“This is going to be an awesome year.”

As Laura, Stephen and I looked down at the calendar we had just marked up, I couldn’t help but be excited.  “Ok, so Laura, you’ll be embedded on the U.S./Mexico border, then Stephen will take off for India… And then, cool! In April all three of us will be writing!”

The excitement that I felt during that planning meeting is becoming routine these days.  This is an unprecedented time for World Next Door.  With three full-time writers and an ever-growing team of committed volunteers, we are growing in ways that were never possible before.

And so, in the midst of all this excitement, I thought it would be cool to give you a look ahead.  A glimpse at what is on the horizon for World Next Door.  At the end, I’ll share a few ways that you can get engaged with what we are doing.

I can’t wait to have you along for the ride!

Upcoming Trips

One of the things I am most excited about right now is the diverse range of organizations we’ll be writing about over the next 12 months.  As always, very little is set in stone, but our upcoming trips are really starting to come together.

World Next Door is returning to India!

Starting this week, Laura (our newest year-long journalism fellow) will begin posting articles from her time with the Indianapolis branch of Safe Families, a fantastic organization dedicated to helping families in moments of crisis. After that, I’ll be adding a few posts about my short trip to Nairobi, Kenya, where I will be taking a group of young businessmen to the slums for their first experience in the developing world.

As the fall turns into winter, Stephen will be writing about another U.S. organization, possibly focusing on rural poverty in the Appalachian Mountains.  Around the same time, Laura will take off for the Middle East and Senegal.  In January, Stephen will be posting articles from India and Laura will be reporting from the U.S./Mexico border.

And that only takes us to the beginning of 2012.  Many more adventures are sure to follow.  Like I said, it’s going to be an awesome year!

Events you DON’T want to miss

Along with our writing and traveling, we also have a few great events you might want to stick on your calendar.

Fellowship Kick-Off Party – On October 20, 2011, you’re are invited to join us for a fun night of desserts, live music and storytelling.  This is your chance to meet Laura and Stephen in person and hear them talk about their dreams for the upcoming year.  To RSVP or get more information, check out the event on Facebook or Evite.

Grace Community Church Weekend of Service – On November 5/6 weekend, GCC closes its doors and goes out into the city to serve.  If you’re part of the Grace community and want to hear more information about spending the day volunteering as a World Next Door journalist, send an email to Jim Meacham (jimm@worldnextdoor.org).

WND Third Anniversary Celebration and Fundraiser – On January 26, 2011 from 7pm-9pm we will be having our third annual event to celebrate what God has been doing through our ministry. No details to give you yet, but I have no doubt that it will be another unique and memorable night!

How to stay connected

As we continue to write articles and explore how God’s kingdom is breaking into this world, there are several ways you can stay connected to World Next Door.  Check ‘em out!

Follow us on Twitter. This is a great way to hear the latest news
about what’s happening with our ministry.

“Like” our Facebook page and have WND content
show up right in your news feed.  Another awesome
way to interact with our ministry!

Want to stay in the loop behind the scenes? Consider signing up
for our newsletter or joining our prayer team!

Make sure you don’t miss an article.  Subscribe to
our posts by email or subscribe to our RSS feed.

Finally, if you’d like prints of our photography, check out
Barry Rodriguez Photography. 100% of the proceeds from
WND prints come straight back to World Next Door!

As always, if you have any questions on how to get plugged in, shoot us an email at info@worldnextdoor.org.  We’d love to connect!

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Well, that’s it for now.  I should probably get back to work… There’s a lot to do these days!!!

I just realized that World Next Door is two and a half years old. Crazy!  Can you believe we’ve been at this already for one fortieth of a century? 

It’s an exciting time for our ministry.  We have an office.  We have a growing staff team (our second year-long fellow, Laura, is moving to Indianapolis next weekend!).  Our operating budget is close to 5 times what it was when we started.

Things are really taking off for World Next Door.

It's been an amazing journey so far...

But in the midst of all this growth and excitement, there is one thing that hasn’t changed at all since we began… our website.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love our site.  It’s slick. It’s eye catching. It’s awesome.  But after doing this for two and a half years, I’m realizing that it’s time to tweak a few things “under the hood.”

We could make this site a lot more functional.  We could make it much easier to find and read past articles.  We could make our design more interactive.

We could do all of these things, but we need your input to know where to start.

Your input please…

How would you like to see the WND site grow and develop?  What would you like to see changed?

Below is a short survey focused on potential changes to our site.  Would you take a moment to share your thoughts with us?

