Home for 1 Week & Thanks!

Hi everyone, I made it back home late Tuesday evening and am SO happy to not be traveling right now. :) Everything went as smoothly as possible and I am recovering from jet lag, but haven't been sleeping well. Hopefully that will pass soon. :)

I am still in shock that I leave for Alaska in exactly ONE week from today!!!! I'm excited, but man, what was I thinking!?! :)

Also, I feel so blessed to have been able to travel in Europe! Thank you all for your prayers for me. I will continue to update my blog as I am in Alaska, but just know that the blogs just may not be as frequent. Thanks for following!

Love you all!
-Danielle

Last Day in Ukraine (Kiev)

On Saturday, I traveled from Sumy, Ukraine to Kiev so that I could hang out with some dear Ukrainian friends (Marina and Olya) of mine that I met over 5 years ago with my team when we helped out at a summer camp through Mercy Projects/Biola. I can't even describe how much joy was in my heart when I was with them. We laughed all day and walked around town.

We passed many churches that I remember from the last time I was there. :)

We ate lunch at one of my favorite places!

And here is the best and possibly the most special part of my day... We stopped at a coffee shop and I got a special call from Alla. Alla was a sixteen year old girl in my group at the summer camp that I helped with. We attached to each other right away and have been in contact ever since and I had no idea when I would be able to see her again. By God's grace, we met again and caught up with the little time that we had left. She is now 21 years old, studying linguistics at a university and hope to be a French interpreter one day. I was so happy to hear how well she is doing!!! I already miss her! Praise God...!

Finally, here's my cute cappuccino and banana bread with cream cheese (the best concoction EVER!)

Well, I am back in Italy for my last night and tomorrow I head home. Thank you all for your prayers. It's been an amazing trip. :) Please pray that everything goes more smoothly than it did on my way to Italy and that I can actually sleep on my flights. :)

The Village and Pravdinska Orphanage Kids

Yesterday, we took a trip to the village to visit some kids at the Pravdinska Orphanage as well as to visit a very much loved family who lives right across the street (Dusya, Sergey, and their two sweet kids, Valya and Andrey). Dusya and Sergey graduated from the orphanage and ever since Anika has been in Ukraine, I've prayed for Sergey. When I was in Ukraine about 5 years ago, I visited this family and loved them immediately. It was amazing to meet Sergey for the first time then and it was so good to see him again yesterday. Please pray for him and their sweet family.

The ministry my friend's have here has been a huge blessing to this family and the children at the orphanage. It's called Open Arms Ukraine and if you are interested in supporting them in any way, especially with prayer, visit http://www.openarmsukraine.blogspot.com/

 This Dusya (in the middle) with Anika and I.

 In the background is the Pravdinska Orphanage and Valya is walking in the foreground.

 Anika and I are walking with sweet Valya.

Here is Sergey and I. When I get back home I will have to find the picture of us five years ago. :)

Also, I am going back to Kiev tomorrow by myself on a bus and will be meeting some friends that I worked with at a summer camp last time I was in Ukraine. Again, prayer for my travels will be much appreciated! On Sunday I head back to Rome and on Tuesday I will be going back to Oregon!