WHBC Mission Trip Blog

The Bandura's Visit

2009-10-21T23:26:00.002-04:00

This fall, instead of some of the WHBC members going to Odessa, Ukraine, we brought Pastor Igor Bandura and his wife, Ann, to visit with our congregation. What a blessing for all of us. The visit was brief, but exciting for everyone. Plans are being explored for a construction team to go to Grace Baptist Church in Odessa to help with the completion of the Transition House for "graduates" of the Grace Mission Children's Shelter.

If you would like to see pictures of the Grace Black Sea Camp, check out www.odessagracebaptistcamp.com.ua
You'll be surprised at what this church can do to reach those around them with the good news of the Gospel.

"Graduates" From Grace Youth Shelter

2009-05-24T16:24:00.003-04:00

On a Monday night it was our pleasure to host some of the young men and women who have grown up in the Grace Baptist Church Shelter. It just happened to be the 9th anniversary of the opening of the home. We have known many of these children since they were six and seven years old. Three married couples came and one young man brought his fiancee. Their wedding is planned for mid-June. In the right foreground you can see little Melanie, our first "grandchild" from the Shelter. Her mother, Marina, grew up at Grace, met Alexi who works for the Grace Mission and was married at the church with her extended family at the Shelter.

The boys enjoyed the banquet style meal. Velodia is in the foreground. The third young man, Sergei, was conscripted into the Army when he was 18, has served his enlistment and is back helping with construction at the Black Sea Camp. He is one of the young men who would benefit from having a small apartment at the Transition House (see last Blog.) In fact the first four boys you see in profile here are in need of decent, supervised, clean housing that is safe and emotionally supporting. According to Ukrianian statistics, more than 85% of young men leaving state orphanages wind up in prison within three years of leaving. Grace Shelter has prepared these young men for a better life with spiritual and emotional support as well as the love of house parents and a congregation of "extended" family.

Christina, Velodia and Mischa (striped shirt)

The other side of the table shows more of the girls and some of the younger boys, ages 15-17. Our dream is to hold this dinner at the new Transition House when it is completed. For many of these young people, it is a treat to go to a restaurant and have a three hour dinner with family and friends. This restaurant was named "Robin Bobbin".

Third from bottom is a profile picture of Lydia, the house mother to these 32 young people over the last nine years.

Baby Melanie (pronounced May-lahn-ee) sitting on her Momma's lap. Marina grew up in Grace Shelter. Melanie is hugging a bunny that plays "Jesus Loves Me" in English. She loved to press the bunny's tummy to make it play, over and over and over and over and over and over......

John and K. J. Proctor with Christina (left) and Violetta (right). Christina is 18 and so is no longer at the Shelter. She is in great need of adult supervision and a constant loving support she had before. She is a prime candidate for the Transition House. Violetta is 15 and so has a few more years before she will have to leave us.

Grace Transition House

2009-05-24T15:39:00.002-04:00

The Grace Baptist Transition House rises over the concrete fence in the small village of Fontanka on the outskirts of Odessa. This house is being built as a shelter for the children over the age of 18 who have to leave the Shelter at Grace Baptist Church. At the age of 18 they must leave, but they are not prepared to live on their own. Here they can live with adult supervision while finishing college, trade school or obtaining their first jobs. The property was bought from a project abandoned by the regional government. At the time there was only a basement and the first floor.

This picture shows the size of the building with two adults in the foreground. Until the roof was needed, the congregation of Grace had provided all the materials and labor for the building. The stones were brought from the demolition of the old cabins at the Black Sea Camp, cleaned and used again. The interior is now being built out. Much work is being done on the first floor with teams coming from Great Britian, Wales and the United States to help the Ukrainian workers. Much is yet to be done to complete the work in the next two years.

Men from six churches in Wales came to work at the Transition House in late May. Some of them had been there before last September and had gone home telling others of the work they were doing. They have helped to hang sheetrock, done ceiling work, tiling, plumbing, electrical work and the supplement of construction supplies.

The Ukrainian government has ruled that the heating plant for the Tranisiton House must be placed in an area outside the main building. This photo shows the foundations dug for the new heating building. Bricks have been bought to begin work on the foundation work. Bids have been let for the electrical, water and heating plant construction. It will take funds that are not yet available, so prayers are requested for this need.

Grace Church Picnic at Black Sea Camp

2009-05-15T15:00:00.002-04:00

It is a wonderment having a church camp on the Black Sea with 80 to 100 yards of beach! On May 11, a national holiday in Ukraine, 300+ members of Grace Church went to the bazza and had a day of fellowship and fun. Three buses the size of the old Greyhounds were used as well as the four church vans and private cars.

Below are a few pictures from that day. In the morning there was singing and sharing. People divided into 8 groups with assigned versus from a passage of scripture. They discussed what faith, hope and love meant in their lives, came back to the whole group and shared (5 minutes) what they had discovered. Around 5pm everyone packed up and went home.

Peeling potatoes for 300 people.

