Hello Family! We hope you’re enjoying your Easter and that you find yourself in good spirits and good company today! This has been a very busy and encouraging week for us here in Ukraine. First of all, a couple of weeks ago, Vanya had the idea to throw a party as a fun event to bring in some of the other orphan kids. So, we all sat down and came up with a theme, decorations, food, music, and the works; Vanya even made a flier to hand out! Subsequently, on Wednesday, our apartment was packed with kids ready for a luau! Our Hawaiian party was a hit—and a lot of work! Jaimee and I were in the kitchen all day making homemade Hawaiian bread, marinating chicken for kabobs, and cracking open coconuts to make coconut cream pie. We decorated with flowers and whimsical cut-outs of palm trees and surfboards that I had painted late into the night. The most exciting thing though, was the turnout! We had seven new kids from the orphanage and they all had a blast! We played limbo, Hawaiian charades, and the boys loved playing a game of American football. Towards the end of the night we sat down as a group and told them a little bit about why we had a Hawaiian party and why we invite orphans over to our house every week. We are SO excited to see how many of these kids return next week! Please keep them in your prayers and be praying that we can show them love in the ways that they need to see it. 
The rest of our week has been filled with more cooking lessons from Tanya (this week we made borsch!), teaching English, and fellowshipping with friends. On Monday I met with a 13 year old girl from church who had asked me to help her work on her English. She already speaks pretty well, but needs some help stepping out of her shy exterior. And our Thursday English lesson is becoming more and more fruitful as the kids continue to understand more and more and work
really hard on their studies! Friday was a beautiful sunny day, so Andy, Jaimee, Jared and I took the afternoon to do a little bit of local sight-seeing… statue after statue. This city is full of them! We’re still enjoying our time here and look forward to what each day holds. Learning to live in community and live out Christ’s love is our continual joy and challenge. We’re confident that the kids we’re investing in will continue to grow, succeed, and one day turn around to invest in others. So thank you all so much for your prayers and support—you’re playing an integral part in the process too!For our videos of charades, cracking open coconuts and much more... check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztafq7mJuFU
