Tuesday, October 31, 2006
I am home, or something...
Hey y'all. Just wanted to let you know I made it home and I'm in Tallahassee. Thank you everybody who showed up at the airport. I felt pretty special because I was the only one there with a welcoming committee. Yeeeessssss. Love y'all so much and Happy Halloween! (Just disregard that, Todd. We know you don't celebrate. ;0) Arrivederci!
Friday, October 27, 2006
Pics from Odessa- and beyond!
Okay, so I've only got a minute before I go to school. (Last day- *tear*) But I'm gonna post the update email I sent out, so if you've already read it, just ignore it. Or read it again, I may have a test at the bottom. (There are pics at the bottom, so at least look at those.)
Dear Friends and Family,
Wow, I am checking my email for the first time in what seems like forever. Thank you so much for your sweet emails and all of your prayers. I don't even know where to start about this weekend. It was pretty much the most amazing weekend I've had since being in Ukraine.
We hopped on a train Thursday night to head for Odessa. The Radooga Staff, me, and the Student Life people who came (Ronnie Brock, and the video crew- Erin, Chappy, Drew and Taylor) went on the train and Oleg Vasilevsky drove the youth pastors who came in a van (Clinton, Jeff, Chris, Ivan, Bodie, and Kevin) We had a fun time on the train and I got to room with Ira, Veronica and Olya and I love them a lot. :0)
We set up for conference on Saturday and Lori, Ira and I took the youth pastors on a "tour" of Odessa. That was exciting because none of us really knew what we were doing or where we were going. But I think we made it fun anyway. Surprisingly the weather was almost on the verge of being warm.
The conference was great. We had about 200 teenagers come and I saw some girls that had been in my English class two years ago, Masha and Ira, so that was fun. The theme of conference was "A Call to Freedom" and Oleg preached and we had a hilarious drama based on the story of the little gingerbread man. Nikita, Tyoma and Pasha were our gingerbread men. (Those who know them will find that very amusing. :0) They even did a rap.
The conference was mainly for teenagers who had already committed their lives to Christ, but many of them made decisions to live their lives according to the freedom that God offers and that was so good.
Right after the conference, me, Lori, and Oleg Magdych took the youth pastors to dinner and got some Shuarma and then headed to the train station. Adventures on the train…that was exciting. I got to room with Madison!!! Yay!!!
Sunday morning we got to the train station and found Jenn Smith. She'd been doing ministry in some other orphanages, so me, Lori, Maddie and Mark met her there. She had gotten in earlier that morning and we got in at about 8:30. Mark and Jenn headed to Orphanage 21 and me, Lori and Madison went to church. I don't think I've ever felt so gross going to church…straight from the train…but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Remember how I told you about Mohammad, who led Fashid to Christ, who led his friend to Christ this week? Well, Fashid and his friend got baptized on Sunday morning along with a Chinese girl who had become a Christian Saturday night and another Iranian guy who lives a couple hours away in Kharkiv. Damoon called Mohammad and asked if he could get baptized and Mohammad said well, sure, but you have to find a church who will baptize you. Damoon said, "Can I come get baptized in your church?" Mohammad said, "Well, we're having baptism on Sunday, but we live in Kyiv, Damoon…" Damoon took an overnight train and got to church at 9:30 to be baptized. It was absolutely incredible.
We met Mark and Jenn downtown and sadly said goodbye to Madison. :0( But me, Mark, Lori and Jenn had such a good time hanging out. We went to Puzata Khata and just talked about our weeks. Mark and Jenn are adopting 6 children from Ukraine and we are ecstatic. :0) We came home and then took them to the airport in the morning. Jenn has a way of saying exactly what you need to hear when you need to hear it.
Jenn and Mark, we enjoyed every minute spent with you and I can't wait until we all get to heaven and can hang out all the time. Thank you for everything. We're glad we could be "something" for you. ;0)
Thank you for praying this weekend. God is going so many awesome things in Ukraine and I really can't keep track of it all!!! I'm so excited about the youth pastors who are bringing teams this summer. God is going to do amazing things through the groups they bring, I can already tell. They were such an encouragement to me.
For the Tallahassee peeps, I will see you all in a couple days. I can't wait to get your hugs. (And Carlitchka, I'll see you 5 days after that. ;0)
Grace and peace,
Calyn
"Look, among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days you would not believe if you were told." –Habakuk 1:5
Nikita getting left on the train. Poor Freakita...
I'm lovin' Ronald.
Everybody who's anybody..."touring" Odessa....
