Update:

Hello friends!
Here's a summary of latest news regarding my travels to Ukraine:
I will be going back to Ukraine for the 3rd time from January 2nd to the 12th!  This will be my first winter trip to Ukraine, and my first time celebrating Ukrainian Christmas in Ukraine! (Jan. 7th)  With a team from Northland Church, I'll serve with Hope For Orphans for a Christmas camp (similar to VBS) at an orphanage in Gordinya (a village near Kyiv).  I'm helping with skits like I did this summer, and we will also have worship, sports, crafts, and Bible lessons for the orphans.  Since it's Christmas, we are also bringing wonderful gifts!  So many friends and family members have joined with me to make and provide hats and scarves for the orphans.  What started out as a simple idea has turned into an amazing venture!  Thank you to everyone who is involved!
     Besides camp, we will also visit property HFO has recently purchased, property that will provide a safe place for orphans to come during their summer and winter breaks, and will house a adaption program for older orphans, teaching them practical skill sets and a hope for their otherwise bleak futures.  I am honored to witness and be a part of the beginnings of a movement that will change so many children's lives! 
     To top it all off, we will also spend an afternoon ministering to widows, and will visit a trade school for children who are too old to stay in an orphanage.

     Needless to say, I am ecstatic about this trip!  Please keep our team and Ukraine in your prayers.  I am humbled and blessed by all the friends and family members who have rallied around me in order to restore brokenness in Ukraine.  Praise God!

Scarves

Wow!  So many people are coming together to make scarves and hats for the children of Vovkavinci orphanage!  If you want to be a part of keeping an orphan warm this winter, please email me your name, address, and phone number, and let me know you'd like to send a scarf to one of the orphan kids.  The scarf and hat sets are $20 each.  You can donate through Northland's website here: http://donate.northlandchurch.net/abi-mills , but be sure to email me your contact info. so I can send you a picture of the orphan who received your gift!  My email is: abbinormal09@yahoo.com.

Another scarf for another orphan!

My friend and I are making scarves for all the orphans. You can take part by purchasing a scarf! Each scarf costs $20, and all the proceeds will fund our trip. Feel free to send a Christmas card with your payment. We will bring back a picture for you of the child who received your gift!

email me at abbinormal09@yahoo.com if you have any questions about Ukraine or would like to purchase a scarf.

"In one sentence: Ukraine taught you..."

Less than a week after coming home from Ukraine, I was in the Keys, buggin'* with my grandfather.  He surprised me one evening with, "Tell me in one sentence: Ukraine taught you...?"  Two months, one sentence.  Right; I got this.
"Ukraine taught me to be vulnerable." 
Of course, Ukraine taught me a sky-full of other things as well, but at the root, being in Ukraine undressed my pride, and unveiled the beauty of God's glory in my weakness.  God told Paul that His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).  I never really understood what that meant until Ukraine.  The relationships I had in Ukraine taught me to be honest, showing my weaknesses.  It is then God is fully glorified; if I only reveal my strengths, then people give me the glory for being a "good person," but if I'm vulnerable, then people see that any good coming out of me is from God, and glory is given to the One who deserves it. 
Why do I struggle with showing my weaknesses?  John 5:44.  I seek the glory that comes from other people and not the glory that comes from the only God.  But I don't want to be like that anymore, and by God's rich grace, I won't be.  Because He is faithful.
He proved His faithfulness over, and over, and over, and I've never experienced it as tangibly as in Ukraine. 

"When I see that all sin is in me, all shame belongs to me;

     let me know that all good is in thee, all glory is thine.

Keep me from the error of thinking thou dost appear gloriously

     when some strange light fills my heart,

     as if that were the glorious activity of grace,

     but let me see that the truest revelation of thyself

     is when thou dost eclipse all my personal glory

     and all the honour, pleasure, and good of this world.

The Son breaks out in glory

     when he shows himself as one who outshines all creation,

     makes men poor in spirit,

     and helps them to find their good in him.

Grant that I may distrust myself, to see my all in thee."

 

~"Love to Jesus" The Valley of Vision 

Now that I'm back in the States, this is insanely difficult to live out.  I don't mean to blame the U.S.  It's just harder here for me to be vulnerable with people, and to put aside my pride.  Also, I had such a clear goal and purpose in Ukraine, but now, I'm having the hardest time being intentional in my "every-day" life.  Please pray for me.

* the process of finding and catching lobster.

Camp 3: English Camp

A major shift in gears!  We went from working with orphan children who don't speak the same language, to working with some of the most brilliant young adults in Ukraine.
After 4 long days of pre camp, the students arrived for a week of inductive Bible studies, outdoor challenges, specialized workshops, and fun activities.
I co-lead 4 girls through a Bible study each morning.  We studied a different passage of scripture each day, encouraging the students to look at the Word and discover its truth for themselves.  These were precious mornings as we shared our personal stories and our lives in light of the gospel.
I also taught a jazz dance workshop, which was loads of fun!  Each day we spent 2 hrs learning about the history of jazz and famous dancers, and then learned basic jazz steps which we combined into short routines.  I loved watching the students express themselves through movement, and getting to know them better through dance.

On a personal level, I struggled during this camp.  I felt literally burdened with longing for the new students I met and my friends from last year to have relationship with Jesus.  The previous orphan camps sobered me.  I didn't just want to add numbers to the "saved list."  I loved these people, and wanted the best for them, and the best is Jesus.  I was also tired, didn't want to fight through each day anymore, didn't want to open up and build new relationships with people anymore.  Hebrews 12 was well read in my Bible. 
This brought a lot of dirt in my life to the surface.  Daven reminded me of Psalm 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the workers labor in vain." and that worth is found in the Lord.  It's hard for me not to find my worth in other people, so this was the reminder I needed.  God worked out much in me through this camp, and set me free from things I didn't even know had bound me.
My favorite aspect of English camp was the deep conversations I had with many of the students.  Please pray God will work in their lives!

 

Found

When you find yourself
In some far off place
And it causes you to rethink some things
You start to sense that slowly
You're becoming someone else
And then you find yourself

When you make new friends in a brand new town
And you start to think about settlin' down
The things that would have been lost on you
Are now clear as a bell
And you find yourself
Yeah that's when you find yourself

Where you go through life
So sure of where you’re headin'
And you wind up lost and it's
The best thing that could have happened
‘Cause sometimes when you lose your way it's really just as well
Because you find yourself
Yeah that’s when you find yourself


-Find Yourself by Brad Paisley