Mon 01 Aug - Sweet fellowship - Kamenka 19:00GMT

Today was such a sweet day.  John and I visited Natasha Kopp's Kamenka family for breakfast today. Natasha and

Joel Kopp were the couple I married on my last visit here in 2007.  Wow has it been that long?  Natasha obviously is from Kamenka and Joel is from Bethel-Owatonna.  The sister church visits are responsible for many blessings, including two couples who became families  What a great time we had. And I had forgotten how great the food is and how much I can eat over here.  Not good.

We headed over to church to sit in to observe the English camps Larry and Joanie Wiken are leading with the help of the Regenerate interns.

Wikens have a great time taking their ESL skill and adapting it to a gospel camp.  So many kids here want to learn and speak English. It's wonderful opportunity to teach them the Bible and give them the gospel. I haven't heard about the second, teen English camp today, but what a great bunch of kids!  John and I retreated to the church basement for some cooler air to catch up on texts and emails, then to Vadym's house for a bit of rest.

This afternoon, I finally got some quality time with Pastor Petr through a great interpreter who was absolutely amazing. When interpreters are great, it opens up so much of the fellowship we're longing to enjoy.  Pastor Petr has been an amazing, confident, strong leader here.  Much that has been done is due to how God shaped him.  He's one of the boldest guys I've ever met.  We laughed together, cried together, shared our individual journeys and prayed together.  Pastor Petr is just 4 years younger than I. He has a very bad heart and diabetes. He is feeling he needs to turn the church over to a younger pastor, but the right guy is not yet ready.  This will be right at the top of my prayer list.  I love this man and am grateful that we've had this fellowship.  He's comforted me through some huge ministry crises and disappointments. I've tried my best return his grace.

Tonight was an Elder meeting over shashlik at Pastor Petr's place in Repidalivka. We sat together out under his pear tree

and it will be a memory that will be with me forever. Such a great time with these struggling, but committed leaders  I shared messages from Bethel-Owatonna leadership that I've been nervous about, but it was much easier than I anticipated. Praise God! Then they'd asked me to do a training on Faith-Based Budget Building. I do enjoy teaching church leadership dynamics.  It was longer than I planned it to be... that was bad... but everybody was engaged, most taking notes and the questions were insightful and probative. That's good

This was a rich, full day.  My Mom likes to say "You never know when you're making a memory." But I made a bunch of them today.  I'm also glad for the discipline of blogging and thinking back across the day and observing what God has done. I think the thing I like most about coming on these kind of missions is that God takes me way out beyond myself and a long way out of my comfort zone. When I'm willing to "faith-it" with Him, He always comes through and provides what I need.  Thank you God for a wonderful, faith building day.