Me and Maddie!!!!
Pasha, Tyoma and Nikita taking a break from their backbreaking labor...
Kevin said he was trying to look Ukrainian in this picture.
Magdych with his favorite drink, Schweppes. Awwwwwww.
Tyoma working hard.
Lori, Mark, Magdych and Madison
I wanted the same picture, but Magdych had different ideas....
LOST!!!
We hung out with 2 girls from the conference in the train station, Ivana and Angelina. They were so sweet.
Me and Magdych
Drew, Chappy, Erin and Taylor at the coffee shop
The other side of the table
Ira and Serozha singing on stage
Veronica and Valera at the Vasilevsky's house for a pizza party
Chris, Vitaliy and Jeff. They all look kinda drugged...
Much better.
Me and Erin
Ronnie, Taylor and Ivan
Ronnie really wanted to be in that picture...
Everybody getting baptized on Sunday.
I led art class at the office on Thursday. To relieve stress, you know. :0)
Serozha doing some hard core drawing.
My picture for Vitaly. It's St. Sopfia's and Bogdan Xlemenskiy. Yeeesssss.
Roma and Arielle.
My picture for Magdych
My picture for Kevin. Awwwwww.
Serozha holding his finished work. Awwwww.
Vitaly holding his masterpiece
Me with mine. Yeeessss!!!
Dear Friends and Family,
Wow, I am checking my email for the first time in what seems like forever. Thank you so much for your sweet emails and all of your prayers. I don't even know where to start about this weekend. It was pretty much the most amazing weekend I've had since being in Ukraine.
We hopped on a train Thursday night to head for Odessa. The Radooga Staff, me, and the Student Life people who came (Ronnie Brock, and the video crew- Erin, Chappy, Drew and Taylor) went on the train and Oleg Vasilevsky drove the youth pastors who came in a van (Clinton, Jeff, Chris, Ivan, Bodie, and Kevin) We had a fun time on the train and I got to room with Ira, Veronica and Olya and I love them a lot. :0)
We set up for conference on Saturday and Lori, Ira and I took the youth pastors on a "tour" of Odessa. That was exciting because none of us really knew what we were doing or where we were going. But I think we made it fun anyway. Surprisingly the weather was almost on the verge of being warm.
The conference was great. We had about 200 teenagers come and I saw some girls that had been in my English class two years ago, Masha and Ira, so that was fun. The theme of conference was "A Call to Freedom" and Oleg preached and we had a hilarious drama based on the story of the little gingerbread man. Nikita, Tyoma and Pasha were our gingerbread men. (Those who know them will find that very amusing. :0) They even did a rap.
The conference was mainly for teenagers who had already committed their lives to Christ, but many of them made decisions to live their lives according to the freedom that God offers and that was so good.
Right after the conference, me, Lori, and Oleg Magdych took the youth pastors to dinner and got some Shuarma and then headed to the train station. Adventures on the train…that was exciting. I got to room with Madison!!! Yay!!!
Sunday morning we got to the train station and found Jenn Smith. She'd been doing ministry in some other orphanages, so me, Lori, Maddie and Mark met her there. She had gotten in earlier that morning and we got in at about 8:30. Mark and Jenn headed to Orphanage 21 and me, Lori and Madison went to church. I don't think I've ever felt so gross going to church…straight from the train…but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Remember how I told you about Mohammad, who led Fashid to Christ, who led his friend to Christ this week? Well, Fashid and his friend got baptized on Sunday morning along with a Chinese girl who had become a Christian Saturday night and another Iranian guy who lives a couple hours away in Kharkiv. Damoon called Mohammad and asked if he could get baptized and Mohammad said well, sure, but you have to find a church who will baptize you. Damoon said, "Can I come get baptized in your church?" Mohammad said, "Well, we're having baptism on Sunday, but we live in Kyiv, Damoon…" Damoon took an overnight train and got to church at 9:30 to be baptized. It was absolutely incredible.
We met Mark and Jenn downtown and sadly said goodbye to Madison. :0( But me, Mark, Lori and Jenn had such a good time hanging out. We went to Puzata Khata and just talked about our weeks. Mark and Jenn are adopting 6 children from Ukraine and we are ecstatic. :0) We came home and then took them to the airport in the morning. Jenn has a way of saying exactly what you need to hear when you need to hear it.