If you do, guess what?  You will receive a $10 off coupon for Barry Rodriguez Photography, where you can buy high-quality prints of World Next Door photos!  Cool, huh?

Thank you so much for being a part of our ministry’s journey!

————-

Thanks again!

Hey All!

Don’t worry.  We’re going to get back to our regular content soon.  I just want to take this chance to remind everyone that the 2011 WND Summer Internship applications are due on February 1… a week from tomorrow!

If you or someone you know loves to write and wants to have an unforgettable and life-changing experience in Nairobi, Kenya this summer, look no further.

Chris, Krystallin and Lauren, our 2010 Summer Internship team.

You can find lots of info on our internships page (click here), but here are a few highlights our interns can look forward to:

• Living with wonderful Kenyan host families
• Trying all sorts of amazing (and some not so amazing) new foods
• Working with influential Kenyan social justice organizations
• An incredible safari retreat (we’re talking zebras and lions here, guys)
• Encountering visceral injustices firsthand
• Witnessing powerful evidences of the kingdom of God
• Mangoes!!!
• Worshiping alongside passionate Kenyan Christ followers
• Hands-on experience writing meaningful content for a receptive readership
• A beach-side end-of-summer retreat on the Indian Ocean!

I could go on and on and on…

But I won’t.  I’ll just say APPLY!  You definitely won’t regret it.

Click the button to the right and scroll to the bottom of the page.  Remember, applications are due February 1!

I’m looking forward to reading your application!

First of all, I should say how much of a blast we are all having right now.

For the last couple of weeks, the interns and I have been all over the place.  We’ve been hanging out at Mission to Ukraine’s two summer camps, going to Banyas, and even taking trains all the way across Ukraine!

Lauren on the train out to our retreat in the Carpathian Mountains. Also, the photo at the top of the page is Krystallin.

We’re learning a ton about the Ukrainian people, about disabilities, about orphans, and especially about ourselves.  The only problem with all of this is that we’ve had next to no internet access the whole time.

Sure, I’ve been able to zip back to Zhytomyr for a night every now and then to send a few articles off to be posted on the website, but for the most part we’ve been completely in the dark.

Anyway, since I am not able to check the articles when they go live, I’ve made two big mistakes that I feel should be addressed.

First of all, the recent Culture Guide, “Surviving Dinner,” was not, in fact, written by me (as it indicated at the bottom of the article).  It was written by our intern Lauren Schneider!  It was a simple mistake on my part, but one that took a few days for me to notice.  Oops!

Sorry Lauren. 

Chris checking out some graffiti in the city of L’Viv. So far I haven’t messed up any of his articles. I suppose it’s just a matter of time!

The second mistake I’ve made is probably a bit more serious.  Krystallin’s recent article, “Curbs Without Ramps,” was a fantastic perspective on the limitations faced by those with disabilities in Zhytomyr.  Unfortunately, due to a mix up in files, I accidentally posted her first rough draft instead of the polished final version.

Once again, I didn’t realize my mistake until it was too late! While we were having a blast at camp, everyone back home was reading Krystallin’s rough draft.

Needless to say, with both of these mistakes I feel just terrible.  I just hope that our end-of-summer retreat in Italy will help the girls to forgive me. 

Anyway, thanks again for being such committed readers.  More powerful and engaging articles are on the way!

Stay tuned…

Work gloves?  Check.  Headlamp?  Check.  Knife?  Check.

Here I am, packing my bags yet again… Going through the same mental checklists, the same anxieties and the same excitement as I have many times before.  And yet, as with every trip I’ve taken so far, there is an element of the unknown hovering right in front of me, pulling me always toward fear or anticipation.  Sometimes both.

When I left for India, I had no idea what I’d be doing day-to-day.  I knew that I would have a place to sleep and food to eat, but that was it.  Talk about anxiety…

When I headed off to Kenya this past summer, I had no clue what life would be like living in Kibera slum.   What would I eat?  What would I do?  Would I even be safe???

And now, as I prepare to spend 2-3 weeks in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, I am struck yet again with the fear of the unknown.  How will I handle myself in a place of such devastation?  Will I be able to accurately tell the stories of the people I meet and things I see?  Or will I be simply overwhelmed by the agonizing injustice of it all?

As routine as packing for international travel has become for me, I don’t think I will ever get used to the whirlwind of emotions that bombard me whenever I open my suitcase…

I can’t imagine what Port-au-Prince will be like now…

Hmmm… Packets of tuna?  Check.  Books?  Check.  Camera?  Check.

