Our Christmas

What a blessing it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ with family
and friends in another country. Although it has a different feel than
when you celebrate in the States.
One of the main reasons is that it is not celebrated here in Ukraine.
Ukraine celebrates Christmas on the 7th of January.
I think another reason is that New Year's is the biggest holiday here.
I also think it has something to do with alot of the country still being
Orthodox. Whatever the reason the feeling of Christmas, or the
"Christmas Spirit" is lacking. I'm not upset about it, it's just different.
Either way we had a wonderful Christmas together.
When the kids wake up and thank Jesus and sing happy birthday
to their Savior, the true meaning of Christmas is never so evident.

We want to say thank you to everyone back home who made this
Christmas so special for us. It was such a blessing to receive the
boxes of goodies and the cards, and especially the prayers.
We love you all and want to wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

Orphan Christmas

Anya has been working with an Austrailian team for the last month
or so, travelling to orphanages around the Kyiv region. The team
is here on practice from their universtity in Perth. They were all girls studying
to be physical therapists for the disabled and paralyzed. It was a great
time spending with them, translating and developing relationships with
the hospital nurses and directors. Anya enjoyed it but said it was the
most emotional month of her life. To see the kids laying crippled and
unable to move or do anything just put her in tears. Also the fact that
they could have been helped when they were young, but because the
doctors and nurses don't know how and don't really care, makes it all
the worse. Either way it shows that Ukraine has a long way to go in how
they treat eachother and their children.



While all this was going on Kyle travelled back to Uzhgorod to see the
children from the camp that he helped with this summer. The kids were
so happy to see him and the team, especially since they have been calling
him since July, asking him when he is coming back. He and the team did
a whole program for the kids in the gypsie orphanage. They told the Christmas
story as an act, of course Kyle was the donkey :) Anyway it was a great time
and much more fufilling as they were able to give each kid gifts. If you can
understand the kids in the orphanges out there have really nothing. The team
was able to give them candy, toothbrushes, toys and even clothes for each child.
It was a great time and full of fun and God's love.




I went to a new place this time when he was out with the team in Uzhgorod.
It was actually a gypsie village with a lot of kids, but not a lot of adults, pretty typical
for a gypsie community. I honestly didn't know what to expect coming in and
was pretty shocked when I walked onto their street. See the village has mostly
Ukrainains and then a street full of gypsies. I expected poorer conditions but not
the level that I saw. I have been to Africa and have seen the poorest of the poor, but
have never witnessed really any poverty in Ukraine.



This was poverty (see picture above).
Most of them don't speak Russian, they speak Hungarian which I completely don't
understand. The pastor in the village did speak Russian so I had a good time chatting
with him. I learned that they don't really harvest anything. Ukrainians are the best
stewards of their land I have seen in the world, so i was shocked that i didn't see
any gardens behind any of their homes. But then it hit me, these aren't Ukrainians,
they are gypsies, this is what they are known for. I'm not being predjudice but the
Ukrainian are, and right then i understand why they don't like the gypsies. They
don't like the rudeness and the laziness, and the gypsies don't help their cause by doing
and living like they do. So they make their money by selling scrap metal, fixing appliances,
but they don't have gardens. It made me want to scold them, but i restrained. It
did light a flame in me in that I realize again how much I love to help God transform
mindsets like the gypsies and the Ukrainians.



The kids were adorable though as you can see. They listened and were very receptive
to our message as it was translated into Hungarian. None of them can really read our
write in Russian or anything. So one of our team members that lives our their, Sylvia,
is teaching them every week in Russian. Maybe next time we go they will be fluent.

Nazarene Conference

Thanks for all of your prayers and words for this conference.
First of all the conference went better than expected. We had 55 Nazarene pastors
from all over Ukraine come into Vinnitsa (a city 3 hours S. of Kyiv).
Everyone that attended had a great time and was really blessed by Chet Marshall's
seminars. The LaRed part went very well with all 55 pastors officially
being trained as LaRed roundtable facillitators. Everyone loved the material
and are looking forward to working with us in the future.

We got new invitations to Odessa and new doors opened up even for
Fundamentals. A very influential man that came to this conference told
us that during his daughter's graduation he observed and was shocked to
see six pregnant girls graduating. He explained to us the corruption in the
schools and the plain lack of teaching and invited us to come down and
present the material when it is ready. He would also like to have possibly
another conference in Odessa at a later time.

Again thank you so much for your support and love, we can't do this stuff without
all of you. Please continue to pray for the transformation of the Ukrainian church.

Hope for Ukraine?

