January - June Newsletters

Hi friends. I've realized that I have neglected to post any of our updates this year. Here are links to access all of our newsletters on the internet. The quality is decreased significantly when they are uploaded, so if you'd like a better quality publication sent to your e-mail directly, let me know at esther.harsh@yahoo.com

January - http://tinyurl.com/cf44a98
April - http://tinyurl.com/7xv9opu
June - http://tinyurl.com/bmnhlyv

November Newsletter

We hope all of you had a very blessed Thanksgiving. Here was our most recent newsletter sent out at the end of November.

Copy and paste the following link in your browser: http://tinyurl.com/cchaupm
The quality decreases immensely when uploaded to the internet, so if you'd like an original copy in pdf format sent directly to you, please let us know.

September Update

Dear friends and family,

Thank you so much for the responses we received from our last update. We are feeling encouraged and ready to tackle the next step in our journey while here. 

It's mentioned in the newsletter, but in case you don't get to it right away, we are still in need of financial donations, especially monthly donors. All information on how to support us financially is included.

For those of you who are "photo people," let us know if you'd like more photos of a certain event. We can only include so many in the update.

Until next month,

Esther and Jason

Copy and past the link into your browser to see what we were up to in August and September. It's been busy! Enjoy...
http://tinyurl.com/69brh6r


*The quality is bad when uploaded to this site, so if you'd like a better version, e-mail me at esther.harsh@yahoo.com to be added to the e-mail list, and our newsletter will arrive in your inbox each month.*

May Update

Dear friends and family,

Life in Ukraine has been going by quickly. We recently had a wonderful time hosting the team from Malone University. Attached, you will find our May Update full of details of our lives from the last month. Feel free to e-mail us if you'd like to be on our list to receive our newsletter by e-mail. We are still "fine tuning" the format of our newsletter, so thank you for being patient with us.

As always, thank you so much for your support, prayers, encouragement. We are very blessed to have so many good people in our lives.

In Him,

Jason and Esther

Copy the link below and paste it into your browser to see our latest update!
http://tinyurl.com/3w4w6pg

April Update

Check out our newest newsletter from April by copying and pasting the following link in your address bar:
http://tinyurl.com/67qyyfe


They will now all be in this format. If you'd like to receive them via e-mail as a pdf file, please let us know!

March Update (Forgot to post at the beginning of the month)

Dear friends and family,

After arriving about a month ago, we wanted to touch base with all of you who we are missing already and thinking of you of often. We are getting settled more and more each day in our home and work here in Simferopol. Our first month being here together has gone by quickly, and we already are seeing how God is using us to minister together. Our first weekend here was the annual conference for the teenagers in our program, Exodus 50. For those not familiar, Exodus 50 focuses on teens/young adults who have graduated out of orphanages and are now "adult orphans." It operates similarly to a church youth group, and we work with these teens trying to instill in them the importance of their faith, work, education, etc. The theme of the conference was "Relationships," which will continue to be a focus throughout the year. Saturday and Sunday were filled with different speakers, worship, small group time, prayer, and fellowship. We mostly participated and tried to stay awake as we were still fighting jet leg pretty badly. It was a success, and we believe it was a good "kick-off" to the year. This Sunday, we will be sharing at Club (our weekly meeting with the teens) about our own relationship and how God worked in our lives to bring us together.

Orphanage visits have also become a normal part of our routine, and our weekly schedule has been determined for now. Honestly, it hasn't changed from since Esther was here before, so it has made transitioning back much easier. One of the orphanages that we visit frequently will be closing before the 1st of April. The OH staff including Esther has been involved with this orphanage since 2003 and before, and this particular orphanages is a place for kids with disabilities. The government, however, has decided to close the doors and ship our kids off to different places around the country. Some will go to other orphanages, and some will go to what are called "invalid houses." As many of you know, those with disabilities have a difficult time with transition, and it worries us as their futures are so uncertain. The kids are not aware, in detail, as to what is going on, so it will make their transition even more difficult. This also will change our ministry there. We are not sure if we will be spending more time traveling to visit these same kids who will be scattered or if our vision for ministry will change, and our focus will be on a different orphanage or a different group of kids. 

Exodus 50:

Every Tuesday evening after staff meeting, we host English Club at our apartment for about 12 of our teens from Exodus 50. We, including Tara (another American young woman on our staff - for those of you who don't know), teach an English lesson with activities. This is a new part of the ministry though Tara and Esther felt it necessary for a long time. We decided to act, and it has been well received. It is difficult at times as we have students who have a large English vocabulary and can already speak English for at least basic conversation, but we also have some who are having a hard time remembering the English alphabet. We've had three weeks of English Club so far, and we are hoping it continues to be a weekly activity our teens want to be involved with. English can be a huge advantage for them if they can be diligent in working hard and stay motivated to learn. Game Night continues every Thursday with about 15 of our teens from Exodus 50. Right now, Game Night is at Tara's place. We feed them and spend time hanging out and playing games for about 4 hours each Thursday evening.

Jason has joined a discipleship group for our teen guys. There are about six guys who show up from Exodus 50 along with Jason, Vova, and Dima. Dima is our Ukraine-side boss for Orphan's Hope, and Vova is also on our staff here and does other forms of leadership. During this time, the guys continue to talk about relationships and fears after making and sharing a meal together. The time always ends in prayer together. Jason is excited about this time because it has given him an opportunity to build relationships with the guys, and he is able to get to know more about them and their personal lives. Because Jason is trying to get to know them more on a personal level in order to invest in them, this provides an opportunity for him to do so as it usually lasts about 3 hours.

