T.E.A.M. Ukraine is a ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of Canada Mission

Today the farmer in us got to come out and play! We were outside cleaning up the flower beds, discovering the lilies and tulips poking their way out of the ground. It was so nice to play in the dirt again! It seems like such a long time since we put away all of the gardening tools and parked the lawn mower. By the time we return from this next speaking trip, we hope that more of the perennials will be poking through the ground. Yesterday we went to a funeral for Shannon's great uncle, who died of a heart attack last Friday. It was one of those happy and sad occasions. Sad because life for Uncle Ken's family will never be the same, but happy as we shared memories and visited with friends and family we hadn't seen in a long while. And since there is no time like the present, we used the opportunity to take another 5 generation picture. In the picture is my Grandpa who is almost 97, my mom, our youngest daughter and her two sons.     Last Sunday we drove to Meadow...

Saturday, April 14 was a beautiful, sunny day, perfect for celebrating a milestone birthday with friends. We drove to Fullerton, CA (Los Angeles, really) with a friend to celebrate Russ' 100th birthday with about 250 other people! Russ was enjoying every minute, smiling and laughing, getting his picture taken hundreds of times during the afternoon. Friends gathered from all across the continent for the special occasion. We met Russ and his wife, Carole, five years ago at Gleanings for the Hungry and became fast friends. Phone calls, emails and visits are part of our relationship with them. They are an example to us of caring, serving others and trusting the Lord. They are a big blessing to us. Our time at Gleanings was too short!! We enjoyed visiting with old friends, meeting new ones and serving alongside others to meet the needs of the less fortunate around the world. We were able to share about our call to missions in Ukraine with the folks at Gleanings. We were ...

Time sure flies when you're busy!! It doesn't seem so long ago that I was typing on our last post, but evidently it was longer than I thought! We spent last Sunday with dear friends at Imperial Bethel Church, sharing our hearts for the ministry in Ukraine. After a delicious potluck lunch and much visiting, we were on our way south. Our trip down to California was uneventful, thankfully! The roads were good and the car was reliable. We arrived at Gleanings for the Hungry to +30 degrees Celsius! What a change from winter's last stand that we left behind in Cut Knife a few short days ago. Here at Gleanings we are reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones, and of course spending time with our "adopted granddaughters" Liana and Timea. Helping out around the base never seems like work because you are with others who also have a desire to serve the Lord. We were able to share Thursday morning about our call to serve in Ukraine. It was great to share and ...

Happy Easter! We trust that you were able to celebrate the Resurrection with family and friends. We spent Good Friday with Scott's parents and our daughter, Ashley. Sunday was our last service at Good Shepherd Community Church as their pastor. That day seemed to arrive very quickly! It was a bitter-sweet day. Sad to leave our friends and the new people God is bringing into the church, but excited to experience the adventure God has before us. Well, today we did something that we haven't done for 13 years! We listed our house with a realtor. We trust that God has just the right family who will make us a great offer. It is a little odd to be finished work at the church. There are still some books and pictures to pack and a few last minute details to take care of there. We've been doing a bit of packing at home and making lots of lists. We don't want to forget anything important, either to do or to take. For now we are preparing to go to California to visit friends a...