How the gold ring led me to a country of my dream

From the very beginning, I would love to say that our God is mighty, great and amazing! This blog post is dedicated to His wonderful acts and miracles! I`m super excited to praise Him for His goodness, overflowing love and to share about awesome things He is doing in BOM and my personal life as well! Through many problems and trials(personal and in ministry), God shows his power and love!You can see and feel His presence in small and large things, comfort and hide under the shadow of His loving wings. ♥ He is soooo very good!!!

In April this year, the BOM team sorted clothes for orphans sent by many people from several countries. A gold ring was accidentally found in box!!! Wow! We immediately wanted to find the owner of this ring and return, guessing that for sure this person is disappointed about the loss, and in perplexity where it can be. It was a woman's ring, there was no doubt. We shared on the facebook BOM page, social networks and private messages. It did not take long to wait. Literally in a couple of hours the owner of this ring was found! Wow!!! It turned out that our dear friend and generous sponsor from Switzerland! Amazing!We were all shocked by what happened and so thrilled that the owner of the ring was found! We started working on getting the ring back to the owner. All our efforts were unsuccessful. We waited and believed. We knew that God has a plan... But which one? What plan?

So, few months later I was invited to Switzerland! What??!!! Woooow! Oh, my! I thought that I would die from the happiness!!! Ha ha! Really. I thought that my heart would jump out with a thrill and excitement!!! ;))) Even now, when I am typing these lines, my heart is thrilled and my hands are shaking in awe of God. "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling" Psalm 2:11

A couple of days before the trip, God spoke to my heart through the Holy Scripture. 

"And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."

 (Isaiah 12:4-6)

It is very interesting HOW God can speak to your heart exactly same what you need, even you read daily?! It seems incredible! How God is doing it??? Exactly time, place, exactly what you need in right time?! I love it! I "knew" that God prepared something amazing and great! But what? I could only trust my Heavenly Father... 

So, adventures began!On the way to the airport the screen-wiper in the car in the middle of the road broke! There was a downpour! It was still very far from the airport... It was impossible to go! Call a taxi? Very expensive. In the village where we stopped there is no taxi, no shops, no gas stations. Absolutely nothing. We stood in silence for a while and did not know what to do... Repair it? But how if heavy rain? All the service centers were still closed as it was early morning. Thousands of thoughts were spinning in my head. What to do and how to be??? I did not want to miss the airplane!!! I started to get nervous. And at the same time, I thought, God, if you do not want me to fly to Switzerland. Since to miss the airplane, the probability was very high! OK. Help me to humble and accept your will... Inside was a spiritual struggle! I so badly wanted and dreamed and already was on my way to Switzerland! It seemed that here, and that's all the plans will collapse! But at the same time I understood that God's plan is perfect, even if we sometimes do not like it. :)

We prayed. And we started to drive... In the beginning very slowly and then faster. It was dangerous to go because of the heavy rain and nothing was visible! It was frightening that any car could jump out of nowhere and we could easily get into an accident! We were frightened and ride in silence. Brother Misha was really a hero!!! He said that few days his eyes ached because of the strain after this drive! It was crazy. Risking and hoping for the mercy of God, we arrived at the airport on time and at the last minute I managed on the flight!  Praise God!!! It is funny. When we just arrived the rain stopped!!! :)

                                   


Metro at the airport in Zurich with different sounds. Mooing cows, different melodies. It's so cute!

                                   

When we met with my sweet friend at the airport, we stood for a long time embracing each other, not believing that it has happened... So much emotions filled my heart, excitement, happiness, warmth and love...

Why did I go to Switzerland? And what did I do there?

• Return the gold ring to my precious friend. Give her hugs and thank her for the generosity and love to Ukrainian children ♥
• To meet wonderful sponsors and friends of the BOM. It was such a pleasure to meet them in person!
• I shared about Jesus Christ, about His wonderful miracles in the BOM and my personal life.
• Several years ago I prayed to go to Switzerland. Yes, it was my dream! It seemed crazy, right? I love mountains terribly! But over time, I began to think, how could this be? It is very expensive. I do not have that kind of money. I stopped praying after losing faith. Therefore, this remained just an unfulfilled dream.So, never lose your faith in something unrealistic for you! ;)
• My dear friends showed the beauty of their country. Alpine mountains, thousands of lakes, rivers, friendly people, lovely and cute houses, beautiful cities. All incredibly gorgeous!!! From what you see already captures the spirit!!!
• Several years I prayed for one more thing and God answered in an amazing way! This was the main reason of my trip. God Himself brought me there!!! It was His plan for my trip there! No my plan, not my dream, but God's plan! This is private :) The golden ring led me to the country of my dream and my Heavenly Father fulfilled his perfect plan. :)

What impressed me in this country?

