This is how the good stories always begin! And
we have the best story ever, as God is writing it each day as we live, experiencing joys and difficulties, and things that never seem to change; giving ourselves in love to others and sharing our stories with them.
This was the theme MDI took to Ukraine. The message was simple. God is writing the story of our lives. And as we examine our story we will see that God is always working all things (even the hard and painful things) for our good and His glory. He is redeeming us. Over and over we heard from the women that they needed this message as we encouraged them to see Gods redemption in their stories, allowing Him to mend and heal, and to speak to their hearts. And then they began sharing their stories with others.
In the words of our team...
"The fruit of four years work culminated in the Kiev conference as women came with ready hearts to receive from the Lord. They were vulnerable and candid and loved each other (and us) well. On Monday, we met with the New Life Church Women's leadership team to debrief after the conference. The fruit of past conferences was evident, as there was almost nothing to change! Afterward, we washed their team's hands and massaged them with lotion, praying over each woman who had used those hands so generously to serve Christ. Then, as happened after Jesus washed the disciples feet, we celebrated with a meal together, taking them out to lunch" - Dede Franz, who has accompanied MDI four times to Ukraine for Women's Conferences.
"We are all tired - but it's that giddy kind of tired from being used by God and seeing great things happen. Personally, it was very challenging to be the keynote speaker. Each time I spoke I changed the talk a little bit. Because I didn't have access to a printer, I literally was cutting (with scissors!) and pasting (with tape!) until the very last talk. The illustrations changed often as God led me in different directions. I spoke 7 times and co-led 8 workshops. The other team members did their seminars 11 times. We're all tired of our own voices" - Rachel Roper, keynote speaker of the conferences.
"THIS WAS TRULY LIFE CHANGING AND EYE-OPENING FOR ME! God answered all our prayers regarding the preparations for the trip, travel, interpreters, all three conferences, safety, etc. God put this team together! It was so evident from the first planning meeting, but even more evident on the trip as we watched how God used all of us in such a unique way individually but also as a team. My interpreters were AWESOME! Every emotion I felt, they felt. You would have thought they were telling their own story. God is so good like that! I was so humbled as I spoke. Scanning the room, there would be several ladies crying throughout my talk...they could relate to some or all of the my story as I shared about finding peace in the midst of our trials and heartaches. As I spoke of God's redemption in my life, some could relate to that as well. Several women stayed after each talk to speak with me and ask for prayer. It was my privilege to pray with them!" - Debbie Hodges, who visited Ukraine for the first time.
"We shared with the Ukrainian ladies the importance of remembering what God has done as He daily writes our stories. We reminded them of times in Scripture where God told the Israelites to pile up 'standing stones' so that what He had done in a particular place would be remembered, and that when their children asked them, "What do these stones mean?" (Joshua 4:4-7) they could share with them the mighty works of God. We can share with others what God has done in our own lives, if we take the time to remember - and He wants us to do that. We provided small stones for each one to take home as a reminder - their own 'standing stones'" - Beverly Warren, long time partner in ministry of MDI and coordinator of the trip.
As we ended our trip, we celebrated with a walk along the Promenade (just above the Black Sea harbor in Odessa), and all of the trees were covered with lights in rainbow colors! It was like our own fairyland, and we realized it was God reminding us of our Happily Ever After, Heaven, which awaits us full of color and light, beauty unimaginable, His presence without reserve, our stories of His redemption to share for eternity. It was the perfect ending to our trip.
Thank you for YOUR part in this redemption story!
Thank you for praying and sending and for partnering with us!
Marti Scudder for Steve Lorenz, Dede Franz, Debbie Hodges, Rachel Roper, Sharon Sims and Beverly Warren
