Day 5 - Camp...camp...camp

We had a great turn out today, adding about 10 more kids today to the camp. Lubymire spoke a fantasic devotional today, captivating the camper and plant a seed to grow. Below are some pictures that were taken at both camps. We had a great little competition during warmup today that got the campers up and motivated....thanks to Sasha for keeping us on our toes. The video is the game played boys against girls at the afternoon session, pay close attention to the celebration when a scoring basket is made. Please continue to pray fpr us, especially for the energy level of our team members, with the hot weather, we don't want to let anything stand in our way of sharing the gospel through sports.

Day 4 - Let's get this thing going

It was the second day of the camp....unbelievable how much these kids have learned and how much they have taught each of us. Their hearts are so open, willing to learn a new sport, all the while having a fantastic time. This morning we had a camp from 9-12 at a different site than the first day, at an outdoor sport complex. What great placement the Lord had in store for the camp, as there were serveral football (soccer) players that came to practice and instead particpated in the camp. For the afternoon session, we headed back to the school where we added a couple of more participants and continued skill development. We had a delicious dinner and then got ready for English Club. English club is an organization Shannon heads up to teach Ukrainians how to develop their English. Each team member worked individually with a native Ukrainian discussing our state as well as learning nursery rhymes and defining what they meant. Shannon put a Texas twist on it, with the Mother Goose Texas book, giving the us Texans a chance to share the Texas pride we hold. They also shared the pride they have for Ukraine. What an amazing opportunity. We cannot thank David and Shannon Goran for all their help and making the camp successful. They are such servants of the Lord, always keeping positive attitudes and loving on others. Their selflessness and love for the Lord is evident in all they do and who they come in contact with. Thank you Lord for them. The following video is a quick scrimage game-the campers learned so fast! The next video is Steve and Justin demonstrating a defensive exercise that is quite entertaining.......enjoy!

Look at the defensive ability of the campers (that's Emmie being tackled!!).

Day 3 - In the beginning

Today was the beginning of the camp...starting at an early 6:15 am to get up and at up for the morning meeting and heading to the school to set up. We registered 25 in the morning and 11 in the afternoon. We worked on dribbling, passing, shooting, and defense. They rotated through the stations including a devotional station where a verse was shared and explained to the kids. We had lots of fun today and focused on why we were here, not allowing temptation to interfere with what God's purpose is for the camp and reaching the children of the community. It was truly extraordinary to see the team members teach the students the basketball skills and yet learn the culture and integrity from the campers. They are fantastic people with a zest and thirst to learn something new. The camp proved successful and we continue to ask for your prayers. We were treated for dinner at a cafe thanks to David and Shannon (we had the entire cafe to ourselves)...then we climbed to high castle hill to over look the city. What a beautiful view and what gorgeous town of Lviv. You can completely can see God's hand in everything. Enjoy the pictures....





Just made a basket!!

We teach many skill....Gig Em.

View from the top of the hill....

Day 2 - The Sabbath

So after some much needed catch-up sleep, we were up and at up for a meeting setting up the stations for the camp and then set out to the streets of L'viv to pass out flyers for the camp. We stopped by playgrounds and parks as well as town squares.
After all the flyers were handed out, we grabbed some lunch, hung out and prepared for church. To describe the passion and the ambiance at the L'viv United Methodist Church was unreal. The Lord's presence was all over, just filtering through worship in song, the sermon and communion. The worship itself was intense and beautiful all at the same time.....to hear the mixture of language all worshiping one God exploded in the room. The sermon preached by Lyubomir discussed how the impossible was possible through God, love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. Colossians 1: 12-28. The quotes that rang true: "If anything is possible than what is worth our efforts?" (thanks Emmie) and "To love your neighbor is to have unconditional love which is shown when competition is replaced with sacrificial behavior." So true and what a complimentary statement to enforce what is being said by the Word of God. We had church with several cultures, mixed in all shapes and sizes:

What a beautiful thing....and the after, an intense game of ping pong and dinner. What a great day. Please continue to pray for the Lord's work to perserve, that there is a fantastic attendance to the camp as well as that each child is impacted through this camp and that our energy level continues to increase. Thank you for all your love and support. Stay tuned....the camp starts tomorrow.