• The fact that this country is accurate watches, delicious chocolate and cheese. This is without talking. :)
• Nature! Gorgeous nature is simply indescribable!!! AMAZING!!! Photos cannot convey all the beauty! This must be seen!
• I did not expect to see a lot of corn and sunflowers. Corn is used for feeding cows. It was interesting to see the same trees and flowers in the mountains as in Ukraine.
• A lot of tunnels! Just hundreds! 

• The Swiss are very protective of their nature! What is very great!
• Everywhere is quiet. Nowhere does music sound, not on the street, or in a cafe. Absolute silence. It's so wonderful! You enjoy the silence and it's so relaxing... Just a paradise on earth.
• The water in the lakes and rivers is so clean that you can drink it!There are a lot of different fountains in cities, where you can drink water or simply refresh yourself in the summer heat.

• Very clean :) Trash in Switzerland is recycled again into bottles and different things. Can you believe this backpack made from plastic bottles??? How cool! Wow!

• As in Ukraine, most people use public transport. But I did not expect to see so many. Trolleybuses, trams, buses and just hundreds of trains!All public transport goes with accuracy not to a minute, but to a second! 
• Bicycles are everywhere! Hundreds! No. Thousands of bicycles in the parking lots. I've never seen such a huuuuge number of bikes in my life! Very impressive!

• Everything is automated. You do not need to pay any grandmother for parking or buy a ticket in a trolley bus a woman gives you a ticket. For this, there are special machines. In some stores, you can pay for the goods without a cashier. Again, machines. And you do not need to stand in long lines for half an hour(as in Ukraine ;)) Very comfortably. 
• It is interesting there no the police on the street at all! Except, when it was Switzerland Day I could see few policemen. Very unusual.
• The Swiss love their country very much. Flags are absolutely everywhere you can think of! Even the bread is baked in the form of their flag. The Cross is symbol of the flag. I wonder, how the bread would look like with the Ukrainian trident? ;) Oh, do you know that the Swiss flag is square and not rectangular?

• And oh yeah! I really liked the Swiss food! The food is not spicy and not pungent. It seems kinda like in Ukraine. :) The national meal Käseschnitte. Bread, cheese, greens and a bacon. It's very delicious! Mmm!

• Rivella is a national drink made from whey. Really neat! This is lemonade with a little gas and different tastes. It is really good!

And... I would love to share with you some more pictures of this gorgeous country!

My first meal in Switzerland! The sausage from beef on the grill is so delicious! Mmm! So tasty! Probably the most delicious in my life! Ha ha!

Is it possible for a day to visit 3 countries? Yes! If you fly to Bazel, Switzerland! It was not yet 7 pm, how neat it was to visit 4 countries for a day!!! Sounds like something incredible and crazy!?

I was in Ukraine, Switzerland, Germany and France!Just for an one day!

There at the end of the bridge is Swiss. Photo taken from Germany. Yes, yes! You only need to cross the bridge and you will find yourself in another country! So great!

France!Never in my life I could imagine that this could happen to me!!! Wow!

                                

                             
This is how you feel, when you see the Alps for the first time in your life!!! ;) Height above the sea is more than 2,350 meters(7,710 ft).

Brienz Rothorn in center of Swiss

Very impressive!!!

Magnificent view from Mount Pilatus. "O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." (Psalms 104:24)  

It is gorgeous, beautiful and breathtaking!!! Our God is amazing Creator!!!
                           

 "For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name."(Amos 4:13) 

"Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!"(Nahum 1:15) :)))

Do you see little temple? Isn`t it neat idea to build it there?

The Chapel Bridge Kapellbruecke in Lucerne

                           

Basel

What God is doing, it is very beautiful, inspiring, touching and very emotional! I really loved this wonderful country and I am very grateful to my Saviour for the opportunity to visit there and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the wonderful friends He blessed us with!♥

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed. ;) May God bless you! :)

Journey and impressions about US(3)

Interestingly enough, I learned about the fact that I'm flying to Pennsylvania at the last minute! In a few hours when tickets had to be booked! Wow! And undoubtedly it was God's plan and God's providence!!! And about this little later... ;)

To read about my trip to U.S. part one Here. Part two is Here. And this is the third and last one. :)

God made the mountains amazingly beautiful. I just couldn`t not share this beauty with you!