Jenn and Mark, we enjoyed every minute spent with you and I can't wait until we all get to heaven and can hang out all the time. Thank you for everything. We're glad we could be "something" for you. ;0)
Thank you for praying this weekend. God is going so many awesome things in Ukraine and I really can't keep track of it all!!! I'm so excited about the youth pastors who are bringing teams this summer. God is going to do amazing things through the groups they bring, I can already tell. They were such an encouragement to me.
For the Tallahassee peeps, I will see you all in a couple days. I can't wait to get your hugs. (And Carlitchka, I'll see you 5 days after that. ;0)
Grace and peace,
Calyn
"Look, among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days you would not believe if you were told." –Habakuk 1:5
Nikita getting left on the train. Poor Freakita...
I'm lovin' Ronald.
Everybody who's anybody..."touring" Odessa....
Me and Maddie!!!!
Pasha, Tyoma and Nikita taking a break from their backbreaking labor...
Kevin said he was trying to look Ukrainian in this picture.
Magdych with his favorite drink, Schweppes. Awwwwwww.
Tyoma working hard.
Lori, Mark, Magdych and Madison
I wanted the same picture, but Magdych had different ideas....
LOST!!!
We hung out with 2 girls from the conference in the train station, Ivana and Angelina. They were so sweet.
Me and Magdych
Drew, Chappy, Erin and Taylor at the coffee shop
The other side of the table
Ira and Serozha singing on stage
Veronica and Valera at the Vasilevsky's house for a pizza party
Chris, Vitaliy and Jeff. They all look kinda drugged...
Much better.
Me and Erin
Ronnie, Taylor and Ivan
Ronnie really wanted to be in that picture...
Everybody getting baptized on Sunday.
I led art class at the office on Thursday. To relieve stress, you know. :0)
Serozha doing some hard core drawing.
My picture for Vitaly. It's St. Sopfia's and Bogdan Xlemenskiy. Yeeesssss.
Roma and Arielle.
My picture for Magdych
My picture for Kevin. Awwwwww.
Serozha holding his finished work. Awwwww.
Vitaly holding his masterpiece
Me with mine. Yeeessss!!!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Sunday, October 15, 2006
"Next Time Order a Bigger Taxi"
On Saturday, our hero, Oleg Magdych, decided that even if there wasn’t space in the van we could ride to the airport with him anyway. We could ride with the suitcases. So he was like, “Meet at our normal drug deal spot.” He always picks us up in this certain place outside of our apartment building that we call the drug deal spot. To make it all the more legit, we threw some flour in a Ziploc bag and when we got in the car we tossed it to him. It took him a split second to make the connection and then he made a knowing face, nodded his head, and stuck the bag in his jacket. (We realized after we were in the airport that if he got caught with that in his jacket the police weren’t likely to believe it was just flour, so we hoped no one would decide to search him…)
We went to the airport to wait for the group from Birmingham, but more importantly, two of our favorite people in the world, Mark and Jenn Smith. Mark and Jenn are working on adopting kids from Ukraine and they were sweet enough to stay with us and we were sooooo excited.
So Magdych dropped Mark and Jenn off at our apartment and we talked for a while and then we went on a picnic in the woods and the leaves were changing and it was just so pretty. Picnics are the best thing ever. I don’t know why it took me living in Ukraine to realize that. Tallahassee people, we’re going on picnics when I get home. Just plan on it.
Here are some pics of our picnic:
Lori and Mark
Me and Jenn
I love it when trees turn colors!
It's so awesome, these woods are 10 minutes from our house.
Happy people
After our picnic we took Jenn and Mark to the World War II museum, my favorite place in Kyiv. Jenn had never been to Ukraine before and Mark in his three journeys here never made it there so it was a must.
I'm the tour guide!
The WWII park is my favorite place in Kyiv and this is my favorite part of it. I love these statues.
The city in the background is the side of the river that me and Lori live on. Most of Kyiv is on the other side, but our side's pretty big too.
All right, men, bring in the artillery!
We can take out a few Nazis with these puppies.
Awwwww
We love the Metal Momma!
This morning we went to church and had a great time. Max went with us to lunch and gave us an insider’s tour guide. We’re not really sure where the source of a lot of his info comes from…but it was entertaining nonetheless.
When Max gets a hold of the camera...