I am heading to Haiti for three reasons.

First, I am going as a journalist for World Next Door.  Now, there are obviously a ton of reporters and photographers already in Haiti (most of which are a lot more talented that I am), but I still hope to contribute something unique to our readers.

I will be telling the stories of individuals – stories of doctors struggling to keep up, stories of children newly orphaned by the disaster, stories of people who are still clinging to hope…  And, as with every location or organization I visit, I will be writing about what God is doing in the midst of the devastation and I will be giving our readers lots of ways to get involved themselves.

Second, I am going to support the work of Nehemiah Vision Ministries.  I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that NVM is working at full capacity.  If I need to pick up rubble, I will.  If I need to carry patients, I will.  And if I need to approach you, our readers, for additional funds or medical supplies to make NVM’s work possible, I will.

One of the many children I will be interacting with while I am in Haiti.

Third and finally, I am going as a representative and “scout” for Grace Community Church, where I attend. Our church, which has already raised a quarter of a million dollars to aid in relief work, is overflowing with volunteers anxious to get involved.  I’ll be the eyes and ears on the ground for GCC as they prepare to send medical and construction teams and as they look for more ways to partner with what God is doing in Haiti.

Ok then… Laptop?  Check.  Malaria meds?  Check.  Water bottle?  Check.

I will be traveling with NVM’s second medical team.  To get to Port-au-Prince, we will be flying into the Dominican Republic and driving across the border to Haiti.  I plan to stay in-country for 2-3 weeks.

Now, I desperately need your prayers for this trip.  It will be emotionally, physically and spiritually intense.  It will be undoubtedly difficult to put my swirling emotions into words, but I know that God can use my presence there for some big things if I let him.

While I’m there I will be posting regular updates to my twitter feed (@barryrod).  Feel free to follow my posts and re-tweet to your heart’s content.  It will be a great way to multiply the work that World Next Door will be doing down there…

Haiti, here I come!

If you would like to subscribe to the World Next Door email newsletter, please give us your information and we’ll be happy to add you to the list.  We’re currently working on a nice template to use for this, but right now our emails are simply plain old text on a blank background.  I’m sure you understand! 

Finally, if you would like to help cover WND’s expenses for this Haiti trip, you can contribute on our website’s “give” page.  Anything that you can donate (even $10!) will go a long way in helping us pay for food, transportation and lodging.  Thank you!

Alright… Let’s see.  Kleenex?  Check.  Bible?  Check.  Journal?  Check.

Yeah.  Don’t want to forget those last three…

I’m going to need them.

It’s a little hard to believe that it’s almost Christmas. And I don’t just mean, “Gee, that year sure went fast.” I mean, I’m in Panama. It’s a warm, beautiful day and I am relaxing in the breeze, suntanned from my most recent four day trek into the mountains. Images of sleigh-bells and snowball fights are noticeably absent here.

Nevertheless, it’s almost that time of year once again, and I have a few exciting World Next Door updates to share with you…

-

Jessica is Home!

First of all, Jessica Shewan is home from Kenya!

Jessica in Mombasa back in July. Welcome home!

Jessica was a summer intern with World Next Door in June and July, and stayed on for an additional four months as a WND journalist. Her fantastic articles ranged from interviews with widows in Nairobi to climbing Kenyan mountains to eating food in the remote Marsabit region…

If you haven’t had a chance to read her content, head on over and check it out!

-

-

Gift Wrapping at Clay Terrace

If you live in the Indianapolis area, there’s an opportunity to hang out with the World Next Door gang and get your gifts wrapped in the process!

We will be wrapping gifts, accepting donations and spreading the word about WND at Clay Terrace Mall in Carmel, Indiana (click here for a map). We’ll be there at the following times:

Friday, December 11, 4:00pm-8:00pm

Friday, December 18, 4:00pm-8:00pm

Saturday, December 19, 4:00pm-8:00pm

Right now, we still need volunteers to help wrap gifts and we need more donations of wrapping paper, tape, ribbons, tags, etc.. If you want to get involved or donate supplies, email volunteer@worldnextdoor.org and let us know!

-

Our Christmas Wish-List

As always, World Next Door could not accomplish our mission without the help and support of readers like you. Take a look at our Christmas list and see if there’s anything you’d like to contribute!

• $400 to help us throw our big February benefit dinner (news on that coming soon!)

• One Nikon-compatible vibration reduction lens (18-105mm, 18-55mm, or 55-200mm would be fantastic!)

