Another session completed!

The fourth class of the PT Training Center returned to Agape on August 31 for their second session. As usual, the session began with a test over the material from the previous session. A few students needed two attempts, but eventually everyone passed, earning a certificate of completion for the first session. 

Between students, temporary residents, and rehab patients, Agape was full to the brim for these two weeks! Since spinal cord injury was a big topic for us this session, it was extremely helpful to have so many residents currently at Agape with spinal cord injuries. Another plus for the students was to have multiple members of our rehab team (Alina, Katya, Veeka, and Pasha) participate in teaching. All of them are former students of our program and I really enjoy seeing them now teaching other Ukrainians!

We covered many topics and learned many new skills, often moving out and about in Agape to practice on one another: 

This group is now halfway through the program and will return in January for their third session. Several of them are from the Lutsk area and have the possibility of joining our rehab team in the future. The other three work in Rivne with some former students to provide rehab at their church. God is calling more and more people to use rehabilitation as a means of sharing Christ with people with disabilities in Ukraine and we are grateful for the role we are called to play in their training! Thank you to all who prayed for us during this session! 

Looks like we have said good-bye to summer, but God's beauty continues to abound as we say hello to fall! 

The Summer in Review

Summer is rapidly winding down here and it seems like it went by so quickly! Praise the Lord, Agape has been operating in our normal capacity since mid-June! We are thankful for the Lord's protection that enables us to continue to provide rehabilitation and temporary residency for people with disabilities. There have been and continue to be challenges to our work in this era COVID-19, so we continue to pray for wisdom to address the various situations that arise, for the health of patients and employees, and for God's continued provision and protection. 

The rehab team gals!

Summer camps took place in abbreviated and atypical formats so we were unable to participate this year. Children with disabilities and their families had an online camp followed by one day together at a campground. Adults with disabilities had a 3-day day camp at a nearby campground. The overall number of participants was lower, but all expressed gratitude for having the opportunity to host and attend camps.

 

Other events of the summer for us included hosting a 4th of July cookout complete with a game of touch football (but no fireworks): 

                                         

The football players above and the spectators below...

We had birthday celebrations for various members of our rehab family which took us on evening picnics to the local river and all-day trips to the lake: 

Sveta and I spent 5 days hiking and relaxing in the beautiful Carpathian Mountains:

And we enjoyed some of God's beautiful nature from our own yard...

The second session of our PT Training Center for the 4th class begins on August 31st. Please join us in praying during these 2 weeks for clear teaching/translation of the material and for the students to comprehend and retain the information. 

Please also continue to pray for the work at Agape, for the health of employees and patients, for wisdom for those making decisions regarding our work, and for God's continued protection. 

Two steps forward, one step back...

Well, in this case it was actually "two weeks of work, one week off." Agape was open for two weeks of outpatient rehabilitation and then had to close again as that format was simply not sustainable. Thankfully, however, we only closed for one week and tomorrow reopen with our normal inpatient rehabilitation format. Of course, our work will not be completely "normal." There will be less residents in the building initially, new guidelines for how we work, and all employees and residents have undergone/will undergo testing for COVID-19, but we are excited to be taking this step back toward normalcy.

Of course, opening Agape is not without risk. Ukraine is still in the process of easing the quarantine restrictions and the number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Ukraine actually hit record highs this past week. Much prayer and discussion went into the decision to open Agape and much prayer and discussion will need to continue as we begin our work. Our trust is in God to provide, protect, and guide! We ask you to join us in prayer!

In other news, summer finally hit here - at least for one week! Warm, sunny days were a welcome change and the week off from work allowed us to travel to visit friends and spend plenty of time outside.

Late spring and early summer in Ukraine are truly beautiful as everything grows and blossoms. Tulip season (my favorite) is now behind us. Wheat fields have taken on a lighter green color and are now often dotted with red poppies. The bright yellow canola fields of May are gone, but large fields of sunflowers will emerge before long. The sky provides some incredible views and rainbows can often be seen after the rain, particularly here in the village. I hope you enjoy seeing some of Ukraine's beauty...

"And the waving wheat, it sure smells sweet..." from "Oklahoma" suddenly popped into my head while taking this picture. I have yet to smell that sweetness but I do enjoy the beauty of the rolling wheat fields!

While this may not be part of the "beauty of Ukraine," shooting around on this little court in our village park has brought me some extra joy lately. Now to convince some friends to join me!

In closing, I want to thank those who responded to the request to help us raise the salaries of our therapists. God has used you to answer our prayer and we believe we now have adequate funds to raise their salaries beginning in July. The caregivers are the next group of employees for whom our administration wants to raise salaries. These men and women work 24-hour shifts every 3-4 days to care for the residents and patients of Agape. They help them dress, eat, bathe, transfer to and from wheelchairs, turn in bed, go for walks...whatever the need is, they are there to help fill it. It is physically taxing work, but the opportunities to share the gospel with patients are also abundant. If you would be interested in helping to raise the salaries of our caregivers, please contact me (cmoss19@hotmail.com) and we will discuss how that is possible. Please join us in prayer for God's provision of this need.

Also, we would ask for prayer for summer camps for adults and children with disabilities. They were on, then one was cancelled, then both were cancelled, and now they are both back on. Please pray for the leadership teams of both camps to have wisdom and discernment as to whether they should hold the camps and if so, what they should look like in these partial-quarantine days were are living.

Nearly three months of closure at Agape is coming to an end and it's back to work we go!

God is good!