The Enskyys in Ukraine

Gettin' so big

2010-11-12T10:25:00.000+02:00

My sweet precious children

2010-07-09T21:28:00.002+03:00

Abigail 3.2 Simon 4mnths

It is so hard to believe that I am the mother of these 2 precious gifts from the Lord. I thank Him everyday for these precious gifts. Of course, I haven't yet got a picture of them together where they are both looking at the camera - and Simon has a lot less pictures than Abigail did at this age. I sure do hope he doesn't hold it against me like I hold it against my mother (I am also a second child with hardly any baby pictures:).

Simon at 4 months old

2010-06-12T22:02:00.001+03:00

Together again!

2010-04-21T03:44:00.002+03:00

3 years old

2010-04-05T15:58:00.003+03:00

April 2, 2010 our baby girl turned 3 years old. Time has flown so incredibly quickly. She has grown into such a little lady and we are so thankful to the Lord for this child. My parents, her cousins and friends were able to help us celebrate her day. After the initial shyness of being sung to - she jumped right into the festivities and had a great time. We praise the Lord for Abigail Joy!

Mornings at Bah's house

2010-02-23T16:22:00.001+02:00

While we are here in the States staying with Bah and Grandaddy, our mornings are quite peaceful. Abigail usually occupies herself with books or like today, playdough and Simon sleeps peacefully in his bassinet. The Lord has given us two very precious children for which we are most grateful!

Big Sister

2010-02-22T14:27:00.002+02:00

The Lord has answered our prayers for Abigail's adjustment to being a big sister and having a very attention getting little brother. She is doing wonderful and really seems to love Simon. She helps me change his diaper and puts his socks on and doesn't seem to really mind when he nurses, etc. She is growing up so fast and truly is a joy - we named her right - Abigail Joy.

Simon Joshua Enskyy

2010-02-14T02:03:00.002+02:00

Thank you for praying for the birth of our son, Simon Joshua Enskyy. He made his grand entry into this world on Monday, February 8,2010 at 14:31 in Greenville, SC USA. The Lord was so good to give Lori a fast and safe delivery of our son. Abigail is adjusting quite well to her little brother. She loves to put his socks on him and help Lori change his diaper. Oleg is at home in Ukraine and Lord willing, will be able to come to the US in March to help get the children home. We praise the Lord for His goodness to us!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-30T08:23:00.002+02:00

Thank you so much for praying for our first worship service. Even though Christmas isn't really celebrated here until January 7 - and the 25th of December is a work and school day, we had 20 people come out to celebrate the birth of our Savior on that day. It was a really special service. It was especially fulfilling to see our new believers excited about the work they had done passing out brochures - and seeing the fruit from that labor. Please continue to pray for Emil, Luba, Tonya and Sasha as they grow in their faith and allow the Lord to change and restore their lives.

We are having another Christmas service on January 7th - the official Christmas day in the Orthodox world. We are praying that the Lord would use our personal testimonies, brochures and prayers to draw more unsaved to our services. We covet your prayers as well!

Christmas card evangelism 2009

2009-12-18T00:21:00.004+02:00

We have been praying for effective ways to get the word out about Holy Trinity Baptist Church. The Lord impressed upon Oleg's heart the need to emphasis Christmas in our evangelistic efforts. He worked and prayed over these Christmas cards for a long time and the Lord really blessed his efforts. We just got them back from the printers, all 5,000 of them :). Our goal is to put one in the door or every apartment and home surrounding our church building before December 24. For those of you who don't read Ukrainian :), these Christmas brochures wish the reader a Merry Christmas, invite the reader to our special Christmas services (both on Dec. 25th - called Hungarian/Catholic Christmas here and on Jan. 7th - Orthodox Christmas,) give a brief synopsis of what we believe and a short run down on how our church is "different" from what the typical idea of what a "church" is.

Please pray that the Lord would use these Christmas cards for His glory and that they might tweek the interest of non-believers who are inclined to go to church on Christmas to come and visit us! After Christmas, we will also be meeting for Sunday worship services in our rented facilities.

From wintery, snowy Ukraine, we wish you a very Merry and Christ-centered Christmas Season!!!

Wii Bible Club at Holy Trinity Baptist Church

2009-12-07T10:18:00.003+02:00

Tuesdays and Saturdays are Wii Bible Club days at our church. The Lord has given us some wonderful kids from our neighborhood to work with. They are from 11-16 years old and very open to the Word of God. They are memorizing scripture, learning Christian songs, playing the hand chimes (getting ready for Christmas) and of course, playing Wii. Abigail loves to go to church now b/c there are children there! Please pray for this ministry.

food closet ministry

2009-10-08T15:13:00.002+03:00

last tuesday at our youth meeting, a new little girl came to visit. her name is albina. she is 12. during game time after bible study, she and i got to talking. she told me that she hadn't eaten in 2 days - that her father was out of work and her mother wasn't around. i couldn't sleep that night thinking about that little girl trying to go to bed hungry. it has been quite cold and rainy here lately. oleg found this little girl's address and phone number in our contact list and we called her father. he said that he wouldn't object to our church helping their family during this down and out time in their lives. we were able to minister to their family thru the food closet ministry that the lord helped us start several years ago. we were able to give her father the gospel as well as provide staples (potatos, onions, eggs) for their family to eat. he seemed open to coming to friday night bible study. please pray for him, his name is anatoli. unfortunately in our part of the world, this story is not uncommon. we thank those who faithfully give to the food closet ministry and pray that the lord will continue to burden the hearts of his people to help us with this ministry. it really helps us to get out there and show the love of jesus as well as telling about it.

meeting kristina

2009-10-08T15:10:00.003+03:00

our wonderful friends and babysitters natasha and marianna now have a little niece - her name is kristina. we often go out to the village to visit with them. abigail is trying to get used to mama holding another baby. for now, she tolerates it. we are praying that she will love her new baby brother and that we will have the wisdom and energy to show her the love and attention that she needs after the baby is born.

