Thankfulness

This week in my English lessons at the Christian school I talked about Thanksgiving.  It was fun to teach these Ukrainian children about our celebration...not just the food and football part, but the real reason we have the holiday.  It was a great opportunity to have them share what they were thankful for, and it was a great opportunity to get me thinking about all my blessings.

This season is a little tougher than ones in the past--knowing that my dad is not around.  Although it has been many years since I was in the states for Thanksgiving or Christmas, I could always count on that afternoon phone call with the full description of the meal, the latest antics of the grandkids, or the newest joke.   I always felt a little bit like I was "home for the holidays'.

Even though it is tougher this year...I find many things that I am thankful for just the same.  I am thankful that I was loved and supported through the years by my mother and father.  I am thankful that I grew up in a family that went to church and taught me the importance of faith and hope.  I am thankful for a church that was (and is) strong in the word and evangelistic.  I am thankful for Godly men and women that encouraged me in my Christian walk.  I am thankful for feeling wanted, loved, and prayed for.

I am thankful that God has provided me with an opportunity to serve Him in Ukraine, and for the people that I have met because of this time....supporters, visitors, fellow missionaries, and Ukrainians.  I am thankful for the blessing of touching the lives of children that have not been as fortunate as I was growing up.  I am thankful for a God-given love and desire to see these children cared for and protected.

Don't let this holiday season pass without telling those that you love that you are thankful for them.  Too soon they may be gone.

So...I am thankful for you!!!  Whoever you are reading this right now--whether family, friend, or casual guest.  Thank you that you cared enough to stop for a moment to listen to my ramblings.  I wish you and yours a very thankful Thanksgiving Day!

In His Hope,
Becky

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and bless His name."  Psalms 100:4

Growing Older

Look at that beautiful face. Is she not just a sweet looking child? She is as sweet as she looks. In less than a year she will turn 16. Sweet 16!!! What a celebrated day in most cultures...including America. It is a waited for milestone that is a joy to celebrate.

BUT.... not for this child. Natasha is a child turning 16 in a Ukrainian orphanage! This day makes her an official graduate of the Ukraine orphan system. Sounds pretty good, huh?! NO!!! At the age of 16, this precious innocent child becomes an adult in the eyes of the Ukrainian social system. She is dismissed from the orphanage and is on her own....alone, scared, and lonely. She will not be prepared for "real" life because she has never had to learn how to care for herself, manage money, or deal with regular life outside of an institution. What will happen to her??? Well, about 70% of girls like Natasha end up in some kind of sex trade, or pregnant because they have nowhere else to go.

As I have become more and more involved with the children in the orphanage, I have begun to be concerned about this group of children. Those turning sweet 16 with nowhere to turn! It literally breaks my heart to think of "my girls" turning 16!!!! Two of them turn 16 this year, and two turn sixteen next year!!! What can I do? As I have a prayed about this problem, I have grown even more certain of the need for "House of Hope". However, the direction of the home seems to be changing....WHEN God provides the funds to buy the house, I am praying about it becoming a transition home for 16-21 year old girls. A place to help them become prepared for real life outside the institution!!! It will only take 1000 people giving $300 to make this start to become a reality.

(By the way, as I was leaving the orphanage today, Natasha turned, hugged me, and said "Becky, please find me a forever family!!!!" And.... I may just have!!!!!)

At long last....

Yes I am finally blogging again. So much has happened in the last month that I never had time to post about it before it happened. And now.... I have TOOOOO many things I want to post about.

Last Sunday was Mother's Day in the USA. I think this is a great day to celebrate those that gave us life and trained us up. I have a great mom....and I made sure I sent my gift to her in plenty of time for Mother's Day. On Sunday, I was struck by the fact that many of you reading my blog were celebrating your first Mother's Day or the first on with your new kids. What a joy that must have been. Along with this thought immediately came the thought of the kids left behind in the orphanages throughout the world. My heart breaks for them... especially those that I have had the priviledge of getting to know.

I wish I had the money to adopt 6-8 of them today!!! But, according to our US standards, I don't even make enough to adopt one! I wish that House of Hope could open today.... but there just isn't the money....YET!!!!

