This is just for me!

"This is just for me" was something that we have heard over and over from many Ukrainian women as we have done these conferences. And we heard it again in Belgorod on Saturday. It was hard to get up early and leave at 6:45 AM but it was worth it! Luda and Sveta had a simple breakfast for us when we arrived at the church around 8:15 or so. Then we had the big meeting of translators and speakers and then we started again! Rachel again did her talk on Peter but included more of herself and it was so good. We did the seminars three times, with a lunch break. And then Rachel closed with the Parable of the Talents. This was a totally different group of women -- much older women with a few young ones sprinkled through the crowd and women from the villages around Belgorod. There was also a group of women from Izmail. It was good to have long time missionary friends in the audience. Darlene was there and Adeline had just returned from her Home leave in the USA and had surgery during that time so she was moving more slowly. When we asked them at the end of the day, how they thought the women had liked the conference they smiled and looked around and said -- "See they are still here talking - they don't want to leave." That was a huge compliment. We all closed the day by gathering in the tea room for a supper that Sveta had made us. Before we left Belgorod, we stopped by the Medical Clinic so that our team could see a project that MDI has been involved with for a long time. Along the way we stopped to say hello to Sveta's husband, Victor, who gave Debbie a card for Julianne who is so loved here. It was a beautiful sunset drive back to Odessa. We gathered for our final Prayer time and blessing over all of the people that we have met.

And then some of us went out for a walk to enjoy this lovely city one more time. The lights throughout the trees on the Promenade were like fairy land! We stopped and had cherry Vareniki one more time and had a great time talking about all that God had done during this trip.

We head out in 5 minutes to begin the journey home (except for Steve and I who head to England to meet Randy Morgan!) We go home "full" -- and will be eager to share stories of women who we have met, ministry leaders who we have spent time with and orphans who broke our hearts. Please pray for the next two days of travel for us -- now that we are leaving each woman is looking back with joy knowing that God called her here for this time and place but also looking towards home with anticipation! Spaciba for reading this!

Friday in Odessa

This morning was another slow starting one! Different people walked and went out for coffee at their own pace. We met at 11 AM to walk to Tanya Baranova's apartment that they are renovating. It was originally a one room apartment with no bathroom or kitchen and in very poor condition. Her husband, Sergey, is laboring each evening after work, to put in a small kitchen, bath, bedroom and loft -- all compact but rooms with a little privacy. Tanya was very proud of her new heavy entrance door that locked! After stopping at the grocery store, we then walked and met Bob and Andrea Burnham and their 4year old daughter, Iris, for lunch. It was great food and good fellowship as we learned more from them about ways to minister to the women at the conference this evening. Soon we were back in a taxi van heading back to the conference. WOW! Another evening of blessing! We started out with the sandwich suppers which the women so appreciated after a long day at work. Then a short time of praise and worship! Then off the women went to two more seminars. Each woman was able to attend all four of the seminars over the course of the conference. At 7:30 PM we all gathered back in the hall for more worship, and Rachel's talk on the Parable of the Talents. This was her best one yet! She really put herself into this talk. Then we had our public thank yous. Each one of their women's team had been wearing pink neck scarves with a rhinestone heart on it. They presented each one of us (including Steve) with a scarf just like theirs! And then we gave Tanya Baranova white roses to celebrate her birthday and to thank her for all of her hard work in planning and organizing the conference. And then more worship!!!! Women did not want the evening to end. As each woman left the conference she was handed a stone -- her "stone of remembrance" as a symbol for her of what God was teaching her, a symbol of her redemption, of her story -- whatever she wanted it to symbolize. Our women were again surrounded by Ukrainian women thanking them and asking questions. What can I say but again -- God did exceedingly more than we could ask or imagine! As we gathered for prayer tonight, and more bowls of cereal or yoghurt, we discussed the boldness of the young women at this church to ask questions as they sought answers to tough questions. Two of the 15 year old girls from the Internot were able to come this evening. It was all so good. We are up very early on Saturday as our bus comes at 6:45 AM to take us to Belgorod D'nestrovsky. Please pray for Stamina and Peace for this team. We are getting weary. Thanks!

Odessa on Thursday

This morning started out slowly with each one having personal quiet time until 11 AM. Then Sergey Korsakov gave us a great tour of downtown Odessa. It was a crisp, clear early Spring day and wonderful to be walking all over. The old architecture of this city is lovely though much of it has faded. But where buildings have been maintained, they are magnificent. What was really amazing was how clean the city was after the day and night of revelry the day before. The street cleaners had worked all night and all was clean. We had lunch at Kompote -- our favorite restuarant on Deribasovskaya, and then went back for our final preparations before we left for the conference. We were all full of anticipation as we arrived at Trinity International Church. This church meets on the 3rd floor of a building that is part of an industrial factory. Tanya Baranova was so excited for all to meet her leadership and planning team. They had all worked so hard and had decorated the hall in pink -- with draped fabric, flowers, and lights. A light sandwich dinner had been prepared for all of the women. It was a great evening. We started out with worship led by a team of women who did an excellent job of leading us before the throne of grace. I (Marti) introduced the conference, the team, etc. and then Rachel spoke on Peter's Denial and Reinstatement. It was a powerful talk. And then all of the women went to two of the four seminars. The rooms were small but God's presence was there in each one. We were tired at the end of the night but ready to gather and pray together as a team -- and have a bowl of cereal for dinner since most of us were starved!!!! A great day!

