Tuesday, September 1, 2009

August 2009 Update - Bila Tserkva, Ukraine

Dominic, Greg, Edna, and Joshua
Ukrainian Independence Day on August 24th in Kyiv.

August has been a month of transition for us as we readjusted to life back home in Ukraine. It was nice to jump right back into things and begin teaching through the book of James at church. We have been so blessed by the welcome we have received by all of our friends and neighbors. You can read about what we came home to by clicking HERE.

The only bad thing that happened since we've been back is that Joshua fell on some steps and chipped his front tooth. Thankfully we found a good dentist and had his tooth fixed. Click HERE to see Joshua's trip to the dentist.

We are especially excited about a Children's Festival we have planned for September 5th. A group of about nine people from the Pryluky Calvary Chapel are planning to help us put the finishing touches on our playground restoration project and then hold the festival. It will be a chance for us to really reach out to the children of the neighborhood sharing the Gospel and giving them some solid Bible teaching while having fun at the same time. In anticipation of this upcoming event, we brought some American made swings back with us and put them on the playground. They were an instant hit as you can see by clicking HERE.

Pink
Dasha and Masha came to our door in these wigs one day (I'm still not sure why).

It seems to us that the kids have all grown since we were gone. Some things have changed, but most things are just the way we left them. The most encouraging change we have seen is that gambling was made illegal while we were gone. You couldn't walk down a street without seeing several competing gambling establishments with blinding neon and flashing lights. Now they are either boarded up or converted to something else. So many people were affected by gambling addictions, so it's a step in the right direction.

Death to Gambling
Gambling halls have all closed.

Cutting Grass
Some things haven't changed. No gasoline or electric powered weed whackers where we live, just hard work.

Since the weather has been nice this month, we decided to go on a family camp out across the river in the forest one afternoon. Edna and Dominic opted to stay home so it was just me and Joshua. We had a good time, but were plagued by energetic squirrels racing around our tent while we were attempting to sleep. Joshua liked the part where he could build camp fires though.



Joshua also had the opportunity to stay with Maxime in the village for two days. He took a camera with him and brought back the photos for us to enjoy. Maxime (pronounced Mahk-seem and correctly transliterated into English as "Maksym"), is still going to church with us, but his behavior is a constant struggle. He suffers from poor nutrition, learning disorders, and most likely fetal alcohol syndrome. He is a year older than Joshua, but noticeably smaller. Please keep him in prayer.

Maxime Chasing a Calf
Maxime chasing after a calf in the village. (Photo by Joshua)

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." - Romans 10:17

"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth." - John Wesley

Нехай Бог Благословить Україну
(Let God Bless Ukraine)


Prayer Requests

• That the Children's Festival in September would be successful and bless the children.
• That God would continue to lead us and take us in the direction He wants us to go.
That we would be able to raise adequate financial support according to God's will.
• For Edna's health problems and increasing medical costs.
• Pray that Maxime would continue to grow in Christ and that nothing would hinder him from going to church on Sunday.
• Pray that homeschooling with the boys will go smoothly.
For continued friendships that lead to Christ being made known as a personal Savior.

Support can be sent to:
Calvary SLO
P.O. Box 1463
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
With an attached note: "For Greg and Edna Silva"


In Christ,
Greg, Edna, Dominic, and Joshua

Our blog: On Second Thought
Our photos: We Desire Him



To see updates for previous months, please click the link below "Older Posts"