For all you interested in the current situation in Ukraine, it's not good, but it's not horrific, yet.
Ukraine's biggest problem is that the people put up with way too much crap from their goverment. The government of Ukraine are a bunch of liars, they don't do anything for the country because they are too busy jockeying for power. Because with power comes riches. Whoever is in power can take more land, more factories and more of everything. And that is what is happening right now.

Inflation is at 25% or so, so the economy is taking a hit just like the rest of the world. When we came to Ukraine, we could change 1$ for about 4.50grv. (hryvnia is the Ukrainian currency). Now we can change 1$ for 5.80grv. Huge change. This is good for us because we are supported in $'s. But it's not good for the middle class Ukrainians who are payed in hryvnia.
See the prices are escalating while the hryvnia is falling creating the wild inflation and making it a little crazy over here. People are worried and th president's latest moves haven't helped that worry. Here's the scoop.

Victor Yushenko, the president of Ukraine, for the 3rd time in 3 years fired the parlaiment. What does this mean, was it the right thing to do, I'm not sure. What it does mean though is that there is no working government right now in the country, which in turn means nothing is getting done. The president and the prime minister (Yulia Tymoshenko) just cant seem to get along. There are alot of underlying factors involved in this. The main one I see is that Yulia is trying to buy votes and get the president out so that she can run for power in 2010, thus making her the president of Ukraine. The lower Yushenkos rating, the better chance she has to become president. Yushenko has ratings in the single digits right now, so i don't see him having a chance to win presidency anyway.

Another reason for Yushenko and Yulia's fighting is Russia. Yulia didn't back Georgia during the conflict and the president did, as a matter of fact, Yulia remained completely silent during the whole conflict. Yushenko saw this and accused her of treason because she is siding with Russia, which i think is partly true. Yulia used to be against Russia even moreso than Yushenko a few years back, and now all of a sudden she is for building closer ties with Russia? Seems kind of fishy to me.
I personally think that Russia is backing Yulia for president in 2010 and will do anything to get her in. Remember the 2004 revolution in Ukraine, that was Russia who picked Yanukovych (the guy who got in because of corrupt voting). Mr. Putin even came to Ukraine to stand with him several months before the elections, where does that happen anywhere else in the world?
So you see there is a conflict of interest. Yushenko wants to break away from Russia, he wants the Russian Navy to leave the Crimean penninsula (i'll explain later) and he wants to join NATO. Yulia wants to build closer ties with Russia and seems quiet about the NATO issue. In my mind, Yushenko is the better choice here, Yulia seems to nuts and power-crazy to run this country.

So with the Russian Navy in Crimea. In 2017 Russia's Navy contract with Ukraine will expire. The contract will either be extended or the Russian Navy will have to leave. The president and the prime minister do agree that the Russians have to leave, Praise God they agree on this, so far anyway. That is why many people are concerned about another war in this region, much like in Georgia. They think that Russia will stop at nothing to get Crimea back. Crimea is a republic of Ukraine that Krushev gave to Ukraine during the Soviet Union, I think in the 60's maybe, not sure, but anyway he gave it to Ukraine as a sign of good faith. Russia doesn't consider that gift legal, they say Crimea will always be Russia's. They have even gone so far as to start handing our passports to Ukrainian citizens living there. This is the exact same thing they did in Georgia, and then they had justification to start the war with Georgia, "we are protecting our citizens". Mark my words, Ukraine will be the next Georgia, sooner or later. 90% of the people living in the Crimea want to be with Russia. On independence day in Ukraine the Russian ships returned to the Crimean port after the war with Georgia. Instead of celebrating Ukraine's independence day, certain Ukrainians in Crimea had a celebration welcoming back the Russian ships. The ships pulled into Ukrainian territory to the sight of Ukrainian citizens waving Russian flags, praising them for the war with Georgia, that's sick. I understand them in a sense. I mean afterall the media is controlled by Russia there. There are no Ukrainian channels in Crimea, at leat very few. My friend told me that all they show on TV every night is how great Putin is in the news and then it is followed by war movies, showing Russia's might as a superpower. If I watched that crap and lies every night I'd think Russia is great to. So why don't they just go to Russia? Good question. It's the territory they want, same as in Georgia. Russia is expanding it's territory once again and Crimea is key to it's greater plan for world recognition as a the only superpower. Afterall even Mr. Putin told Mr. Bush, "Ukraine is merely a territory". Pretty strong signal there from the Russian Czar. So i think your going to see more and more Russian agression to take back the Crimea.
And I think we are going to see that politically before we see it militarily. Russia is meddling in Ukrainian politics, Mr. Putin is going to make sure that his man or woman gets into power so that somehow he can work a deal to get Crimea back. Afterall he controls all the natural gas up North and he controls 70% of Ukraines gas. That's a pretty big bargaining chip for Big Bad Brother Russia. Where is Europe in all this, they are just pawns, chickens who can't stand up to Russia because they are afraid that that precious natural gas that heats their big homes, will be cut off. I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know that God is in control and that Russia is playing a very dangerous game with Ukraine and the West.

