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On our final day of class we tag teamed the presentation in closing out the week, so all instructors participated in the presentations on Friday. At the end we presented Andriy Yeliseyev, our In Country Facilitator, a small gift in recognition of his valuable services, then we had the final day reception and presentation of Certificates and Diplomas.

Flat Stanley also came to the Reception

Gift for Andriy

Reception

Nataliya

Ruslan

Stepan

Volodymyr

Herb Burns completed his carry over lesson from  Wednesday, and Ken Farrington began the discussion of developing and selecting Strategic Opportunities.

Ken Farrington teaching.

Lunch with participants

attentive participants

Herb Burns teaching.

Herb Burns led the participants today through ways to look at their own companies in order to determine what resources they had available to apply toward their Strategic vision and goals, and what additional resources they might need if any.  Herb also led a master class presentation in the afternoon on Leadership Skills needed in times of Crisis.

Herb Burns and his interpreter Irina.

Presentation of Certificate of Appreciation from the Lviv Chamber of Commerce to Troika.

Ladies Seminary Leadership team from UBTS. Olena on left and Irina on the right.

Martha Lennon, Instructor for day two, led the participants through a discussion of how using an analysis of a firm’s external environment is a valuable tool in casting vision for the future of the firm. We also had lunch together as group after class as we usually do each day to further develop relationships with the participants.

Flat Stanley also got to participate in our class

This is Olesya, our class assistant for refreshments.

The first day of class began early and was filled with lively discussion and good participation. We covered the topics of Casting a Strategic Vision, Qualities of a Strategic Leader and the importance of planning for an extended horizon in business.

The Troika team arrived in Lviv, Ukraine after a fairly uneventful journey from Greensboro, NC on Saturday afternoon, September 30th. On Sunday we attended two worship services with local believers. In the morning we met with pastor Dima Kolesnik of Hosanna Church and in the afternoon at 3 pm we worshiped with the congregation of a refugee church comprised of believers relocated from the fighting in eastern Ukraine. A wonderful day of fellowship.

Henry took the opportunity to share the story of Jesus’ first miracle as an opener for our final seminar day.  Module 5 dealt with compensating employees fairly and rewarding performance.

We concluded the seminar with a graduation celebration.  Students received certificates of completion for the class that was taught in February and we said a few words about our dual purpose for being here – to help them flourish economically and spiritually.

We presented gifts to the interpreters and our in country facilitator.  The value of one particular gift was debatable…

We spent the first part of the afternoon at city hall presenting a summary of Dr. Chapman’s book The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.  City Hall is a beautiful building at the center of Market Square.

Some of the team visited a developing program called Hebron later in the afternoon.  They are seeking to help youth through mentoring programs, education and job training programs.

We finished the day at Kryjivka for dinner.  The restaurant is on the Market Square across from City Hall.  It is down in a basement and elaborately decorated in an effort to replicate a Ukrainian Resistance Army hideout.  See our post from February 13, 2016 for more info, but here’s a picture of the famed 1/2 meter sausage!

No doubt we are exhausted, but also energized by our experiences and the tangible progress that continues to be made.  

If you’d like to learn more about the UBTS, follow the link below to view a video that was recently produced. 

Please pray for a safe journey home. 

blahodatʹ i myr vam (grace and peace to you)!

Scott Reed taught Module 4 on Thursday morning.  We discussed the need to clearly define what you expect from employees, performance reviews and steps to take if correction or even termination is necessary.

The lunch hour offered another great opportunity for in depth conversations.  Perry and Ken spent time with individual students in the afternoon while Scott, Scott and Ken went to the Polytechnic University to present on several financial industry topics.  We received a very warm reception and the students were attentive and engaging.
The full team regrouped at the seminary for dinner with the majority of the faculty and staff.   It was very encouraging to sing familiar songs in two languages, hear their stories and get a sense of their enthusiasm for reaching the Ukraine with the gospel.

One final note of interest that we missed in yesterday’s post…we visited the only building destroyed in Lviv during the Second World War – the Jewish synagogue.  This is an aerial view of the remains and the monument of remembrance.  Quite moving.

Wednesday 

Pam and Nanci spent the day with Nadia in Boryslav visiting with and distributing food to 8 elderly widows.

Boryslav is a much poorer area about an hour and a half drive southwest of Lviv.  The city streets of Lviv are beautiful, bumpy cobblestones, which are vastly different than the neighborhood roads of Boryslav.

They spent time with Olya and her 61 year old daughter, Oxana, who has Downs Syndrome.

Maria has recently lost her eyesight and is a new believer who listens to Christian radio so she can learn and memorize scripture.

Maria is disabled and her family takes good care of her, but she is unable to navigate the 5 flights of stairs to her apartment. 

Thursday

The three ladies traveled about two and a half hours southeast of Lviv (and through some snow!) to visit a weekly program for disabled children that is being run by a current seminary student and radiologist named Lida.  Lida’s husband is a seminary graduate and bivocational pastor who is planting a church there in mountainous Bogorodchany.

They sang songs, read books and did crafts as part of an Easter celebration.

Nanci made a special connection with Nadya.

The program concluded with the distribution of Operation Christmas Child gift boxes. 

What an incredible experience to dignify and celebrate every human life and be reminded that we are all image bearers of our merciful and gracious Heavenly Father. 

Scott Jones started the day with Module 3 – Building Employee Motivation.  We covered primary motivators and motivational programs, active listening skills, coaching and how to make effective use of teams.  The concept of coaching seemed to be a new one for most, if not all, of the participants.

We enjoyed wonderful conversations during lunch.  Participants loosen up a little more each day and with every interaction.  As they get comfortable with us, they begin to try out their English, which is a whole lot better than our Ukrainian.

After lunch we challenged them to work in teams to build a skyscraper out of materials more likely to be found at a craft store than a construction site.  We asked them to consider functionality, structural integrity and aesthetics.  We also introduced new regulations and requirements after they’d begun construction.  The level of engagement from all 4 teams was impressive. 

When construction was complete, each team had an opportunity to pitch their paper scraper to the full group.  That’s Volodymyr playing the paper bugle during his team’s marketing pitch.  Well done!

The teams and instructors then ranked each project and the votes were tallied.  Results were announced and each team received a prize and certificate.

We finished the class with a discussion of their experiences working with the team, what they did well and what they would do differently.  

We toured one of the properties of the Lviv National Gallery later in the afternoon.  It is in the heart of the city and was originally constructed as a governor’s palace that was completed in 1899.  

The gallery had a giraffe piano that was popular in the early 19th century.  The piano was built in London and the harp was crafted in Paris.

The gallery also had a painting called Katerina by the famous Ukrainian artist Taras Shevchenko.

Finally, the gallery holds the entire collection of 18th century sculptor Johann Georg Pinsel.  The apostle John was on display at the palace.

We finished the day with a fabulous meal and entertainment from the brass band at Pravda.  The name is a play on words for Ukrainians because it means “truth” but Pravda is also the name of a newspaper that has been affiliated with the communist party in Russia since its official founding in 1912.​  Enjoy the show!

[wpvideo HrfWquef]​