I’m actually really excited about 2024—God is growing us and changing us in many different ways. There has been so much shift and change in the past 365 days that I know He is doing something good, new, and possibly big. However, this year started out already pretty rough for us. Russia began the new year celebrations by bombing all of Ukraine constantly from about December 29th until yesterday (January 3rd). Moreover, that’s just what we experienced in Western Ukraine—Eastern Ukraine, closer to the front, has had no break whatsoever, regardless of the holidays. Here are a couple of pictures I took or friends took from an explosion that happened in the neighborhood of our old church in southern Lviv:
A view of the blast crater from aboveI took a selfie from a distance, showing how far away the blast affected other buildings—I’m standing right next to the kindergarten where we replaced windows.This apartment building was most affected by the blast. Other organizations were helping with the cleanup there, and our church was advised to help with other affected areas.Inside a classroom in a school that was hurt by the blast
As you can imagine, explosions from rocket attacks in Lviv are not the fireworks we wanted for New Years. However, God used even this! Just a few hours after the attacks, when the coast was clear, our new church, Ukrainian Bible Church, jumped right in with the cleanup. One of the buildings that was damaged by this explosion was a kindergarten where a girl from our church works—we went there and helped to repair windows, clean up glass, and make the place ready to serve kids in the neighborhood again.
I’m really proud to be a part of a church that’s ready in a moment’s notice on a weekday in the middle of the workday to just drop everything and help the community. Katya and I live on the other side of town (we drove more than an hour to get to the neighborhood where the cleanup was happening), and by the time we got there, the work was basically finished! Ukrainians are amazing—please keep praying for them, for their spirits to be high, and for God to bring revival here.
Our church has organized a round–the–clock, year–long fast in 2024 for a “just peace” and for Ukraine in general. For this to happen, each of our church members has agreed to fast for two full days out of the year. However, anyone can take part in the fasting and praying for Ukraine—if you would like to, please contact us, and I (David) will get you more information.
God is working in Ukraine; we can feel it and see it around us. He is opening up opportunities to talk with neighbors and build relationships with unbelievers, He is growing our local churches, and He is bringing outsiders into His flock. Please pray for us to have the boldness and the words we need to share with our friends and neighbors the great news of the hope we have in Christ (Ephesians 6:19).
This year has been a good year, though with a lot of transition. From moving back to Lviv from Czechia at the end of last year, to moving our family from there in late–summer this year, to joining a new church in Lviv, to Katya starting a new study program at the seminary–backed school of leadership, to myself (David) switching seminary programs—saying that there have been a few changes in 2023 is an understatement. However, this past month has been a good one, and we are thankful to feel at home with friends in our new church.
Thanksgiving and Christmas
Thanksgiving meal with familyTurkey!
Katya and I had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving with family here in Lviv. We went all–out on American traditions from my childhood, even though I was the only American in the group! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade pumpkin pie, homemade egg nog, and a few other family favorites.
One of the coolest parts was something my family did at the beginning of every Thanksgiving meal in Texas: we would take five corn kernels and separate them, remembering the famine that the pilgrims endured at the beginning of their time in America (Ukrainians had their own famine caused by the USSR in the 1930’s, so the tradition carries over well) and thanked God for the abundance He has given since then. After that, we went around the table and shared what we are thankful for over the past year while everyone was getting their food. Lastly, we sang Christmas carols, as Thanksgiving was always the official start of the Christmas season for my family back in the USA.
It was really cool to feel connected to my roots and to share these American Christian traditions with my family here. We will do a completely Ukrainian Christmas celebration on the 25th, having twelve different dishes for our “Holy Night” dinner the evening before. (If you would like to learn more about Ukrainian Christmas traditions, you can click here to check out my book about that.)
Katya and the Leadership Course “Beyond Suffering”
Katya began studying this year at a local leadership school. The course she is taking is called “Beyond Suffering” and teaches how to serve wounded and disabled veterans coming back from the war. It has been interesting to get to know the teachers, as some of them are former SF operatives from the United States.
One of the more recent teachers is a Paralympic athlete that has the Ukrainian record for lifting the most weight with one arm. He and his wife have ten foster children, and they are a living example that disabilities do not have to stop your development as a person.
