Day 16 - 18: Departure

Early in the morning our team got up to prepare to leave. We moved our luggages downstair and ate our last breakfast at HOM before departing. The sun was just peeking through the clouds...

As we loaded the van with the luggages the kids started to come out for our final farewell...

There was lots of hugs and tears...

Pastor Kenny saying good bye to his Godchild :)

And we were off to the border. Thankfully the line wasn't very long as we crossed and we made it through rather quickly...

But the mission trip wasn't done yet! God has something else to show us on our way to Budapest. As we were driving toward Budapest, a mercedes behind us kept flashing his beam at our van. Vasya thought maybe something was wrong with the van so he pulled over and check. It turns out the driver behind us needed help getting to Czech Republic through Hungary/Budapest. Vasya was happy to lead the way to Budapest as the Mercedes followed. We stopped a few times for breaks and as they chatted they found out the driver was the head surgeon specializing in bones in their region. He knew the doctors that took care of the HOM kids with bone issues and he also offered to look at those kids himself!! What are the chances?! How awesome is our God!!!

We arrived in Budapest in the early afternoon and after we checked in to our hotel we took a tour of the Castle district...

... Waiting for a few of the ladies at the souvenir shops...

At night we had our traditional team dinner at the chinese restaurant. We decided to try their 6 person combo...

We were surprise by the size of the dish...

Day 17 was the beginning of the epic journey home. After we checked in and got to our gate for our flight from Budapest to Frankfurt we found out our flight was delayed due to a thunderstorm, or atleast that's what we were told. We later found out there was a strike going on at the airport by the air traffic controllers and it may continued the next morning, this got us pretty worried. By the time we reached Frankfurt our layover time was down to 9 min. Eventhough we could see our next flight at the gate the agent won't let us through so we had to find the Luthfansa ticket agent to rebook our flight... As we got to the airline ticket area we found hundreds of people waiting to do the same thing. We took a number, #538, and waited... When we arrived they were serving #413 and we were told it will be about 2 hrs. So we waited and waited... from 2PM to 8PM we waited, we even played a few games. At about 8PM we finally got the see an agent and was rebooked for the next morning at 9:25AM, so a night in Frankfurt it is!

The next morning we found out the strike was averted!! Thank God!! As we waited at our gate we were treated to live Cuban music by a group of travellers!! What a way to start the morning!!!

The team landed back home at 11:25AM and as we headed home in our separate ways we thank God for letting us be part of His work. Seeing Him work in ways we can't imagine from day 1 to the last day. There's still much to do in Ukraine, and we pray we can continue to be part of His work there for many years to come!

Day 15: Our last full day at HOM

Day 15 marked our last full day in Ukraine. It's a bittersweet day because we can't imagine saying good bye to the kids but we were also looking forward to the Talent night that will be coming up in the evening. We started the morning in the town center...As we passed by a giant map of the region on a wall Vasya gave us a overview of some of the places the children came from as well as various highlights of the region...

At the center of the square there was a large selection of children electric cars for rent...

Beside the square there was a bridge that span over the river that runs through the town...

As we tour the bridge we notice all these locks on the rails. Turns out couples in love would put that names on the lock, chain it to the rail and throw the keys into the river...

This specific lock was made by all the boys at the church in appreciation for the girls at the church. Quite sweet in deed!

As we passed by the Adidas store we bought HOM a EURO 2012 football, we know how much all of them loved football!!

We stopped off to enjoy a cup of cappuccino....

And take in a bit of the daily lives in this city...

In the afternoon we did a quick practice for the our Talent night presentation...

And spend as much time as we can with the kids!!

We started off the Talent night with some songs!

And off we go!!! We had singing presentations...

Sample of Oksana's hair braiding!!

Lillian played a piece by Yanni...

Vasyas' mom presented us with 2 amazing cakes! 2 country, 1 heart!!

Our team ate the Ukrainian cake that night, we left the Canadian one for them to eat!

Skits! Guess which Bible story this is...

Acrobatic!

... They still remember the recorder lesson taught by previous team!!!

And arts! Josef presented each of us with one!!

And then it was our team's turn...

Yes it is the Cupid shuffle :)

After our presentation we announced the People's choice for the bookmaking class and then we gave gifts to the staff and the children of HOM! Yup these are the gifts many of you have helped made during fellowship!!