I'll post new events as they occur.

Favorites

The Family is doing great. The girls are getting so big it's unbelievable. Bianca is doing so well with her alphabet and numbers, her mom is a great teacher of course. Denae is well, Denae. She wakes up every morning with some sort of song, usually its the National Anthem, it's hillarious. She only really says "America, America". They are both doing great and are getting more social time in now with other American kids, so that is great. Bianca is speaking Russian great. Kids are so amazing. She will go up and ask if you speak English, if they answer no in Russian, she will start speaking Russian to them.
The people that she knows well that speak Russian she will automatically switch to Russian. So they recently got a care package, well Anya did too, she loves those rice krispy treats, thanks Berta. Some of you have asked before what we like and stuff so im posting a list of our Favorite stuff from America. If you want to send a care package that would be awesome and the kids would be very grateful. If you need our address just email me.



Foods: Mac N Cheese, Brown Sugar, Vanilla Extract, Chocolate Chips, Ranch Dressing (powder mix), JIF peanut butter, Rice Krispy Treats, Oreo cookies, Shaker cheese (parmesean), any kind of spices, anything little debbie (nutty bars especially), baking powder, cap n crunch (crunch berries), hershey's syrup



Toys, games, etc: my little pony, winnie the pooh, princess stuff, play make-up, coloring books, crayons, baby dolls and barbies, animal toys of any kind, play-doh, any DVD's used or new (comedy, action,
kids love anything not violent or scary), cards (playing cards for nerts).



Misc: disenfectant wipes, spatulas, worship music of any kind, nyquil, whitening stips, ibuprofen, vitamins, echynasia, pens (ask Jason Stephens what kind Kyle likes :).

Kyle the Dentist

Yes, that's right in Ukraine you can be a dentist without the schooling, well almost. Anyway, Kyle has had the opportunity of joining the YWAM Mercy Truck, which specializes in Dentistry. The truck is really a full-blown Dental office on wheels.
The ministry started some time ago after the YWAM base in England donated the truck to YWAM Kyiv, and ever since the ministry has been going strong. Basically what they do is go out to a orphanage, sometimes a small village and do an outreach, by fixing kid's teeth. It is really an amazing and rewarding ministry. They have two dentists, one is a retired American dentist and the other is a Ukrainian dentist. They are always looking for dentists from the States to come over short term and serve, so if you know of anyone who would like to do something like this, have them email me.



So Kyle has joined them in order to build relationship with the kids and the orphanage directors. It has been such a joy to get to know the kids and to see them smiling and getting good dental work done. Most kids dont even get anything done with their teeth so you can imagine what we run into inside their tiny little mouths. Many of them have never had an anisthetic (dont know if that's the right spellin) before. So they usually are reluctant to get the shot but once they do it's pain free, something they have never had before. They are used to getting fillings and extractions by the local village dentist who doesn't have the money to give them a number. But the kids are just amazing and are so open to God. We pray with them, tell them stories from the Bible, but I realize they have a long way to go. There has to be someone to teach them character. And that is the reason I am going out there to be with them.



Both trips I have taken the directors have been open to receiving the program we have. As a matter of fact the last trip I took the local school told us to bring it to them as soon as possible. So it is such a blessing to us to see God opening doors for this program. We have been invited by 3 public schools so far and that is totally God, because they haven't even seen the program yet.



Please pray for Kyle as he goes on these dental trips, he has another one coming up in November if he can squeeze it in. These trips are great for him and for the kids he's serving. Also please pray for more opportunity to serve for this ministry.

Fundamentals

Well it's been awhile I know. I knew when I started this blog it would be difficult for me to keep up with it, becuase I know my personality. Anyway now that I'm updating it I should tell you what's going on with the Schlegel Family in Ukraine.

Fundamentos is nearly finished. Anya has been working hard to finish it and the translation portion of it is completed, hoorah!!!! Tuesday we are meeting with a friend of ours to help us put in heroes for each principle and then we will be on to editing. We are both so excited about it's near completion.



