"Let the little Children Come to Me, and do not forbid them"

   

   The last two weeks have been packed with ministry opportunities! To be more specific, we've had lots of open doors to serve in childrens ministries. We just finished our second week of Vacation Bible School (VBS) and it was amazing! Everything went well and God is still working through it. 

   Not only was VBS a great time to serve the kids, it was also a great time to serve each other. We grew together as a body, as friends, and as a family. We drew on each other's strengths and weaknesses. At times we had to make last minute changes, but even then everyone stayed together as a group, in unity, and worked together to solve the problems. 

   Something that I really enjoyed seeing was all of the youth that were there serving. Almost our entire youth group participated in VBS and I believe it taught them all some important life lessons. For example, I taught one of the kids in our youth group how to clean the toilets. I believe that cleaning toilets can be a very humbling thing and something that we can actually learn a lot from. This young man had a great heart about it and cleaned the toilet until it shined and I was very proud of him, as he didn't complain about it at all.

   Everyone else did a great job as well! It was really neat to see the youth there because they were amazing examples for the children. The first week of VBS was when the little kids came. But week two of VBS was for the older kids, some of them even older then the youth which had volunteered to help. Some of the youth kids were really nervous about that and I could tell that in the beginning they felt uncomfortable. But they just stepped up to the plate and I was so proud to see them serving. They shared their testimonies, but not just by what they said; they shared their testimonies by their actions, and the children saw that.

   Something important about serving in ministries like vacation Bible school is the people that we serve! We aren't here for ourselves, we are here for them. It is important to try to develop relationships with the kids, so that when VBS ends they will want to go to church and continue to develop the relationships they have. So yes, we share the Gospel! Yes, we read the Bible with the kids and have them memorize verses.

   But of course we recognize that these are children and they want to have fun and get rid of energy! So we tried to do fun things with the children that would hold their attention and that they would enjoy. We played balloon volleyball, we taught them how to swing dance and how to line dance, and we entertained them with skits. 

   We wanted them to have such a great time so that when VBS ended they would come back. And guess what?? THEY DID! We have youth group on Friday nights and almost all of the older children from VBS came, which doubled the size of our youth group! It was so great to see them all there, to see our youth growing, and to have another opportunity to invest in the lives of these children! God is so good!

   So please, pray! Pray for these young children which are in a phase of life where they are becoming young men and women. Please pray for me as I try to be a godly influence in their lives and try to speak to their hearts. This is such an exciting time of change and growth for these kids and I pray for them constantly, that they would grow in the love of the Father!

   The last thing that I have to announce today is this...I got accepted to Calvary Chapel Bible College in Vajta! My fall semester starts this Sunday, September 1st. I will study my first semester via correspondence and then I will move to Vajta, Hungary after Christmas break. So thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray and support me in whatever way you are called to. I am blessed by you all!

God bless you all,

~Alex R. Pratt

Nora Eve Baldonado!

   Wow! What a season of life! I just got back from Finland, where I spent two weeks with my new nephew, and now my sister just gave birth to her first baby! Nora Eve Baldonado is the new addition to the Baldonado family! She is a gift from God to my sister Nicole and her husband, Josh. She was born on August 23thrd, at 6:55 AM and she is 7 pounds, and 19 1/2 inches! 

   As I mentioned before, this was my sister's first time having a baby, so it was obviously a big deal. My mother really wanted to be there for her during labor, so we were praying that she would be able to fly to America fast enough. She flew over and arrived safely, and just on time. The baby had waited for Grandma to come, and now that Grandma arrived the baby was ready to be free.

   Everything was fine, the baby was born healthy and there weren't any complications. God answered our prayers and we are so thankful for this beautiful little girl! We are praying even now that little Nora would grow strong and healthy, that she would sleep well in the nights so that her parents can sleep too, and that she will grow to love Jesus as her personal Savior!

