We're back!
Dear NHF Family,

The U07 team is back on American soil, and though we are so glad to be home, we also
miss Kremenchuk and New Hope Church very much.  In all of the most important ways, the
members of NHC started to become our family, much in the same way that we here at NHF
are already family to each other.  It is one of our team's hugest hopes that one day here on
earth, NHC and NHF will be able to worship together as one church and one family.  Until
that happens, please think about your upcoming summers and winters ... each and every
one of you should get a taste of the delicious fellowship that we indulged in these past
several days. 

In the coming days, weeks, months, everyone will hear so much about this trip.  The team
hopes to accurately, sensitively, honestly describe and tell everything we can possibly
remember, everything we can possibly pour out of our hearts into yours.  We really can't
wait to tell you everything and anything that we can.  As the stories come forth, please
remain in prayer for NHC, for Pastor Sasha and his family and staff, and for every member
already there.  They have so little financially and practically, but so much spiritually and in
their faithful hearts.  Surely, this is a good combination, for God will see their faith and love
and bless them for it.  Please pray that He will provide all that NHC will need as it grows and
serves its community -- not just things, equipment, books, money, but most of all a
sustained spirit of working together, of uniting under the banner of Christ's Lordship, and
an unflagging joy that comes from being in the center of the will of God.  All for His glory.

The Russian language is beautiful.  It's more beautiful when spoken in songs of praise and
prayers of faithfulness.  We hope each of you will get to hear it someday.  There really is
something indescribably special and wonderful about hearing "the same old praise song"
sung in a different language.  It's as if God opens our ears to hear Him again, anew. 
Something is stirred within, and it's like we see God with new eyes, and we wonder that He's
been there all along in the fullness of His glory and grace, and we just weren't able to see
Him clearly.  Thank God for foreign languages and the inability to understand with our
minds what is being said.  It seemed more wonderful to understand an unknown language
with the commonality that lies in our hearts, that which seeks Jesus and seeks to glorify
Him with our worship.

"Working" with NHC hardly seemed like such.  Jeehyun, who came with Spencer to pick us
up at the airport the other night, responded to some of our first stories with the comment,
"you guys had FUN!"  Yes, we did, and we give all glory to God for the fun He did indeed
give us.  If we laboured, if we struggled, if we were frustrated or tired, if we were fearful or
anxious, we hardly knew it.  Almost around the clock, we were surrounded by friends and
laughter, amazingly tantalizing food, and an abundance of blessings and miracles that
seemed to unfold before our very eyes.  Even the moments of heartbreak and intercession
for those in pain eventually flowed into joy, because it was so obvious that God was there
right next to us and right next to each person we met and spoke with.  Working with Jesus
IS fun, and we surely had the best time of it.  It's an amazing thing to see the hands of God
molding, moving, working, creating, changing.  If that's not the most fun thing ever, I just
don't know what is.

We spent the last day in Ukraine in Kiev, taking a wonderful tour of the city, and what a
beautiful city it is.  A strange mix of all sorts of architectural and religious and cultural
influences, so cosmopolitan but so traditional ... and of course, like any large city, what a
cornucopia of delicious food!  Any of you who will see us soon might note that we have
GAINED weight on this trip.  God is good in all things, not the least of which is providing for
our stomachs tasty food in abundance.  Our last night in Ukraine, our team obtained four-
dollar tickets to see the ballet at the Kiev Opera House.  Yes, I said FOUR DOLLARS.  And
their nosebleed seats are not the same as our nosebleed seats -- we actually were able to
SEE the stage and the dancing on it.  It was wonderful and beautiful, and we wish that each
of you had been there with us throughout our nine days, not just at the gorgeous ballet, but
in Kremenchuk, with NHC and with our family members there. 

Our travel home was rather uneventful, and we are thankful to have arrived safely.  Thank
you, each of you, for your emails and phone calls and welcome back e-cards and personally
showing up to greet us.  Your care for us is never-ending.

How sad we were to come home to mourning.  At the same time, for me, personally, it felt
strangely right that we leave a place where we rallied around family members, and return to
a place where we will rally around family members.  Robert said something wise to me
during the week about fighting for my joy.  Those words continue to resonate in me now,
not just for myself, but for Ken, Jenny and John and for all of us who mourn with them.  And so
I'm sleepy as all heck (it's 7:35pm local time as I write this, thus 2:35am in Kremenchuk),
but I remember those words -- "fight for your joy" -- and I know that it's not just me, but
it's our entire team and our entire church that will continue to fight for Ken's, Jenny's and John's
joy, and the joy of their families in the coming endless days.  It was so great to have been
carried by your prayers these past nine days and nights.  It's our great happiness to be back
with all of you to join with you in prayer again to carry others.

God's great love to all of you,
Cathy, on behalf of the U07 team

Mon, Jan8:
We had a long day today-it started out with a morning tour of the town, an ore mine (which was huge). We got to see a Russian Orthodox church and listened to part of their Christmas service.

