If  you received our Christmas letter in the mail, we kind of left you hanging. We feel like we’ve been left hanging for more than two months as we have submitted and re-submitted our documents, trying to obtain permission to stay in Ukraine for the next year. Our deadline passed on December 10, but we finally received our temporary residency permit on December 26 with the all-important rubber stamp. Thank you for your prayers. We won’t have to go through this again…until next year. But, [...]

Here is a list of things that we are currently praying about: Pray with us that the authorities will grant us a temporary residency permit that will allow us to stay and minister in Ukraine. We don’t know of any reason why we would be refused, but with all the new laws, it is possible that we could be refused because of procedural problems. We are all sick again–no one is dying, but it sure makes it difficult to be productive, and this is a [...]

In September Ukraine passed new legislation that invalidated our visas and changed the laws about how foreigners can stay in Ukraine. Russia did something similar a few years ago, and this caused many missionaries to leave the country because they could no longer obtain the permissions they needed to stay there long term. We’re hoping that this won’t be the result here, but we have yet to see how the government will implement their new laws. One thing is sure…the process will certainly be more [...]

It sounds like Christmas, but it’s actually our keys. When we left the States more than six years ago, our key rings were empty. This left an unfamiliar silence in our steps as we relinquished roles and responsibilities, with their respective keys. Now the jingle is back and is louder than ever. The crescendo has been gradual, but now, as we get ready to replace this year’s calendar, it’s exciting to remember how full it was of ministry and new responsibilities. Our primary ministry is [...]

It sounds like Christmas, I mean, keys…but this time it’s actually the sound of what’s left in our ministry account. A number of you have told us that we’re not very good at making our needs known, probably because we’re so grateful for what many of you are already doing. But for us to keep on doing what we’re doing here, we are going to need some more help. Over the past year giving has been under budget, and now things like new visa and [...]

After years of wrangling with the authorities, jumping through bureaucratic hoops, and spending thousands of dollars, our good friends finally rescued a Ukrainian orphan. They weren’t trying to fill a need in their own lives–they already had several wonderful children. The adoption was purely an act of grace. You can imagine how the child responded when they finally brought her home and showered her with love…but you’d be wrong! Instead of being grateful, she continually demanded more. It took a couple years before she understood [...]

Look at this and tell me what you see. Our new pet is named Rorschach because he looks exactly like an inkblot–at least to us! Gazing at our new pet may tell you more about us than about yourself. Although we’d all really love to have a dog, an 8th floor apartment and a traveling lifestyle makes that difficult. So we recently ended up getting an inky-blue Betta fish. Of course, Casey is still convinced that her pet hamster, Reepicheep, is the family’s mascot. So, [...]

It was a cool treat on a hot summer day, but it wasn’t the sweetest melon ever. The last one we had tasted like candy, so we had high hopes. Watch the 30-second video below.