Now is prime time on the market. I could buy a house that would suit our needs for a lot less than I could a year ago....and there are many for sell. $300,000.00 today would buy me a house, and furnish it completely to house children. Since a couple of friends of mine (Felix and Heidi) have come back to the states after adopting, they have "advertised" for me and I have received 3 pledges to help in this project. That only leaves 997 more people to find that will pledge $300. OR.... 300 people that will pledge $997. I wait for God's hand to move!

In the meantime, we are having to move again. The house we presently rent is for sale and we don't know when that will happen. Our rental agreement is up next month, so we started looking about 2 weeks ago. And.... WE FOUND IT! We are thrilled. It is a little more than we are paying here (+$150), but has twice the room! We have rooms to have guests... so come on over. We will be moving in the next two weeks... PRAY FOR US!!!!

I am posting some new pics from the English class at the orphanage. I hope you enjoy them.

Until next time..... I am.....In His Hope!

A Week of Celebration

Exactly one week ago tonight, I was one of the guest of honor at the Children's Home for International Women's Day. The children danced, sang, and recited poetry. It was absolutely beautiful. These kids are so amazingly talented that it astounds me.

After the program I was invited to celebrate with the teachers in the orphanage at a banquet. You would think by now that I would have learned what a celebration meal is like. There was SO much food--and it just kept coming. (Now, mind you, before I went to the orphanage, I celebrated Women's Day with my fellow teachers at Vineyard Christian School. We had salads, shashlik, lavash, sauces, and potatoes. I was stuffed!) The food kept coming, and culturally, I was expected to keep sampling it. It was great food, but I was so full!!!! They kept putting stuff on my plate... stuff I usually don't eat--like liver pate', mushroom/garlic/onion sandwiches. I lived to tell about it, though!

The food was great, but the companionship was even greater. I felt so honored to sit around the table with these wonderful women that care for the abandoned children everyday. I loved laughing with them, listening to their banter (even in Ukrainian), and hearing them sing traditional folk songs. What a gift to be included! Their hearts are so precious.


On Monday, I went back to the orphanage to talk with the director about the children dancing at my school this week. While I was there, I had the most precious opportunity to share my Christian beliefs with the accountant of the home. She has been so friendly to me every time I have come and on Monday was full of questions. I don't know where it will lead, but seeds were planted.

Pray for my ministry with these ladies and the children of the home. There are about 45 kids there now... ages 2-17. The director has been so good to let me come and go as I wish. She even let me take three of the girls out today to dance at my school and then out to eat. More on that later.

(On a side note, if you are at all interested in helping fund House of Hope--a foster home I hope to start--please contact me. I need 1000 people that will give a tax deductible gift of $300. Pray for me as I wait on God's storehouse to open!!!!)

For now.... I am.....

In His Hope!

Happy Birthday Ukrainian Style

Well, it is that time of the year again. I just celebrated living another year. Every year, I start off February saying that I don't want to have a party this year; and every year..... I end up having more than one. I have learned that it doesn't matter whether I want to celebrate getting a year older. There are people that want to celebrate it anyway. I am not sure that it isn't just to rub it in that I am getting OLD-er, or if they are really happy that I made it another year. Whatever the case, if I don't plan something.... it will happen anyway... like spontaneous combustion. If you know me very well, you know that I would rather have a plan than to be caught off-guard.


Since my birthday landed on a Wednesday, I thought I had won a reprive until the weekend. Nothing doing...! The school planned a "Day of Knowledge" celebration to acknowledge the first graders completing their first text book and I had to be at school. Now mind you, Wednesday is my day off and I had visions of sleeping until noon and then lazying around in my Eeyore pj's for several more hours. Now, I had to not only get up early, but shower and dress. UGH!!!! As I entered the hall for the celebration, the MC for the day announced that the day was special for another reason. All the students and teachers yelled out Happy Birthday and began singing the birthday song in English. I guess it was worth waking up early for after all.

Wednesday is also my day to teach English at the Children's Home. So I planned a party for that time. Cake (shaped like a cute little chick), chips, candy, and drinks. It was a lot of fun and the kids were SO polite. I had to make them eat.... but once they started... well that is a different story. At the end, one of the girls (Lena) stood up and read a card she had made for me IN ENGLISH. Then she turned to me and said "I love you" and kissed me. WOW!!!!! This was the best birthday present ever. Such unhindered love and affection coming from a child who was abandoned and had NO family to ever visit her.