The school sites for one of the camps......

Day 1- Commencement

so....we made it! After about 20 hours in various airports across the world, our team reunited in warsaw, poland where we then jet-setted to lviv, ukraine to start the beginning of the lord's work. TOUCHDOWN!!

After an interesting experience at the airport, we met up David and several students from the Student Center, Maryanna, Olya, and Lana, where we then checked in the hostel, showered and then met up with Shannon and David for an orientation over the upcoming week's activities. You can feel the Lord's presence and a feeling of peace knowing that He has commissioned us to share His word. Many thanks to the wonderful Shannon and David for there blessed work here and their heart for the ministry that is continuously growing. We grabbed a bite to eat and then walked around town....here are a few pictures to share of this gorgeous city.

A little about where we're going and what we're doing

I have been asked many times 'Where exactly are you going?' and 'What are you going to be doing?'. Maybe this will help...

We are going to L'viv, Ukraine. Instead of me telling you, click on this link and read all about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lviv. L'viv is a very interesting and beautiful city with a rich history so I think you will enjoy the article. The time difference: eight hours ahead of CDT; travel time: 13 hours in actual flight time plus two layovers.

We will be conducting an Upward Basketball Mission Camp. If you don't know about Upward Sports - it is a U.S. based Christian sports program available to churches or Christian recreation centers. Upward provides all the materials to run basketball, flag football and soccer league along with cheerleading. I have been involved with Upward for 10 years, and last year I heard about a new program they had: Upward Mission Camps. The camp is set up with a number of skill stations (we will have four - shooting, dribbling and passing, defense and rebounding, and lay-ups and free throws) and a devotional station. Basically, we use the draw of an organized sports camp to bring in kids so they can be exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The devotions during our five day camp will be a series that introduces kids to God, the Bible, and Jesus, and on the last day the kids are given the opportunity to make a decision to give their life to Christ. The local church we will be working with will then take things from there, reaching out to the families of the kids and inviting them to attend church and begin the process of understanding what it means to have personal relationship with Christ.

I hope that fills in the blanks a little.

In His service,

Bill

Departure Time is Fast Approaching!

All,

The excitement is building in Sugar Land - we leave this Friday, July 16th, for L'viv. Sugur Land FUMC had a commissioning ceremony for our team during service yesterday, eight of the 12 of us were able to be in attendance. Justin and Sarah are already in Europe doing a little sight-seeing, and Justin started their vacation off right by proposing to Sarah! We will be meeting up with them in Warsaw, Poland on Saturday and flying together to L'viv. Emmie lives in D.C. and will be metting up with us in Chicago, and Steve had a prior commitment. The eight of us who made the ceremony were blessed by the prayers of our pastors and congreation! We ask for your prayers as well, specifically: safe travel, good weather, good health, the Holy Spirit working through us and hearts that are receptive to the message.

A lot of people wonder about how long it takes to get to Ukraine: 2hours 35minutes to Chicago, 9:25 to Warsaw, and then a short one hour flight to L'viv. We are flying on American Airlines to Chicago, but then Lot Polish Airlines takes us the rest of the way. I've never heard of Lot Polish Airlines and I'm a little...nervous (that's man-speak for being scared!).

We will arrive in L'viv early Saturday afternoon (we lose eight hours in transit due to the time change), and will be staying at the Kosmonaut Hostel. I've been there before, and it's pretty nice. The hostel is in the same building as the Student Center, which is run by our missionaries, so it is very convenient. Saturday will be a day of rest, as Sunday we hit the ground running. We will be attending worship on Sunday at the Methodist church (which meets in the Student Center), then after lunch we will visit both of the sites for our Upward Basketball Camps that begin on Monday. We will hand out fliers to any kids in the area and run through the layout of the camps. We kick off the first camp Monday morning at 9am!

We will add pictures from the two camps daily. Stay tuned!

Bill