This one is for Dave Bolt and the Media Team

Youth group meeting with Vadim Yakim, the Youth Pastor at Grace.

Small group breakout sessions.

Trying out the new stairs (see earlier Blog entry) to the upper camp area. This is the first time that Grace members had seen the new stairs.

Who forgot the volleyball net?

Sunday May 10, 2009

2009-05-12T14:32:00.002-04:00

May 9 is the Ukrainian equivalent to Memorial Day. It is a time to honor the veterans of the "great wars." Everyone who can afford to goes on holiday for a long weekend. On Sunday night, however, the children's choir provided an hour and a half of music and drama devoted to honoring Mother's and Grandmother's who stayed home and cared for family while the men were away at war.

Beginning with this shot of the front of Grace Church, here are some pictures from Sunday's services:

The sign over the door reads: Christ is Risen!

This photo shows the proximity of the Children's Shelter to the front door of the church. The children are very much a part of the church family and are reared in the shadow of the sanctuary.

This is about one third of their Adult Choir. Being a holiday Sunday they were low in number. We are bringing back a short video of this anthem in hopes we can play it for you on a Wednesday night.

The next series of pictures show a display and shots of individual paintings done by 6 to 10 year olds in the Grace Sunday School program. They are done in water color and are on display in the foyer of the church with each child's name and age.

I wish we could upload all of them with pictures of the young artists. This is a great tool for Bible Stories to be shared with the younger children.

Sometimes those 2 hour church services can just tire a fellow out! This is the son of Andrew and Julia Bandura, younger brother of Pastor Igor Bandura.

Children's Choir presenting their program on Sunday night. These children stayed on stage for over 2 hours! They presented songs, solos, duets, ensembles and dramatic readings and short plays. Pastor Igor Bandura is seen on stage right.

The youngest children from the Shelter singing and giving their memorized parts in the program.

Black Sea Camp

2009-05-08T07:33:00.002-04:00

Pastor Bandura, his wife Anya and their two youngest children, Emily age 4, and Timothy age 2, took us out to the Black Sea Camp to see the progress on the new shower house and the steps leading from the lower to the upper camp areas. The Walnut Hills Joshua Team who visited the camp in September 2008 can remember the climb up the hill.

The new steps were designed by a landscaper from Lancaster, PA. He and several of the young men who were raised in the Grace Shelter dug out the areas with shovels. Then using wheel barrows, buckets, shovels and hand tools, they completed what you will see in the following pictures. Anya's idea is to plant Hosta and other ground holding plants along the sides of the walkway when the hand rail is installed and a future "dream" is to have a wooden deck with benches half-way up the hill for a place to rest and to have wonderful views of the Black Sea.

This summer there will be between 700 and 800 youth and adults using the camp. One session will be for a ministry to the blind and sight impaired. This mission will pay only for the food that is eaten during the camp session and Grace will cover all the rest of the costs to provide an outreach to this segment of their community in need. For many it will be their first chance to have a "vacation" and to go to the beach.

Right now there are no more construction teams scheduled to come and work this summer. One is slated for September. What could each of us do if we came to work and help? There are various jobs from painting to planting, tiling to tearing down, helping to healing. Pray about what you could be doing to assist the work.

Enjoy the photos

This view allows you to see the height of the "hill" from the lower camp area up to the top level. The stairs are in a series with chat walkways between them. Care has to be taken for the drainage of rain down the side of the hill and the erosion of the soil. It was determined that this style of construction would hold better than poured concrete that had to be secured with rebar. You can see the space on each side of the stairs where Anya wishes to plant flowers and hosta.

Mr. Gow the master planner / landscaper who designed the stairs. He came with a team from SEND International to do the construction work this week. You can see one of the wheelbarrows in the picture that they have modified on the front to be able to carry it up the stairs when filled with dirt or chat. (Any volunteers?) Also in the picture are Anya (Ann) Bandura and the side of Pastor Igor Bandura. In the background are the concrete steps to some other cabins and construction debris from the new shower house.

Look closely at this picture and you can see Sergei and Misha carrying a wheelbarrow full of dirt up a section of the stairs to the upper area of the construction site!

View of construction method. You can see how they dug out the dirt to make the path wider for the stairs.

Sergei (seated) and Dima work to smooth the dirt and chat in each step. They are doing this with a piece of lumber, a shovel and their hands. Both young men grew up as orphans in the Grace Church Shelter. Sergei was conscripted into the Army at 18 and Dima went to the Art Institute. Now they are both 22 and working in their spare time to help the church. Dima also serves as a translator for English crews.

Close up of Sergei and Misha carrying the load of chat down the steps from the upper camp to dump into the steps. Note that Misha is not one of the younger men!

To the right is an exterior view of the new shower house under construction. The exterior will be covered with stucco when completed. The team from SEND International laid ceramic tile on the floors and walls of the men's and women's sides of the showers and of the toilet areas.

