World Race Final Debrief in Kyiv

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last blogged. I haven't been that busy...well, at times, yes I have been.

A good bit of the last two weeks was spent preparing for and assisting The World Race. F Squad was in town for Final Debrief. 11 Countries in 11 Months and it all ended here. I think it ended on a high note.

Some of the squad members arrived almost 2 weeks ago. I met Brian & Stacey Alonzo at the train station and helped them transfer to a bus so they could visit a team in Ivankiv. Brian and Stacey are launching the August 09 Squad in just a few months! I also helped them find a place to stay for a few days here in Kyiv (thank you Peipons!)

A few days later Ashley, Pamela, Tara and Jen arrived to make additional preparations. Thanks to my friend Allyson, they had a place to stay too.


















Finally, last Friday the teams arrived from North, South and West (they had been serving in Lugansk, Ivankiv and Moldova). Seth and Karen Barnes along with the Hindes and the Shearmans also arrived. It was a long day but everyone got picked up and transported to Dozvillya- the retreat center about 30 minutes south of Kyiv.

I was blessed to serve them a little bit, spend time with them, worship with them, get some "debrief" time myself with Seth and attend their final WR Banquet. They cleaned up nicely!

My friend Stephanie Fisk- who traveled with B Squad in 07 was the Squad Leader. What a star! She just completed her 2nd World Race in just over 2 years! Also helping with this Debrief was Allison Johnston-she was the C Squad leader that shadowed A & B back in 07 and she launched the G Squad currently in Romania.

So there ya go. A busy couple of weeks.

I have 7 more classes! Yahoo! Still don't know for sure what I'm doing this summer but the plans are, Lord willing, to split time between working with camps around Kyiv and down South in Lugansk.

Tomorrow night I'm hitting the overnight train to Odessa for a quick visit with some friends- will be back in Kyiv early Monday morning for my last full week of classes.