A Trip to America

Posted on March 18, 2019 by Nathan

Once again, it's been awfully quiet on the blog. This time, we'll blame it on our recent furlough to America! While we had a wonderful time, it was also very busy as we tried to squeeze everything into about 3.5 short months. What were we up to, you might ask? Here is the rundown:

Family

Far and away, the main purpose for our trip was to see family. We had not seen most of our family in 2.5 years, and I personally had only met 3 of my 8 nieces and nephews!

We kicked things off with a Rebsch Family reunion. The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins, despite the fact that many of them were meeting each other for the first time! Katelin regularly took the kids to their great-grandparent's house, and we spent many happy days at Katelin's Aunt Nora's house, helping with farm chores and living the country life. And last, but not least, we got to spend a lot of time with Katelin's parents, because we stayed at their house!

The Rebsch Family, plus Mema, Papa, and Nora

In Colorado, we stayed with my parents, and several of my siblings still live at home, so we got lots of good family time in there. My brother and his family live not far away, and the kids loved spending time with the Colorado cousins. The rest of the family flew in for Christmas, which was the first time the whole Day clan was together since the last wedding.

The Day Family

Friends and Supporters

Aside from family, it was good to reconnect with friends and supporters. We were able to visit all of our supporting churches, as well as see most of our individual supporters, and share about the ministry in Ukraine, face-to-face.

Medical

Lydia's eyes began to cross a couple of years ago. (It's hereditary, she gets it from her dad.) While in the States, Lydia had surgery to correct the crossed eye. Unfortunately, it looks like she will need a second surgery to fully correct the problem. (About 20-25% of the time, two surgeries are needed.) We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to monitor the situation and look into our options.

About to head to the operating room

Other Stuff

While some of the things that fall under the "Other Stuff" heading are things like banking, legal matters, etc, most of the "Other Stuff" is just that: stuff. While Ukraine has come a long way, there is still a long list of things that either we can't get in Ukraine, or are just easier and/or cheaper to get in America. Certain foods, electronics, homeschooling materials, clothes, and English books were some of the main things. Imagine cramming a year or two's worth of non-grocery shopping into a few months, packing everything up to ship to the other side of the world, and you'll start to get the picture!

That's a lot of stuff! And that wasn't even all of it!

Back in Ukraine

Despite having a great time in America, our family is happy to be back home in Ukraine, back to our house, our routine, and our ministry. I hope to be caught up on several over-due projects by the end of the month, this blog post being one of them, and start pushing forward on new ministry fronts soon.

Once last thing. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our new prayer card on the About page!