One of our frustrations has been the lack of follow-up with children that we meet at our camps each summer. We lose touch with them for months only to see them again for one week the next summer. We needed a reason to pull them together regularly. We started a children’s club to fill that…
Read MoreJim posted earlier on our facebook page: Many people are working hard to raise the awareness of and ability of those with a disability in Ukraine. In a country where people are valued mainly for their utilitarian purpose we must work hard to overcome the stigma they face every day. Looking forward to our conference,…
Read MoreWe are so very excited to share some great news with our Ukraine Medical Outreach friends and supporters: Jim’s assistant Toliy is engaged to a beautiful gal from western Ukraine and the wedding will take place at the end of the month. Toliy will continue to work for UMO, and his bride has already begun…
Read MoreLast night’s dinner. Long-awaited. Long-anticipated. But finally a reality! We like to gather the ‘team’ here for dinner on a regular basis so that we can all get to know each other better — outside of a hospital setting — and also so that we can understand frustrations and successes in the ministry. Last night…
Read MoreI could sure get used to weddings every other week! We attended a delightful wedding ceremony over the weekend. The couple met at a Christian medical student conference here in Ukraine. (One of the guests told us that Jim might be one of the most important people at the wedding because he had a significant…
Read MoreWhat a blessing to be in a position to watch children minister to children. There is just something so innocent when children opt to reach out to other children. Unassuming. Genuine. This week at the HIV/AIDS unit of the National Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, a new family in town visited our favorite little patients. Such…
Read MoreLast week we had a 2-night house guest who traveled here from the U.S. via Istanbul, Turkey. A mutual friend contacted us to see if we might have space for him to stay. We did and so began a couple evenings of learning about each other. When we asked where he was going from Kyiv…
Read MoreEvery day in Ukraine brings a little something different with it. As much as we think we have a schedule, we really just have some daily guidelines. Or goals. Things we’d like to accomplish. But when you’re a pediatrician, especially trained in the West, you get some extra-special visitors from time to time. And the…
Read MoreOne of the many wonderful results of working with medical students in Ukraine is that Jim becomes not just an adviser or a mentor but also a friend. And as such, Jim is often invited to special events taking place in the lives of these friends. One such event took place on Saturday in Irpin,…
Read More(This is the devotional that Jim sent to medical students at the end of another school year.) It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Proverbs 25:2 All around the world students are graduating after completing anywhere from four to eight years of…
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