• A licensed copy of Adobe Lightroom 2

• One round-trip plane ticket to New York City in March (have any frequent flier miles lying around?)

• $5000 for salary funds (We’re looking to expand our staff, but that’s hard when your only methods of payment are hugs and IOU’s!)

• One mid-range Nikon Digital SLR for our interns to use this summer (Nikon d60, d80, d90, etc.)

• An official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time! (Kidding. I hope you get that reference!)

To help us with any of those, head over to www.worldnextdoor.org/give or email us at info@worldnextdoor.org.

——–

Well, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for more articles from Kenya and Panama, and get ready for a whole new set of adventures in the new year!

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Hello again!

I’m happy to report that we are back from our mini-vacation from posting articles.  Starting today, you’ll once again be able to find regular new content on our site!

And to kick off this new season with World Next Door, I want to share a few updates with you…

Upcoming “Assignments”

As you may already know, one of our journalists, Jessica Shewan, is continuing her stay in Nairobi Kenya until late November.  She will be writing more about Kenya’s post-election violence and the work of reconciliation being done by Karura Community Chapel.  You can follow Jessica’s adventures in Kenya here.

In the meantime, I will be moving into downtown Indianapolis to “embed” with Shepherd Community Center.  I will be living with a Hispanic family, spending time in our city’s struggling public school system, and doing “ride-alongs” with police officers in the neighborhood.  I hope to explore issues of immigration, health-care, urban poverty and education, not to mention the incredible work being done by Shepherd in their community!

After that, our team will be pursuing new connections with organizations in Haiti, Panama, New York City and Vancouver, British Columbia.  On top of all that, we will be preparing for next year’s summer internship (more on that very  soon!).

New Volunteer Positions

Along with our expanded coverage of local and global issues of social injustice, we have an even bigger need for a committed team of volunteers.

One position I’ll highlight here is the “Copy Editor.”  This is a really important role for us.  Having someone with an eye for page layout and a knack for working behind the scenes with WordPress will free up our journalists to focus on actually writing, not wrestling with HTML!  (especially with the mind-numbingly slow internet connections in many of the developing nations we visit!)

For this and other volunteer positions, head over to our Volunteer page to see how you can join the team.

100-25-12

One of the biggest needs we have right now is consistent monthly donations to help us with salary funds, website upkeep and travel expenses.  But we realize that now is a bad time to be asking for massive donations.

That’s why we’re starting a new fund-raising initiative we’re calling “100-25-12.”

We’re looking for one hundred people to give just $25 a month.  That’s all.  Just 25 bucks!  If we can reach that goal by January, we will be well on our way to becoming financially self-sufficient.

So what do you think?  Will you consider joining our team in that way?  Head over to our Give page for more information!

GCC Weekend of Service

Finally, for those of you who attend Grace Community Church in Noblesville, Indiana, I have exciting news.  World Next Door will be participating in the 2009 Weekend of Service!

Each year, GCC closes the doors of the church for an entire weekend while the congregation heads out to serve in locations all over the city.  It’s a fantastic way for the church community to “get in the game” of social justice.

Anyone who signs up for the World Next Door project will get to be a WND journalist for a day (cool, huh?).  They will “embed” in teams of two (one writer, one photographer) among various other projects throughout the city, telling the stories they hear along the way.

As of this morning, we still have 10 spots available, so if you are looking for a way to use your journalistic skills or photography talent for a great cause this October, look no further.  Head on over to the registration page right away!

Who Knows?

I’ve got to be honest.  I really have no idea what’s next for World Next Door.  Will we continue to grow quickly?  Will we be able to accomplish our mission?  And just where will our adventures take us next?

I don’t have the answers to those questions, but I do know one thing… It’s an exciting time to be a part of World Next Door!

Here at World Next Door, we love telling stories.  We love capturing what God is doing in the world and sharing it with you.  But our purpose is NOT to write articles.  It’s not.  We don’t exist to put words on a page!

The purpose of World Next Door is to get our readers (yes, that means you!) involved in social justice issues.  Whether it’s AIDS in South Africa, orphans in Ukraine or poverty in urban New York, we want to get you into the game.

It’s already starting to happen, too.

Since the creation of World Next Door, a small group in Indianapolis has sponsored the adoption of a Ukrainian orphan, a Midwestern mother of two is working on a shoe drive for kids in Kibera slum, a college-age reader is packing her bags for an internship with our friends at Zana Africa… The list goes on.

