Fired Up!
After Sunday, we're fired up...and I don't just mean spiritually. We all feel like we've been living in an oven. "Well done good and faithful servant" has new meaning to us wow! It has been hovering around 100 degrees here with extremely high humidity, which makes everything we do just a little more draining. But I must say that with all the drained people around, the group is doing great with each other and with those we came to bless. I don't hear any complaining, disgust, or bickering; everyone is getting along great and enjoying all the new experiences.
Sunday was another hot day, but we all dressed in our Sunday best and were on our way to an authentic Ukrainian church service. Praise the Lord, the church had air conditioning in the auditorium! We all sat and enjoyed the church choir's music (although we had a tough time with their lyrics), then a man in the church gave a short Bible message. Then the church stood and prayed, we sang and then sat down again and Joel Matchak gave a wonderful and encouraging short message. We then stood and prayed again and Tiffani, Rebecca and Sarah then sang for the church and the people were so blessed. 
Then it was my turn to get up and give a short message, which I did, and when I was done we all stood and prayed and Tiffani then sang a solo and the people were moved. After we were finished, another man in the church stood and gave a little longer message and when he was done, you guessed it, we stood and prayed and the service was done. Remember this the next time you complain about a long sermon, at least there are not four in one Sunday service! We were actually so encouraged by the church and it's faithful members. It's amazing to think of God 's people all over the globe doing His work wherever they are planted.
After an incredible lunch at our new friend's home(the Sobies), we came back again at 5pm for the evening service where we had planned to do a little more for the people. The Matchak family singers belted out a great song and Seth gave a great testimony of God's strength. Then Sarah, Joel, Loriann and, our newest member, Elyssa, sang a beautiful song in three languages. 
Then Ruth stood up and also gave a testimony of God's goodness...she was nervous, but she did it! Elyssa played a piano piece......... It was then my turn to preach, and I gave a word about Jesus' words, when He picked up a small child and said the "greatest is the servant". Jesus loves children and so should we. This truth is important for our team to keep in mind as we move into this children's camp where we will be serving children from 9am until 4pm, Monday through Friday.
After the evening service we had a meeting for the children's camp and transformed the church into a fun place for children. We left tired, but excited to be getting to the work we came to do. Please pray for this week, we had 90 children come to the first day of camp (I'm writing this on Monday night). These days will be exhausting and hot, but
I can already see that God wants us here to encourage this church and reach out to precious children.Thanks for checking in on your missionaries...your hot missionaries:)Pastor Luke (aka Pastor Onion) 