We have two conferences coming up, one is very soon. We are doing a LaRed/business conference for the Nazarene church in Vinnitsa, it's a city about 3 hours from Kyiv. It will be 3 days in November and will have around 100 pastors from the
Nazarene church in attendance. Our friend and colleague, Chet Marshall will be traveling over to do the main part of the conference. Chet is a gifted teacher who will be sharing on some great topics. Anya and I will be doing the LaRed part of it,
by holding a facillitator training. We will be exposing them to LaRed, training them to be facillitators and then giving them the materials. Should be an excellent time, keep us in your prayers for that one. Then in March/April we will be organizing a trip for the Business As Missions organization. Anya and I have been asked to be the host missionaries for this trip. This will be a week long trip and will require and immense amount of organizing and planning. Please pray for Kyle as many of you know it's not his gift to organize :) But anyway we look forward to serving this ministry here in Ukraine.

The first week of December Kyle is travelling back to Uzgorod to spend some Christmas time with the orphans he was with this summer. It should be a great trip. Please pray that Kyle will make more of a relationship with the right people, so that
Fundamentos can get in out there and impact the kids.

The End.

Wakeboard Camp

Wow, what a camp!!!! It was so great to have the team come over.
So we had about 8 kids from our contacts and relationships.
Three of them were orphans. And it was just a fun three days.
Everyone was able to get up after the second day, so the third day
the campers were jumping and trying all sorts of stuff. At the end
of each day one of the team members would just share a testimony or
short lesson and the kids really did well and related to what they were
saying. The last day was really amazing to me. Each of the kids shared
how much they learned and how grateful they were to learn to
wakeboard. They all said the most important thing they learned was
to beleive in themselves. They were so grateful to have the encouragement
they had when they were trying to get out of the water. The team
just wouldn't let them fail and it was exactly that.



It was an awesome first time camp and can be repeated easily.
We talked with Ryan and Nate about coming back in February for a
snowboard outreach, possibly with the same kids, we'll see. We would
love to see them back and do something like that. Who knows what
God will do!!!



Thanks again for coming team, and thanks BCF for sending them, they
were a tremendous blessing to us and to Ukraine.

Cool Stuff

A Giant thank you to everyone who sent stuff over for us
with the team. I know Andrea, Tanya and Jeff and Bekah for sure
did, so thanks. Anyone else who did your awesome. It is so
awesome when we have great friends like you to take care of
us in a foreign land. The kids were absolutely thrilled to have
Mac and Cheese for lunch. Bianca kept saying, "papa don't eat
it all". She's a hoot. And Denae, much to Anya's dismay, was
munching down the rice krispy treats. Anya hordes them a bit.
Anyway you really did make our day and then some.



We are doing great as a family. Anya is going through some
counseling which is good, it's not serious its just some things
God is dealing with in her. So please keep her in prayer as it
is an emotional time for her. The kids are both so great and enjoy
seeing some of you on the computer. We finally got a camera
for our computer so now when you skype us you can see us as well.
For those who don't know our skype name is (schlegsua).
There is a 7 hour difference in time, so if you call don't call us at
3 in the morning our time. We are 7 hours ahead of you.



We have started two companies now, well one and another starts on
Monday. A pizza shop has asked us to start training there employees
with the LaRed principles and also customer service, team work and
other things, should be great. Most of them are Christians but some
are not. They are bringing church into the work place and driving
their boss crazy. And then the other is Anya's work in the bank,
they want to expand Anya so she does a bit more. We need prayer on
this one, we don't want to get bogged down, Anya still is translating
Fundamentals and still has a family and ministry.

Well that's it for us, thanks again so much for all your love and support.

It's Over, We Think

In other news.
We think the situation with our building is over. The Kiev council
passed a vote for us not allowing the land to be rented or anyone
to build on the land. Thanks God for the Victory!!!! They reopened
the road in front of our building and the tents are coming down.
The council gave the builder another piece of land because he did
pay bribes and stuff to buy this one. As long as he is happy with the
land they will give him it's over. If he doesn't like it he can sue us as
a building and then things will carry on. Anyway it's great news and it
shows that a small group of people can make a difference.
Thanks for all your prayers, it's looks like our building won't collapse
on top of us for the time being :)

Camp Uzhgorod

Hey Everyone!!!!! Sorry it's been so long since we've given you an update.
Things have been crazy busy this summer, camp after camp. It's always
like this here in the summer.