But here’s the thing… we know that there are a lot more stories out there that we haven’t even heard.

Share Your Story

That’s why we are creating a brand new section of the website.  It’s called “Share Your Story.”  It will be a collection of stories, articles and photo galleries, but these will be submitted by YOU!

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Stories of how you have personally responded to what you’ve read on World Next Door.
• Photos (with captions!) of you and your friends getting involved in social justice.
• Links to blogs, websites, initiatives, etc. that you have started because of something we’ve written.

Have you talked to a co-worker about an article you read here?  Tell us about it!  Have you decided to go on a short term trip because of something we wrote?  We want to know!  Did you see your world differently after reading one of our travel journals?  Share your story with us!

Ulterior Motives

Now, don’t tell anybody, but I need to confess something.  We have a secret motive behind starting Share Your Story.  It may sound like we just want you to tell us what you’ve been doing, but it doesn’t end there.

When you share your story on our site, you have the potential to change the lives of other readers… to give them ideas and inspiration for ways they can get involved themselves!

We want to use your story to further our mission.  You may not realize it, but the end of your story could be the beginning of another!

How to Share Your Story

If you would like to contribute your story to our site, email shareyourstory@worldnextdoor.org with any text, photos and captions you have.

Don’t be shy.  If you are at all worried about your writing or photography skills, we’d be happy to help with any minor text or photo editing you might need.  The important thing is that you get your story out there!

Now, the stories can be as short or as long as you want (within reason of course!).  I can’t guarantee that every story will be posted, but we will do our best to get your words up on the page.

————

As far as World Next Door is concerned, we will be taking a break from posting articles for the next few weeks while we compile these stories, make some tweaks to the website and prepare for our next “assignments.”   Remember, we’re not posting for a few weeks because we’re preparing to share your stories…

So what do you think?  Will you contribute to World Next Door?  Will you share your story with the world?

Since coming to Kenya, I’ve wondered often if the interns had any idea what they were getting themselves into. Did they really know before the trip that they’d suffer through illnesses, crazy foods and 10 hour hikes???

Well, regardless of whether they were truly prepared, I know one thing. I have been blown away at how well they’ve handled it all. My understanding of the word “trooper” has deepened significantly.  : )

With that in mind, I want to share a few quick updates about the team…

Scott…

As I mentioned before, Scott has a bad case of pneumonia. What I didn’t mention was what happened the evening after writing that update.

Last Thursday night, I got a frantic call from Scott, who was having a lot of trouble breathing. We rushed him to Nairobi Hospital where he was admitted. Apparently, his pneumonia was a lot worse than previously diagnosed. There was a buildup of fluid around his right lung that was causing him to be very short of breath.

Thankfully, he returned to a stable condition quickly, but it was obvious after many tests that his illness would not be clearing up any time soon. After a week in the hospital, his doctors here and in the States agreed that it was going to take at least two more weeks for him to fully recover.

Scott the night we admitted him to Nairobi Hospital. Not exactly in the BEST of health...

Two weeks? That meant he was going to miss our trip to Mombasa and end up spending a total of three weeks in a hospital thousands of miles away from his family. On top of that, we’re leaving Kenya in two weeks anyway, so the entire rest of his trip would be spent in the hospital!

After some discussion on both sides of the pond, the best solution seemed apparent. Scott needed to fly home and recover with his family.

Yesterday he did just that. As of 2pm Indiana time yesterday, Scott was safely back in Indianapolis.

Now, while he was still at the hospital here in Nairobi, Scott underwent a procedure to remove the fluid buildup around his right lung.  To boys like Scott and I, the whole thing was totally awesome.  So awesome, in fact, that Scott insisted on me posting this video of him immediately after the procedure:

It may have been a terrible illness, but at least Scott can now say that he’s had an Indian doctor remove 200ml (more than 25 syringe fulls!) of rust colored fluid from his lung in Kenya! That’s got to count for something…

It’ll be a great story to tell his classmates when he returns to American University in a month.

Get well soon, Scott!

Christine…

Christine, teaching her art therapy class in Kibera. All smiles now that her infection is gone!

Despite a really bad throat  infection towards the beginning of her time in Kenya, Christine has been having a fantastic experience. Even after picking up some sort of stomach amoeba last week, she is still in good spirits! It’s great to see her eyes light up when talking about the work of Zana Africa.

Side note. Her amoeba brings the count of our team’s specific illnesses to five. I should seriously consider writing a massive disclaimer on the internships page!