Sliding fun

2009-08-30T03:01:00.003+03:00

Our favorite outside cafe just put in a slide for kids. Abigail's new goal in life is to see how many times she can go up and down the slide in a 2 minute period.

Abigail's new friends

2009-08-30T02:56:00.002+03:00

Myrna Gregory and Sabrina Lewis, UPWARD representatives and good friends of ours from the States, were in Ukraine for an UPWARD camp in another region and were able to get to Mukachevo for our end of season celebration. They were a tremendous help to us as they took great pictures of the celebration and made sure that Abigail didn't get into the cake that she so desperately wanted to have! They also allowed me to participate in the service by watching our precious girl. We praise the Lord that they were able to come!

End of season UPWARD celebration

2009-08-30T02:49:00.003+03:00

Tonight we had our end of the season UPWARD celebration for our soccer outreach. We had been praying that the boys parents would attend. We had 5 parents come out - a huge answer to prayer. Parents aren't that active in the lives of their children here in Ukraine and we were so excited to have these folks come to our church. Oleg was able to clearly present the gospel, we had an excellent book on Christian child raising to give to them - that also clearly presents the gospel, and then we just had a good ole time playing games and enjoying each other's company. The boys really enjoyed the Wii game and will be coming back to our church this fall for a youth club that will meet on Tuesday nights. Please continue to keep our children's outreaches in your prayers as this seems to be the most effective inroad to getting to know the people of our community.

Jesus Film Evangelism

2009-08-30T02:42:00.003+03:00

Thank you for praying for the showing of the "Jesus" film in the courtyards surrounding our building. We had about a total 300 people come out to see the film the 4 nights that we showed it this week. We had invitations to Holy Trinity's Friday night Bible study to give to each person who came. We had many opportunities to witness and interact with the people who attended. We didn't have a great turn out at Bible study this week but we are praying that next week's evangelisms will draw more people to our services. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to start a new work with people from our community.

Abigail singing the ABC's - 2 yrs 4 months

2009-08-22T14:02:00.002+03:00

Holy Trinity Baptist Church

2009-08-22T13:50:00.002+03:00

The Lord gave us a wonderful rental property to begin work on Holy Trinity Baptist Church! It is in a great location with parking - surrounded by thousands of apartments. We even have a cleaning lady! Please pray for us this coming week as we show the "Jesus" film in the courtyards surrounding our building - inviting people to our Friday night Bible study - beginning at this site on Friday, August 28th at 6pm.

Mukachevo - Dubna What an adventure!

2009-07-31T14:10:00.004+03:00

Saturday after soccer club (we had 12 boys come and one of them actually prayed in front of his friends in our closing prayer!) we decided it was time to accept Oleg's cousin's invitation to come and visit. We have been planning to go to Dubna, where Oleg accepted Christ, for years. Oleg said, if we don't go now, we won't go. So we packed up our van, our girl and headed for Dubna about 350 miles to the north east of Mukachevo. It was a rather eventful trip as we got stopped 2x in speed traps along the way (our van with American plates is a eye catcher). Praise the Lord the fines weren't too terrible! We had a really good time with Oleg's family. We haven't seen them for 5 years. 12 years ago, Oleg visited them and the Lord used a friend he met there to lead him to a Baptist church there in that city. The Holy Spirit got a hold of him and Oleg repented of his sins and became a believer. We were able to go to that church on Sunday morning and evening. It was a really neat time as that church was able to rejoice in fruit that it didn't even know it had. Oleg preached in both services - it was almost like he had a glow about him. It was a really neat experience. This church belongs to an Independent Baptist Fellowship and Oleg was able to make some valuable contacts, as well as new friends.
Oleg's cousin Ira has 2 little girls - Vlada and Dasha. Abigail enjoyed herself to no end as she had "children to play with" all day long. She went to bed saying, "I want to play with the children" and woke up with the same phrase. It was a good trip but we are glad to be home. Traveling with a 2 year is always an adventure!

Upward League 2009

2009-07-18T17:48:00.003+03:00

As follow-up to our summer camp, we started a summer Upward soccer league. We have 10 boys 11-13 who come each week. They are learning their Bible verses, collecting their stars and enjoying the good fellowship. They even have a really cute little water girl to take care of them during these hot summer days :). Please pray for the end of the season celebration, that these boys parents will come and be able to hear the Gospel. Also, that we will be able to work with these boys during the school year as well. They are very open to the things of the Lord, even though they are all from non-Christian homes.

