Saying Good-bye Steve, Jo, Dez and August

This past few days has had a lot of our similar activities, but on Wednesday night we were able to be a part of a surprise farewell for Steve and Jo Harder, missionaries in Zaparosia, who are from Manitoba. Jessica, a missionary from the U.S.A. and part of our small group (Jessica, Harders, Verhoogs and us) put on a great farewell and we were glad to be a part of it, even though we knew very few of Steve and Jo's friends from their seven years of ministry. Many of them shared about their friendship with Steve and Jo and how their lives made a difference.

The crew gathered at Steve and Jo's Farewell


Steve's floorball coach


A life touched by Steve and Jo


More sharing


Floorball team presentation to Steve


Steve sharing with his friend interpreting


A tasty cake that we all enjoyed


(left to right) Jessica, Jo, Cindy, Shannon

We met Steve and Jo and their boys, Dez and August, when we first arrived in 2018. We have been part of a small group together with them since we arrived and we will miss them (We will also miss Jo's amazing desserts that she prepared each week). We met at Steve and Jo's apartment every Thursday evening, with the odd special event held at our place for meals.

After our final small group at Steve and Jo's on Thursday, we brought home a wardrobe for Garry and Teresa. Steve and Jo are on their way back to Canada after spending seven years in Zaparosia.

Steve & Jo's wardrobe on its way to Garry and Teresa's


Made it around the corner

Being part of the farewell, you realize that the Harders made a difference in their time in Ukraine. They will be missed as they return to Canada and find out what God wants them to do next. Exciting times for them and yet wondering what God has in store for them. Last night at the farewell, Scott was able to share a few thoughts with those gathered. He encouraged Steve and Jo to KNOW that God KNOWS what He has for them to do next and that they are right where He wants them to be. It's not always an easy place to be, but there can be a peace within our hearts from God that defies human logic and is hard for many to understand. It was neat as the card that Jessica chose for them had the same Scripture that Scott chose to share last night. It is Isaiah 30:21 - Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” This a verse that we have held tightly to ourselves and it was neat to see how God orchestrates thoughts and ideas.

Scott sharing and Jessica interpreting

On Sunday we had English Club and it is very enjoyable and challenging. Some of the questions we get asked make you think and often create more wonder about the season of Christmas and the celebrating the birth of our Saviour Jesus. We were hoping to put in a short video where Andrey and Amina played out the angel's announcement to Mary to the tune of Ava Maria. We will try to add it later or to our monthly newsletter.

Shannon continues to teach English to the students on Monday and Tuesday mornings. She has one more week of lessons before they take a Christmas break. The students seem to enjoy her teaching and they enjoyed Tuesday when she shared the five "W's" with them (What - Tea; Where - my house; When - today @ 6:30; Who - you; Why - Because... ). She invited them to our place for tea, coffee, hot chocolate and of course some sweets. Our conversation is limited with our understanding of Russian and theirs of English, but with Google Translate, we get by and have fun. We learned how to play 'Uno' Ukrainian style and it has some significant differences from Canada. We are slowly catching on, but we have found out that they don't hold back on us. We just need to learn quicker!

Playing Ukrainian rules Uno with the students


Another card game 
We are enjoying our new heating system throughout the house with the radiators and hot water heat. It is so nice! There are no longer any cool spots as we go throughout the house.

We also did another room with the plastic board on the ceiling. We did our sitting room and that is it until at least the new year. When the trim is installed and the caulking is done, it looks so amazing and it is so clean. Our tub always had stuff in it and now it stays clean!

We continue to work away at Russian. Progress is slow, but we know we need to keep at it.

We attached a neat picture of icicles coming off our metal roof. We had our first snow on Tuesday.  We woke up to close to 4 inches of fresh snow. The icicles are the new formation of thawing and freezing. God's creation is amazing!
Icicles from our metal roof













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