Construction area outside of sleeping cabin and across from the new shower house. Concrete steps in background lead up to another level of (yellow) sleeping cabins

John Proctor caught in sudden rain blown in from Black Sea, standing in front of the old kitchen shed used before the new cafeteria and kitchen were built.

Children's Shelter Holiday

2009-05-06T07:46:00.002-04:00

Taking advantage of being out of school on a Monday holiday, we took some of the children from the Grace Baptist Shelter on a boat ride of the Odessa Harbor, to lunch at a Ukrainian cafeteria and then on to ice skating for the older children. Here are some pictures of the day.

These children are our newest "family". The eldest girl, Melanie, is the daughter of the Grace Church houseparents for the other five children. They range in age from 2 to 6. They were sent to us from a regional orphanage. In the background you can see the loading gantries in the Port of Odessa. The sculpture behind them depicts a mother and child watching the Black Sea for the return of her sailor husband.

John Proctor with Sasha, Dima (front) and Bogdan on the boat. Apartment buildings of downtown Odessa in background. The boys had a great time going from level to level on the boat watching the waves with Sasha in hot pursuit to keep them from going overboard.

Peter Dovbeya, Shelter Director and one of three house "fathers" holding Kolya. This little boy, now almost 5, did not speak for the first three years of his life. Through work at the Shelter and then with his adoptive parents (who also adopted his two older brothers and older sister), he now jabbers all the time. He is a loving child. His adoptive Father is in the background of the picture.

Rodick, 16, has been with us since he was six years old. He is helping to drive the van for Peter. He is such a great young man. Our prayer is that funds will be found to provide scholarships for the boys who wish to continue their education after high school. We also pray for the completion of the Transition House where the kids can go when they become 18. By Ukrainian law, they must leave the Church Shelter at that time. Some of them continue to work at the church which gives them a little extra time. Some of the are conscripted into the Army if they are not continuing school. Statistics for the girls is not as good. 70% will have a baby by the time they are 19, most leaving government orphanages will become prostitues if no one helps them find their way in life.

I am sorry but I cannot remember this little girl's name. She is almost 3 with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. She came to the Grace Shelter a year ago from a state agency. Her backpack was a little fuzzy dog that she kept pulling around and petting all the time. We can't tell you how well behaved these children were on the boat. It was a thrill to be with them even if it was a tad cold!

Three of our older girls on the boat ride. From left to right are Natasha, Victoria and Violetta. They will be leaving us within another 2 years so we are truly anxious to get the Tranistion House completed for them to live in with Peter and Lydia as houseparents. In the background between Vicka and Violetta is the profile of Alexie who purchases the food for the Shelter Kitchen and the Black Sea Camp.

Vanya (Ehvahn/John) resting from ice skating. This young boy, age 12, has a wonderful singing voice. Music lessons are an added value for the children when money can be found. Vanya sings in the church children's choir and does many of the solos for the group.

An attempt to get at least half of the group quiet on the ice without sliding all over each other. In the middle of the front row is Svetlana, who has worked at the Grace Church Shelter since it began. Her two daughters are on the second row to her right behind Bogdan, who appears to be biting her elbow but was actually trying to hold her upright!

Vova, Sasha and Bogdan race by the camera. Vova and Sasha are older brothers to little Kolya shown in the picture with Peter. (He's the little boy who didn't speak for three years.) These children endured much before being "rescued" by the Grace ministry. Bogdan is the little boy who was sold to the gypsies by his mother in exchange for drugs. A woman from Grace learned of this and brought him to the Shelter to save his life. He was 7 at the time.

This is Dennis. He is 16 now. When we first saw him he was six and so small he didn't even come over the top of the kitchen table. He had lost his 2 front teeth and had ears like barn doors. We fell in love with him when he came up to recite his Bible memory verses for us. Soon he'll have to leave the Shelter and find his way in life if funds cannot be found to complete the Transition House within the next 16 months.

Natasha teaching Vicka to skate on her own. Most of the kids caught on quickly having skated on the streets or on rollerblades. We had no accidents, but some sore body parts when the day was over.

Tere and Dan Hall

2009-05-06T05:45:00.002-04:00

Many of you remember Dan, Tere, Philip and Elizabeth Hall while they were with us at Walnut Hills. We were blessed to share a meal at their home in Vienna, Austria on our connection to Odessa. Phillip will complete high school at the International School in Vienna next year. He plays on the varsity baseball team. Elizabeth is in the 8th grade and is on the traveling volleyball team. They will be stationed in Vienna through 2012 but will be back in Williamsburg for a visit in July of this year. They are looking forward to seeing each of you then.

Pictures from Grace Baptist Church

2009-05-06T05:33:00.002-04:00

Here are a couple of pictures of the front of Grace Baptist Church. You can see the banners that were placed for Easter. The one on the left reads, "Christ is Risen". The one on the right reads "He is Risen Indeed." This is at the end of the Sunday morning service so you see the Choir leaving the podium. Note that the long white table set for the Lord's Supper. WHBC presented the cloth to Grace during the Joshua Team visit. They also serve the Lord's Supper on Sunday night for those who were not in the morning service. Instead of passing the plate and cup, congregants come forward as we do on Christmas Eve.