Abigail at camp 2009

2009-06-13T12:30:00.002+03:00

As always, Abigail did great during camp week. Her easy going personality and love of people makes it a pleasure to take her along most everywhere we go. During most of the actual camp, Abigail stayed with her babysitter Natasha, but in the evenings when we were doing evangelistic meetings (we were able to go to the Mukachevo orphanage, a camp for invalids and outdoor meetings) or going site seeing she went with us and did great. She especially made friends with Madison and is still looking for her!

Basketball Camp 2009

2009-06-13T12:24:00.003+03:00

We praise the Lord for His working during basketball camp this year. We had a total of 115 children come throughout the week. The team from Broadmoor was well-prepared and did a wonderful job with the children. Many of them returned to Mukachevo for the 2nd time and the children were so excited to see them. At our end of camp evangelism (which we held in the target region for the church plant) a boy who had attended camp all week asked the Lord to become His Savior!! We made lots of good contacts and plan to start our soccer league on June 27th - many of these children said that they would come. It will be a wonderful opportunity for us to continue to share the love and message of Christ with them. Please pray for our follow-up to camp.

The blessings of Ukraine

2009-06-02T08:53:00.004+03:00

We have been home in Ukraine for almost a month now. The Lord has been so good to give us a smooth transition back into life here, although not w/o a good bit of homesickness for me. After we finally got off from Greenville, SC (our first plane broke and we were sent home for an unexpected extra day with my parents) we had an easy, uneventful journey home. Abigail did wonderful - she slept, played, ate and slept some more. All 6 of our suitcases and Abigail's car seat were the first bags to come off the plane - that is a first for us - usually we are waiting around till the very end for our bags. The drive home was fast and the border crossing was easy. Our apartment was flood free (we have neighbors who have flooded us frequently in the past) and ready to have it's owners back. After a good cleaning and airing out, it is home again!
Preparations for camp have gone great. We even found a real charter bus to take this team from Budapest to Mukachevo. Large teams have had transportation issues in the past, but the Lord answered our prayers for a "real" bus this year and a reputable driver!!! We are waiting in expectation for what the Lord is going to do -especially as this camp will serve as the kick off to our church planting efforts.
May 27 we got the news that all the documents for our car had arrived and we could go and get it in Poland. So, at 9:30 that night we packed up and hit the road. A brother from our church took us in his car - what a blessing. We got lost about 6 times as none of us had ever driven to Poland and Slovkian and Polish road signs have much to be desired. We had a GPS that continually wanted to send us back in the other direction. We turned it off and stuck to our trusty little map. We finally arrived in Gdynia, Poland at our destination (thank you to numerous English speaking Poles) at 4pm - too late to start the customs procedure. So, we got a room (a blessing as we would have probably tried to return that night) got some good rest and started the customs process at 8am the next morning after a wonderful breakfast at our little hotel. We got our car and all of our many belongings packed in the car and left for home. We started our journey at about 2 b/c someone had stolen the bolts to the liscense plates and we had to find bolts (the local Toyota dealership helped with that). We followed our friend Vasya to Warsaw, a very hard 2 lane road filled with 18 wheelers and lots of passing. We were going to stop and eat in Warsaw but some how got seperated from one another - our cell phones didn't work so we had no way of finding each other. As it turns out, we all got lost in Warsaw - very tricky city. The Lord gave both of us people who explained how to find the road we needed (in rush hour traffic) and placed taxi drivers along the way to confirm our course. We got lost again in the middle of the night in Slovakia trying to find the back roads to the Hungarian-Ukrainian border (we had been told that it was an easier crossing with lots of personal belongings). Well at 3am we ended up in at a village graveyard and decided to pray that if it was the Lord's will, for us to go to the Slovakian-Ukrainian border about 15 miles away. We knew we could find that. So we went there. There was no line, it was very cold - about 40f and raining. The border guard saw that we had a small child and waved us through, stamped all of our papers and didn't even open our car. We crossed into Ukraine praising the Lord for His extreme answer to our prayers! We made it home by 5 and by 5:15 we were all snuggly tucked into bed. Vasya called us at 8 and asked where we were - we said home - he said he had just crossed the Hungarian-Ukrainian border and was glad that we went thru Slovakia. We praise the Lord for His goodness to His children and for answering our prayers in regard to our border crossing.
We now are ready for camp, have all the things we need to do our planned evangelisms and have a blessed new van to use for God's glory.
Thank you for praying for our re-entry into life here in Ukraine. The Lord has answered your prayers!

2 years old

2009-04-04T20:47:00.003+03:00

Time flies so quickly. Abigail is now 2. She is such a joy and we praise the Lord for her everyday!

Read Read Read!

2009-02-13T00:08:00.000+02:00

gotta love that corn!

2009-02-06T02:28:00.000+02:00

bah's beauty shop

2009-02-02T15:33:00.001+02:00

random saturday fun in the usa

2009-02-02T15:30:00.000+02:00

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

2009-01-30T20:53:00.002+02:00

the little mother

2009-01-27T15:59:00.003+02:00

when i put abigail down for her nap the other day, she wanted lots of animals to go to. when i went in to cover her up, i found her lying here like this, all her animals snuggly put to bed before curling up beside them to sleep herself.

The shopper has arrived!

2009-01-01T15:11:00.004+02:00

Merry Christmas!!!!