Anway Kyle had a great two weeks at the
orphan camp in the Carpathian mountains. It's a 17 hour train ride from Kyiv.
There were about 30 or so team members and 150 or so kids to work and play
with. All of them are orphans from two orphanages and ranged from 7-18.
It was quite a diverse camp. Most of the orphans were gypsies. It was
amazing talking with the kids as most of them actually have parents but the
state took them because of abuse, achoholism or drugs in their families.
They were so open to be prayed for and talk about God. It was really an
amazing thing to be able to minister to these kids. It was something I didn't
think could be so rewarding but something I just loved and want to do again.
We basically hung out with them, played games, taught Bible stories and character.
Everyday we had a chapel time with the kids and tell them stories from the Bible
and relate them to our lives. I couldn't beleive they could sit that long, the
kids are so hyper and active. It was a very fruitful trip and I thank you for
your support and prayers.



We are going back the first week of December to
do a Christmas program and pass out gifts. It will be a five day trip. The
kids are so excited to have us back, they call me once a week or so and ask
when we are coming. If you could specifically pray for Artina, Dylo and Vassya.
These are my closest buddies from the trip.

Family!!

Our kids are doing great. They still frequently ask about America
and when we are going back, especially Bianc as she misses Mikaela
and her friend Kailynn. And of course they both miss Mac N Cheese.

Bianca just turned four on June 24th. She had a great time celebrating
with a princess party. Her favorite present was her bike. She asks every
morning when she wakes up to go out and ride around.


Denae is well, she is quite the little hurricane. She is talking more and
more and even sang happy birthday to her big sister. She is really happy
wherever she is, which is so good on us.



Anya and I celebrated 5 years of marriage on June 28th, hard to believe
its already five years, anya says it feels like we have been married forever.
I'm gonna brag on her now and say the best decision of my life was to take
her as my wife five years ago. I would never be where I am today without her,
she is just a gem of a wife.

Well I think thats it, thanks again for all your support and love.
We could not be here doing the things we are doing without all of you behind us.

Ministry

Things are going better with ministry.
Anya is now working with bankers, teaching english.
She uses an hour of her time with them to study the LaRed principles.
The students really enjoy them because they are written in a
language they can understand, plus they are in english. Anya said that
they had a great discussion on pressure and that many of them didn't agree
that pressure is good, it only causes stress and health problems. She was
happy to explain and it's great that they are thinking. God is awesome, the
banks are one of the most corrupt places in Ukraine and now God is using
Anya to transform and they don't even know it.

Translation has started on fundamentals and then wolla, our computer
decides it doesnt want to type in Ukrainian anymore. We have a guy coming
tonight to reboot the thing, please pray it gets figured out, we need
to keep on schedule. Guess thats what happens when you work on a PC:)

Kyle has contacted the Nazarene church and has been meeting with other
church leaders. Some doors are opening, some aren't. It seems Kiev is
overloaded but small churches in other small towns are bored and waiting
for something, which can be a great opportunity for LaRed. Pray for him
as we will be without him for two weeks. He is leaving Wed. for Uzhgorod
to work with gypsy orphans. This is new for him but he is hoping it will
open greater doors for fundamentals and LaRed, plus he loves kids.

Well that is it for now, we love you all and keep you in our prayers!!!

Protest!!!!

Ukraine, Ukraine!!!! Just wanted to fill everyone in on what's going on.
Our protests in front of our building have been quiet.
The mayor came and visited us and told us that he is totally against the
project and then he signed a document prohibiting the company to
build on the piece of land. Now we are waiting for him to sign off on
prohibiting the rental of the land. What happens is building companies
rent land in Kiev, they are not allowed to buy it, so we want this to
be blocked so the company can't keep coming up with ways to use the land.
The only way he could rent this land is through corruption. He definately
paid the head of our building, because when the whole thing started she
was nowhere to be found and had all the documents. The people in our
building are now firing her and looking for a new head. This is how things
work here, continue to fight with us over this matter!!!
We will win with God's help.

Finally!!!!

Our first blog.
We are finally back into our apartment and our settled in.
The kids are having a great time getting into things and discovering their old toys. Bianca asked the other day "is this America"?
Anyway ministry is moving good. We have been reconnecting with old contacts and making new ones.
Today we went to celebrate with Anya's parents, as they were baptized for the first time. It was great to see that.
During Communism this wasn't allowed so Anya's mom had to secretly baptize the her and her sister because Anya's dad was in the party. They were baptized in an Orthodox church. But what a joy to see her parents dunked with the Holy Spirit.
I forgot how long Ukrainain churches last, three hours today, yikes!!!!, very tough on the kids.
Anyway we made it and are going strong. Anya is busy translating and is now going to help out on the YWAM base with some of the administration of documents and what not. Kyle is planning a trip to Uzhgorod, to help out with an orphan camp in July, it will be a great opportunity to make contacts and get to know the kids. It's a gypsy kid camp so should be pretty interesting. I think that is it for now, continue to pray for Ukraine as it needs stability!!!