After dinner all the kids went off with their gifts!! Some gave them away to younger kids because they wanted to "Give Happily to God" (one of the lesson taught in week 1's VBS camp!!!!)

Grace helping Vasya build one of the toys...

Timothy with a giant balloon!!

As the sun began to set we took more photos with the kids as some will have to go home soon...

... things go flying on to the roof...

Photos with Andrew and Mark!!

But before the night ended they made a nice camp fire for some songs and game!!!

It was a great worship time!!

And then we played this tunnel game, going around and around the campfire!!

Then the night ended. We hugged each of the children saying our good byes 'cause we weren't sure if we will see them in the morning. We were leaving the next day at 9:30AM and it was hard to say Good bye...

Throughout the past 2 weeks in Ukraine we witness how God has not only provided in terms of conditions and weathers but He was constantly at work in the lives of the Ukrainian. Through HOM, Norwegians, Americans, Canadians, and many more God was using every willing workers to fulfil His purpose in this country. His love, grace, and mercy can and do break through social, economical, and racial barriers. It's a huge reminder for myself that sometimes it's not about putting ourselves in the most favourable conditions in order to grow. On contrary a lot of times it is through challenging conditions that we find the all powerful God at work.

Stuck in Frankfurt

Our day began with a delayed flight out of Budapest to Frankfurt by about an hr + half. As we arrive in Frankfurt we are told the delay was because of a thunderstorm, but after we landed we realize we cannot make the connection to our flight to Calgary. After several runaround by different agent we found the ticket area for Lufthansa with hundreds of people waiting... We took our number... #538... The number at 2PM was around 413 or so.... During the 6 hrs of waiting we were intrigued by the number of people needing reconnections and then we heard rumor that its because there was a strike going on at the airport... But at long last at around 8PM our number was called and we got our flight rebooked the next morning at 9:25AM (arriving at 11:25AM/Tuesday). 

Our team is now residing at a hotel 15 min away from the airport, we are going to rest up and get to the airport bright and early at 7:45 or so just in case there is a strike... Please pray that we will make it back home tomorrow!!!

Night in Budapest

Our team is currently at Budapest. Tomorrow morning we will be getting on our flight to Frankfurt and then home to Calgary! Pray for a smooth transition home!

Good Byes...

As I write this post its 2AM here at HOM, we will be leaving in about 7 hours and I probably won't get to make another official post till I am home. I promise I will give a fuller update on Day 15, but in short on day 15 our team went out to the town centre, there was the talent night and also an amazing campfire time with all the kids & staff... Then we had to say good byes to some of the kids and friends here... A moment we all dreaded... But God willing we will be back to see them again.

As I look at the camp fires burning in the middle with the sparks drifting up to the starry night I am reminded that our lives are like these sparks, short lived, and quickly flickered away. Some of us may never see some of these children again, but like the bright stars over top, we set our hopes on something more constant, a final destination that won't flicker away; A place where we will never say good bye.

Day 14: Final day of Camp

And so here we are, on the final day of camp. It's hard to imagine 2 weeks has passed by so fast, as we started our last day of camp we sang through our songs one last time!

We review all the themes of the Peacemaker program!

And had the kids come up with a skit base on a random scenario...

The last skit was an interesting skit about 2 girls fighting over a boy :)

Yes the 2 girls are the youngest kids in our camp which made this skit even more humorous :)

Pastor Kenny working on a special banner :)

After the review we went outside for one last big game! DRIP DRIP DROP!!!

As the name of the game suggest, everyone gets wet.

By the time the game ended everyone was soaking wet! But what a beautiful day to play a water game!!

In the storybook station the kids present their book in the class, they had to practice this for the big presentation during lunch!

During lunch each of the skills group presented something. For the cooking class, they made lunch! Salad, stew, fries and cookies!!!

The fries took abit longer to baked and the crowd get restless!!! :D

Crystal and Grace introduce their cooking class and presented the food to everyone!

Stew...

The fries was extremely popular!!!

The cooks also enjoyed the meal!

Fries refill!!!!

During lunch the storybook group presented their books and everyone had a chance to vote for their favourite. We announced the winner the next day during the Talent show!!

Voting...

The sport group presented some Kung Fu!! Everyone wanted to learn that!!

We took a bit of break after the lunch and then back to the kitchen as we prepare our Canadian Dinner Night!!! I was in charge of the spaghetti... unfortunately I wasn't very good at that and wreck half the batch of spaghetti we had... Yup I knew it was going to be a long afternoon for me...

