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Posted on May 25, 2019
by Nathan
Carpathian Mountain Outreach
Carpathian Mountain Outreach starts in just under three weeks! Preparations have
already begun, but much still remains to be done.
I'm happy to report that our scouting trip went well! We were received well by
the village heads we talked with, and we were able to schedule the first four film
showings of the summer without a problem.
I won't be posting an update to the blog next month, due to CMO, but if you'd
like to keep abreast of the action, be sure to like ETO on Facebook and/or
subscribe to ETO's mailing list.
Bible First
As you may remember from last month, we were planning to migrate our existing
Bible First students to the new web app we have been developing. I'm pleased to
report that the migration was a success, and things are humming along nicely.
There are still a lot of bugs to fix and improvements to build, but at this
point, most of them will have to wait until after CMO.
Residency Permits
Just a few days ago, we received our shiny, new residency permits! We still have
a tiny bit of paperwork left to do, but at this point, it should be just a
formality.
Family
Forget April showers bringing May flowers, this year we seem to be getting our
April showers in May! Perhaps "May showers bring June vegetables"? Doesn't quite
have the same ring…
Despite all the rain, we have had some nice days!
Jonathan is quickly scooting all over the house these days. Although he's only
going to get quicker once he learns how to crawl! The girls recently recited
Psalm 23 in front of the whole church. We were especially proud of them, as
speaking in front of people is not something that comes naturally for them.
Posted on April 22, 2019
by Nathan
While in the States, we were glad to be able to meet with most of you face-to-face and update you on the ministry. But for those of you that we weren't able to meet with, here is a video version of our presentation.
Also, for those of you that like to hear a missionary preach a sermon, here is a
message I shared titled "Salvation by Works".
Carpathian Mountain Outreach
Registration for Carpathian Mountain Outreach 2019 has closed, and we have a group of four applicants:
Ralph, Nelson, Kade, and Cornelius. We are very excited about this year's team,
and are praying that God would do great things in the lives of both our group,
and also in the lives of those we reach.
On a practical note, there are a lot of CMO-related preparations that need to be
done before things kick off on June 13th, and we would appreciate your prayers there. One of the bigger things that
needs to be done is a scouting trip to the Carpathian Mountains, which will
likely happen sometime during the week of the 13th of May. The goal of that trip
will be to confirm our target area and schedule the first couple film showings.
Bible First
Over the past several years, we have been developing an website that will allow
people to study the Bible First course online. While the functionality for
online study is not completely finished, the ability to manage "offline students"
is. (Offline students are people who get printed Bible First lessons through the mail).
Before we get too far with the online functionality, we want to make sure the
offline side of things is working properly, and we are planning to migrate our
students from the old student management application to the new Bible First site
this Wednesday. Pray that everything will go well!
Good and Evil
This is not something I have been personally involved in, but God has recently
opened the door for our ministry to get copies of Good and Evil into libraries
across Ukraine. You can read more about that over on the Steele's blog.
Residency Permits
Our family is currently in the process of renewing our yearly residency permits.
So far things are going well, but prayers are always appreciated!
Family
Spring has arrived, and we are happily trading in our winter boots for
sandals! The tulips we planted last fall are blooming, and vegetables are
sprouting up throughout the girls' garden. Katelin and the girls are getting a
lot of school in, and as of a few days ago, Jonathan is scooting across the
floor. Look out, world! The baby is on the move!
Planting peas!
Posted on March 18, 2019
by Nathan
Once again, it's been awfully quiet on the blog. This time, we'll blame it on
our recent furlough to America! While we had a wonderful time, it was also
very busy as we tried to squeeze everything into about 3.5 short months.
What were we up to, you might ask? Here is the rundown:
Family
Far and away, the main purpose for our trip was to see family. We had not seen
most of our family in 2.5 years, and I personally had only met 3 of my 8 nieces
and nephews!
We kicked things off with a Rebsch Family reunion. The kids had a lot of fun
with their cousins, despite the fact that many of them were meeting each other
for the first time! Katelin regularly took the kids to their great-grandparent's
house, and we spent many happy days at Katelin's Aunt Nora's house, helping
with farm chores and living the country life. And last, but not least, we got
to spend a lot of time with Katelin's parents, because we stayed at their
house!