The screen on the right side of the church ceiling is to projec the words to the hymns and songs. Many hymns were never published in book form, or the books only contain the words and not the music scores. Because of the few hymnals available in the beginning of Perestroika, most churches use screens to project the songs.

Choir Trip to Belarussia

2009-05-05T15:16:00.002-04:00

When we first arrived Pastor Bandura and his wife, Anya, were on a choir trip with the Youth Choir and Youth Minister, Vadim Yakim. The drive from Odessa to their destination was to take over 12 hours, so they decided to leave at 7:30 pm on Thursday night. Driving in teams they made the Ukraine border in good time only to be detained there for 4 hours. Upon crossing the border (a matter of 50 feet) they were detained on the other side for 2 hours. It seems their passports are not barcoded and so the border guards had to type, with one finger, each person's identification information and wait for the response from Kiev. Then, on the opposite side, they endured this again. So now you know why the first Russian word they taught John in 1990 was the word for Patience! The group returned home at 8pm on Monday after being on the road since 2:30am - and these are not super highways either. They were in great spirits.

While they were away John and I got the joy of taking 29 of the children from Grace Shelter and 8 adults out for the holiday. First we went on a boat tour of the Odessa Harbor, then we ate lunch at a Ukrainian cafeteria called the Zharky Parky. After lunch the 2 to 5 year olds went home to nap and we took the rest of the older kids to the ice skating rink for two hours. No...we didn't skate, but did take wonderful pictures we hope to upload now that the Internet connection is on in our apartment. We usually go to the water park to swim but it is too cold now for the pools to open. The amusement park is moving from one location to the other, so that was ruled out this year, too. However, we thought the Director of the Shelter was clever in coming up with something the children have not been able to do for quite a while and they had a great time.

Tonight we attended a Bible Study class. I think I understood about 20 words out of the hour since everyone spoke so fast. However, we had our English/Russian Bible with us and were able to find the text they were studying which was Hebrews Chapter 9. John "gave greetings" to the group of 42 from Walnut Hills Baptist Church and Dr. Neal. They all spoke well of the Joshua Team's visit last September and want everyone to come back to visit. At the end we all stood an prayed for each church.

Please be in prayer for our Brothers and Sisters here. The worldwide economic situation has hit them hard, too. They also have family in the US and several have told us that their family members have lost jobs and homes in the States, so that support has also impacted them.

Special note to John Thompson: On Sunday the choir sang, "In the Name of Jesus" and it was a fantastic arrangement from the music the Team brought last fall. The harmony and phrasing was perfect even though the words are much longer than ours! We wish we had recorded it for our choir to hear it sung in another language. It made us realize just how beautiful that piece of music is to the heart.

Stay tuned.......

News from Odessa

2009-05-04T13:43:00.002-04:00

Greetings from Grace Baptist Church in Odessa, Ukriane. John and I arrived safely on May 1 and have been on the run ever since. We had a bit of a shock on the stop coming over when we received an email stating that Austrian Air had cancelled one of our (many) flights. As it turned out it was for the latter part of May and they rebooked us immediately. Nothing like being in the middle of an international flight and not knowing which leg of the journey just dropped from the itinerary. God is good. We did have one bag inspected at Customs this year in Odessa. It seems they are now questioning each passenger and looking in at least one bag. This is a change from years past. They did look in the bag containing the gifts for the Children's Shelter, but apparently deemed it now worth asking for any "donations" to get it through. Again...God is good

Returning to Grace Baptist

2009-04-15T13:58:00.003-04:00

At the end of April, John and K. J. Proctor will be returning to Grace Baptist Church, Odessa, Ukraine for the 14th year. There is more going on between the two churches than one might imagine. Allan Wright recently composed six arrangements for the Grace Youth Orchestra. These compositions will be performed for their Easter on April 19. Keep tuned to this blog to find out what is happening during the month of May in Ukraine missions!

More Pictures from Odessa Ukraine Trip

2008-10-05T16:50:00.003-04:00

Senior Pastor Igor Bandura and his wife, Anya. They have four children: Daniel, 11; Irinia, 8; Emilia, 3 and Timothy, 16 months.

Dr. Tony Neal, left, with Pastor Igor as they look over the Harvest Sunday decorations at Grace Baptist Church, Odessa, Ukraine.

Checking out the apple orchard. Pictured are Terri Bolt and Gail Jenner. Note the plastic bags tied around the feet to protect from the mud! After four and a half years of very hard labor, the orchard produced apples (2 varieties), pears, and apricots this year. A refrigerated holding room in the barn is under construction so they can store the apples and sell them during the winter for a better price. The apples are absolutely delicious!

