the morning of the 18th and then headed for the City center to meet another couple before we left for Israel.  Alina has been one of my dear friends since she was in junior high. She is a radio host now and has a beautiful singing voice!  She is marrying a wonderful, young missionary from Ukraine, Volva.   They have also asked me to be in their wedding on June 1st.  Sue is returning to Seattle this next week, on the 29th, going through Kiev, Lord willing, and I am intending to stay there for the Presidential Breakfast and then hurry down to Chernivtsi for Alina's wedding.  I have been asked to speak at the 1st Baptist Church on the 2nd of June and the radio program I mentioned on the 4th.   Later during the day on May 18th the large Kushnir clan came together for a big bar-b-que.  It was a tremendous reunion they put together for Sue and I. It is very humbling to walk with friends for so many years, just loving each other more every time we are together!  The weather man had accurately predicted a torrential rain storm with lightning and high winds that caused a lot of damage in the area but the bar-b-que went on!   I was supposed to do an outdoor wedding the next day with the weather predictions being just as dire.  The bride, Anna, came in at the end of our dinner tired, dirty and disappointed- all the decorations that they had put up for the wedding the following day were destroyed!      So, we all started praying for a miracle, that despite the torrential rains and lightning predicted God would bless with a sunny, warm beautiful day, exactly the opposite of what we had experienced and was expected!  We went to bed that night with our eyes fixed on Jesus... Sunday, May 19th, the day of the wedding, we woke up and headed for the windows!  There was some break in the clouds but dark, threatening storm clouds were accumulating around the hills behind us. All that we knew to do was to keep praying and then leave the rest was up to God! I had been asked to speak at church but the wedding venue was over an hour away and early, so I decided I would have to pass on this one. We loaded up the cars and did our rounds picking up people without transportation and heading to the saturated fields where the campground wedding was to take place.  As we got closer and closer the skies started opening up, the clouds became lighter and slowly drifted away.  The sun came out and all the cold weather we had been experiencing disappeared!  It was hot, dry and beautiful!  Weddings in Ukraine go for many hours, so we prayed that God would guard this spot of sunshine for all those hours which go well into the night and that was exactly what He did!  Not a drop of moisture fell and when it started to get too hot He sent a gentle breeze that was perfect.  It was Masterful and stunning! Both believers and non-believers were totally amazed!   During the wedding, I shared from Ephesians 5:21-25 in a way that I don't think most people had heard before and the Lord blessed it in a wonderful way!  Max interpreted beautifully and throughout the ceremony there was both tears and joy at all that our good God had prepared for the day!  I could hardly sleep that night for the incredible things we had seen God do! The young men who served us food and drinks during the reception were Jewish.Their Shabbat is Saturday so they were free to work Sunday. But God wasn't finished yet and had another surprise in all this too... I hope to have a chance to share this sweet story someday too..."let everything that has breath Praise the Lord!!"

The picture with the baby is of Milchik and Ala, and then the one of Sue and I with the kids is with Arthuro and Cloudia. We just couldn't resist those precious ones! The couple side by side sitting down is Ivan and Anya.