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“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.” —Elizabeth Edwards Hello UOO supporters,
We hope that 2021 has been kicked off to a good start, with health, provision, and a covering of inner joy! As we enter into our 15th year of ministering to the marginalized in Ukraine, we are humbled and stand in awe of how God has carried us through the years! Both Clarke and I know, feel, and see that it is only in His power and will that we have made it this far! We continue to remind ourselves to stay in a posture of leaning into our Lord to discern and follow His will for our work, which we are so privileged to do in Ukraine. With all honesty, we have both questioned “how much longer can we continue our work in Ukraine?” We thank God that He has provided for Ukraine Orphan Outreach and remind ourselves of how blessed we have been to be a part of something so much bigger than we could have ever imagined. As we reflect back and look forward, we wanted to share a piece of our hearts and how we have been changed because of working with the least in Ukraine.
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 From April 2 to May 10, we are collecting gallon-size Ziploc bags for orphans in Ukraine. If you would like to participate, please gather some of the items listed below (all of which are so desperately needed by orphans and at-risk children in Ukraine) and then assemble your Ziploc bag (or bags!). We will be taking these bags with us on our mission trip this summer. We have collection points in Washington, DC and in Colorado.
 Coming to Ukraine I am inspired, refocused, activated for action yet exhausted and sad. I have been wondering what to post about our visit to a very big orphanage known as the “Emerald City”. So when you you think of the Emerald City, what do you think of? We think of the well known story of Dorothy searching. She is searching for her family. She is searching for her home. Family and home….where is that to be found in a place like this? This is a false illusion for over 300 orphaned children that are looking for their forever home. Looking for their family. When you think about it, in the story of “The Wizard of Oz”, has so much irony around an orphanage called “Emerald City”.
 Our departure is a day away as we enthusiastically finish up final details and packing in anticipation of what the Lord has for the team as we head to Ukraine. Please keep the mission team in your prayers as we continue to prepare our hearts and minds to serve alongside our friends in Ukraine. Although we pre-plan our days in Ukraine with our ministry partners, our plans are His plans first and we leave any expectations at home and be open to new opportunities that are led by the Spirit.
 Mission Trip 2017 – Do You Want to Serve with Us?
 Hello friends and family,
Soon Kelly and I will be departing for a mission trip to Ukraine, spending about one week in the country. We will be flying out on May 28th and arriving in Kiev Sunday afternoon. Upon arrival we will catch our breath for a few hours and then climb aboard an overnight train that will take us to Kramators’k, which is located about 60 miles from the Ukraine/Russian conflict zone. Our team has not been able to visit the House of Grace family since the summer of 2013 so we feel it is very important to spend time with Maxim, Lena and the kids. The last time we traveled to Kramators’k with our team, we flew into Donetsk to the new, beautiful airport.  I have had the opportunity realize the dream of a paper I wrote in graduate school at Fuller Seminary become a reality. I wrote this paper and submitted at the end of 2015. The proposal was turned into a reality the spring of 2016!
If your interested in learning more about how UOO will be partnering with Samaratin Ministries to serve IDP’s, please read the below which was written to assess the situation in Ukraine and explore how we can continue show the love of Christ by serving those living in the margins.  Thirteen years ago today Clarke and I were embarking on an unknown journey with our sites on adopting from Ukraine. The seed of adoption had been planted early in our days of marriage, and we always knew someday we would like to adopt. With the craziness of life, marriage, work, having two wonderful children, life whisked by and it is as if we forgot our intentions of adopting.
 Hello UOO Family,
We are in deep planning for our summer missions trip. Dates will be August 26 – September 6, 2016. |
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