However the rest of the team fared much better!!

The chicken was on its way!

And Lillian wrap the salad rolls!

Noodles being seasoned...

... Then diaster struck... Yes that is an oven... Yes it has no door/cover on its oven... Yes we completely shattered the front glass of the oven all over the kitchen floor... Epic.

We quickly cleaned the mess up and got the tables and food ready!!

Everything was all set!!!

Thanks to our Head Chef Grace!

Everyone was super excited!!!

And then we tried our own medicine...

Grace also brought out some chilli soy sauce for everyone to try!!

Tonight was also Susan's last day here, so everyone say their farewell as she unite with another team heading back home.

Pastor Kenny thank everyone for an amazing 2 weeks. We are one family eventhough we are thousands of miles apart...

As we watched Susan say her good bye to the kids (she left at 6AM the next morning) our team also realize we will be experiencing this same emotion very soon... O how we hate good byes...

After we cleaned up the kitchen and the dishes, our team had to figure out what we were going to do for the talent show too... We made the best of our remaining energy (none left lol) and abilities and came up with...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Day 13: The adults are gone!!!!

On day 13 Grace and Pastor Kenny left with all the HOM staff for a full day retreat leaving the rest of the team, Susan, translators, and teen helpers to continue on the discipleship camp. We were also missing Erik and Aryrom as they were sick this week and were quarantined in a separate room. They had to wait till Friday before they were freed :)

Since they loved Pip, Squeak, and Wilbur so much we played it one more time that day!

At the storybook station the kids started to put their book together with the photos they took the day before.

During the afternoon we got the kids to make a surprise encouragement notes as well as their favourite moments for each of the teachers/staff.

... We also got the kids to sign our apron ;)

For dinner everyone including the cooks got a break as we ordered 25 pizzas!!!!

The kids loved it!!

... Adding hot sauce...

During the dinner we gave the staff the special notes the kids wrote for them!

I am sure these notes will be treasured for many years to come...

After dinner the kids decided to catch bees... ummm yes bees....

... And then we had an olympic gymnastic try out....

Everyone here is so flexible and strong...

Koala doing a skewer twist!

In the meantime Pastor Kenny played with chairs...

And got a new hair style.

As day 13 passed everyone realize our time here is running low... Lots of us had become very attached to many kids here, while a few of us has been very much enjoying playing soccer with the kids in the evening... I haven't done so much sports and outdoor activities in 2 weeks for a very long time...

Day 12 Part 3: Visitations

Our team really treasure our time visiting the children we saw last week at camp. Its something hard to imagine where these children live and the condition they live in. Today Volva took us to the rural area to visit the children.

Today we also got to visit Ugsland whom our team has nicknamed "Blue Boy" since he always had a blue jacket on.

As you can tell Ugsland is an energetic boy!

Susan had to chase him down for a photo...

One moment he's here...

... and the next he's about to jump out the window...

At the end of the visitation we visited one family whom we haven't met before, they lived in even worst condition then others we seen. Their house was across from the railway track so our team took a short walk through it...

Pastor Kenny suggested someone tried to lie down on the railroad. Susan accepted the challenge.

It's a bittersweet feeling as we ended our visitations, seeing the conditions these children are in can be heart breaking. Some we would love to see taken into HOM but we know there are so many children out here that needs that kind of help. We can only pray for more individual and organizations to step up to the plate and establish more homes like HOM.

Day 12 Part 2: Discipleship Camp

After lunch we started day 3 of the Discipleship camp!

The Peacemaker program...

It's another sunny hot day!!

After sitting down for an hour we got the kids out to the field to play Pip, Squeak, and Wilbur!! They loved the game!!

Crystal taught Kung Fu today at the sport station!

At the storybook station the kids got to take pictures for their book! We had them printed out that afternoon so they can use it in their book the next day.

... Wonder if you can guess which parable this scene came from :)

... and the cooking class baked cookies!

After the camp ended we quickly left for visitation!! It's a pack day for sure!!!

Day 12 Part 1: Roma Camp Day 2

Day 12 started off at the Roma settlement for their final morning event. As we arrive the kids were already expecting us.

Today we bought over 2 carpets, one was used right away as seating area for the kids. It really help in settling them down.

We notice how much they loved singing yesterday so we spend more time singing new songs and learning their songs too.