 I was delighted enjoying the mountains when flying over the state of Utah, Salt Lake City!

Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden in Pennsylvania. Breathtaking and amazing place!

20 indoor gardens within a 4.5 acre (1.8 hectares) group of heated greenhouses. Garden has 4,600 different types of plants and trees, as well as fountains! Wow!

It is the most beautiful garden I ever seen!

I made so many photos that I thought that my camera would break! Ha ha!It is gorgeous!!!

Oh, I have been in Chick-Fil-A! Yay! I loved it! I`m not sure what I ate... I remember that it was chicken and I liked it very much. ;) It was yummy!

Wonderland with millions of Christmas lights...

We don't have much lights in Ukraine for holidays. I was anxious to see!

Beautiful place!

Christian Theatre "Sight&Sound" is stunning and inspirational!!! This is one of the remarkable place on the earth!

I was very impressed to see the show Samson! A wonderful play of actors, costumes, music, and even alive animals took part! It was awesome! Jesus says that we preach the God`s Word to unsaved souls. It is His commandment. What I really liked they presented the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the end of the show. So wonderful!

An Amish buggy

   Lancaster County had been on my list of places what I really wanted to see. It was really interesting to see the countryside as well as I traveled through. 

When I think of the Amish lifestyle I’m reminded my homeland country, Ukraine :)  

These days I already began to miss my home... Everything was absolutely beautiful and perfect!!! My sweet friends treated me like a princess in every state. ♥ I felt like in the earthly Heavens. :) But I missed my little family, my dear friends and my beloved church in Ukraine. I felt a little tired...

Interestingly, to see Amish countryside… plain clothed people riding horse and buggy, farmers toiling on the land, children in home stitched clothing playing simple front yard games. 

  People live very simply in Ukrainian countryside as well. Women wash clothes with their hands and hang it on a rope, children play in simple games in the street, men and women work very hard on the ground with their hands. Some still use bogie and ride horses.

If you are interested in knowing more about life in Ukraine and the culture of people. Here you can watch the life of an American guy, who lived 6 weeks in a Ukrainian village. :)

And finally I came to the most interesting part.

Some people play a huge role in our lives and are heroes and a great example. Right? I believe that there are people in your life who inspire you, light you up for something new and beautiful. 

Susanna is an wonderful example for me personally... By her openness, immense love for Christ and with a great and dedicated heart to children with special needs, she is a modern hero for me. I was inspired by her blog posts, humbled the heart and drawn ever closer to Jesus Christ. I saw how God lives in her house, in her actions, in her words, in her family through blog posts. God's people draw you closer to Jesus Christ and do not push away from Him. Isn't it? I started dreaming to meet her... It seemed like an impossible dream. How it can be? She lives far far way in another country... But very deep in my heart, I cherished this dream, hoping that someday sometime in the future, God will make it possible. Who knows? You never know what God has in store for you :)

As I said above, at the last minute, few hours before the tickets were booked, I was invited by another wonderful family and our dear friends in Pennsylvania! My heart was so excited and thrilled with joy! It seemed to me that it would jump out of happiness! I was so excited to see our old precious friends and meet new once! At that moment God began to do something more and great for BOM than I could have thought...

The Lord has repeatedly used this wonderful woman for the BOM. In the correspondence we "knew" each other. When I wrote Susanna that I was going to be in America soon, in what dates and where. It turned out that she lives in Pennsylvania very close to the city where I was going to spend time with a beautiful family! That becomes very interesting... But that's not all! This woman of faith and the family where I was going to be, they know each other! How amazing! Wow! Incredible blessing! 

  My desire and dream became a real! I lived so close to this beautiful woman and her lovely family! We had a wonderful time together. At the beginning of this year, we lost the way where sponsors could send funds to the ministry. It was God's plan because He was preparing something better and more special. Thanks to this meeting very soon we began to work together with the amazing organization Ting Ministries. We feel very blessed to partnering with them! ♥

  My trip was surprisingly successful in many aspects and ways, because in everything was God and it was His will. :) My gratitude will not end to everyone, everyone who took part and blessed in every moment!!! ♥ God's actions in life helps to grow into a deeper relationship with Him, seeing many beauties, seeing His almighty hand, His guidance and His miracles which are so numerous.

