October Update

Dear friends and family,

An unexpected family emergency took me home about three weeks ago; I was home for two weeks and returned back to Simferopol about two weeks ago. My 19 year old cousin was in a car accident and passed away. I write this update not only to try to inform you about the ministry in Ukraine , but I am asking you to pray for my family. It is difficult to even know how to write about this and try to process what life is bringing while I am here in Ukraine , and my family is in the States. With that said, please pray for us.

Before hastily leaving on October 2, I had signed papers for an apartment, which was an answer to prayer. I am almost completely moved in and am thankful that it does not possess the orange, brown, and red color combination that my old apartment had. Rather, I am currently living it up in a one room apartment (living room/bedroom) complete with a pink floral pattern from ceiling to floor. It has the same layout as my last apartment from a few years ago and has a small bathroom and kitchen. It’s had some remodeling done recently, so it’s modern and clean. I’m really thankful that Tara has arrived and has been able to help me get stuff cleaned, unpacked, and moved in. It’s taking a long time. I do, however, now own a washing machine that works (after a round of water on the floor rather than down the drain). For those of you who have been following since 2006, you’ll remember that I hand washed laundry for a year. I do not wish this upon anyone, and I was not going to subject myself to the blisters and time consuming hours again. I still need to do some shopping for a few more furnishings, and it’s time like this (and probably the only time) when I miss strip malls and shopping plazas.

There are some exciting happenings with Orphan's Hope at large. We have acquired a section of the basement of an apartment building that we are hoping to eventually remodel into an office and have rooms for clubs and activities for ministry. Before I left, we started to clean the rooms, which meant scooping up dirt, trash, fiberglass and hauling out old doors and window panes and large pieces of glass. At this point, one room is completely clear and the other only has some large panes and old furniture in. Once everything is clear and funds are in, we will be able to start the renovating and remodeling. On Sundays, we have our weekly meeting with the teens at the current office; for a few weeks, we worked on the new territory, so the kids could contribute and see the project from beginning to end. With our teens, this week we will be doing presentations on different saints for All Saints Day. We will also be doing a traditional Thanksgiving in November to teach them about our holiday, so Tara and I will be doing our best attempt at making our first turkey, not just in Ukraine , but ever.

I am still trying to get back into the swing of things that I had started before I left. Finally starting to get a regular weekly routine, I felt like I was getting an understanding of how I was going to be used best in the orphanages and with the teens. For Orphan’s Hope, each staff member takes a different class to work with through teaching and games. We are teaching different parts of character based on Christian principles taken from the book, “Raising Great Kids.” In two orphanages, I am working with 4thgraders and go to them twice a week for each class. In another orphanage, I am working with the older girls (ages 13ish to 17ish). During the teaching part, Olesya, another staff member and old friend translates for two of the orphanages. For the other group, there are no native Russian speakers. Tara has joined us in the orphanages and works with the same groups as me. We figure two people who “sort of” speak Russian is better than just one “sort of” Russian speaker. This past week, the children in the orphanages have been on holiday, so they have had no classes this week, which usually just means they are bored with nothing to do. Yesterday, we spent a few hours playing different group games with our group of 4th graders at Gagarin, and today, we took in cake and tea for our 4th graders at Gvordeeskya. We also had some fun watching Monsters Inc. It's been a week off from any kind of lessons as the kids are not up for having lessons when they are not in school and are thrown off from their usual routines, so we took it easy this week with them.

With the older girls who are getting ready to graduate, we have been doing a lot of movie discussions. Most discussions have been about love and relationships. We are focusing on the theme "Inner Beauty." Our goal is for the girls to know and understand that they were made beautifully and the image that the culture and the media give them is false and empty. We want them to understand that they were made for a purpose and a plan that doesn't have to be prostitution or being taken advantage of in other ways. This past week, we watched “I am Sam,” and we discussed the different ways that love was portrayed and the different dynamics of the characters. This movie deals with various themes including love, family, disabilities, compassion, patience, etc. We tried to touch on the topics we felt relevant to the girls and the ones they might be able to relate to. It was interesting observing them watch a film about a custody battle when they themselves have been removed from their own homes and have little to no contact with their parents. It was emotional for some, and discussion seemed to be thought provoking though difficult for the girls.