2008-12-25T20:16:00.001+02:00

Getting ready for Christmas!

2008-12-11T22:36:00.000+02:00

We decorated the tree today and then we decorated Abigail :).

Bah and Abigail

2008-12-05T18:57:00.002+02:00

Abigail doesn't need mama and papa anymore, she has Bah! We here "Bah, Bah" about 1000 times a day. Skype really does work. Abigail saw and talked to her Bah everyday and knew her right off. They haven't skipped a beat since we got here, making corn bread, washing dishes and just being together. Grandaddy is now, Granda-da and is loving this rowdy little addition to his home while we are home on furlough.

Bawl and Upward!

2008-11-06T19:38:00.001+02:00

Abigail goes with us to Upward Soccer every Saturday. She so loves that "bawl" (and all of her southern relatives just love that little southern drawl of hers), but most of all, she loves kicking it with her father!

Sick baby and Natata

2008-10-23T20:08:00.002+03:00

This week has been a really hard one. Abigail has been sick and not sleeping well (thus mama hasn't been sleeping!). I am so thankful for Natata (our babysitter Natasha). Every morning before classes, Natasha stops by the check on Abigail. When the doorbell rings, Abigail flies to the door yelling, NATATA, NATATA. She plays with her for a few minutes and then has to go to class. For the rest of the day Abigail calls for Natata. They have a special little relationship and I love to watch them interact with one another.

Before the fall....

2008-10-10T13:43:00.003+03:00

Abigail and I went over to play with Karina and Edwin today - they go to our church. We were happily playing on the swing when Abigail suddenly fell through the middle of the tire, landed on her little bottom and then wrenched back and hit her head on the ground - gashing a little hole in the back of that sweet head - and much to mama's demay, bled profusely. It was a traumatic day but PRAISE THE LORD it ended well, with no real damage to our Abigail! Thank you Lord!

High above Mukachevo

2008-10-09T12:16:00.002+03:00

Soviet concrete apartment buildings are horribly cold in the winter and extremely muggy in the summer - no insulation. Oleg learned how to insulate them and has been able to teach other young Christians (Kolya, Oleg's co-worker)to do so as well.
Zakarpatya, the region of Ukraine where we live, is famous for it's hospitality and love of coffee. As you can see, Oleg loves his coffee and the people he is working for coldn't wait to serve it to him - hanging off the side of their 9th floor apartment :).

Mama's little helper

2008-09-28T18:21:00.003+03:00

Abigail loves to do what mama does. She often goes over to the vaccuum and picks up the broom and "vroom vrooms" around the room. What a reminder to watch every idle word and action because we have a little observer who is taking everything in. Abigail even says "ouch" just like I do when something hurts. Ukrainians say "oie".

Sunday helpers

2008-09-28T18:16:00.003+03:00

Managing to keep an 18 month old quiet for a 3 hour church service is a mammoth task! We praise the Lord for our young church friends who help us keep Abigail occupied. Lilya is Abigail's absolute favorite friend. When she sees her come in the building she waves and yells, Lilya. Vladik is another Abigail favorite. He has a little sister and knows how to keep little girls happy!

Ukrainian Thanksgiving - Zhatva 2008

2008-09-28T18:10:00.002+03:00

Thanksgiving in Ukraine is a church holiday. Each church determines when they want to celebrate. It is a wonderful day of church family fellowship. After the church service, we had a meal together. Today Abigail had her first "golupsi" - a Ukrainian cabbage roll. She ate 5 of them - just one of the many Ukrainian sides of Abigail :).

BALL!

2008-09-23T15:31:00.002+03:00

The other day while riding our tricycle there was no riding alone. She had to have both her balls and several toys stuffed here and there. If one of the balls slipped out, we heard about it until it was safely perched in her arms. Abigail has become quite vocal about what she wants and thankfully, we are getting beyond the caveman grunt. Her little vocabulary is expanding daily, both English and Ukrainian.

Blue eyes and shoes

2008-09-18T09:36:00.005+03:00

Abigail's new passion is for mama and papa's shoes. Her favorites are sandals that you can put your toes through! I have to make sure our shoes are clean now so that she can stomp around the house in them (unlike America, where you never have to clean the bottom of your shoes - in Ukraine if you don't, your house will turn into a dust pit). I never thought that a simple pair of sandals would be a great babysitter :)!

Houston, we have a problem!

2008-09-18T09:36:00.002+03:00

Yesterday morning, we closed the office door while doing our morning devotions so that Abigail wouldn't wonder in there. Well, when we went to open that wonderful door, it wouldn't! We had to take the glass out of it (praise the Lord it had a glass panel) to get in. We took the handle off to find no way to get to the lock mechanism w/o breaking the door. Wonderful! So, now we are climbing in and out of the hole in the door to get to the computer :)! Hopefully our locksmith friend will be able to work us in - in the near distant future!

Visiting with our friend Sasha

2008-09-02T21:20:00.001+03:00

Growing up so fast

2008-09-02T21:18:00.001+03:00

September 1st

2008-09-01T09:02:00.002+03:00

September 1st is the traditional day for students to return to their studies in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Ukraine is no exception. All morning, students dressed up in their white tops and black pants/skirts have been scurrying to purchase bouquets of flowers for their teachers. Every school and university will have elaborate opening ceremonies and then the students will go to their homeroom classes for a short instruction time. Tomorrow lessons begin in earnest. Please pray for us as we start a soccer league and hand chime choir as follow-up to our summer camps. Our tentative start up date is September 15.

