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So the week ends with an outing hosted by our Ukrainian friends! It’s such fun, and so inspiring to hear their stories and meet their families. Both current and former students are invited, and our community of friends continues to grow and our roots continue to deepen.

Perhaps the most striking part of the students’ comments are the book ends….
the alumni tell the new students how these seminars, and especially the trip to the USA, has impacted their businesses and, more importantly, their lives, for the better.
And the new students tell how doubtful, even skeptical, they were beforehand, and how excited and eager they now feel.

For us, the instructors, this is pure oxygen. All of the preparations, hard work while here, and the occasional frustration and discouraging moments, are transformed into fulfillment and inspiration to stay the course.

As team leader, I am so thankful for these instructors; brothers in Christ, friends to the highest level, and servant hearted professionals for whom I have deep respect and admiration.

Tomorrow we return to Winston Salem, exhausted, encouraged and expanded spirits yet again. Glory and praise to our Father God for His unfailing love and provision. Good night all……

The teaching schedule for the last few daays was as follows:

(1) Ken Farrington taught on Tuesday about CULTURE and STAFFING.

(2) Henry Williamson taught on Wednesday about EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION SYSTEMS and EFFECTIVE TEAMS.

(3) Perry Hudspeth taught on Thursday about ESTABLISHING PERFORMANCE GOALS, EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEWS and FEEDBACK.

Outside of the formal teaching schedule, our team divided up to meet with some of our students on Tuesday afternoon at their businesses. On Tuesday evening, we meet with the Q Club, a class sponsored by Grape Vine Church, that teaches English by using the Bible and discussing it.

On Wednesday afternoon, the class divided into four teams in order to solve a common business problem. This team building challenge was to “design packaging that would allow a single egg to be delivered anywhere in the world”. Each team was given the same materials and one hour to organize itself, design the package, and create a marketing campaign to present to the class. The critical test was their design had to withstand a drop of three feet without their egg breaking-thus the name of the challenge-THE GREAT EGG DROP!

On Thursday afternoon, our team went to the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary to see the progress that has been made on their new building and to meet with their president. The team had dinner at the seminary with some of the students.

Ukrainian Sunshine

Greetings,

The Ukraine teams are hard at work and we are praying for a strong finish to our week!

The women are deep into their work with the first year seminary women students, and are now at the Shepilska retreat center
(About 2 hours away). They are such an inspiration to these young women!

The men are teaching Day 3 of our 5 day seminar on HR. This is a much neglected discipline in Ukrainian business, and the class is eagerly absorbing the instruction.

The men’s team will spend Thursday afternoon at the seminary, speaking to students and later meeting with the president of the seminary, Slavik Pyzh.

The women have a major banquet and celebration on Thursday night that is the highlight of their week, and very inspiring!
The men will spend Saturday at a recreational park with former students and their families celebrating our growing relationship and connections.

We worshiped in two churches last Sunday.
Patti and I had dinner with Pastor Dima and Nataliya last night in their home. Our time continues to be very demanding, a very good thing.

Please pray for spiritual openness in the days ahead, as much of our best opportunities occur in the last days of our team visits. Even so, there have already been incredible moments that only God could orchestrate.

Finally, remember in prayer Nanci Hudspeth who is fighting a terrible bout with congestion and weakness.

In the humor department, the students are amazed that our team members are so active “at our ages”. This, they say, is not the case in Ukraine. They say they hope to be like us when they get older. I think this may be a compliment, so we’ll take it that way. 🙂

Blessings on all,

After breakfast together and a great devotion by Perry, we began the week with our Class of 19 students. After a time of introductions and sharing of individual backgrounds, Alan began the first module on Leadership & Organizational Structure. Our translators for the week are Pavlo and Olga, both of which we have worked with for years.

Perry helped the students in the class complete the DISC profile and understand how important it is to understand not only your own personality but to appreciate the strengths of other people who are different from you.

After class, the team was treated to dinner at the home of Pavlo and Helen. We had a wonderful dinner and time of reflection about our ministry in Lviv – what is working well and what are our challenges.

The last three days have been the blur of activities we’ve come to know….. long plane rides, little sleep and God moments that we treasure!

Other than white knuckle connections due to delays and a packed airplane with little space to even sleep, we arrived safely. Thank you God.

Sunday is worship day for our team, and we made two beautiful services in two churches we’ve come to know and love.
We felt like family as we renewed many friendships and made new ones as well.

So tomorrow begins our new cycle of teaching HR and getting to know new business students. We have a number of afterclass activities scheduled, so it will be a full week of being God’s hands and feet in
Lviv. We will also be visiting the seminary and enjoying an outing on Saturday, hosted by our local team and former students at a nearby family park. Below are pictures of our Pastor Dima (Hosanna Church) and his family, and our team leaders speaking to the churches. Stay tuned…….

Almost there. Last leg to Lviv.

The last day of class started with Phillip Averett presenting Module 5, Risk Management and Business Ethics. Scott Reed and Scott Jones pitched in with examples from their experience.

At the conclusion of the class, students, interpreters and instructors gathered for the presentation of gifts and certificates.

Everyone enjoyed a marvelous feast, followed by a time of sharing by instructors and students. What a gratifying and blessed week it has been.

After a review of key points from The previous day’s class, Larry McGee presented Module 4, Managing Financial Resources. The afternoon was devoted to presenting the 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. Each of the students received a copy autographed by Dr. Gary Chapman.

Scott Reed, Phillip Averett and Larry McGee inspected the progress of Phase 1 of the future home of UBTS. Fundraising is now underway for Phase 2.

The day concluded with a visit to the current location of UBTS, which included a meeting with students and a dinner