Every Thursday, Tara and I meet with a group of teen girls from ages 17 to 22 for a discipleship/fellowship group. They have graduated from orphanages and are no longer living in a transitional house but are either living in government dorms or in apartments. We talk a lot about life, and our goal is to eventually take it to a more serious spiritual level. All of these girls have decided to have a personal relationship with Jesus, so we are trying to help them understand what that means in the situations that they are in and how they can be faithful to Him. There are five girls who have come at various times thus far. We are also praying this will lead them into becoming involved with our teen club, Exodus 50, on Sundays and involved in a local church.

Tara and I will also be starting a young adult Bible study next week with some friends we've made in the past at Crimean American College . They have all since graduated, so this will be a way to spend time with them on a weekly basis and study the Bible with them. At his point, we know of at least three others who want to be involved. This Bible study will be in English, and we expect take turns giving the lesson each week.

Daily life here has really picked up, and I am usually feeling extremely busy with so much to do. Much of that probably has to do with moving, just coming from the States again, and having a small feeling of starting over. I am hoping to start Russian lessons again soon; I still have much to work on and learn. On a side note, another couple just joined the missionary community here. I am excited to have the Grooms here as they will be working with our church, Living Vine. (Huge Bonus = they play Euchre!)

I am still getting questions about the best way to stay in touch/contact me, so here is everything you need:

Mailing Address:
Esther Snyder
c/o Provozyuk
per. Zuiski 52
Simferopol
Crimea , Ukraine
95022

Letters take about 2-4 weeks to arrive, and packages usually take 4-8 weeks.

Email:
Personal: eksnyder01@yahoo.com
Orphan's Hope: EstherSnyder@OrphansHope.org

Cell Phone:
011.380.955.701.347
(You'll need to purchase an international calling card.)

Send Texts to me for free via the internet:
1. Go to http://www.mts.com.ua/eng/sendsms.php
2. In the first drop down menu, select +38 095
3. In the blank box beside it, fill in the following: 5701347
4. Type your message in the big white box
5. Enter the security code
6. Make sure you put your name in the signature box, so I know who it’s from
7. There isn’t a lot of room, so send a few if you need to J

Skype:
Username: esther.snyder

For those of you who've never heard of it, Skype is a FREE computer-to-computer calling service where we'd not only be able to talk, but we'd also be able to see one another if you have a webcam! Download the program for free at www.skype.com. They also have incredibly low rates to call from your computer to landlines and cell phones!

Just to note, I'm 7 hours ahead of those of you in the Eastern time zone in the States.

With all of that written, I should be hearing from you soon. I will write more specifically in the next update about some of the individual kids and teens I am working with. Until then, please pray for the following:

-My family, especially my cousins and their other children
-For the classes of children I see on a weekly basis – that relationships would continue to be stronger each time and trust would be built to yield opportunity for ministry
-The teens – that they would make good decisions regarding their bodies, their studies, work habits, spiritual lives, etc
-Protection on all of the kids: spiritual, mental, and emotional
-Continued Adjustment with (again) coming back from the States and with continual growth in language learning
-Jason in India –his ministries there and for our relationship to continue to grow though we are apart
-Orphan’s Hope staff as we continue to reach a large pool of children and teens –that our ministries would be purposeful and that we would show the love of Jesus in everything we do
-The new territory –that funds would come in, so the property can begin to be used for ministry
- Living Vine Church –that our church family would grow and bear fruit and they the new missionary couple would be used in mighty ways here in discipleship and training
-There is a situation with a 14 year old girl whom we suspect is getting taken advantage of by boys in one of the orphanages. Pray for the children involved in this and that Tara and I would know what action to take in figuring out the details involved and getting help if need be.

As always, thank you so much for your prayers, support, and encouragement especially now in this difficult time. I am blessed to have such a pool of supporters who are alongside me in the ministry me and who are faithful to these children. I appreciate everything you do for me and for those whom we serve together here.

In Him,
Esther

One of the teens "helping" clean the new territory

Dima, our OH director, with one of the van loads of junk we cleaned out of the new rooms

Me and one of our 4th graders

We took the 9th graders to the Red Caves for fun and fellowship with a local church group. This is one of the girls on the left of me and Olesya (OH staff member) on the right of me.

Another 9th grader enjoying some chicken

Olesya and one of the girls hiking by the waterfall at the Red Caves