September in Sevastopol

September in Sevastopol is proving itself to give Jared and I a continuing adventure here in Ukraine. The mass amounts of tourists and traffic found here in the summer is beginning to die down, and weekends at the sea are a little quieter. School has begun again, which means many of the kids we work with are under the restraints and requirements of a new schedule, new teachers, and in some cases, a new school altogether. Their new schedules have left Jared and I to jump at any open opportunity to visit with “our” orphans, not only in the Wednesday evening and Thursday afternoon format we had become accustomed to.

These last three weeks, we haven’t had more than two kids together at a time. A dramatic drop from our groups of 15, that can seem a little discouraging to an American numbers-driven mindset. After our kickoff BBQ at the sea, which had been a complication of schedules that only produced two kids at a time, I sat disheartened with my friend Julia. She promptly reminded me that it was the first week after a summer off and that we had two new girls come and visit us—surely they appreciated some rarely received one-on-one time! And as I sit here two weeks later, the Lord is reminding me that He knows what He is doing.

While we are being faithful with our Wednesday evening family nights, who are we to turn down orphans in need of love on another day of the week?? So, our apartment has turned into mentoring central. With one or two kids here at a time about 5 days a week, we are teaching English, playing cards, cooking dinners, and drinking a lot of tea. This season is definitely proving to be different—challenging in new ways, exciting in others. What we know for sure is that God is moving here in Sevastopol, and he has invited us to join Him in loving His people here—and one by one, that’s what we’re doing!

BBQ on the Beach

During our first week here, Jared and I have spent our days adjusting to the time change, catching up with friends & kids here, and praying for God's work in Sevastopol. Since we were here last, lots of exciting things have developed, the biggest of which is relationship with the orphanages. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to visit the orphanage for special needs kids, called "Internat." Today, we will be visiting the kids at another orphanage called "Dyetski Dome #2." And we're inviting them ALL to our BBQ on the beach tomorrow! We're praying that we'll not only have a good number of kids show up, but also that the kids who come would be open to the love of Jesus. We want to show them love and light, as well as let the kids know that we're available to talk with them, hang out with them, and that we want to spend time with them! We're also praying that God will help us communicate effectively and have a ton of fun! Please join us in prayer for tomorrow; we want to start this season off on the right foot and have an awesome impact on the orphans of Sevastopol!

Planes, trains, and avtobuses...

After two days of traveling, we finally arrived at our home away from home in Sevastopol, Ukraine! Amanda and I were curious about exactly how long it would take us to get here with layovers and all, so we started the timer on our iPod as we left for the San Francisco Airport from my dad’s apartment in Santa Rosa. We crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge just after sunset and began our voyage. It was beautiful to see the city lights of San Francisco and the beautiful fog surrounding the steep glowing spires of the bridge, but everything after that (three flights, escalators, trams, taxis, conveyor belts, and metros) was mostly a blur until forty four hours later when we made it to our apartment in Sevastopol! Overall, we had a great trip though, and we are thankful for 21st century technology that allowed us to get here in hours rather than months!

But what would a voyage be without a few setbacks along the way? It wasn’t until an hour before we were about to take off from New York that we realized that I booked the flight out of Kiev to Simferopol a day early! I did everything I could to get a hold of the Ukrainian airline company but to no avail. Praise God our friend Julia in Ukraine. We were able to talk to her on the internet at the JFK airport, and she called the Ukrainian airline for us. They ended up rebooking the flight we already missed for only $30 dollars!

In Kiev we were so blessed to be met at the airport by a new friend named Alina. She is a local Ukrainian that served in the camp for orphans this summer with Andy and Jamiee. She helped us make our Ukrainian domestic flight connection to Simferopol, which can sometimes be a little tricky. We also had a long lay over there, so Alina took us downtown and we spent that day seeing some of the sights before flying to Simferopol at 9:30pm. By the time we boarded the plane for Simferopol, we were so exhausted that Amanda and I both fell asleep before the plane ever took off. In Simferopol our new friends and partners in ministry, Sasha and Anya, picked us up! Sasha and Anya moved from Kiev to Sevastopol just a few weeks ago to be part of the Operation Lazarus team, and let me tell you, they are a huge blessing! They are currently living with us until they find their own apartment, and we are having a great time together. It is going to be so great to have them here with us, as they are filled with the love of God and they can speak with the kids fluently in Russian. We believe God is going to use them to help the kids begin to grow a lot deeper in their spiritual walk!

We have our first get together with the kids this Saturday at the beach! After a successful outreach at the orphanage camp this summer, we believe there are going to be a lot of news kids meeting with us each week, hungry for love and truth. Please be praying for this Saturday, the kick off of our time with the kids this trip! We can definitely feel the effects of your prayers thus far. Also, thanks to all of those who have supported us financially. Your support is a great blessing to us, and we pray that it would be an even greater blessing to you! We will post regular updates on this blog, so stay tuned. Please send us an e-mail when you get a chance – we would love to hear from you! You can write us at: TheWhitesInUkraine@gmail.com If you would like to make a one time gift to support us financially, you can donate online by clicking on the Paypal link below. Gifts made through this link go directly to us. You are in our prayers. May His Kingdom come His will be done on earth as it is in heaven!