The Rebsch Family, plus Mema, Papa, and Nora
In Colorado, we stayed with my parents, and several of my siblings still live at
home, so we got lots of good family time in there. My brother and his family
live not far away, and the kids loved spending time with the Colorado cousins.
The rest of the family flew in for Christmas, which was the first time the whole
Day clan was together since the last wedding.
The Day Family
Friends and Supporters
Aside from family, it was good to reconnect with friends and supporters. We were
able to visit all of our supporting churches, as well as see most of our
individual supporters, and share about the ministry in Ukraine, face-to-face.
Medical
Lydia's eyes began to cross a couple of years ago. (It's hereditary, she gets it
from her dad.) While in the States, Lydia had surgery to correct the crossed
eye. Unfortunately, it looks like she will need a second surgery to fully
correct the problem. (About 20-25% of the time, two surgeries are needed.) We
would appreciate your prayers as we continue to monitor the situation and look
into our options.
About to head to the operating room
Other Stuff
While some of the things that fall under the "Other Stuff" heading are things
like banking, legal matters, etc, most of the "Other Stuff" is just that: stuff.
While Ukraine has come a long way, there is still a long list of things that
either we can't get in Ukraine, or are just easier and/or cheaper to get in
America. Certain foods, electronics, homeschooling materials, clothes, and
English books were some of the main things. Imagine cramming a year or two's
worth of non-grocery shopping into a few months, packing everything up to ship
to the other side of the world, and you'll start to get the picture!
That's a lot of stuff! And that wasn't even all of it!
Back in Ukraine
Despite having a great time in America, our family is happy to be back home in
Ukraine, back to our house, our routine, and our ministry. I hope to be caught
up on several over-due projects by the end of the month, this blog post being one of them, and
start pushing forward on new ministry fronts soon.
Once last thing. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our new prayer card
on the About page!
Posted on October 13, 2018
by Nathan
While the blog has been awfully quiet lately, the good news is that it hasn't been
from a lack of things to write about. Let's get started…
Good and Evil
We had hoped to finalize the files for Good and Evil before Carpathian
Mountain Outreach started, but alas, things always take longer than you think.
I actually took my laptop on one of our first trips to the mountains to finish
proofing an updated version of the print file! CMO aside, we were eventually able
to give the printer the green light.
The books were finally delivered toward the end of August around 9:30 in the
evening. A small team of volunteers worked into the wee hours of the morning to
get the books to their final destination. Except that the "final destination" of
these books is not actually our office, but the hands of Ukrainians. And bit by bit, the
Good and Evil books are working their way out to their true "final
destination". For more info and pictures, be sure to check out the post on the
ETO Blog!
The job is finally finished! Clockwise from the left: Nathan, Yura, Sasha, Taras, Tolik, Joshua.
Carpathian Mountain Outreach
CMO 2018 was our shortest summer project yet (right about four weeks long), but
with all we managed to pack into it, it was arguably one of our most intense projects! We had a great team of guys, we are exited to see the fruit of the summer's efforts in the months and years ahead!
The CMO 2018 Team. From the left: Tolik, Elliot, William, Nathan, Jessie, Ben, Joshua, Andrew Howard, Andrew Joyner, and Isaiah.
Once again, for more info and pictures, be sure to check out this post by one of
the CMO guys on the ETO Blog, as well as the recap of the project.
Jonathan
Jonathan was born just about a week after the end of CMO. He arrived a few days
early, but thankfully, not before Katelin's mother, Patricia, made it to Ukraine! (Not
sure how we would have done it without her!) All in
all, the birth went well. Jonathan is a healthy little guy, and Katelin is doing well also. That said, Jonathan has definitely not been the most easy-going baby
we've ever had, and he has kept us busy! I'd say he's at least partly to blame
for the lack of a blog post last month!
Welcome to the world, little guy!
Furlough
We will be returning to the States for a visit in just a couple weeks. We will
be in Texas for the month of November, in Colorado for December and the first half
of January, and then back to Texas for a month. We have a lot to do to get
ready, and we would appreciate your prayers for the preparation and a good trip.
The bigger our family gets, the harder it is to pack up our life and move it
to the other side of the world!
Jonathan and his adoring fans!
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