Category: David’s Posts

Well, I just got done visiting my dad and family in Minnesota, and I’m about to fly out from Minnesota to Texas. I’ve had a lot of fun here. It was really cool to be able to fit in with everyone so, very well. I’ve never met several of these people, but a couple of them, I feel like I’ve known for years. I’ve really had fun with them.  I even got to connect with a Calvary Chapel pastor while I was here.  He’s the pastor of Calvary Chapel St. Paul, MN.  I really enjoyed eating a Chicago dog and drinking some coffee with him a couple of days ago.  He knows the Markey family and knew George Markey Sr. before he left for Ukraine the first time.

Some of my Minnesota family…

The weather is kind of funny right now.  In Minnesota of all places, we didn’t have a white Christmas.  It’s been sunny out the past couple of days, and I’ve really enjoyed it.  Others here miss the snow, though… haha.  I told them, “You know… God knows I’m a Texan, and He’s being nice.”  This place can be even colder than L’viv, Ukraine, and I’m really glad that God’s holding off the cold, at least until I leave.

I’ll be in Texas for about a week and will be celebrating New Year’s with my mom and family down there.  Thanks a lot for everyone that prayed about my stomach issues from the last blog post.  I’m feeling WAY better and I should be just fine.  I still feel like I could be getting a little sick, but I don’t feel sick to my stomach at all.

You guys can see more pictures of my trip so far in America on my Facebook page under the Christmas 2011 album (or just click here).  I’ll be updating that more ‘n’ more while I’m here.  You may have to be signed into Facebook and added as a friend of mine to access those photos, though.  😛

Please be praying for my trip back.  I haven’t purchased my ticket yet.  I’m still trying to work out the exact dates with my travel agent.  Thanks!

Please pray for me. I’m not feeling very well right now. My dad just got over the flu, and my brother just got over the stomach flu. I feel like I might be getting one or the other… Maybe both. 😦

I’ve been praying about the vision has for the worship team in L’viv, and I think God is honing the vision He has for us, and He’s really been using this time in America to do it. It’s almost like this trip has been a worship seminar for me. I’ve gotten to observe several different teams, and I even got to play with one or two of them since I’ve bee back, and that’s been a huge blessing. I feel like every worship team or every church teaches me a little more about what to do or what not to do with the worship team in L’viv. Whatever I do in L’viv, I want to do it well. I’m learning a couple of new songs, new styles, and stuff like that… I feel like God has even called us to a particular style of worship (as He has done for other churches). I like skilled, simple worship. That doesn’t mean that there is a limit on the number of lead-worshipers on stage or that we’ll never have a guitar solo, but it means that I want to free the worship service from distractions. Today I was a part of a worship team at a very loud service that was very technical and they had dynamic lights and stuff… But I was able to really sing my heart out to God. I really enjoyed it. There have been other times when it’s been the exact opposite.

I want to raise up a worship team that is a group of well-discipled lead-worshipers. That, I believe, should be the core of any worship team, regardless of what style of church or music you have. Also, the focus for the worship service should always be Jesus. If it’s not on Him, it’s not worship… It turns just into a show. Now, those things are obvious, but how to practically apply these ideas can actually be a challenge. This is another thing that i want to be learning while I’m here. Please be praying for that. I always want to be a student, learning from the things around me.

So far, my stay in America has been awesome!  😀  I love being able to hang out with my friends here, meet new people, serve in churches, and share the vision that God has for us in Ukraine.  So far, I’ve spoken (and sometimes done worship) at Friday Night Live (a youth group at Horizon Indy), Horizon Indianapolis, Harvest Ft. Wayne, and Calvary Chapel Bible College Indianapolis.  Yesterday was Harvest Ft. Wayne.  I really enjoyed that.  I made some new friends and met a couple that is planning on adopting a girl from Ukraine soon.  Please pray for them.  I invited them to come visit us in L’viv, and I hope they will, because the girl they are hoping to adopt is from Western Ukraine.

All this week, I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner appointments with different friends that have supported me by prayers, communication, and finances.  I really appreciate all that you guys have done since I made the commitment to move to Ukraine!

Here are a couple of pictures of Friday Night Live, the youth group that I spoke at this last Friday.  I had a great time there.  I’m proud of those guys.  They are bubbling over with this young enthusiasm.  Any time any of them has a problem, they all gather around and pray (they did that in the picture below).  I used to serve in that youth group right before I left for Ukraine.  They are part of the inspiration I had in starting the youth group we have in L’viv.

Please be praying for them that they would mature in their faith and become more and more young men and women after the heart of God.  They really have a great group going right now.

Thanks a lot for you guys’ continued prayers and support while I’m here in America.  I only have about 4 1/2 weeks left in the U.S.!  Time is flyin’.

God bless!

Coming back, all in all, was a good trip.  It started out a little rocky… as I was going out through customs in L’viv, Ukraine, the Ukrainian customs agents informed me that I needed to pay a fine for being in Ukraine longer than was legal.  That confused me quite a bit, because I got instructions from the immigration office and followed them to the letter to stay there legally…  In other words, Ukraine fined me for following its instructions.  Oh well…  (Missionaries be warned – your visas under the old regime don’t mean anything legally.  You need a new visa with an extension in order to stay in Ukraine for more than 45 days in a 180-day period… or something like that.)  After gettin’ quite frustrated with that, my flight from Ukraine to Germany was very nice.  I sat next to an older Ukrainian woman and helped her order tea and OJ from the cart and stuff.  She’s visiting her daughter in New Jersey, so I also gave her some English phrases to practice and use while she’s in America.

Please be praying for that whole visa/customs/legal mess.  I have a limited time in America before I can get all of that taken care of.  God knows what he’s doing.  😀  We just need to get that figured out before I leave for Ukraine in January.  I may need to change my ticket.

Germany was short ‘n’ sweet.  After buying a candy bar and some peanut m&m’s, I got to talk to another American that was flying to Chicago.  While on the flight to Chicago, I actually sat next to a missionary that serves in Spain.  Please pray for her.  Her daughter-in-law is having a baby and there are some complications with that right now.  That’s why she was flying in.  There’s nothing wrong with the baby right now, but they might have to do a c-section.  I asked her to pray for my visa/fine/immigration authorities issues.

One more flight and I was in Indianapolis, but, somewhere in between Germany, Chicago, and Indy, my bags got lost.  Right now, I don’t have clothes for church tomorrow, but that’s ok!  God knows what He’s doing.  🙂  (Update – the Lockerbies gave me some clothes to wear.)

Me with the Day family at the nursery.  Jessica is taking the picture.

I got to sleep last night at the Day’s house and spent the day with them walking around a Christmas tree nursery.  That was a lot of fun.  Their two oldest kids were some of my campers at the summer camp I used to work for here in Indianapolis.  I always have a lot of fun with them playing games and talking about camp ‘n’ stuff.

It’s really interesting to hear and see English all around me, see cars with American-style license plates, eating Mexican food (ye-ah!), and just being in American culture…  I’m really looking forward to going to church tomorrow!  😀  I’m going to be playing on the worship team and speaking about my trip at Horizon Indianapolis.  Please be praying for that.