It was a cold and windy day when we visited Grace Farm as you can see from this picture. From left to right, Gail Jenner, Allan and Pat Wright, Pastor Igor Bandura and a sliver of Valarie Pusanov, the Farm Director. We were very impressed with the greenhouse and the grain operation. This year they planted 5 tons of wheat and harvested 95 tons. They also harvested 5 tons of barley.

Igor Kucher, Professor at the Odessa Baptist Theological Seminary, explains the history of the Catacombs of Odessa to the Joshua Team. The Catacombs were used by Ukrianian partisans during WWII during the occupation of Nazi troops. With Mr. Kucher are Danner and Tony Neal.

This Sunday in Worship, Allan Wright shared with you about the children at the Shelter singing for us. Pictured here are Vanya (left) and Bogdan who sang a duet for us. Both boys are 11 years old. Vanya has been with the Shelter since he was very small. Bogdan came to us about 4 years ago after his mother tried to sell him to Spanish gypsies for drugs. A woman who is a member of Grace Church heard about this and brought him immediately to the Church for safety. We do not know all of the children's stories. Some come to the church through government agencies and some are found abandoned on the streets or in train stations. Grace Church provides for their health, education, and spiritual upbringing. The children live in a family environment and are loved greatly.

Joshua Team Arrives Home / Harvest Sunday Pics

2008-10-04T09:21:00.006-04:00

These two children came out onto the dias at the beginning of the Harvest Day service and introduced the worship service. You can see to the right a portion of the decorations for the service and we'll share more and more pictures with you as they are downloaded!

Members of the First Choir with Music Minister Daniel Terenko directing, during Harvest Sunday service.

Below is Dr. Neal warming his hands over the fire. The flames are real; however, the fish were!

The creativity of the decorating team was fantastic. Every where we looked there were wonderful ideas and presentations. The pictures don't do them justice.

We would like to give a BIG Thank You to Dick Wade for coming to pick up the Joshua Team in the WHBC van. It was great to see him outside the Customs Hall at Dulles holding up his WHBC sign! Another Thank You to Carol Bennett for her assistance in acquiring our tickets for this trip. She was a great help in finding us the lowest cost tickets on the best connection to Odessa, Ukraine. As the saying goes...you can't get there from here...especially on a direct flight.

We also would like to thank all of you who gave gifts of requested items and those who gave to help defray the cost of the trip. We were able to leave funds with Grace to help cover the expenses of the 2 or 3 vans they used to take us around the city and out to their ministries as well as cover some of the food cost for feeding eight people 3 times a day.

The Team cannot say enough about the generosity and hospitality that we experienced on this trip. Allan and Pat Wright will be sharing their personal experiences with WHBC this Sunday and on October 12, Gail Jenner and Danner Neal will share their insights. Please be patient as we download pictures and get our time clocks back into sync. We have much to share with you and wish to give our best efforts to convey "heart" messages. It will be very difficult to put into words. We have had some life changing and heart altering experiences these past 10 days.

The church was decorated with hay bales, bird houses, all of the crops that were harvested from the Grace Farm and other abundance of God's mercy.

This shot is an attempt to show you the creative decor at the top of the display...a crane on a nest, as well as "trees" growing apples. The young couple to the lower right are the son and daughter-in-law of Ira and Vova Balaban, hosts to the Wrights, Gail Jenner and Terri Bolt. They are expecting their first child in early spring 2009. Also in the picture are members of the Youth (ages 16-28) Group as Pat Wright shared the letters from our W&M students. You can also see Terri Bolt in the far left corner as she videos the church and Youth.

There was a bumper crop of apples this year at Grace Farm. We all agreed that they were some of the best apples we have ever eaten!

Leaving Friends

2008-10-01T15:57:00.002-04:00

The Team arrived in Vienna, Austria today at 4:00 pm. Some of us napped on the plane and some of us reviewed or wrote/journaled about the week.

It was a very emotional good-bye for both groups: our Joshua Team and the leadership team of Grace Baptist. We came together at 11:45 am for lunch and fellowship. We shared stories and laughter. Vadim Yakim, the Youth Minister, shared the reaction/response of the Youth to the presentation (by Pat Wright) of the letters from the William & Mary Sunday School class. Then when it was time to leave, we had group pictures on the steps of Grace and began the process of getting bags into vans for the trip to the Airport. The surprising thing I think for us was the level of emotion from our host families and from the church leaders we interacted with this week. We expected to be a little sad at leaving, but didn't expect the tears, hugs and expressions of love from many of the others with whom we had worked during these six days. It was apparent that connections had been made when one of the Deacons shared that his heart was "crying". Lifelong connections and friendships have been made in this short time together.

A Joshua Team trip is different than most mission trips. You don't go to "do" any particular project. You go to listen, learn, share, open yourself to new ideas and thoughts, and understand new concepts and ideas. In many ways it is much harder than physical labor. The two teams had many hours of discussion and prayer together. We learned that our two Churches are very much alike, even though we may be in different growth phases. We learned to listen across cultural lines and to take the time to speak with and through a translator when needed. Even that didn't slow the exchange of faith and ministry ideas.