Church picnic fun!

2008-08-26T15:58:00.003+03:00

Oleg organized the first ever Gogol Street Baptist Church picnic. We had so much fun! We had grilled chicken, played volleyball, fellowshipped and enjoyed the beauty of our Lord's creation. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Ukrainian Independence day and start a new church tradition!

2008 Enskyy family portrait

2008-08-23T10:35:00.003+03:00

After about 50 shots, this is the only one that came out okay - it was the last one. I didn't realize how incredibly difficult it is to photograph a family with a small child so that everyone is looking at the camera with a normal expression. Praise the Lord one came out alright!

Insulating Oleg's mother's apartment

2008-08-11T15:41:00.002+03:00

Oleg and I both are excited about how the Lord has blessed his side business - he insulates the outside of our 9 story concrete, Soviet apartment buildings. He started this business to help with ministerial set up costs and to help the men who help in our ministry support themselves.

This week, we have been insulating Oleg's mother's apartment. I have been helping Oleg and I must say, it is a lot of very hard work just handing him the insulation and keeping his mud tub full. I can't imagine how tired he gets out there hanging in the sun.

Oleg's mother, Valya, has been keeping Abigail for us. She is as exhausted as we are at the end of the day - Abigail keeps her hopping!

Abigail's morning habit

2008-08-09T14:19:00.002+03:00

Each morning when Abigail gets up, she immediately hits the shoe box and rummages for a new pair to wear. She used to bring me 2 different shoes but now knows that shoes come in pairs. Her favorite orange jellies had to be hid as they rubbed blisters on those cute little feet - much to Abigail's dismay. She is still searching for them. This morning, she brought me a pair of slippers that Bah sent to her a long time ago - bunnies. Even though it is 100 degrees outside, we must wear the insulated bunny slippers! Every once in a while it is okay to wear winter slippers in the summertime :).

Precious baby

2008-08-05T19:11:00.000+03:00

How we praise the Lord for this little girl!

Scuba papa, water baby and viligant mama!

2008-07-30T16:13:00.004+03:00

We had so much fun at the lake yesterday! One of Oleg's lifetime dreams came true, he got to scuba dive. Oleg met a member of the Ukrainian FEMA rescue squad at our basketball camp. Sergei (resident scuba proff) was dropping his daughter off at camp and Oleg took the opportunity to talk to him, tell him who we were and why we were doing this camp. They hit it off and have been talking ever since. Yesterday, he taught Oleg how to dive. Oleg was on cloud 9 - complete with crawfish supper to complete his day (caught while diving). Please pray for Oleg's friendship with Sergei to be spiritually fruitful as Sergei is not a believer.

Abigail spent her time investigating stones in the shallow waters of the lake. Mama spent the day guarding her little explorer.

Everyone had a good time and is boasting a healthy summer glow.

1020 of Christianity in Ukraine

2008-07-26T19:43:00.004+03:00

1020 years ago, the ruler of Kiev-Rus, Vladimir decided to take a religion for his people. He called priests and holy men from all the major religions of that time to come to Kiev to consult him on thier doctrines. After carefully examining what he had been told, Vladimir decided that Christianity was the most useful religion for his kingdom - as it taught submission to authority. Kiev-Rus at that time was very pagan and somewhat animistic. Vladimir decided to force his subjects to be baptized ito the Christian faith. From that time on Kiev-Rus has been considered Christian. Today in Kiev, there was a huge celebration with guests from all over the Orthodox world to commemerate the "baptism of Kiev-Rus."

Camp Follow-up

2008-07-25T09:08:00.003+03:00

Please pray for us as we follow-up on the 150 contact - registration cards that we have from music and basketball camp. Our present plan is to start a hand chime circle for the music school kids in September at our church and a soccer league at the school where we held basketball camp. Pray that through our interaction with the kids, their parents will become interested in knowing more about our church and why we do what we do. Our long term goals are to start small group Bible studies from these follow-ups. We covet your prayers!

A new skill

2008-07-25T09:03:00.002+03:00

Oh the joys of being entertained by anything! The UPWARD team that was here for basketball camp gave Abigail a couple of whistles - they have become a favorite toy -Abigail whistles and wants mama and papa to share the joy of whistle blowing too :).

Papa and Abigail

2008-07-23T21:39:00.002+03:00

I keep collecting pictures of Abigail from members of the teams that came to minister with us this summer in Ukraine. This is one that I thought was just too cute. I thought this picture really shows off her bubbly personality and just plain cuteness. She has Oleg wrapped around that cute little finger of hers :).

They many roles of a preacher

2008-07-23T10:39:00.003+03:00

As our senior pastor is often away, Oleg has had the opportunity to gain lots of experience leading our worship services and of course, preach. I love to watch him interact with the members/guests of our church after our services. We praise the Lord for the knowledge we have gained in church administration while we were mentoring at Gogol Street Baptist Church.

Head coverings!