That wasn't all. Dinner out with friends. Another party with our adult English class. A full-fledged Ukrainian celebration with all the food on Saturday for 12 people. And... a Shrimp Po-boy lunch with a friend on Sunday.

Isn't life great? I am glad that God has me here and has given me such wonderful friends to be apart of my life. I just pray that in some small way I can bring glory to Him by bringing joy to these friends. All-in-all... this was a great birthday. I can't wait to see what next year brings!!!!

Serendipity

Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely.

Today is one of the days I go to Boyarka's Childrens Home to teach English to these and about 5 more teenagers. I go because the kids are falling behind in their studies and no one in the orphanage can really help them in English.

Satan has been having a hay-day with this. It seems as though when Wednesday or Friday roll around (my only days without a full teaching schedule at the Christian school), I am just not motivated to go anywhere. It is cold and snowy; I am tired and want to rest; The clothes need washing; The house needs cleaning..... The list goes on and on. BUT....most days I go anyway and love it once I get there.

I started this "project" to help the students.... serendipitously.... I have been blessed. I went looking to serve, and am being served. These kids are AMAZING! Today, they eagerly participated in everything I had for them to do and the class was over before I realized it. When I started to leave, they asked when I would be back. I told them that I would be there on Friday. I expected moans and complaints. Instead, I got cheers. "We love our English lessons!" "Can't you come everyday?"

Then, I told them that next Wednesday was my birthday and I would probably not be there. They were insistent that I come anyway... especially since it was my birthday. One sweet girl said.... "You don't have children to celebrate with and we don't have moms to celebrate with.... it works out just right!" Guess where I will be spending my birthday evening?

Serendipity???? Or God's unique plan and blessing?

Forever....IN HIS HOPE!

Ever have those days when it just seems nothing you do matters?! We all do, I am sure. Well, I was reminded today that we never know what kind of impact what we do has on others.

Several years ago.... SEVERAL.... I started a Bible Study in my home for teenage girls. It was geared mainly at the missionary kids that I was teaching at school. These 13 or so girls gave up every Friday night to crowd into my little apartment for an hour long study from the book "Lady In Waiting" by Debbi Jones. Some Friday nights, I wished I had never committed to this... yet I pressed on.

It seemed at times that the girls were really getting the message of staying pure in thought and mind while waiting for Mister Right. UNTIL... the topic of waiting even for that first kiss. Wow... that was a hot topic. Most thought that the very idea was insane. Oh well... maybe they learned something.

Well here it is, almost 10 years later and I got this email from a former student telling me of her new boyfriend. In it she shared this....

"next one totally came from his side, it was an answer to my prayers...he said a kiss is extremely special and should be kept for the wedding day. I must confess, I was totally surprised! That’s exactly what I had wanted, but knew the man leads the relationship and I was told that NO man would ever want or be able to do that.

I've been wanting to contact you, because when someone asks me who I'd say was a teacher who really stands out as I think back on my days of school, I always say Miss DeWett. Thankyou so much for everything you taught me and everything you were to me. Even as we worked through Lady In Waiting. That book made the world of difference in my life. It layed foundations, like nothing else, especially for relationships. The fact that I waited is such a blessing to me, as well as in my relationship with Dewald. Now I can come to him without issues and baggage, without having had my heart broken so many times. I'm so thankful to you for following the Lord's guidance in that. I bought the new and updated version of the book and I was so excited to see that your name's there too, talking about the Bible Study you had for us. It was the coolest thing...to be able to say: "YES! I was one of those girls."

If that were the end of the story... I would be pleased.... BUT..... today I received this......

"Our day was so special and absolutely amazing! It's so wonderful to be married....Most certainly worth waiting for! Was an absolute honour, also the fact that he waited for me too."

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.... and thanks Sune' for encouraging me!!!!

Well... here I am and here it is... My Blog! This is for you my faithful friends. I hope to be able to keep you updated on a more regular basis through this site. I will even try to include pictures now and then. (That is after I learn how to do this!) I am not sure how consistently I will update this, but I will try to keep you informed about my life and ministry here in Ukraine. So... until next time....

I am.....

IN HIS HOPE