The Paralympic athlete and teacher answering questions in class
David’s Seminary Studies
I (David) am in the process of moving from one seminary program to another, switching from a masters in local church growth to a masters in theological studies. This will better equip me to teach local, indigenous ministers, giving them the tools they need to serve in a wartime and postbellum context. They need teachers that can both speak their language and be in their context, but most of the materials needed to teach those things are in English—very little is written or translated into Ukrainian. This means that Katya and I are uniquely placed to help them and to be a bridge between the English–speaking world (where are the materials are) and everyday Ukrainian life (where we live, work, go to church, etc.). If you would like to see more about how we serve indigenous ministers here in Ukraine, please click here to read our vision statement.
David leading worship at the seminary
The main reason I’m switching programs is because I’m seeing my calling as a teacher more and more—in the spring, I’m going to teach a class at seminary about worship. I’ll be talking about four different types of worship in that class…
Please pray for my students, as they prepare for the class (they actually do most of the homework before coming to Lviv and listening to my lectures). Please also pray for me as their teacher—that I could truly lead them to worship from the heart in a way that honors God and glorifies Him, both inwardly and outwardly.
David’s previous class where he taught about worship
Even though I’m really excited about moving on to a new masters degree program, I’m still really going to miss my old seminary group (see the picture below). Several of those men have been with me in the same classes since 2018—we’ve been through a lot together, and I will continue to pray for them, their ministries, and their families.
David’s M23 seminary group
Conclusion
Thank you all again for praying for us and being there for us as we continue this adventure in Lviv, Ukraine. If any of you would like to connect with us more often, we try to send out a newsletter about every 1-2 months, and you can sign up for that here. Also, you can become a regular supporter or do a special gift for the end of the year on this page. However, please be sure to send us a message once you get that set up, as we like to send out weekly iMessage and SMS updates with pictures and prayer requests to our regular supporters.
God bless you all! Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
I LOVE the feeling of publishing a book. There is something surreal about seeing it on a website being sold. Even if I’m not expecting to sell more than ten or so copies, it’s still SO cool. If you guys wouldn’t mind leaving a review (positive or negative, whatever you actually feel) about the book if you end up buying it, I would really appreciate it.
We just wanted to give a quick update on the past few months with the ministry that God has been doing around and through us here in Ukraine and Eastern / Central Europe.
March to May, 2023
In March, we finally realized a vision that we had for several months in Czechia. David worked for a long time with two different churches to plan, prepare for, and set up a Ukrainian prayer evening and concert that also had an evangelistic aspect. We originally planned to have it in Poland at the end of 2022; however, our contacts there fell through, and we finally pulled it off in eastern Czechia in March of 2023.
Katya had the amazing privilege of working with and translating for a retreat by Joni&Friends at the end of March for disabled Ukrainian military veterans in Germany. Since then, Katya has continued her relationship with that organization and is looking for other opportunities to help, especially for those that have lost limbs in this conflict.
This is a picture of David and his friend Tomasz at a Czech restaurant in Lviv. Unfortunately, the occasion for the meeting is to reminisce about our old church that closed just after the first big attack in February, 2022. Tomasz was with us in the leadership team of the church back then, and it was good to “say goodbye” to that season of life with him.
In May, David began the task of writing an entire preaching course, complete with a workbook, for the All–Ukrainian School of Ministry. It is based on Ramesh Richard’s book Preparing Expository Sermons; however, there are several modifications that David made based both on other books and his seminary studies.
June to July, 2023
God gave David the opportunity to preach, lead worship, and speak briefly at different events from May to June in a small town in northern Ukraine. We are excited about the new ministry relationship with the church there and hope to continue to serve with them in many ways in the future.
We were briefly able to serve a military chaplain in June when he came through Lviv for a short time. We were able to give him a place to rest and wash up before a trip, and our church asked him to come up, share, and be prayed for during the service.
David had surgery on our anniversary this year, removing two inguinal hernias. It’s disappointing that an attempt to make yourself healthier (going to the gym) would harm your health and put you “out of the game” for several months; however, recovery seems to be going well. Please pray for good news at his next check up at the beginning of September, as he really wants to get back to working out.