2008-07-21T23:43:00.002+03:00

Most Baptist churches in Ukraine ask that married ladies cover their heads during church services - a sign to the angels of their submission to their husbands :) - Sherry Goodson and Rachel Vradenburgh and of course, Lori Enskaya are very submissive :) :) :).

The end of camp season.... for a while....

2008-07-14T09:23:00.003+03:00

Thank you so much for praying for our summer camp schedule! The Lord blessed every aspect of camp - from the people who came from the States to the weather and attendance. We have 150 information cards to follow-up on. We are really excited about the contacts we made with the children as well as with their parents. This year at the end of camp concert/celebration award's ceremonies, we had most of our campers attend and many of their parents. We held these meetings at the Baptist church we attend. We were very pleased with the turn outs. It is very difficult to get the average person to come into a Baptist church building. They not only came, but sat through our service and many of them said they would gladly send their children to any functions that our church had. What a wonderful start! Please pray for us to have wisdom and creativity as we follow-up on the hard work of our American short term teams. We have lots of contacts -our prayer is that many of them would turn into "converts" :).

Lovin' that bath

2008-07-14T09:19:00.002+03:00

The end of everyday is met with a warm bath and wonderful toys from Bah. Usually, Abigail leads me into the bathroom and points to the tub when she is about ready for bed - she knows her schedule better than anybody. She loves to sit and play in the water and tacitly learn her abc's!

Mama's baby

2008-07-12T09:21:00.002+03:00

These are some various pictures of Abigail and I at camp and church. She has been such a good little girl through these weeks of non-routine living.

UPWARD Basketball Camp

2008-07-09T22:03:00.002+03:00

A group of UPWARD basketball leaders from Mississippi came to Mukachevo for an evangelistic basketball camp. We have had anywhere from 40-60 kids each day. Most of them are neighborhood kids in need of a lot of loving attention. They have been eating up the interaction they have been getting from our southern guests. Please pray that their parents will come to our award's ceremony tomorrow night at church. It is our goal to not only reach these children for the Lord but their parents as well.

Praise the Lord for Natasha (part 2)

2008-07-06T13:33:00.003+03:00

Natasha was a life saver during music camp and will be during basketball camp. We praise the Lord for her tenderloving care of our Abigail!

New cuteness

2008-07-03T20:09:00.002+03:00

We've got ourselves a people person :). Abigail loves to wave at people - perhaps not go to them, but definitely check them out. She generally uses her cute new little accomplishment to charm everyone - she even tries to charm Mama when she's done something wrong. Oleg and I try real hard not to let her win!

Abigail at music camp

2008-06-27T08:25:00.002+03:00

Sometimes she was happy and well, sometimes she was NOT :).

More music camp with Friendship Baptist Church

2008-06-27T08:23:00.002+03:00

USA - UA Music camp with Friendship Baptist Church

2008-06-27T08:13:00.002+03:00

This week has been tremendous. Friendship Baptist Church came to Ukraine with a group of 23 very well prepared, flexible and energetic young people. They have worked so hard and the Lord has blessed their efforts. We had 20-30 children every day at camp, most of them being non church kids. We have seen some very sincere decisions from our older campers as well as from our smallest of campers. It has been a real joy for Oleg and I to see the Lord at work this week. Tonight is our culmination concert at church. We have invited the parents of our campers to our church building to see what their children have been doing all week. The team has been teaching: vocal - choir, piano, flute, guitar, brass and the most beloved of all, hand chimes. Our goal for this week was to see little hearts touched with the Gospel and to try and make contact with their parents. We ask that you pray for our concert tonight, that the Lord would bless our efforts to reach out to the parents of our campers and that they might see the Light of Christ in us.

Multiple Blessings!

2008-06-15T17:48:00.003+03:00

As central airconditioning is unheard of here and window units are extremely expensive, we have been praying for several years about installing metal shutters on our windows. They keep the sun from heating your windows up which in turn keeps your apartment from heating up to cookie baking temperatures. Last summer, Abigail and I spent most of our day in the bathtub trying to keep cool. We are so grateful to the Lord for this truly needed addition to our home. Another added plus is the dark room syndrome. Instead of a 5am wake up call from our little early bird (1st picture) - no sleeping on the couch mommie, you must play with me...., we get the 2nd picture until 7:30 or 8. The Lord is so good!

The Lord's Bounty

2008-06-14T15:48:00.003+03:00

After a winter and spring with little to no "real" fresh produce, Oleg and I are revelling in home grown fruits and veggies. If you have never had a Ukrainian tomato, it is worth the trans-atlantic trip just to bite into one! The Lord is so good to provide our every need and now many of our tastebud wants :)

All by myself!

2008-06-09T12:52:00.001+03:00

Abigail is now fully falling asleep by herself - no nursing, nothing but her and her stuffed animals. Yeah Abigail!!!

Odessa Theological Seminary, May 2008, B.A. Pastoral Studies

2008-05-30T22:15:00.002+03:00

Oleg is now officially done!!! We are so proud of him!!! We have had a wonderful time here in Odessa. The Lord has given us time to visit old friends and just enjoy the joy of Oleg's finishing seminary!!! Thank you all for praying.

Thank you for praying!

