kingdom travelin'

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭95:1-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Wednesday overnight cooking and packaging to pre-dawn loading, driving and afternoon distribution, here’s how our partners provided meals to Rudnya, northeast of Kyiv.

This afternoon Anna and I ventured out to see what was going on with refugees in a busy spot in Budapest. We met refugees from Sumy, Cherniviv, Donetsk, Kyiv, a town near Chernobyl, Dnipro, and Vinnytsia. I gave them copies of Peter’s first letter in Ukrainian and heard a few stories.

In each group someone spoke enough English that we could communicate just enough. One little group had a 9 year old boy as our translator.

Thanks for praying.

Thanks for staying informed.

Thanks for giving.

http://www.ceokids.org/give

Greetings from rainy Budapest y’all. The score is jet lag 2 Tom 0. 🤷🏼 But, it’s okay, I learned long ago how to use the time and cope.

After an awesome day of rest and recreation with Anna doing some shopping for groceries and such, this was the view from the balcony of our lodgings (sometimes you don’t know how badly you need a break until you get one and feel better)…

When I contemplate this view, I think of the awesome creation (sky) and the awesomeness of the potential of man (beauty in architecture). And that leads me to today’s MINISTRY UPDATE:

You saw the number! 3959 meals went out today. How great is the awesomeness of the work of God through his image bearers?

I also got to preview some videos that I hope to share soon. I was literally brought to tears of joy while watching the gratitude of people receiving meals. I plan (rule 1) to show that to you tomorrow.

MANY, Many thanks to God for using you and folks like you who continue to give to help us help them. Glory to God y’all!

Please keep praying. A meeting a few minutes ago was stopped by an air raid on the other end of the call. Please pray that our funding system continues to hold. Please pray for sleep, you learn the preciousness of it when you can’t.

Thank you for staying informed. Thank you for giving.

If you have yet to join the giving throng, here’s the info:

GIVE: http://www.ceokids.org/give

Remember, a meal cost $3 and EVERY PENNY goes to Ukraine.

Thank you.

A quick thought as I went through my reading plan this morning. From 1 Peter 2…

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1Peter‬ ‭2:4-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬)

One of the things I’m thanking God for is how I learn about how individuals are working together and churches are working together to help Ukrainians for the glory of God.

In Ukraine, people come together to cook, set up housing, provide shelter, deliver meals to dangerous places. They work together as churches in partnership to provide and send to other churches in other cites who have great needs. Meanwhile many individuals* and a few churches are helping us provide essential funding to help these partners press on.

I thank God for those who are working day and night to care for those in danger and are hungry and I thank God for the hundreds of donors in the US who are helping us help them. Together, in Christ, we are all little stones that make up this spiritual house Peter talks about.

But it is not the doing of good that makes us part of the house, it is belonging to him that makes us these glorious stones. As his “chosen and precious,” we are serving to give him glory.

To God alone be all the glory.

* For whatever reason it is the gifts of individuals that make the greatest bulk of the donations that help us help. Large and small gifts are all important. $3 buys a meal. http://www.ceokids.org/give

Every night the night crew prepare and load meals and food bound for the hard hit regions in eastern and northern Ukraine.

Help us help them as they serve the displaced inside Ukraine.

Please renew your prayers.

Please tell the story… share this information with others.

Please GIVE: http://www.ceokids.org/give

100% or your donation goes to help our partners in Ukraine.

On Jan. 31, 2020, the day before my return home from Hungary after my regular January trip, my dear friend Keri asked if I was afraid to fly because of the Corona virus. I replied: “The what?”

For the first time, after four failed tries – twenty-six months later – Anna and I are in Budapest. (So, Red, you were correct back in May of 2020, I did wait two years.)

While daily updates from and pleas for prayer for Ukraine will continue, there will also be – what can now legitimately be called – old fashioned travel posts.

BUT NOW, the Ukraine update. Here’s the amount of the country experiencing air raids at midnight Tuesday (when I started this post).

Kyiv and Khmelnitskiy were struck by enemy missiles.

Wednesday morning 2,642 meals are delivered to communities in the NE of Kyiv. Enemy soldiers have recently exited this area. Theses suburbs have been struggling for weeks. Getting food to them is now less dangerous.

Thank you for continuing your prayers.

Thank you for giving.

Your donations are making an incredible difference to hungry people who might otherwise not eat that day. Thank you.

$3 funds a meal. $30 funds 10. You can do the rest of the math. REMEMBER EVERY DIME GOES TO UKRAINE.

PLEASE GIVE: http://www.ceokids.org/give