 Earlier I talked about how after holding my nephew, Timothy David, it made me think about how God is our loving Father and how He holds us and never let's us go. Today I want to talk more about that. When I look at these pictures I think of the wonderful parents that these two will be! I think of the love that they will pour into this baby girl and how truly blessed she will be! I think about how God chose Nicole and Josh to take care of this little girl, and that means that God is watching after her, because she has been born into a loving family that will take care of her and her needs!

   God does this in all of our lives. Just like He did with baby Moses, who just happened to drift down the river and ended up becoming a prince of Egypt. God has a plan for each and every one of us. So no matter where you are today, if you are feeling like you are alone or that God doesn't see you, remember that He put you on the earth and that He is always looking after you. God loves everyone and He places everyone exactly where they need to be in life so that they can grow and flourish in life!

   I can't wait to see all the wonderful ways that God is going to bless little Nora, and all the ways she will bless the world! The gift of life is an absolute miracle and God allows us to be a part of it! What a blessing!

   I am so happy to see my sister blessed this way. She is my sister, so of course I have seen her in her happy and sad phases of life. I've seen her blessed and I've seen her struggle. But it is so amazing to see all of her struggles rewarded like this! Now she can look back and see all that she's been through in life; and then she can look into her daughter's eyes and she knows that it was all worth it!

   And God will bless you too! God says in His Word that, "Eye has not see, nor has ear heard. Nor have even entered into the hearts of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him." So be encouraged today that God is a good parent, and that He is looking out for you, and that He is going to bless you beyond belief!

God bless you all,

~Alex R. Pratt

There's No Place Like Home

   

   Well, we made it! After three days of being on the road, taking another boat ride, and staying in several hostels, we made it home at last! When we got home there was a merry welcome sign waiting for us and chocolate in the kitchen. So, we were very blessed to be back!

   But we didn't even get home before we jumped right back into ministry here! The day we got in, before I even got home, I went to our church for a worship practice for an evangelism that we had on Saturday. The evangelism Saturday was amazing and many people were blessed!

   Since we've been home the spiritual warfare has been very evident. Saturday at the evangelism, as we started preparing to begin our program something went wrong...our sound system died! We had three guitars, an electric drum set, a keyboard, and lots of microphones set up and ready to go. We are unsure how permanent the damage is to our sound board, but we are praying that something small malfunctioned and that it will be easy to fix.

   But did that stop us? Absolutely not! We got the guitars out, got ready to sing louder, and I even played on a Tupperware box to substitute for a drum. The day was blessed and the Gospel went out! Many children came and heard the good news and we were all very blessed by their presence.

   So we packed up, unloaded everything at the church, and that was that. Even though things hadn't gone as planned, everyone felt like the day had been a huge success! We enjoyed some watermelon together and then everyone went home.

   But was that the end of the day? Not yet it wasn't! Since none of us had eaten since breakfast we were all very hungry and decided to go to McDonald's for a late dinner. So my dad parked in front of McDonald's and the rest of us went in to grab the food. We came back, got in the car, and started handing out the food. 

   Then, all of a sudden...BAM! We felt the car jerk a little bit, and looked back to see that someone had backed into us with his car! We got out and looked at the damage; praise the Lord, it was just a scratch. Then the driver of the car that had just hit us got out and started yelling at us.

   It was another moment of spiritual warfare when we had to decide, "Are we going to give in to the temptation to respond in the flesh?" So we waited for the police, some friends came out and met us, and then we just started talked and laughing together. We showed them that when they were getting angry with us, even after we were very tired from a long day of serving, that we had something that they didn't have; we showed them Jesus. We stood there for two hours talking with them, until they eventually cooled down a little bit and we even invited them to church.

   We are still in the process of figuring out where to go from here, tomorrow we will have another meeting to see what the insurance companies will do. So please, keep these meetings in prayer: pray that they would see Jesus in our lives, that they wouldn't try to trick us in any way, and that there will be a peaceful resolution.

   This week we have a Vacation Bible School as well. It is geared towards younger children and it has a "Gold Rush" theme! We will be doing this for two weeks and we would appreciate any prayers for this as well, because today we only had six children and we certainly are hoping for more.

