Where We Go From Here
Summer travels and an important announcement
About an hour into our flight from Charlotte to DFW, Justus asked, “Are we still in Munich?” We laughed and told him that we had already been in the States and that we were flying to Texas, another state in the U.S.A. “Do they speak English there?” he asked?
It's been seven months since we left home with what we were able to fit in our car and drove to western Ukraine. Ten days later, the war started and our whole world changed.
None of the last seven months have been easy, but God has been faithful. And we have been surrounded by friends and family who have supported us every step of the way. Whenever our faith has been weak—and it has!—we have been strengthened by the resilient faith of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters and the support of you, our dear friends and family.
We have a lot to share with you today. We want you to know how we’ve been doing and, in particular, what we’ll be doing now that it's clear to everyone that this war isn't going to be over anytime soon.
I hope you all have had a chance to read about our return to the classroom in the UBI update which was sent out last week. If not, you can do that here. Good things are happening—big things are happening. And we are grateful that you are such an important part of this story.
A Special Summer
Even though on paper our summer looked as busy as it normally is, it was actually a much calmer season than usual. We spent more time with fewer people, and we visited fewer churches than we normally do. And considering going home wasn't even an option for us, being closer to so many we love was good for our spirits.
We spent good time with our families, and we were grateful to be in Reno to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday. He's a very big part of why I do what I do. He’s been a blessing to countless people over the years, and it was special to get a handful of them together to throw a surprise party for him.
The rest of the summer was filled with travel and fun in between reporting and meetings. We saw friends we hadn't seen in a long time, and Justus spent a lot of the summer in the swimming pool with friends and cousins. We camped. We floated. We talked and we played. Katie and I even got away for a couple days all by ourselves which somehow hasn’t happened in over five years.
Hearts in Three Places
It was a full summer, but of course our hearts were never far from Ukraine or the work in Poland. There were important conversations about our refugee work in Sopot, and important conversations about the future of UBI. And we were so appreciative to have the full support of all our sponsors during this difficult time.
Katie and I were encouraged to spend some time talking with a trauma counselor, and we are glad we did. We both learned we had been struggling more than thought we were (and we certainly knew we were struggling). It was very helpful for us as we look to the future and make some important decisions both for our family and our ministry.
A Big Decision, A Special Trip
As summer moved along, Katie and I finally came to terms with the fact that this war is not going to be over soon. And as we took that reality in, we realized that Sopot, Poland was not where we wanted to settle while we waited. We wanted to be closer to Ukraine. In fact, we even decided to explore the possibility of moving into western Ukraine.
So, a week after we arrived back to Poland, we headed out on a three-week road trip and visited the border cities of Uzhgorod and Chernivtsi in western Ukraine. We also visited Kosice, Slovakia, which we decided would be our backup plan if Ukraine didn’t work out. (Kosice is just an hour and a half from the Ukrainian border city Uzhgorod.)
It was a breath of fresh air to return to Ukraine. We saw many friends and familiar faces, and we met several new people as well. After our time in Chernivtsi, were feeling pretty positive about moving there. But after we left, we started to question how practical that would be. Even though we aren’t very concerned with our physical safety in these locations, we realized that we needed more stability in our family that Ukraine would not be able to give right now.
Kosice, Slovakia
And so we have made the decision to move to Slovakia for now. The church there was excited to receive us on our visit, and they were very helpful as we tried to learn about the city and get to know the church. They are very supportive of our family settling there until we feel it's safe and stable enough to return to Ukraine.
In Kosice, I will continue to work full-time with UBI. Our Bible training will continue online, and UBI will continue to work to provide help, resources, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Ukrainians. It is also my hope that, living on the border, I will be able to take regular trips into Ukraine. To visit, to teach, and be available in anyway I can.
Timeline
Our plan is to be in Poland until the end of September. Then we will drive our things down to Kosice and store them there before we head off on a trip that has been planned since even before the war.
In October, I will be speaking at Sunset's European Vision Workshop in Rome, and then from there we will fly and spend several weeks with our sponsoring congregation in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. While there, I'll be preaching and presenting at Broken Arrow’s annual missions Sunday. Later, I'll fly down to the DFW area to speak and teach at Sunset's Global Missions Conference.
In early November, Lord willing, we will fly back to Europe and will finally, Lord willing, be settling into a new home away from home.
Thank You
While visiting a refugee center in western Ukraine, I asked a group how this war has influenced their faith. One man shared with me that he has truly learned to rely on God for literally everything. He shared that God has continuously helped him and his family at the exact moments when they were literally helpless to do anything about their own situation.
This is a sentiment I've heard from many Ukrainians over the last seven months. At at time when you would think people would be losing their faith along with everything else they own, their trust in God is only increasing. It is such a strong and important example for all of us.
We thank you for your constant and unwavering support of our family and our ministry during this difficult time. We thank you for your help, your prayers, and for believing in us when it was hard to believe in ourselves.
Please keep praying for an end to this war. And pray that God continues to use this terrible situation to grow his kingdom in wonderful and unexpected ways.
Sincerely,
Brandon and Katie
Birthday Dress 2022
Katie celebrated her birthday at the end of July. You can see more of this year’s Birthday Dress pictures on our website here.
This is the Shliapin family. They are from the Donetsk area. Yulia had just given birth to their youngest and was in the hospital when the missiles started flying in their area. They arrived to Sopot two weeks later. Sergei is now one of our students, and their oldest, Roman, recently asked me to baptize him. This is a special family we have come to love very much.
“Scare the rod, boil the child!”
Thanks for keeping us up to date, Brandon. We remember you and Katie and Justus, and have prayed for God's comfort and direction for you all. How excellent to see His answers already at work!
Love you three❤️