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A Very Merry Christmas…..

It had been in the works for months.  Jon’s parents were going to come for Christmas and the kids had NO IDEA!!!!  We weren’t sure we were going to be able to pull off the surprise because we were so excited!  Finally, a week before Christmas, we told the boys that we were going to go to Kiev to celebrate Christmas.  We told them we would take the train and that we were going to stay in an apartment near downtown and that we would take them to the indoor waterpark at the mall.  Upon hearing this they yelled, “This is going to be the best Christmas EVER!!!!!”  And they still had no idea that Grandma and Grandpa were coming!  We got to Kiev on Christmas Eve Day, ate some breakfast, got the key to our apartment and then spent 4 hours at the waterpark.  We hung out for a bit before heading back to the apartment to get washed up and ready for dinner.  After the day at the waterpark and walking about a mile each way to and from dinner we were all exhausted!  We got back and put the kids to bed and Jon got ready to go and get his parents from the airport.   They arrived back at the apartment at around 1:30 am on Christmas morning and we couldn’t contain the excitement any more.  We hid Grandma and Grandpa in the kitchen while we woke up the kids and sat them on the couch.  We told them that we just couldn’t wait any longer to give them their big Christmas surprise and Grandma and Grandpa came walking through the door.  It was exactly how I had pictured it….complete and utter shock that Grandma and Grandpa Gainer were standing there!!!!  Needless to say it was a little difficult to get the kids back to sleep after all that excitement!  But after several more hours sleep, we had a late breakfast, opened presents and just hung out and wandered the city.  The next day we did some more sightseeing and then headed back down to Kremenchuk.  Their total trip was only 5 days and was not nearly long enough, but we are thankful for the effort that they put in to come and see us and we are so grateful for the wonderful memories that we made!!!!  It was indeed, a VERY Merry Christmas!
 
Kid’s Corner

Well besides the fun Christmas that we had, the big news for the kids is that our sweet Jonah turned 11 on January 10th!!!! We are so thankful for the kind, funny, generous, smart, creative boy he is!  He had some friends over for his birthday party and they had a snowball fight, played Mario Kart, ate pizza and cake and topped it all off with playing Pie Face!!!  Jonah got lots of cool presents including a remote controlled helicopter from Mommy and Daddy, but his FAVORITE present was the bunny he got from Isaac!  He is an adorable decorative rabbit that Jonah named Tchaikovsky!!!

The boys have been having fun on winter break playing outside in the snow, building with Legos, and playing board games with Daddy. They have also been enjoying drawing pictures and making up stories.  Lauren is growing into more of a princess everyday.  The first thing she said to me the other morning was, “Where are my shoes???”  She loves to wear dresses and changes her shoes regularly!  She still loves to sing and she likes to play in her “kitchen” and bake. They are all growing up so fast!
Ministry News
 

We had an awesome New Year’s Celebration with Compass again this year!  We had a great night of food, fellowship, prayer, singing, worship and fun and interesting games including Pie Face!  It was a lot of fun to introduce this hilarious game to all of our Ukrainian friends and they really seemed to like it! We had about 50 people in attendance, not including kids.

As Compass continues to grow, we are trying to teach people the joy of giving to others by serving them with our time and talents.  Jon goes with a group of people from Compass every other week to the local orphanage.  They teach a bible lesson, sing songs, do a craft and play games with the kids there and it has become clear that they are forming relationships with the children.  We also had the opportunity to sing carols at the local veteran’s hospital.  They were so thankful, and as we stood there singing and I watched their eyes filling with tears, I was grateful that God used this moment to remind me of the real meaning of Christmas.   We were blessed to be able to share Christ’s love with these people!!!
 
We are still looking for a new building for Compass.  We have looked at several locations, but none seems to be perfect. Actually, there is one that DOES seem to be perfect, with the exception of it’s price tag!  It is in the perfect location, has lots of space to grow, and is already beautiful on the outside!  But the owner wants $400,000 for it and the inside is completely empty which would mean another $100,000 approximately to get it ready to use.  So, back to the drawing board……
 
Pray for Ukraine.  

  • Ukraine has been in the news again with Russia continuing to become more aggressive and fighting breaking out again.  Please pray for safety for the soldiers and other people living in the regions affected by the fighting.
  • Please pray for us to find the perfect building for Compass and to have patience while we wait for God’s perfect timing.
  • Pray for the boys to continue to do well in homeschool and for me to continue to be patient and well prepared to teach them.
  • Pray for Jon to have the energy and strength to keep up with his busy schedule
  • Please pray that we would continue to be good examples of actually living out what we believe, for our children and everyone else in our lives.
  • Thank God that we now have updated electricity in our home thanks to a good friend of ours!  No more worrying about electrical fires!!!!

 
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