Odessa continued!

It is my turn to finish the details of Wednesday that Steve started! After wandering around the city we all came back to the hotel to work on our talks for the upcoming conferences. Rachel was going from 3 talks to 2 talks, and the rest of us were going from almost 2 hour seminars to 45 minutes! So we all needed to do much cutting and revising!

That evening we had an exceptional gift -- we went to dinner at Paul and Tania Becker's home. Not only do they have a lovely apartment, very cute little children, and they are very good friends of MDI's, but they had also invited some other guests, along with us, for dinner that evening. Igor, one of the 15 year old boys from the Internot (orphanage) was there. He had just been moved from a village orphanage to this orphanage in the city a month ago. It was the first time in his life he had ever been in someone's home. He is a very special young man and he helped Paul cook the dinner and seemed to really enjoy being there and being with us. We all said that he was a boy that we would adopt - there was such a gentle spirit about him. He only has one more year in which he can be adopted before he turns 16 and is released to the streets from the orphanage. We are all praying for his adoption. And then there were two more special people there. One was Paul's voice teacher who is the lead soprano in the Odessa Opera (She was singing the lead in La Traviata the next evening) and their world famous accompaniest. After a delicious dinner, Paul, his teacher and the pianist gave us a private concert that was amazing! We were all spellbound at the music! It was a time of worship, a pure enjoyment of watching the gifts of music that God has bestowed on these three used for His glory and their joy and our pleasure! And we ended singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic and America all together. I am sure neighbors a block away could hear the powerful music! The city was wild and alive as we walked home -- I am sure the Good Humor Day celebration lasted long into the night but it was quiet in our rooms!

Day of Humor

April 1! Yes, it matters here. It is called the Day of Humor. We have been told to expect hundreds of thousands of people from all over the several country region here. Indeed, many of them were jamming all the downtown streets of Odessa. There were vendors, face painters, huge sound stages, and many families enjoying the day. We were told to expect a lot of public drunkenness but we did not see more than one would think normal in such an event.

We wondered all over the city wearing proudly our newly acquired brightly colored foam bonnets, wigs and hats (it is important to fit in right?). We stopped at a cafe to have lunch with Clay and Darlene Quarterman who have been MTW missionaries here for many years. It is always fun to see them and the team enjoyed listening to what they were doing here. After lunch, we continued our wonering.

Before I continue on, we would appreciate it if you would please write us a one-word note "yes" telling us you are reading this blog. Please write to steve@mdiweb.org. We are happy writing this blog if it is being read and enjoyed.

Odessa - Next Chapter!

We are now in Odessa and before I go into detail about that I want to back track and tell you how we finished our time in Kiev!

On Monday morning we had breakfast with Mickey Jordan who is starting Teen Challenge Kiev. Mickey was a missionary through MDI for 3 years and is now starting a Teen Challenge Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center, runs a coffee house for addicts from the street, and works in different drug clinics in hospitals in Kiev. He is also expecting a baby with his wife, Elya, any day! We closed with a great time of prayer over Mickey.

From there the women on the team went to meet with the women leaders at New Life. We started by debriefing about the conference. Then we had a special "hand washing service" for the women to thank them and bless them for all of their service to the women at New Life. We read John 13:1-17 over them and then one by one, we washed their hands in lovely soapy scented water, then massaged them with lotion, then two women prayed over them. We gave them pretty pink towels and handmade soaps with "Love One Another" in Russian printed on them. (thank you Tara!) Tears were shed over the sweet simplicity and also the value and love shown to each woman both American and Ukrainian. Afterwards we all went to a restaurant for lunch -- it was a beautiful setting, good food, nice background music, and more praying and singing. This was a very special event because the New Life women rarely go out to a nice restaurant.

Meanwhile, Steve had a long intense and deep 4 hour meeting with Anatoly.

That evening was spent in fellowship over a delicious dinner at the Vasilevskys home -- lots of laughter, relaxation, and fun!!!!

Early on Monday morning (7:30 AM) we headed to the airport to fly to Odessa. Our plane was an OLD propeller Aeroswit plane with bald tires and we were not sure it was going to actually be airborne! But we arrived safely in Odessa and settled into our hotel apartments. We had lunch at Kompote with Tanya Baranova and Julia Baskova and then walked to the Beckers. From there we headed to Internot #4 with Paul Becker. We spent a wonderful afternoon with the Becker's 7th graders, along with a few 11th graders, playing cards, chatting and getting to know each other. These are really great kids and because they are so old most have no hope for adoption. We left having had a wonderful time but with our hearts broken!

Then Rachel had a quick trip to the dentist! She had broken a crown and God in His perfect timing had us with Paul Becker, a dentist, who knows the top dentist in Odessa, who whisked her into her dental chair and fixed it in less than 5 minutes. Lots of pictures were taken and Rachel is feeling great now!

We had dinner at a Ukrainian restaurant that was decorated beautifully and we had a feast!!!! We closed the day with team prayer like we do most nights as we discuss where we experienced the Holy Spirit and also a blessing over all the people we had spent time with in Kiev.