I was blessed to be a part of the last trip to Ukraine and had such an amazing experience. Preparing for the trip, I really had no idea what to expect. As a physical therapist, one of my main jobs in preparation was to gather and prepare equipment. I was overwhelmed by the amount of donations that we had received since the last trip. I have to admit that while we were packing, I thought that there was no way that we would be able take all of this stuff with us. There were not enough people to carry it all or room on that tiny Fayetteville airplane to hold this much. Fortunately, God does not have the same narrow vision that I did, and with Him, things are possible that I do not see as possible. It was quite comical the number of people from the airline that were in the terminal studying all of our equipment and problem solving about how to get everything through.
September 29, 2012 was the day that TEAMWorks embarked for Ukraine! I had never felt so many different opposing emotions at once, a wonderful concoction of exhilaration, fear, naivety, anticipation, and tranquility bubbled inside me as we prepared to board our first flight. There were many different scenarios running through my head as to what might happen, but as always, things never go the way we expect or the way we would like them to occur. It is just God’s little way of reminding us that we are always in HIS plan. I had to remind myself of this constantly on the trip, and so I kept a list of things to pray for every day:
What a blessing it was to once again travel as part of TEAMworks! Our
October trip was so, so wonderful! We spent time at our ‘home base’
orphanage and had the opportunity to spend more time than ever meeting
with local parents and their children with special needs.
We are so excited to share about the Fall Sales Event coming up this Saturday, October 20th! Please spread the word and come out and shop for a great cause! Proceeds from this sale will help fund future TEAMWorks work in Guatemala and Ukraine!
We spent our final day in Ukraine working with many children and families who traveled to see us. Several of them had visited us in previous years, and showed great progress. During this trip, we were able to give away ALL of the wheelchairs, standers, gait trainers, and strollers that we brought with us, and a majority of the walkers and orthotics as well! The last child of the day today needed the very last wheel chair we had left. We are very thankful for the prayers over the packing and distribution of the equipment we brought, God’s hand was definitely on it.
We were extremely blessed to accomplish several exciting things today! We presented the NICU at the local hospital with the gift of window coverings, which they were very grateful for and asked us to come back next time we are in Ukraine. We are very excited about continuing to develop this relationship and are excited to think of the changes these curtains will have on the environment for the babies in the NICU by making it more beneficial for their growth and development.