May Update

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Nathan

We've had a fair amount of translation activity in the last month, with progress being made in four languages! Bible First is being translated into Spanish, French, and now Russian. The Spanish translation is now past the half-way mark, while the French and Russian translations are not as far along. In addition, Good and Evil is being re-translated into Ukrainian.

Web Development

In case you hadn't noticed, you are reading this update on a brand-new website, built by yours truly! In addition to being much faster, this site is also less susceptible to being hacked. (I've been hacked before. Not sure why someone would go to the trouble to hack a missionary's blog???) While the site (hopefully) looks good on your desktop computer, I still need to optimize it for mobile and make some behind-the-scenes tweaks that will be good stepping stones for future projects.

Residency Permits

Our residency permit renewal is going well. By this time next month, hopefully everything will be all finished.

Family

We had a nasty cold/cough bug that went through the family recently. First it took down Melissa and Lydia, then Briana, then Katelin. I thought for sure that I had escaped, but now I've come down with it.

Taking the girls to the park on a Saturday morning.

Briana starting to talk a lot more these days. Melissa and Lydia recently participated in a "talent show" organized by Abby Steele, and they got good reviews for the doll-sized patchwork quilt and pillow that they sewed for the occasion. Katelin just had her birthday, and we all had a good time celebrating that. Melissa's balcony garden is growing nicely, and I'm thinking that there will be enough spinach for a mini-salad soon!

April Update

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Nathan

The big event of the month was a talk that Kelsie Steele did. One of the local churches here in L’viv asked her to give a talk to mothers on how to take care of your children, and still get everything else done around the house. Kelsie asked Katelin to help her out, and the the two of them worked hard on what to say, how to say it, and of course, then they had to figure out how to say it in Ukrainian! Kelsie did most of the talking, but Katelin did some too. It was Katelin’s first time to do any public speaking in Ukrainian, so it was a big first step for her! The talk was well-attended and well-received, and the ladies have since started a Facebook group where they can continue to offer advice and encouragement to other moms.

Kelsie and Katelin had quite the turnout for their talk!

Web Development

More and more, we find ourselves using the internet in ministry. For a while now, I’ve been feeling the need to learn some web development skills. I’m currently working on a new version of our blog, and I’m hopeful that I will be able to post next month’s update on it! Once I’ve finished with this project, it will be time to move on to bigger things.

Residency Permits

I’m currently working on gathering the documents for our renewing our residency permits. The first round of documents should be submitted within the next week, so you can pray that they would be approved.

Family

The snowsuits have been put away, and all of L’viv is in bloom, so I think it’s safe to say that spring is here to stay! We are all enjoying the warmer weather, as well as the fresh spring veggies that are starting to appear at the market.