Since arriving, we have been to several parties and have been to different missionary functions where we have been able to catch up with friends. It feels good as we continue to get more settled to "our home" here as well as our community of friends and with our Orphan's Hope staff.

Below, you will find every possible to keep in touch with us:

Mailing Address

This is our pastor's address. Be sure to put our names on the back of the envelope or on the side of the package.
Vadim Provozyuk
per. Zuiski 52
Simferopol, Crimea

Ukraine 95022

Email
Personal:

Esther - esther.harsh@yahoo.com

Jason - jmharsh17@yahoo.com
Orphan's Hope: JasonandEsther@orphanshope.org

Cell Phone
Esther - 011.380.955.701.347

Jason - 011.380.506.516.683
(You can purchase an international calling card.)

Skype 

Esther: esther.snyder
Jason: jason.harsh

For those of you who've never heard of it, Skype is a FREE computer-to-computer calling service where we'd not only be able to talk, but we'd also be able to see one another if you have a webcam! Download the program for free atwww.skype.com. They also have incredibly low rates to call from your computer to landlines and cell phones!

Just to note, we're 7 hours ahead of those of you in the Eastern time zone in the States.

Send Texts to us for free via the internet
1. Go to http://www.mts.com.ua/eng/sendsms.php
2. Click "send SMS"

3. In the first drop down menu, select +38 095 (Esther) or +38 050 (Jason)
4. In the blank box beside it, fill in the following: 5701347 (Esther) or 6516683 (Jason)
5. Type your message in the big white box
6. Enter the security code

7. Click "send SMS" on the right
8. There isn't a lot of room, so send a few if you need to

Please pray for:

-our time at Club tomorrow (Sunday) as we talk to our teens about our relationship together and our relationships with God and how those worked together to bring us together. In general, pray that we would be a good example for young couples in our Exodus 50

-the kids in the orphanage, Gvordeeskya, who will be moving to other places soon. Pray for their transitions and continual protection.

-our focus for ministry especially as things change with the orphanage

-Language Learning. We both have started Russian lessons. Esther is back to studying with her teacher from before and sharing lessons with Tara, and Jason has separate lessons with his own tutor. Pray that we can continue to learn more (no matter what level we're on) and that we would be able to remember vocabulary and understand the complexity of this rich language.

-our Exodus 50 group and all of the activities they can be involved in. Pray that our staff would know the best way to minister to them.

-our marriage. Please pray that we would continue to grow closer together as we adjust to our new life in Ukraine as a newly married couple.

Thank you for your prayers, your messages, your support and encouragement. We are so thankful for all for all of you behind us! We will get another update out next month. Until then, be blessed!

In Him,

Jason and Esther

We've Arrived!

Dear family and friends,

We're here safe and sound! Everything was uneventful with traveling, which makes it fine with us. After our flights and train ride, we arrived in Simferopol yesterday morning with a warm welcome by some friends at the train station. 

We'll send more information out sometime in the next few weeks. We are definitely going to be adjusting to time here as jet lag is already against us. Last night, it was around 5 AM before we were able to actually fall asleep, and the time we slept in until is embarrassing to even write. 

I wrote this in the last e-mail sent out, but for future mailings, please add the following e-mail address to your contact list as we will be sending our updates from there: JasonandEsther@orphanshope.org.

Thanks again for all of your prayers over our traveling and the ministry we are about to dive into. We will already be attending our annual conference for our teens, the Exodus 50 group, this weekend. Jason and I are not expected to present anything, but it will still be busy as we will be tired, and the weekend will be full of planned events. The theme this year is "Relationships." Pray for our Orphan's Hope staff as they continue to prepare and will present tomorrow and Sunday. Pray that our teens would have open hears and minds and that God would speak through the other staff members.

Again, thanks so much for your prayers.

In Him,

Esther and Jason

Date of Departure: February 1st

Hi friends and family!

Jason and I have our tickets, visas in passports, and are ready to head off to Ukraine - together! We took a few week trip there in November to secure an apartment, check on the ministry and meet with staff and kids, as well as get our documents needed to obtain our visas. The trip was a success. We got our passports back form the Ukrainian Embassy with our visas, so we will be able to stay in Ukraine for one year before we have to reapply for another visa. We've shipped boxes of our "stuff" over and are looking forward to opening them once we get there. Some of them have wedding gifts in them that we haven't opened yet!

We should be "home" on February 3rd after we fly in and take the necessary 14 hour train ride from Kiev to Simferopol. We'll be sure to keep everyone updated. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support!

Welcome to the Harsh - Ukraine Blog!

Hi to all of our friends, family, and random readers. This will be the place for you to follow our ministry with Orphan's Hope in Simferopol, Ukraine. We will be posting our monthly updates as well as photos here. For the moment, we are support raising, speaking at churches, and getting used to being newly married. :) Our plan is to head back to Ukraine in January for a three year stint.
We are still scheduling speaking arrangements, so if you know of a church, youth group, or Sunday school class, etc, that would like to hear about what God is doing in the lives of orphans in Ukraine, please let us know. We would be glad to share our vision and plans for ministry with you.