Anyway, back to Christine. A few weeks ago she received word that she had been accepted for a Resident Assistant position with Gordon College’s study abroad program in Orvieto, Italy!

In a few months she’ll be basking in the Italian sun, using her people skills to develop college-age students emotionally and spiritually, undoubtedly eating untold amounts of incredible Italian food in the process.

Gee. Rough life, Christine! Have fun!!!

Jessica…

Jessica at the Karura Medical Camp. Can't wait to see what else she experiences!

As you can see in her author profile, Jessica is passionate about peace. With a degree in History from the University of Evansville, she gets inordinately worked up about reconciliation, and is fired up about what is happening at Karura Chapel.

That is why she has decided to stay.

Yes. You heard me right. Jessica is staying in Kenya.

Don’t worry. She was thinking about this even before the trip. And yes, her parents know. But because of her passion for exploring the roots of the post-election violence and subsequent reconciliation efforts in Kenya, she feels strongly called to stay in Nairobi until the end of November.

But here’s the best part… My board of directors and I are proud to announce that Jessica will be staying on as World Next Door’s first “part-time” journalist! Because of her obvious knack for writing, research and cultural immersion, we are excited to welcome her to the team…

Good luck, Jessica! We can’t wait to see what you’ll learn!

World Next Door…

So where does World Next Door go from here? Good question!

Over the next few weeks, we will continue to post articles from Kenya. There is plenty of stuff we have still yet to unpack and there will definitely be some great photo galleries from Mombasa.

Kibera is just the beginning for World Next Door...

Additionally, each of the interns owes me a retrospective article about their experience. I’m looking forward to those… I have a feeling they’re going to be amazing!

After we return, our posts will become a little more infrequent (closer to one or two a week) as we gear up for the fall… tweaks to the website, future trip preparation and a brand new “Share Your Story” section which will allow you to post articles on our site (more details to come)!

After that, it’s on to new assignments!

Urban Indianapolis, Haiti, Panama, Vancouver, South Africa, Toronto, China, New York City… They’re all in the works.

I don’t know about you, but my heart beats faster just thinking about it…

———–

Finally, I want to share a funny realization I had the other day. Scott is already home. Jessica is staying in Kenya. Christine is returning straight from the Detroit airport to her home in Maryland. Although I left Indianapolis International Airport with three interns in tow, I’ll be returning all by myself!

Wow. Leave with three, come back with none. That’s not a very good record, is it?

Oh well… Maybe next time!

In April of this year, I shared the story of Peter.

Peter, a child abandoned at the terrible Romaniv Boys Orphanage, suffered through terrible living c0nditions, violent “playmates” and negligent caretakers, all while being confined to his wheelchair by a form of muscular dystrophy.

In the article, I told about Peter’s wonderful decision to follow Jesus despite his conditions and the subsequent joy that decision brought to the staff of Mission to Ukraine.

What I didn’t know at the time was that Peter’s story was far from over.

Since the writing of Peter’s article, God has been working in the hearts of several Americans and Ukrainians, orchestrating a “rescue” that has absolutely taken my breath away.

Peter and I at Romaniv

With a little financial aid from some, a little insistent prodding from others and a large dose of generosity from one Ukrainian family, Peter has now officially been taken out of Romaniv orphanage and placed into a loving home!

On Friday, June 12, folks from MTU took Peter away from Romaniv and to his new family. On Sunday he went to church for the first time in his life!  As Oksana put it in an email, “I have never seen him look so happy.”

Yuri, Peter's new foster father.

The icing on the cake for me is the fact that Peter’s new family was my host family while I stayed in Ukraine.  The father, Yuri, would be appalled to know that I am making that public because he is so darn humble, but with five kids in his family already, I believe their bravery deserves to be recognized!

Currently, the government is allowing Yuri’s family to keep Peter for 3 months, longer if things go well.  So one major need now is prayer.  Pray that the government would be gracious and extend his stay.  Pray that enough financial aid would come in.  And pray that Peter’s physical condition would improve.

Mission to Ukraine is looking for financial supporters to help Peter through this transition.  Apparently they need around $150 a month, as well as some money to cover the cost of ongoing medical treatments.

I know this isn’t an easy time for any of us financially, but think about it… would you be willing to help?  Who knows?  Perhaps you could be the one to help write the next chapter in Peter’s story!

All that to say, I am overwhelmed thinking about how fast this has all happened.  Every now and then it hits me… Peter is home.  Peter is safe.  Peter is free.

Be blessed Peter, and may your new family show you the true meaning of love!