I’m finally heading home—as I’m writing this on August 1st, I’m on a flight from Seattle, WA to Helsinki (Finland). From there, I’ll take another plane to Prague, take a train from Prague to Przemysł, and possibly take a bus from there to Lviv. Planes, trains, and automobiles!

It’s been a great trip to see friends and family and to visit with supporters and churches that partner with us in our ministry and mission in Ukraine. I was in seven different states and multiple cities in between.

Florida (July 1–9)

Stop 1: Sarasota

Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures from my trip to Sarasota. I was there for only a couple of days and visited with some friends of ours that have been supporters of mine since before Katya and I got married. That was a lot of fun, but I was still jet–lagging pretty hard.

Stop 2: Belleview

I got to speak at a Wednesday night service at Calvary Chapel Belleview in central Florida, which was a lot of fun. They were the first church that I made a presentation for on this trip, and they were very hospitable. The atmosphere at the service was very intimate, and we were able to have a question–and–answer session, both about the ministry and about the general situation in Ukraine right now.

Stop 3: St. Augustine

My uncle and aunt live in St. Augustine, and it was wonderful to be able to visit with them. I’ve been wanting to see them for several years, but the last time I visited their home was shortly after graduating high school. It was wonderful to reconnect with them and to visit their church that Sunday.

Tennessee (July 9–16)

Most of my time in Tennessee was spent with my dad and stepmom there, but I also preached at Calvary Knoxville, which is a huge church there. If you would like to hear the message that I preached, you can do so here:

We also just had fun with my parents there—we went to see a couple of live shows (the Comedy Barn and the Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge). I basically just had a great time in Tennessee.

Georgia (July 16–18)

Georgia was a wonderful time to reconnect with a church that has sent team after team to Ukraine to help with our mission there—Clayton Baptist Church in Raybun County. The folks there are some of the nicest, sweetest, and most hospitable in the States. Here’s a picture of them throwing a birthday party for me (my birthday was that week):

South Carolina (July 18–19)

I forgot to take pictures while I was in SC, but it was still fun to connect with a few folks that either support us or have been to Ukraine. I was only there for an evening and morning, but I’m so thankful to you all for being SO hospitable to me!

North Carolina (July 19–22)

In North Carolina, I had the honor of staying with Dr. Steven Livengood (pronounced “LIVE–en–good”) and his wife Kim. They are also some of the coolest, most hospitable folks you would ever meet. The Livengoods have been to Ukraine several times, and they actually have known Katya about as long as I have. Here are several pictures that Steve sent me from their trips to Ukraine when Katya used to translate for them:

Dr. Livengood used to be a seminary professor that graded exegetical sermons, so it was an insane honor when he actually invited me to preach at his church the Sunday while I was there. I preached the same message that I had in Knoxville (I was actually preparing it for this church when Knoxville asked me to preach), and you can watch it here:

I really hope that Katya and I can visit there together someday. Please pray for our support team to grow so that we can come to the States more often.

Texas (July 23–29)

As with Tennessee, my time in Texas was mostly spent with family—I visited with my mom, stepdad, sister, and stepsister in the San Antonio area. I also got to see a local pastor of a church that translated a Ukrainian song from English into Spanish (I had earlier translated the song from Ukrainian into English). Here is an old recording of the song:

Here are the words:

All Glory
Lyrics and music by Oles Dmytrentko and Yulia Shutenko
Translation into English by David Snead

Verse 1:
Capo 3 – Am, F, G, Em

All glory, all honor, You left forsaken,
And came to earth to suffer death
Though holy, and righteous, and truly perfect
You took my sin upon Yourself

Chorus:
Halleluyah!

Verse 2:
All glory, all honor, to You forever
You rose and reign, eternal God
The Lamb Who took my sins,
We shout Your praises!
To You we sing this from our hearts!

This is one of my favorite songs in Ukrainian, and I think it works in English as well.

In addition to all of that, I also got to see my great–aunt, who is a retired nun in San Antonio. She is 94 years old and still very sharp and healthy. Here is a picture that we took together in the convent:

I try to visit her every time that I come to San Antonio, as I don’t know how many visits like that she and I have left.

Seattle, Washington (July 29–August 1)

My last stop, which was the furthest out from all of the others, was to visit Calvary Chapel Mt. Si in the Seattle area. That was so cool—the church was amazing, and the scenery around there is breathtaking. Here are a few pictures:

John, the guy in the last picture, will soon be a missionary to Japan with his wife and children. Please pray for them and for Japan in general—that is very hard ground to plant in.

As I’ve said many times throughout this post, the trip was amazing. I am so thankful for all of the people that gave me places to stay, food to eat, and helped me along the way. I really do hope to do this again soon, though I am not sure I will visit all of the same sates on the next time around.

If you would like to be one of the places where I (and hopefully we) will visit next time, please contact us and let us know where you are, what church you’re from, if you would like a presentation about our ministry (or one of the seminars that we do), and any other details.

God bless you all and, Lord willing, see you again soon!