KNH's (Kremenchuk New Hope) service was special.  Hearing familiar praise songs in Russian was moving. Pastor Sasha reached out to non-believers and two stepped fwd and said they want to know Christ.

Last night we had a proper "Farewell" dinner since the Texans had to return home this morning and some members had to return to work.  Saying good bye to FAMILY in any language is difficult.  Realizing our time here is ending is also difficult.  But many are taking us to another town today to reach out-that takes away some of the sting.

In Him,
Cesar  

Sun, Jan 7:
Hi, this is Edward. I wanted to send a message to New Hope from Kremenchuk. We are having the time of our lives and we cannot wait to get back and tell you all about it. There has been so much that has happened here on a daily basis. And we feel God's hand upon us and His Spirit all about us. We want to thank everyone back home for all your prayers that we see answered continually. We bring you greetings also from the New Hope church here. These beautiful and precious people in the Lord! They have taken us in as their own. And we also feel as if we are not two churches but one, not New Hope NY and New Hope Ukraine but one New Hope. We love you and miss you and are looking to be reunited and share with you all that God has been pouring out to us. God's love from Kremenchuk,

Edward, UO7

Hi, we are lucky this winter - we get to celebrate Jesus' birth twice.

Yesterday, Sang and I had a wonderful time with Colonel Alexander, who was a stereotypical ex-Russian soldier.  He's husky, strong, and has lots of military paraphenalia (pardon my spelling-on a bb) scattered about his home.  He is a church goer (not at New hope) and has adjusted well to life after soldiering.  He has a wonderful life, a quaint home, and a beautiful wife.  He cooked us a traditional Uzbekistan dish - plove - which is just like Spanish paella.

Col. Alexander told us about the Ukrainian flag, which is blue and yellow.  The blue represents the sky and it radiates over the yellow fields of wheat and corn.  He gave us his leftovers because I told him how my father always makes paella for me.

He gave Sang and me handshakes and bearhugs that would bring Atlas to his knees.

Last night's show was really professional - another performing team from Kiev did a musical "Castle from Grace" which is a story that parallels Jesus' grace.

I have been getting close to an 11 year old child who is also named Alexander.  He is always around the cultural center, our base camp.  But we are about to go into our morning prayers and then a tour of Kremenchuk - so you'll hear about him later.

Have a joyous Sunday.

In Him,
Cesar

 

Jan 6:
Just want to point out that I have full power on my blackberry all throughout Kremenchuk--I  barely get reception from my house back in Ossining.

It has been an unusually mild winter. I forgot how to translate "global warming" into Russian.  But we finally saw snow-but it has already melted and turn into gray slush-so it makes me feel like I am back in NYC.

Our drivers who also attend New Hope also make me feel like I am back home-they drive just like taxis.

But they and everyone else here are also great individuals and Christians-which again reminds me of home.

We returned to the orphanage and the kids were fantastic.  Grace's testimony was so colorful. They loved "Lord I lift your name on high" and were singing it in both English and Russian.  Weijing's words have proven to be so prophetic!!!

But it was heartbreaking for all of us to leave them.  They are treated well here but I hope if we get updates or if we come back-that they have moved on to better places (by that I mean to stable functional homes).

Robert and I saw a blind Russian couple who were simply joyous about life despite living in a small apartment with limited interaction to the outside world.  Their children aren't believers however.  But both of them are talented musically and sang while playing the piano- two deep Russian ballads about "unity" (which was Pastor Sasha's 1st message to us) and "Hope."  Isn't that amazing!!!???  We have them on videotape though that won't do them full justice.  We invited them to tonight's show (our last one) and hope their children come too.

Their praise band is tremendous and I see shades of Kwonnie and Peter in them--one can eat everything in sight and they can harmonize my bad Russian.

The days are so full-we wake up at 6am and do not stop until about 22:30-23:00 (everyone here makes fun of my military time keeping).  But the days are so productive and fulfilling-and this one instance where "working" 24/7 is great.

I was so tired that I woke up late-at 7:30am to Illiaya pounding on our door this morning. That rarely happens right. Mirry!!!

Sang also mentioned that he is also getting used to my "alledeged" snoring-he woke up at 530 but went back to sleep even though it was "noisy" but Sang didn't realize that the snoring was actually coming all the way from Robert's room.

OK...we have to go.

In Him.

Cesar

Jan 4:
Today, a few of us visited an orphanage.  We shared the Bible with them and played some games with them.  It was joyous to see the kids but sad to some degree.  We were encouraged though because the director of the orphanage is new and everything we hear is much better.
Edward, Sang and Robert visited some families today and shared time and testimonies.
We also practiced Chistmas show #1 today with the Kremenchuk New Hope church. The show, songs,  skits and testimony by Sang went well.  Edward's sermon was well received too.

I was so encouraged as one praise band member said their church never had friends like us before who cared so much by sending equipment and other things which they have already put to good use.
As Weijing told and showed a lot of us on New Year's Eve, listening to familar songs in different languages (How Great is our God in Russian) is really moving.

