August 2011 update

Just as the United States has been riding a blazing heatwave, the Spireks have been riding what seems like a blazingly fast Home Ministry Assignment.  Attempting to maximize time with family, friends, and supporters in the past few weeks we have driven more than 3000 miles.  Was all the travel, transition, and tiredness worth it?   Most definitely!  Below is a brief summary of our travels and prayer requests for August.

Visiting family in North Carolina

In Tennesee we met with missionary friends from Ukraine who had relocated back to the States.  We spent some quality time with them renewing our friendship.  In North Carolina we spent about week with Kim's mother, brothers, sisters and their children.  All twenty-nine of us stayed together in 1 rental house on the beach for about a week.  The cousins had a great time swimming, kayaking, building sand castles, and playing beach volleyball together among other activities.  On the return trip we stopped in South Carolina to visit friends from Dallas Theological Seminary days.  Since our last visit both had had new additions to their families.   Upon arriving back in Texas we had two days of rest before friends from Texas Tech University arrived.  It is amazing how much our children had grown since the last visit.  This week David's sisters, mother, aunt and uncle arrive for a mini-family reunion on his side of the family.  We are thankful for these opportunities to see family and friends that we have not seen in many years.


CrossWorld Rural VBS in Ukraine

While we have been on Home Ministry Assignment in the States the work of CrossWorld continues in Ukraine.  A CrossWorld missionary recently led a team from the state of Washington to some rural villages near Pervomaisk.  This team spent two weeks building relationships and sharing the gospel with rural children.  This was a new experience for many of them.  On the first day they started out with 2 children.  By the end of the first week more than 50 were coming.  During the second week they ministered in a second village.  On their way through Kiev they were able to stay in the house that we continue to rent. Even though we were not there we were glad to be able to help them in this small way.

Another ongoing ministry this summer in Ukraine is the Brenna House in the city of Lutsk.  Kim's relatives established the Brenna House for orphans after their daughter passed away.  Recently they were able to expand the orphanage ministry by purchasing more apartment space.  We ask your prayers for the orphans and the ministry of Brenna House.

What is coming up in August?  This month we host a mini-family reunion with David's mother, sisters and uncles.  We celbrate our anniversary.  We have a few additional meetings with adult Sunday school classes in the local area.  Also, we make preparations for Austin and Karyn to start school this month.  For one semester they will attend Poetry Community Christian School.

How can you pray for us this month?   Pray that we would be able to reconnect with as many churches, friends and supporters as possible while in the States.  Pray that we would be able to manage the schedule that pulls us in many directions at the same time.  Pray for the children to adjust to school in the States.  Pray for the ongoing ministries back in Ukraine.  Pray that we can reach our target return date  of January 6.  We appreciate your partnership in discipling the nations for Christ!