We look forward to seeing you soon and telling you some of our "heart stories." Soon there will be displays of more pictures than you can imagine as well as DVD's of their worship services and events.

Dick and Glenda Wade will be meeting Pat, Allan, Terri and Gail at Dulles Airport tomorrow to bring them back to Williamsburg. John and KJ will stay over in Northern Virginia and head home on Friday. Danner and Tony are staying in Vienna until Monday for a brief vacation.

God's blessings to you. Thank you so much for praying for the Team.

Preparing to Leave

2008-09-30T14:10:00.004-04:00

I'm going to begin Wednesday's post now because we will be very busy in the morning preparing to leave Odessa and Grace Church. It will not be easy for there have been many heart connections made this week.

As our meeting was ending today, your Joshua Team and the team from Grace began to share what the week has meant to them. The expressions were heartfelt and sincere. They thanked us for being so "open" with them in our discussions because they don't always feel that from some teams. They also thanked us for wanting to explore something new to both of us - the possibility of doing ministry work together. It is easy to make acquaintances and sometimes easy to make friendships, but relationships take work by both groups involved especially in the beginning stages. Sitting and talking over meals, over tea, at home in the evenings have helped to forge lasting bonds.

Pat and Allan Wright, Terri Bolt and Gail Jenner have been sharing this week with Ira and Vova Balaban, Grandma 1, Grandma 2 and Grandpa, as well as 8 year old Darina, Masha and her husband and baby Igor. Sounds like a crowded house; however, they will have to share with your all the laughter and love that revolves around this household. Pictures have been exchanged, email addresses swapped, but most of all is the sharing of knowledge that God's children are truly international, multi-lingual and full of faith!

Tony and Danner have fallen in love with the Bandura children: Daniel,10; Irina, 8; Emilia, 3 (going on 20), and Timothy, 16 months. The children have entertained them royally this week with games, boundless energy, drawings and hugs.

This Joshua Team has represented Walnut Hills Baptist Church very well. They have shared their faith and mission spirit and are preparing to share with you when we arrive back home. At the end of the Sunday service our Team presented, on your behalf, a gift to Grace Baptist Church of a beautiful white Communion Table Cloth. As we observe the Lord's Supper on the same Sunday of each month, it will serve as a reminder that we are one in the Spirit and one in the Lord.

Please pray for safe flights for us tomorrow from Odessa to Vienna, Austria and on Thursday from Vienna to Dulles.
KJP

Harvest Sunday at Grace

2008-09-30T01:40:00.004-04:00

Harvest Sunday is a big celebration in the Ukraine. We are bringing back pictures and hopefully a finished DVD of both services. The front of the sanctuary was decorated with fruit, foliage, wheelbarrows, trees and even a bird's nest complete with Pelican. Words cannot do justice! You will have to see the pictures.

We also wish we could describe the music and choirs. Sunday morning the First Choir presented excerpts from the Psalms interspersed with the sermons (3) and the readings. On Sunday night the Youth Choir (ages 13 - 28) joined with the Teen Choir (12-17) and the Youth Orchestra to present the choir, solo and ensemble work. I didn't get a complete count but there were 35+ in the combined choirs. All we need to tell you is that we all used up our Kleenex ration for the week on one day!

It would be impossible to share all of the energy and joy that is being shared with us. We are learning about commitment to service in the Lord's work in a whole new aspect.

On Monday we went out to the Black Sea Camp with the leadership and staff of Grace. After touring the camp and learning about the plans for expanding ministry there, we broke into small groups and met one-on-one with a ministry leader and a translator. For example: Pat Wright met with Daniel Terenko, the Minister of Music; Danner Neal met with Olyissa, the Grace Church attorney and responsible head of the Children's Shelter; Gail Jenner met with the leader of small group Bible Studies and the Sunday School Director; Allan Wright met with the head of construction for the Camp; John Proctor met with Peter and Lydia to discuss the Tranistion House (place where the Shelter Children can go after they are 18 and must leave the Grace Shelter); Terri Bolt met with the Grace Youth Pastor about Youth Group ministry; KJ met with Valerie Pusanov about the Farm. Tony has spent many hours with Pastor Igor Bandura and other pastors here.

We spent almost 2 hours together, sharing about the work at both churches, learning how we are very much alike in our strengths and weaknesses, and also learning how we can be of service to one another. The Joshua Team came away with many pages of notes on new insights into ministry...they have taught us much.

This has been an awesome and overwhelming experience in many ways. Our dilemma is how to fully express to you what we have seen, heard and learned in the past week. Our God is so good and He is evidently at work here, too.

This morning Tony, John and Allan were up at 6:30 to attend the men's Prayer Time. They shared the cards written by the WHBC Men's Wednesday Morning Prayer Group with them.