After our pizza party at Dva Gusya we came home so Mark and Jenn could repack and get their stuff together before they took an overnight train to Zaporozhiya. We decided since they had 3 suitcases a taxi would be a much better idea than trying to ride marshrootkas and metros, so we got a taxi. We went outside at 7 to meet our taxi and immediately realized 4 people and 3 suitcases was going to be next to impossible. Our taxi driver was more convinced than we were. He kept telling me, “This is not possible. It’s a small car.” We could only fit one suitcase and a backpack in the small truck. I assumed I would have to stay home and try to stuff the three of them and 2 suitcases in the car. I climbed in and Lori managed to dive under a suitcase. Then Jenn jumped in the back seat too and we pushed the front seat all the way up. Somehow, I have no idea how, we managed to shove 3 people and two ginormous suitcases in the back of a Fabia. Mark squeezed into the front seat, the driver looked at us astonishingly and we took off. Not long after I felt Lori messing with my sweater with her teeth.
“Can I help you?”
“Sorry. I just have to keep moving it because I can’t breathe.”
“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just can’t breathe.”
“Oh, well if that’s all…”
We tried not to move, which was fairly easy because moving wasn’t really possible. Our backseat situation made a Tokyo subway car look roomy. At one point my cellphone started ringing and we just started laughing uncontrollably. Never in a million years would we have been able to get to our pockets. Our taxi driver told us, as I handed him the money, "Next time order a bigger taxi." Wise advice, taxi man. Wise advice.
We managed to lug three suitcases through the station found the Smith’s car and loaded them up. They’re safely on their way to Zaporozhiya and the only consolation we have is that we will be able to see them on Saturday. Yay!
Arrivederci!
We went to the airport to wait for the group from Birmingham, but more importantly, two of our favorite people in the world, Mark and Jenn Smith. Mark and Jenn are working on adopting kids from Ukraine and they were sweet enough to stay with us and we were sooooo excited.
So Magdych dropped Mark and Jenn off at our apartment and we talked for a while and then we went on a picnic in the woods and the leaves were changing and it was just so pretty. Picnics are the best thing ever. I don’t know why it took me living in Ukraine to realize that. Tallahassee people, we’re going on picnics when I get home. Just plan on it.
Here are some pics of our picnic:
Lori and Mark
Me and Jenn
I love it when trees turn colors!
It's so awesome, these woods are 10 minutes from our house.
Happy people
After our picnic we took Jenn and Mark to the World War II museum, my favorite place in Kyiv. Jenn had never been to Ukraine before and Mark in his three journeys here never made it there so it was a must.
I'm the tour guide!
The WWII park is my favorite place in Kyiv and this is my favorite part of it. I love these statues.
The city in the background is the side of the river that me and Lori live on. Most of Kyiv is on the other side, but our side's pretty big too.
All right, men, bring in the artillery!
We can take out a few Nazis with these puppies.
Awwwww
We love the Metal Momma!
This morning we went to church and had a great time. Max went with us to lunch and gave us an insider’s tour guide. We’re not really sure where the source of a lot of his info comes from…but it was entertaining nonetheless.
When Max gets a hold of the camera...
After our pizza party at Dva Gusya we came home so Mark and Jenn could repack and get their stuff together before they took an overnight train to Zaporozhiya. We decided since they had 3 suitcases a taxi would be a much better idea than trying to ride marshrootkas and metros, so we got a taxi. We went outside at 7 to meet our taxi and immediately realized 4 people and 3 suitcases was going to be next to impossible. Our taxi driver was more convinced than we were. He kept telling me, “This is not possible. It’s a small car.” We could only fit one suitcase and a backpack in the small truck. I assumed I would have to stay home and try to stuff the three of them and 2 suitcases in the car. I climbed in and Lori managed to dive under a suitcase. Then Jenn jumped in the back seat too and we pushed the front seat all the way up. Somehow, I have no idea how, we managed to shove 3 people and two ginormous suitcases in the back of a Fabia. Mark squeezed into the front seat, the driver looked at us astonishingly and we took off. Not long after I felt Lori messing with my sweater with her teeth.
“Can I help you?”
“Sorry. I just have to keep moving it because I can’t breathe.”
“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just can’t breathe.”
“Oh, well if that’s all…”
We tried not to move, which was fairly easy because moving wasn’t really possible. Our backseat situation made a Tokyo subway car look roomy. At one point my cellphone started ringing and we just started laughing uncontrollably. Never in a million years would we have been able to get to our pockets. Our taxi driver told us, as I handed him the money, "Next time order a bigger taxi." Wise advice, taxi man. Wise advice.
We managed to lug three suitcases through the station found the Smith’s car and loaded them up. They’re safely on their way to Zaporozhiya and the only consolation we have is that we will be able to see them on Saturday. Yay!
Arrivederci!
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