If you all are expecting us to be thin--forget it.  Ukrainian food is pretty tasty and our new friends are so generous with chocolates.  Good thing we have many dentists at NHF.
Lastly it has been confirmed I snore loudly (Sang is my roommate) but Edward thinks that Robert can hold his own against me.
I am learning so much and thanks again for your prayers (keep'em coming) speaking on the behalf of everyone here, we miss all of you.

Cesar

Hi, NHF family,
We're having a wonderful time! God is so good! We performed tonight: Edward gave a sermon, Sang shared his testimony, and we sang songs in Russian and English.  Robert is feeling better, and we are warm and comfortable in our rooms. The food is delicious.  The New Hope church is so warm and faithful and it is amazing to worship with them.  Our Russian is still rusty, but it's fun to learn. Please continue to pray for His Spirit to be strong here, for people to come to know Jesus, for our teams to continue to work well together, and for protection over our bodies and hearts.  We love you and miss you. 

 Jan 3: We're here!
We arrived safely and without incident.  The food is delicious, the rooms are comfortable and we are holding up well.  Please pray for Robert b/c he is under the weather. Hi to everyone back home, please remember us in your prayers.
Cathy and the team

CMUR (Christian Ministries to Ukraine & Russia) was established in 1994 to minister the Word and Truth of Jesus Christ to citizens of Ukraine and Russia in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union.  David Freeze, the founder of CMUR, has led countless teams on short-term mission trips, mostly to Ukraine, and in January 2007, he will be coordinating a trip with a group from NHF.  We will be heading to Kremenchuk, an industrial city located in central Ukraine on the banks of the Dnieper River.

During the ten days that our team will be in Kremenchuk, we will be assisting Illya Tkachuk, a CMUR staff member, and Pastor Sasha, a local Baptist pastor, with a church-plant in the city.  Pastor Sasha and about 50 congregation members will need our assistance in getting the word out about their church, building relationships within the Kremenchuk community, and establishing some programs within the new church.  Our days will be spent participating in contact evangelism (speaking directly with local folks about the love of Jesus Christ and His reality in our lives); special presentations (music, drama, children's outreach events); and doing whatever Pastor Sasha and his staff request of us to help their church.  Our evenings will be spent coordinating and conducting nightly services at the new church.  These services will have a Christmas theme.  The NHF team will assist with musical praise, and Pastor Edward will likely give a sermon or two.

The culmination of all of these efforts will occur on Sunday, January 7th, which also happens to be Russian Orthodox Christmas Day.  Pastor Sasha is planning a special service and special activities on this day, and we will do everything we can to help him and his church glorify the name of Jesus Christ and bringing the truth of His love, grace and salvation to the folks of Kremenchuk. 

It is an amazing and great grace that God has grown NHF to a point where we can now send short-term mission teams overseas to spread His Gospel.  We are beginning our preparations and training with deep conviction and strong power given to us only by the Holy Spirit.  Still, the NHF travel team also needs a lot of support and prayer from you, our family of faith.  Please pray for:

• the Ukraine07 travel team: Edward Kim, Catherine Cha, Robert Nechols, John Kwon, Jennifer Chon, Grace Cho, Cesar Capio, Soyeun Park, Sang Yoon 
• God's sovereign guidance in the training and growth of the Ukraine07 travel team
•  His grace and wisdom to cover us throughout training and preparation
• the Lord to provide abundant financial provisions for each member of the travel team
• the health and safety of each member of the travel team from today until we return
• Pastor Sasha, David and Illya as they prepare for these major January events
• the citizens of Kremenchuk, that the Holy Spirit would be moving and working in their hearts already, to receive the Word of God
• the focus, goal and mission of this trip to be constant and strong: the truth of the Word of God, the salvation and grace of Jesus Christ, and the glory of God

Please also stay tuned for more ways that you can support the Ukraine07 travel team through your prayers and generous donations.  Fundraising letters will be sent out by team members shortly - we ask that you would prayerfully consider partnering with us financially.  We view your investment in this trip as equal to taking you with us; we hope you will feel the same way.  And, keep an eye out for fundraising events at church, like the Bake Sales, coming up on Sunday, Nov. 12th and Sunday, Dec. 10th.  And finally, a Prayer Calendar has been circulated -- would you consider partnering with us every day in prayer and preparation for this trip?

Praise God for this unique opportunity.  We look forward to not only the January trip, but the ongoing relationship that our church will have with CMUR and the churches it supports, beginning with Pastor Sasha's church.  It is a wondrous and special thing to be able to connect God's people across oceans and cultures.  May this trip open our eyes to the vast intimacy of our Father's creation; may it ignite in us a fire and an honest passion to know & love Him better and to desire to have others know & love Him; and may it grow in us eyes of Jesus, to be able to see and love this world as He does.  For the joy of His glory ...

As of November 5, 2006: Active Ukraine07 team recruitment has ended  Please get in touch with Pastor Edward ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ), Robert Nechols ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ), or Cathy Cha ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) if you have any questions and/or concerns, or would like to support the team further.