We have also given your gifts to the Children's Shelter (shirts, CD's, hair decorations, vitamins, etc.) I think Gail and Terri got pictures of the boys in their T-shirts, which in Russian are called, "footballkies". The WHBC VBS materials were given to Natasha, the Grace Children's Sunday School Director and she went over every piece of paper in the package with me. We will be meeting with Dr. Yura Oceptchuk to deliver the medical supplies.

Today we are driving out to the village of Ilyinka to see the small mission church there. We are taking some of the Crayons and materials to teach the children as well as the eye glasses for the older women of the village. The young missionary pastor, Vladick Myrmyr, will not be able to go with us today. His Grandmother died yesterday just three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. Please keep Vladick, Leila and their boys, Kirill and Timothy, in your prayers.

After Ilyinka we will travel to the Odessa Baptist Theological Seminary for a short tour and to meet with the professors who also serve at Grace Baptist. In the afternoon, we will have our last Joshua Team meeting and then meet with Pastor Bandura and the leadership of Grace to pray together about what we have all learned this week.

As the trip winds down we will tell you that we are tired physically from all the activity, but our hearts and spirits are not tired in the least. We are writing in our Journals (even those of us who never keep one), trying to preserve the memories and things to share with each of you.

God be praised. We are truly in awe of the moving of the Holy Spirit and the outreach of one church to its community. In a country where there is so little, how can it be that there is so much being done? With the Holy Spirit....nothing is impossible!

Greetings From Your Joshua Team

2008-09-27T09:26:00.001-04:00

Dear Friends,

We have been unable to blog since the Internet was not "communicating" properly here in Odessa.

Here is our story so far:

We arrived in Odessa with no problems. Of course with the filling out of all the forms our Team was some of the last people through the Customs Stations with our passports. Then we retrieved our bags (all 20 of them) and headed to the X-ray machines. This is the part where we were most concerned! However, as we began to place our bags on the belt and walk through the Scanner, we realized that the Inspector was not watching the screen. He and the 2 other Inspectors were concerned with the luggage of two Ukrainian women. The Inspectors were saying that they couldn't bring some item into the country. There was much yelling, crying and general mayhem, which allowed us to get our bags and walk through without any being checked. Thanks to the diverson, all of the medicines, medical supplies and gifts came through with no problems. We knew you were praying for us, but we didn't know how God would work this time. Each time is so very different...this time it was an hysterical young woman. It is always a surprise!

On the way over we learned that one host family had a medical emergency and that the Wrights, Gail Jenner and Terri Bolt would all be staying with one couple. We were a little concerned at first that this might put a burden on the Balaban family; however, it has been a great blessing. They are having a wonderful experience with the extended Balaban family of 4 generations in one home!

Tony and Danner Neal and the Proctors are being hosted by Pastor Igor Bandura and his wife, Anne. I think Danner is going to have a hard time leaving the Bandura children. They have stolen her hearts.

The Joshua Team has visited 2 of the ministries of Grace so far: the Farm/Orchard and the Transition House construction site. At the farm we learned that they harvested 90 tons of wheat and 10 tons of barley this year. We watched them bag some of the grain before going out to pick our own apples and sample some of the fruit grown this year.

A blessing of visiting the Transition House was getting to meet a team of 13 men from Wales who were at the house installing ceilings on the first floor. I'm going to let Allan Wright share his stories of the visit with you! Asked him how things are built in 5 days when you see him. This group of 13 men came from a church of only 22 members! Their pastor had met Igor while they were both in Ireland studying and he decided his church should come and help with the build. Since they only have 22 members, he saw this as an opportunity to invite some skilled laborers who were not members of the church to come with them and see how Christians assist each other. They were a laughing, happy group who were excited about the progress they had made in just one week. They were open to sharing with us how they had felt God's call to come and work. It was a joy to be in their presence. We may never meet again this side of Heaven, however, those men made quite an impression on all of us.

The Team has also met with one Prayer Group and we have had our first meeting with some of the church leaders to discuss our plans for this week. We have learned that they have many of the same challenges we have in our ministeries; however, we have learned they have a growing age group of 18 to 30. It's very exciting and almost too much to write about here.Tomorrow is Harvest Sunday - a big event in the life of the church. I am going to try to upload some pictures of the decorations for the front of the church. It's simply amazing what they are doing. Both morning and evening services will be videod so we hope to bring the DVDs back with us.

On Monday we will spend the day at the Black Sea Camp/Conference Center with the staff and key church leaders. It will give us an opportunity to meet in small group sessions to talk about our key strengths and our key challenges as churches so we can seek how God might lead us to work together in ministry.I wish you could talk with Gail, Terri, Danner, Allan, Tony and John right now. Each has their unique perspective on what they have seen. Each has a joy and excitement about what God has shared with them and each of us is awed by what can be done for the Kingdom with so little.

God bless each of you and may He prepare your hearts for service beyond the walls of Walnut Hills.

