Orphan's Lodge Pine Branch Christian Camp

Today at Pine Branch Christian Camp, the guys culminated 3 days of praying for a crane by seeing God's answer at 10 this morning.

The small town of Ivankov in Northern Ukraine seems to have a shortage of long-armed cranes that could reach the height we needed for installing the 23 hand-made trusses.

Here Victor & Kolya hammer bracing as one more truss goes into place.



We have a total of 5 Ukrainian men training to build these post-frame structures. Other men are members of the missionary's team or have come as volunteer trainees from other churches who also want to build in the future.


As the last truss goes up, children play in the fenced off playground at Pine Branch Camp. They said they had been watching all day long and this construction is amazingly fast.


L: Victor is our foreman-in-training. Pasha, our trainer, and Victor started the staircase late this afternoon.


At 7pm, all the trusses were installed. It's a miracle friends. This is Mustard Seed #13. All Glory to God!!!

Orphan Lodge: Pine Branch Christian Camp

This week our Ukrainian builders, coming from all over the country, started the frame of the children's lodge at Pine Branch Christian Camp. This is a large building with one section being 2-story to house children on the second floor and kitchen facilities underneath. One section of the building will be shorter and will be the auditorium for worship/teaching and cafeteria. Children for many years to come will walk through the doors of this new center into the loving arms of people who have cared enough to invest themselves now for their future!

Monday the posts go up


Tuesday & Wednesday the parallel girts go all the way around the posts to add stability to the structure. The headers go on top of the posts in preparation for the big trusses to be installed later.


Thursday the 25 huge trusses are made by hand, one-by-one. Every plywood gusset is properly nailed and glued on both sides of the 2x6 boards seaming together to form the incredibly strong triangular roof pieces.


The 3-ply posts made from 2x8 pine boards for the center section are long and heavy. Our all-Ukrainian team of builders, some just learning on this project, are excited to see how fast this building goes up.


Victor, 19 years old, is learning to be a foreman. He attends classes through correspondence at a trade school to learn construction. He says his teachers have never seen wood-frame construction.


Pasha, 25 years old, is our senior team leader. He has been a part of training our Ukrainian builders since 2006.


By Friday all the trusses are built and the frame is ready for the crane to come next week to perch the trusses on top.


Please pray for all our builders and us as leaders. Pray for Andrew & Jenny Kelly, the project owners/missionaries. And please lift up the pastors from past and future projects as they all work through their details to get their buildings built and finished.

Slavic Missionaries in China

This is my Ukrainian friend Ira, home to Kiev from her mission field in China. We have been catching up on all her journeys in China. Below are some pictures she brought to share.


This is Ira from Ukraine & Olga from Russia at a temple in a city in China where gods from all nations are represented by their idols.




This is a Chinese woman worshipping at an idol in a Chinese city.




At this Budhist temple, worshippers have brought sacrifices. Ira & Olga prayed for the people who go there to know the Only God, Creator of all, who is King of kings and Lord of lords.


Ira climbs the many stairs where all the worshippers go to bow to Buda at this city in China. Of course her prayer is for God Almighty to reveal Himself to these who seek god.



Ira with Chinese students from her university. They study Russian while she studies Chinese.




At 6am, Ira buys her fresh produce at the farmer's market. Already by 8am, all food and sellers are gone. She's able to get the best prices for her missionary money at this early market.

Ira sometimes eats breakfast with the rest of the Chinese outside at 6am. This Manti is like a pie filled with meat and vegetables. She says it's very tasty.



This is the supermarket where Ira buys food in China. She is studying Chinese so she is able to communicate and do well in these situations.




In China, a Russian pastor and businessman visit these Slavic missionaries to see their work and to encourage them, bring finances, pray for them, and help them to continue in their service of God.


This is one of the means of transport which Ira and others use in China.

Thursday Day 8 Pine Branch Christian Camp Director's Cottage

Many hands make our construction SUPER fast.

Since things were going so fast, Andrew decided to add an enclosed front and back porch to his director's cottage.


Andrew explains to Pastor Ira where the kitchen is going to be. I have a feeling Ira's husband, Pastor Sergei might be convinced that their little 1-bedroom home may need an upgrade soon. While Andrew's cottage is a simple 32' x 32' box, the 1024 sq. feet is tons of space compared to the cultural 500-700 sq feet in most Ukrainian apartments/homes. Next week our guys take a break and the following week we start the children's lodge at the camp.