  Thank you so much for your spent time to read and reflect. His overflowing love blessed my heart and drew closer to Him. I very hope it brought you joy, positive thoughts and blessed your heart! I hope it also encouraged you and helped you to see the beauty of God in His acts and nature to know His deeper and praise Him. My love to you! ♥

  You can also sign up for notifications when I make a new post and follow the journey on BOM facebook using the buttons on the right side of the blog. Thank you! ;) May God bless you!

Journey and impressions about US(2)

Continuation of my journey to the USA...

Oh, how I was surprised to see the Ukrainian-Russian store in Washington! I immediately recognized the faces of Ukrainians or Russians. Store, food, nature, ukraine or russian-speaking people. For a moment, I felt like at home. ;)

Silver Falls State Park in Oregon is a waterfall lovers paradise!!!

The waterfalls are stunning!

It's hard to explain... But it's such an incredible and amazing feeling, when you walk under the waterfall! Terrific! I felt so very happy to experience this!

They are huge!

It was so fun at Olympic Game Farm!

Not only is there a pretty incredible variety of animals(buffalo, deer, elk, bears, yak, llamas and many more) in this little park, you can feed them while driving your car through it! I dreamed to see a deer near to me. This time I saw their incredible variety! Spotted Fallow Deer, Sika Deer, European Fallow Deer and others. Super excited! They are so beautiful! 

A lot of these animals are rescued from bad situations which makes me extra happy to see them livinging at this beautiful place. 

                              

Buffalo got his head straight into the car!!!

Oh, Hoh Rain Forest...I could not believe my eyes when I saw this beauty! Just unbelieveble! It always rains.

This huge moss on the trees creates an impressive beauty and it seems that you are in a fairy tale.

 I was amazed by the silence of this forest. It was terribly quiet just heard as the drops fell down.

This is amazing place! It has blown my mind! God created this forest sooo very beautiful!

Kalaloch Beach. I also had the opportunity to see the ocean again! Awesome!!! I was super excited! It is very different from sunny California beaches. :)

It was a storm and a strong wind was blowing. It was quite cold. But this is a fascinating and breathtaking place...

It was funny when I watched the huge waves...

Suddenly, in a moment I was in the "middle" of the ocean! Wow! ;) 

The tide began. I thought I would be wet till the knee. Ha ha!

Ruby Beach...In itself the awesomeness of nature leads the souls away from sin and worldly attractions, and toward purity, peace and God.

It helps to grow into a deeper relationship with God by seeing many of the beauty that are so plentiful in God's creation.

It was so interesting to visit the store Dollar Tree. I was surprised that you can buy so many different things for a dollar! Wow! It really helped us with Baby Shaver what we had recently! It was fun sent supplies to my homeland. So I already have the experience of sending a boxes from the US to Ukraine!Thanks to our generous and dear friend!

Never in my life thought that I could be in Seattle!!! Wooow!It was awesome ride by ferry! It was an amazing feeling, a delight and an unforgettable experience!!!

Diver! Diver! I do not believe my eyes! I was so thrilled like a child!!! I guess I'm the only one adult, who made a photo with him. Ha ha! It's hard to forget the crazy Ukrainian girl. Later he met me at  Aquarium and said that it was fun to have a picture with me. And of course, took a photo of him again but without his diver suit. So neat!

 Aquarium in Seattle is amazing and so beautiful place!It's so cool not only to see many, many different fish, a huge octopus, interesting jellyfish, but also to touch the starfish! Yay!

It turns out that the seals teeth need to clean also! :))) The show was interesting.

The most I loved to play with a seal!!! I was delighted and super excited like a child! Look at him! Isn't it cute???

Watch a short video :)))

Dozens of seagulls overpowered me, when I fed them. It was crazy but fun!

Famous tourist Public Market Center was a lot like Ukrainian bazar :) But I never seen so many seafood and so big lobsters.

Oh yes! I could ride a monorail! It is so amusing!

The view from Space Needle is breathtaking!Wow!

                             

When you look at the huge city and understand how small we are as ants before the universe. How insignificant we are in the eyes of almighty God... And how He is so good and merciful to us all sinners...

I had a blast and amazing time!I'm so grateful God greatly blessed me with this incredible time to see so many, many beauty and praise Him for His goodness and grace!

Thank you for your time and patience while reading this long post. :) I wanted so much to share the huge blessings and great joy that filled my heart! I hope this brought you joy as well!

Then I flew to Pennsylvania. To be continued... Next blog post will be much shorter ;)