Mission Team Arrives in Vienna, Austria

2008-09-24T15:08:00.002-04:00

Our Joshua Team has arrived in Vienna, Austria after a most pleasant trip. Thanks be to our Lord. We will be going to Odessa tomorrow morning, arriving in mid-afternoon. We will meet our host families at Grace and spend the day getting acquainted.

Please be in prayer for Vicka Terenko, the 15 year old daughter of Daniel and Olga Terenko. She underwent emergency surgery for her appendix yesterday. Daniel is the Minister of Music at Grace. He and Olga were to be the host family for Pat and Allan Wright, so the Wrights will now be hosted by the Balaban family - who are also hosting Terri Bolt and Gail Jenner. Our motto is now...Be Flexible!

We'll check back in with you when we arrive in Odessa. We just wanted to let everyone know that we have gotten this far safely.

JOSHUA TEAM TO GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH

2008-09-13T13:59:00.002-04:00

Time is getting short and the Joshua Team is excited about their upcoming trip to visit Grace Baptist Church in Odessa, Ukraine. Pastor Igor Bandura was a guest in our church in Feburary 2008 spending a week visiting and meeting our congregation. Our two churches are very similar. We are both in growing, thriving areas that have many tourists, multi-ethnic groups, universities, and young families in need of support and outreach. Our goal for this trip is to learn from them and to share our work here in Williamsburg. Our hope is that the two churches will find ways in which we can serve and honor God together. Grace has 7 major outreach programs now, which are sustained with limitied funds. We are eager to learn about their approach to family ministry.

Please be in prayer for the Team as they travel and seek God's wisdom. The members of the Team are: Patricia and Allan Wright, Terri Bolt, Gail Jenner, Danner and Dr. Tony Neal (our Senior Pastor) and John and K. J. Proctor

Terri is back home - Gustav slideshow

2008-09-08T22:38:00.002-04:00

Terri arrived in West Point tonight around 9:15 with the team from Gloucester. VBMB has placed a Mass Feeding Unit slideshow online. Check it out.

http://www.vbmb.org/media/Slideshows/080829_Hurricane-Gustav/index.htm

Terri is on the way home

2008-09-08T00:10:00.002-04:00

Terri's team is on the way home. She should be in Gloucester tomorrow evening. They have an 8-hour drive today to Montgomery, AL and a 12-hour drive tomorrow.

Her site was visited by the wife of Louisianna govenor Bobby Jindal today. Terri was interviewed as part of the visit. If it shows up online I'll add a link.

Dave

Saturday update

2008-09-06T22:38:00.003-04:00

The VBMB team provided 4,150 meals for lunch today and 5,250 meals for dinner. The lunch menu was Beef Stew with corn and potatoes, sliced bread, and fruit cocktail. The dinner menu was Chicken with dumplins, peas, apple sauce and bread.

Each morning the team has a devotion led by one of the crisis care chaplains. Terri will lead the devotion of Sunday morning. At this point in time, Terri is planning to return to VA on Sunday/Monday. They are expecting about 15 replacement folks which is about 25% of the total team on site. Additional volunteers are needed.

The weather has been overcast and cooler and tonight electric power was restored to the church hosting the team. Word is spreading that some of the shelters are shutting down but schools will remain closed. Some folks may remain in shelters instead of returning to coastal Louisiana due to the potential impact of Hurricane Ike.

The kitchen has been busy

2008-09-06T15:44:00.003-04:00

I talked with Terri late last night. They have 9 Red Cross ERVs assigned to their site plus some walk-in food service as well. Yesterday they made approximately 6000 meals. Today's plan was 4,000 meals for lunch and 4,500 meals for dinner.

There is still no power in the Baton Rouge, LA area and the days have been very long for the team. The weather has cooled off some which is helping.

Update from the VBMB DR site

2008-09-05T23:00:00.002-04:00

The following update is from the VBMB Disaster Relief web site update for Gustav relief.

A VBMB Disaster Relief Mass Feeding Unit is now in service in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, being operated in partnership with the American Red Cross (ARC). Nine ARC Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) are assigned to the unit. These ERVs fed box lunches last night, with one ERV driver reporting that she emptied her ERV (625 meals) in one city block. People were lined up and traffic was blocking the street to get these meals and water.

Beginning today, hot meals will be available as VBMB Feeding Unit volunteers are preparing 5000 meals to be delivered in the community by the ERVs. It is likely that the meal count will increase, maybe double, for the next few days. Feeding operations will continue until power is restored to the area.

Clean Up Recovery volunteers are cutting trees and removing debris. Clean Up Recovery operations are scheduled to end after Saturday September 6.

Crisis Care Chaplains are making visits, seeking to address the emotional and spiritual needs of the storm’s victims.

Radio Communications volunteers are staffing the Field Command Unit, making email correspondence possible via satellite phone and ham radio.

On Sunday September 7, new teams of Feeding Unit volunteers and Crisis Care Chaplains will relieve those currently serving.

The Class A Feeding Unit that had been deployed to an American Red Cross shelter in Kingsport, Tennessee, ended operations today.