2008-05-17T21:15:00.002+03:00

Oleg is home from Odessa, so thankful to the Lord to be done with school. He successfully defended his thesis and we are now awaiting his graduation ceremony on the 30th of May. We are all going down to see him get his degree.
The Lord has been so gracious to our family during Oleg's 4 years of seminary. It was a challenge to juggle school, ministry and family. The Lord always gave us grace and strength when we felt like it was too much. When I reflect on His graciousness to us, I am overwhelmed.
We are so excited about the future. We feel like we are at a crossroads in our ministry and we are awaiting the Lord's direction as to which of the many roads before us to take. We appreciate your continued prayers as we seek His will concerning many aspects of our future church planting efforts.

Papa's off to Odessa

2008-05-11T17:48:00.002+03:00

Before leaving for Odessa, Abigail and Oleg got in some good quality time which left them both dizzy :). Please pray for Oleg as he heads off to defend his diploma. He will arrive in Odessa tomorrow and will be there all week.

Modern Day Pilgrim

2008-05-07T14:01:00.002+03:00

We looked at the window this morning to find an Orthodox monk on a pilgrimage - barefoot and carrying a cross.

April treasures

2008-05-06T22:05:00.002+03:00

Abigail was born April 2, 2007. Alexandra was born April 18, 2007. Evelina was born April 25, 2007. They all go to the same church in Mukachevo :). It has been so fun to watch them grow up and learn to do new things. Their mamas have enjoyed walking together and sharing advise about how to raise these 3 precious treasures from the Lord!

Waiting for Papa...

2008-04-27T15:55:00.002+03:00

A beautiful spring day...

2008-04-27T15:52:00.002+03:00

DONE!

2008-04-22T09:23:00.002+03:00

Thank you for praying for Oleg's diploma paper. He emailed it in on time yesterday! We are so thankful to the Lord for giving him the strength, desire and energy to finish this last major project for his seminary degree. The defense of his paper/thesis will be May 12-16, so please keep this in your prayers.

Praise the Lord for Natasha!

2008-04-22T09:19:00.002+03:00

The Lord has given us a wonderful, loving babysitter named Natasha. She attends the village Bible study that Lori started. Natasha and Abigail hit it off from the minute they met and everytime Abigail sees Natasha come through our door, she just squeals. What a blessing for us to be able to leave the house and not worry about our little girl. I am so thankful to the Lord for this blessing.

Almost finished...

2008-04-17T09:31:00.001+03:00

Oleg is in the process of writing his diploma paper, which is due on April 21st. He is almost finished and with the Lord's help will email it to his advisor before the deadline. He then goes to Odessa to defend it before his graduation ceremony at the end of May. Please keep him in your prayers as he burns the midnight and daytime oil writing this paper and keeping up with all of his various ministries (and family of course.)

Hammin' it up for the camera.

2008-04-17T09:28:00.002+03:00

Abigail is such a ham in front of the camera. All of our Ukrainian friends say that she is more American than Ukrainain because she is always smiling! Her Bah and Grandaddy will be so happy to hear that! :).

Thank you Lord!

2008-04-13T21:41:00.002+03:00

I am always amazed at the way our Lord works - He never fails to surprise me with the creative ways He provides for me and takes care of me - physically, spiritually and emotionally. He is such a good God.

I have been a little down lately and yes, missing home. Not being as involved in our ministry (outside our home) as I have been in the past, I have been feeling like I am not really all that useful here. Taking care of our home, Abigail, keeping the fridge stocked and putting 3 meals on the table keeps me hopping. I know that these "feelings" are from the evil one who desires to steal my joy and tramble me down - alas, sometimes those "feelings" can really get to me. Trying to be a godly homemaker IS a ministry in and of itself, especially in a country where that is a true rarity. I wish that head knowledge always won the battle with those insidious and powerful "feelings" that sometimes catch me off guard.

Yesterday, the Lord gave me a very special opportunity to share my faith - it came out of the blue and was truly an encouragement to me that I am indeed doing what the Lord wants me to do at this time in my life and that I am exactly where HE put me.

I was able to share the Gospel with an accquaintance that Oleg and I have known for years. She has known that we are Christians since we met her but has never really shown any interest in our attempts to witness to her. Last night, she initiated our conversation and literally bombarded me with questions - which the Lord graciously allowed me to answer from His Word.

The Lord reminded me that there are all kinds of ways to serve Him and that I don't have to be doing "formal" ministry to have a ministry. He reminded me that in trying to be a godly wife and mother - trying to help my husband be the best preacher and evangelist that he can be - trying to raise my daughter to serve the Lord - trying to be a kind hostess to the guests the Lord sends our way, that I am setting an example that people are noticing - setting an example that makes them want to know why I do what I do - giving me opportunity to tell them about my precious Savior.

Please pray for Tonya, that the Lord would use our conversation to save her soul. She heard the full gospel message and was very receptive. Pray that the evil one would not be allowed to steal the seeds that were planted in her heart yesterday.

I praise and thank the Lord for the encouragement I received from sharing my faith. What a wonderful and compassionate God we serve - in following his commandment to "go ye therefore and teach..." about Him, not only do we get to see others come to know Him, but we are rejuvinated as obey Him.
Thank you Lord!!!

Too cute!!!

2008-04-05T14:42:00.000+03:00

I am ONE!!!!