Today we continued on with the Samaritan woman story. A message on identity and how much God values them.

... the sun is shining bright and hot today...

We also had time for an altar call...

After the message we had a game on the carpet. A modified version of a freeze/statue game. During the game, the music helped keep them engaged!

Robyn checking to see who is moving...

After the game we handed out the God's Kingdom Photo card back to them! They were super excited about having their photo on a card! Even some of the adults wanted one...

Here's Victor, we can tell he's a natural leader. Great kid with lots of potentials!

We then passed out some colouring sheet for them to colour...

Everyone including the adults wanted to colour...

As we ended the day with lunch we waved farewell to them...

As Roma camp ended we quickly refocused on to our remaining tasks of the day, the discipleship camp and the visitations...

Day 11 Part 2: Discipleship Camp Day 2 and Family House!

First off this is going to be another massive post with lots of pictures :)After our Roma camp in the morning we started our 2nd day of the Discipleship camp. We added in a game between the peacemaker program and the skill lessons. Rock Paper Stone battle of the two teams...

The game took a very long time before we had a clear winner.

At our Bookmaking station the teams were finalizing their storyboards

And then we gave them some photo assignments to get them started with the cameras...

In the cooking class they made fries!

The fries were pretty popular!!

Volleyball was the game of the day in the sport station...

As we wrap up the afternoon the kids had to do a short skit on what they learned...

Snack time was fruity.

In the evening we were invited over to the family house where half the house was for some of the older kids along with a live in parent. The other half is where Vasya's family lived. The last time I came the house was still under construction!

On both side of the house there's a huge vegetable garden!

We arrived to the front (or back) yard to find the meats on the BBQ is nearly done!!

Pork and chicken, slowly bbq in flameless heat from charcoals. It taste as good as it look.

We took a tour of the kid's side of the house first. Extremely clean and neat rooms, both girls and boys!

The bed used to be higher I think...

This is Maxim's room...

He showed us many metals from various soccer tournaments...

We then took a short tour of Vasya's home, and as we move to his office area he told me to come in and take a look at something...

... It was his collections of soviet cameras!!!! I hung around there for the longest time!!!

Since we spent so much time at his office we had to stop our tour and come back out to eat :)

... I think Pastor Kenny wanted to show me he's holding water...

We were all really thankful to come and experience this meal with the family house kids and everyone there. It's like having a massive family gathering! Lots of warmth and love.

This was also the last night in Ukraine for Anette, she will be heading back to Norway the next morning.

The Chicken and its wings...

The Pork which was prepared by Valery...

It was an extremely good meal...

After the meal we went to the other side of the yard to play some games!! How's that for after dinner activities!!! There's something about sunset after dinner, outside, playing games with a giant family! It's hard to explain, it just feel just right.

The game involve a LOT of running... I was told I ran very funny... with my camera and a sore thigh...

Josef using scare tactic :D

Grace was extremely fast...

Timothy, Vasya's youngest.

As the sun left us we were called back for 4 amazing cakes made by Vasya's Mom, Nadia.

The middle one was my favourite... but even the cherry one I loved and I don't normally eat ANY cherries. I have never tasted cakes like these 4 before. There is no comparison...

As the night ended I can't help but feel this is what family is all about and HOM is bringing this environment to kids that would never have this if they were left in state orphanage or worst yet on the street. They are also in the process of building a Boys and Girls dorm / hostel in the land right behind the family home to give more independence and help to the teens who will be moving to adulthood soon. It is exciting to see how God is growing their ministries and changing lives.

Day 9: Sunday / Rest day / Sick day

Today was Sunday and we had our last sunday service here at the church. Unfortunately I started to fall ill (Cold/Stomach issues/fever/chills...). I was shivering for the first 2 sermon but felt better on the 3rd one (Yes they have 3 sermons). Please pray that God will sustain me as we move to week 2 of the discipleship / skills camp as well as the Roma camp that will be happening on Tuesday + Wednesday.Today was definitely a nice easy day for our team. Our team rested and some spend some more time with the kids. Also pray for Erik as he is in similar situation as me. And also for Pastor Kenny as his back is aching, pray that it will get better!

Tomorrow we will spend the morning practicing with the older kids for 2 skits at the Roma camp and then in the afternoon we will start our week 2 camp.

Thanks again for all of your prayers again! We know God is sustain us through your petitions!!