Heading out once again

Hi friends - Tomorrow I leave for my 6th trip to Ukraine. Our team will be returning to camp to work with the same kids/teens we've been with since 2009. Keep up with our team at midtowninukraine.blogspot.com . Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. Much Love!

Another trip to Ukraine

I leave this afternoon for my 5th trip to Ukraine. This time around, I'm going by myself. No team, no program. Just a visit to some dear friends. I'll be there for around 10 days, only 2 of which I will spend in Kharkov with the kids from camp. Although I was initially really disappointed to only have 2 days with them, I'm thankful for the opportunities to meet with some great people in Kiev about future plans there. I hope to gain clarity and further direction on whether I am indeed supposed to move there at some point or what job/ministry I could be involved in as well.

I am excited to have the chance to spend time with and be hosted by several different friends. I'll be spending New Years with Lesya and Josh, then going to Kharkov for two days. Coming back to Kiev and then going to spend Orthodox Christmas with Julia S. and her family...and then finishing up my last couple days in Kiev at Andrey, Alla, and Josh's place before coming home. It is a very full week and I'm excited to experience it.

My prayer is all about expectations. This trip didn't turn out to be what I initially thought it would when I first made plans to come. I'm sad that no more American friends were able to make it this time and that we're not spending the whole week in Kharkov with the kids. But as the Lord really showed me last winter on a lonely overnight train, He's taking care of me in ways I could never predict and often don't understand. So please pray that I would actively lay down my expectations about how things "should" go and live in a spirit of thanks while I'm there. Thankful for each moment the Lord gives me with the kids and with friends.

Also, please pray for safe travels. I'll be flying ATL-Paris on the way there and JFK-Paris coming back. So I'm hoping for no snow storms! We'll also be taking an overnight train from Kiev to Kharkov and then back again so prayer for safety and sleep during that time will be great.

I will have access to e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter while I'm there which is different than my usual cut-off-from-civilization time at camp in Ukraine. So feel free to keep in touch! I hope to post pictures and updates throughout the trip.

E-mail: heatherharris15@gmail.com

Twitter: @hhthewhiz

Thank you for all the prayers and support!

Update on HH

We've been home about 10 weeks now. The entire trip this year was such a different experience. The months leading up to the trip through the transition period at home were filled with unexpected challenges that made my experience more challenging than any previous year. I've spent many hours in the past 10 weeks thinking and reflecting on our time in Ukraine and what my future there will look like. A lot about the trip held a sense of finality for me. So many of the kids I'm close to have graduated and moved on to adult life so camp will be very different in the future.

So what's next? Over the past two years, my life has changed dramatically because of my experiences in Ukraine. I keep going back, and the ache to stay for a longer period of time just gets stronger and stronger. I've entertained the crazy idea of moving to Ukraine in the past but have never seriously looked at my options. For whatever reason, this time is different. I have decided to begin exploring what it would take to move to Ukraine after I finish Grad school. There have been many conversations surrounding this topic, whether between me and my closest friends or me and God. And at this moment, I think I will move there. The next year I hope will be a time for truth to be revealed to me through solitude and silence...two things I'm praying for more of in the coming year.

I am thankful for all my friends, family, and supporters who have given me the opportunity to visit Ukraine four times. I am so grateful to have gotten to be a part of the amazing things I've been able to witness and experience. I look forward to seeing where my story heads after graduation, whether in Nashville or in Ukraine. Please keep me in your prayers that God would give me wisdom in decision making and eyes to see His desires for my life wherever that may take me.

We leave today!!

I will be brief...there's a lot going on in my head now. We leave today for our trip to Kharkov. It is simply amazing that God has blessed us with the opportunity to go back again and again. I'm so thankful that in a few days we will have made our way around the world to a camp in the middle of nowhere and will have the opportunity to be washed in God's Love for us through these kids. I am grateful for that.

Thank you for the support. The prayers. The money. I cannot do this on my own. I'm thankful that God has surrounded me with people that support and love me in going on these trips. I am grateful for that.

I love you all. You can keep up with the team several ways. We'll be updating when we can get internet access:

Midtown blog: http://midtowninukraine.blogspot.com

Radooga blog: http://www.radooga.com/blog/

Twitter: @midtownukraine

Raising Funds...

This is a link to our team's March Madness fundraiser:

http://campaigns.ratepoint.com/campaigns/71e8eb326c63fb4bdbf4a268efb72981

Password: radooga

Fill out a bracket and make a $10 donation...help us get back to the kiddos in Ukraine! :)

You're Beautiful

A God that is chasing after me is chasing after you and after the kids in Ukraine. He Loves us Extravagantly.

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You're beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It's all proclaiming who You are
You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You're beautiful, you're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity's shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we'll sing
You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, I see Your face
I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

Uncertain

Asking for money is a humbling experience. As someone who used to pride myself on "having it all together," the simple act of opening my hands and allowing others to give to me has been difficult. I downright almost refused to do it for my first trip in 2009 and have been more open to it since then. For my trip in January 2011, I was fully funded by the generous support of friends, family, and Midtowners.

This summer, I'm going back to Ukraine for two weeks. I am returning to the same camp with the same group of teenagers I've visited my last three trips. This year, I am co-leading the trip along with Russell Anderson. So once again, I ask humbly for support. I am resting in the fact that the Lord will provide what I need for this trip. As scary as that is, I want to believe it.

I will be honest, I had a bad feeling as I was putting support letters together this year. I wasn't happy with my letter. I was unsure. As I addressed envelopes, I had the sinking feeling that when these letters were pulled from people's mailboxes, the thought, "THIS AGAIN??" would arise. Thankfully, friends have encouraged and reminded me that they do care about the work going on in Ukraine. That they do appreciate hearing my story. I am just unsure about fundraising this time around and I'm not sure why.

So, please pray about donating towards my trip. I am thankful for each and every supporter I've had in the past and cannot imagine not being able to see these kids. And my supporters are what makes that possible. I truly appreciate it. You can do so by clicking on the "Donate" button or by mailing a check made out to "Missions Development International" and sending to me at: 5101 Regent Drive Nashville, TN 37220

Trying to rest in this tonight...

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." - 2 Tim. 1:7