We had a wonderful, blessed time with a team from Iowa that came in late June / early July. They were amazing—servant–hearted, easy–going, and full of joy. God has continued to serve through them in the testimonies that they left behind in the hearts of the people here. Please pray for more opportunities to have teams here in the future.
I (David) am very proud of Katya and her ability to translate, even over Zoom calls. This is a picture of her translating for a seminary class in June. As you can see, she has two different computers connected, because she was also running some of the multimedia for the class.
Not all of the summer has been entirely positive. It’s actually been very hard to sleep from day–to–day, as the russians have been sending cruise missiles and suicide drones, sometimes several nights per week. This is a picture of an apartment building that was hit a couple of miles from where we live. This war is real, and it is taking a toll on us. Please pray for us to be able to handle the stress and understand how to serve and grow in the midst of it.
This is a cooling setup for David’s computer as it was compiling the video lectures that he put together for the All–Ukrainian School of Ministry. Thank God, one of our supporter families purchased a new computer for him, and that should arrive in the next few months. Please pray for us to have the resources to buy equipment like this when needed.
Also, if you would like to become a regular supporter of ours, you can click here to go to our giving page, or, if you would like more information about our vision and what we do, click here.
August and Beyond, 2023
Most recently, we had the opportunity to help a refugee single mother travel from Poland to Ukraine and back with her two kids in August. They needed to get some documents done. Unfortunately, while on that trip, her son (the little boy behind Katya) broke his leg, and they needed other help while here. Even with all of the adventures, though, we really enjoyed our time with them. Please pray for them, as life in the EU has been very rough.
One of the other adventures we had on that trip was being caught in an apparent “police trap” on the way back to Ukraine. David broke an obscure traffic law—a Polish friend even said that folks from there normally don’t pay any attention to that law. However, because of the seriousness of the fine and the points system in Poland, we aren’t sure if it’s safe now for David to drive in that country. They have a policy of taking your license from you if you have too many points, even if you’re just passing through and don’t live there. We could now get stranded far from home for the smallest traffic violation. Please pray for God’s wisdom as to how to overcome this, as we have important ministry connections through Poland.
There are other trips, ministry opportunities, and health challenges that we have either now or coming up in September / October. If you would like to stay up–to–date with our prayer needs, please sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
Thank you all for praying and for taking the time to be interested in our ministry!
The first couple of months of 2023 have been blessed and fruitful! Here are a few memorable moments from January and February of this year. Please keep praying, as the 1-year anniversary of the attack is coming up tomorrow!
Here is an explanation of the photos:
1. A short trip we took in Poland to celebrate the New Year together 2. Teaching an online class for local military and police chaplains about how to put together a quality presentation 3. Preaching in the Central Baptist Church in Ternopil, Ukraine 4. A baby dedication that happened while I was there 5. Playing a worship song at that church that went with the sermon 6. One of my classes that I helped to teach at the local seminary in Lviv, Ukraine 7. Prayer on our knees in church for peace and victory for Ukraine 8. Walking with the dog in the park (this is a much bigger blessing than you could imagine—it both helps you to cool off during a heard, stressful week, and she also helps to start conversations with our neighbors about the Gospel 9. Cooking breakfast on a camping stove on the balcony while the power is out in Lviv, Ukraine 10. A good friend of ours getting shipped off to the army 11. A rocket hit a grocery store a few miles from Lviv 12. Preaching at Salvation Baptist Church in Lviv, Ukraine 13. Reading New Morning Mercies by Paul Trip with the family in the evenings 14. Katya translating a class with Dr. Mark MacDonald in the basement of the seminary in Lviv, Ukraine during an air raid 15. David translating a question and answer session for Bobby Watkins at the seminary in Lviv, Ukraine 16. Sleeping in the hallway during an air raid in Lviv, Ukraine 17. Jon Markey, the band Room for More, and the Ternopil Chamber Orchestra at a concert in Lviv, Ukraine—that was amazing! 18. Homemade pizza with family in Lviv, Ukraine 🙂
David & Katya 