2008-04-02T14:12:00.000+03:00

Getting ready for summer

2008-03-28T20:49:00.000+02:00

Thank you Bah for the great summer clothes!

Blemished Lambs

2008-03-19T09:24:00.002+02:00

How easy it is to slip into habitual worship of the Lord - to let the daily worries and cares of this world steal that fire, that desire, that fervency for doing things HIS way. As I read Malachi, the Holy Spirit convicted my heart as He called for Israel to turn their cold, habitual-law abiding hearts back to Him. He accused them of promising the unblemished, first born lambs for sacrifice, but when sacrifice time came, they sacrificed their second best, their blemished lambs and were satisfied with their offerings. The Lord's response was offense, and well so. He gave them everything and they gave Him their second, third best and in doing so, well desired the judgement that awaited them.
How often I plan to give God the first fruits of my time and end up with that hurried 10 minute Bible reading and prayer time. I was satisfied with my offering because I was "busy" with the Lord's work and He "always understands". Yes, the Lord understands our physical responsibilities but that doesn't relinquish us from worshipping the Lord HIS way - giving Him the sacrifices that are worthy of Him. My heart was shamed as I realized that I, just like the Israelites of Malachi, was giving the Lord a blemished lamb. How can I do that? He has given me EVERYTHING! I praise the Lord for the working of the Holy Spirit, calling me back to a worship that is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord. I also praise Him for giving me the desire to look for other "blemished lambs" in my life, that I might present sacrifices to Him that are worthy and will cause no offense to my Savior!

Early 1st birthday presents :)

2008-03-16T18:54:00.001+02:00

Thank you Aunt Jeaninne and Uncle Dave for the cute, comfy clothes and wonderful books for my birthday!

Morning time is PLAY TIME!

2008-03-15T10:17:00.001+02:00

Abigail Joy gets up in the morning ready to PLAY. She loves to read her books and bang on her dog to make sweet music for her papa to wake up to!

International Women's Day

2008-03-08T13:52:00.002+02:00

It is Int'l women's day in Ukraine and Oleg took his girls out to lunch to celebrate. We had a great time - especially Lori who didn't have to cook :)!!!

Nap time buddy-bear

2008-03-06T11:58:00.001+02:00

Abigail has finally learned to fall asleep all on her own, but not without her bear!
- Thank you Aunt Jeannine for the cuddly bear!!!

That first fever :(

2008-03-06T09:55:00.002+02:00

Abigail was such a trooper through her first bought with the flu and a high temperature! She sat on my lap for most of the days she was sick and gazed from afar at our guests from America - and occasionally pointed at them :). This was the first time she has been sick and of course, it would happen when we had a team from America visiting with us! They were very understanding and we did most of our organizational work in our living room, with Abigail sitting placidly on Mama's lap! We are excited about the summer camp they are going to help us do in July. They will be here from July 5th through the 12th. Abigail is looking forward to following in her mother's footsteps on the basketball court - her uncle is going to be proud of her "big man moves" in the paint!!!

Saturday at Dima and Ira's

2008-03-01T18:08:00.002+02:00

A new couple moved to our church from Zaporozhia - Dima, Ira and little David. We had a great day of fellowship. Abigail enjoyed watching David kick and squeal and Oleg and I enjoyed "adult" talk :).

Bible study time!

2008-02-26T08:19:00.002+02:00

Tuesday night is Bible study night. We have several people who come who are seeking the Lord - how interesting to watch that process as a bystander. The Lord answers their questions from His Word and you can literally see the "light bulb" come on as they hear what the Bible has to say about their inquiries. Please be praying for Vanya and Marina as the Lord draws them to Himself - the evil one does not want them coming to repentance.

His Plan and Faithfulness

2008-02-26T08:08:00.002+02:00

A group of prospective American missionaries are here in Mukachevo this week. It has been such an encouragement to Oleg and I to watch how the Lord is paving the way for their future ministry (plus we got a package from home from them :). We have seen God's hand in providing them the perfect place to live (in a VERY small rental market where apartments get rented the day they come on the market). From all the "available" rentals in our city, only one had not been rented (which had been listed 4 days earlier). It was in the perfect location, with amenities that you don't usually find here, a great landlord and a price that they could afford. This is only one of the small details of how the Lord has been favoring their preparations to come full time. Many people would call it luck, coincidence, happenstance - but we as believers know that when the Lord does something - it is so evident - no words such as coincidence or luck can describe His perfect timing and provision.
How comforting to reflect upon our faithful Father in heaven who provides our every need in a timely manner - giving us opportunity to grow our faith and trust in Him as He provides for us.
Praise HIM!!!

Where's Mama?

2008-02-20T08:18:00.002+02:00

We spend hours everyday playing at my great grandmother's old coffee table. Bah and Grandaddy brought it to me in Ukraine before I was even born. I love to stand here and play with all my toys and now, POINT to everyone and everything that I want.

Snug as a bug in a rug!

2008-02-19T11:49:00.001+02:00

Thank you Aunt Krista for the comfy quilt - I love to sleep with it!

Chicken and Beans, YUM!

2008-02-18T12:45:00.000+02:00

Let it snow!!!

2008-02-18T10:41:00.002+02:00

It has been a very mild winter this year with little snow, so when we woke up this morning to SNOW and big snowflakes, we were all excited, especially Abigail!