   The message of this blog post is this...the Word went out! People saw Jesus! Children heard about their loving savior! Angry men were calmed, just like it says in the Bible, "A gentle answer turns away wrath." There are six more children in this world that have heard about Jesus than there were yesterday! Praise God!

   So, sometimes we need to improvise. Sometimes we need to just roll with the punches. But in our everyday we live to show Jesus to the world by how we live our lives! My church in America has a sign right above the exit doors that says, "You are now entering the missions field!" So, as soon as you leave today to go to the store or to work or something, you are showing Jesus. Let's roll with the punches, overcome the spiritual warfare, and share God's love today!

God bless you all,

~Alex R. Pratt

The FINNISH of Our Time Here

   

   Well, our time here has been awesome! We've spent close to two weeks with our family here in Finland, and it has been a blast. I can't believe it has taken me five years to get back out here! As I mentioned in a previous blog, the first time that I came to Finland was in 2008, when my first niece, Emily, was born. I love the time with my family and I would love to learn more about this country.

   The kids are growing up so fast! It seems like it was just yesterday when Emily was hardly talking; but now, when we go outside, Emily is always running up ahead. She is getting ready to learn how to ride with two wheels on her bicycle soon, and then Isabella will start riding a bike too!
   So, just as time goes by so quickly and the children grow up, so has our time with the family also gone very quickly and we are preparing to depart. On one hand, of course, this makes me sad. Emily was asking today why we had to go back to Ukraine; asking why we had to work. When children ask those questions we always want to say, "Okay, I'll just stay then!"

   On the other hand though, I miss home. I miss my pillow, I miss playing on my drums, and I miss teaching at our youth group. As the Bible says in Ecclesiastes, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." So, I have enjoyed this season of rest, but I also look forward to going home.

   When I get home I will be jumping right back into ministry. Lord willing, we will be back in L'viv on Friday night. Then, Saturday we have an evangelism planned, so I'll be going there and helping out in whatever ways that I can. Sunday morning is our church service, and then after that I'm going to be in a music video with my brother, Joshua Pratt. You can check out our music page by clicking here.

   Monday we'll be spending time with my mom because she is leaving for America that night. My oldest sister, Nicole, is pregnant with her first child and she is expecting the child within the next few weeks. So my mom will go there for two months to help Nicole however she can and to be there for support.

   After Monday I will be teaching at our VBS for two weeks. Our VBS will have a Gold Rush theme and we hope the children will enjoy it very much. We will play games, teach English, teach the Bible, and do fun crafts with the kids. We aren't sure how many children we will have, but we are praying for about sixty children; and if the Lord brings more, praise God!

   So, we have plenty to do when we get home, and now we are preparing for the long car ride home, and enjoying all the time that we have left with the family. The more I hold little Timothy, the more I look forward to the years, a long time down the road, when I will be a daddy! I just love looking into his beautiful, blue eyes, and feeling his tiny heartbeat!

   So, the next time you hear from me I will writing from Ukraine, unless the Lord comes back before then. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

God bless you all,

~Alex R. Pratt

Our Daddy!

   Well everyone, I'll be honest; when I sat down today to start blogging, I really wasn't sure what I'd write. It's been an awesome time with the family here in Finland, and it is always crazy with all of the children here. But the time here has really been a blessing. Timothy David Pratt, my new nephew, inspired me today, and I want to write about that.

   Timothy is an amazing little baby, healthy and strong. He is absolutely adorable, and everyone is quick to volunteer to hold him. And of course, like all babies, he has moments when he is happy, and he has moments when he is sad. Today I was holding him during one of his sad moments. He was crying and crying; his poor little face turned so red! The poor guy was making me feel so bad for him, listening to his little baby cries.

   Several people offered to take a turn holding him, offered to help calm him down. However, I wasn't ready to give him up yet. I love being an uncle, and so I wanted to try my best to calm him down. It took patience and some time, but eventually he calmed down. He got so quiet; he even almost fell asleep a few times! Then he stirred, he cried for another minute or so, and then after changing position, he quieted down again. It is a recurring pattern that you can see with any baby.

   I looked into his little eyes as they gently started closing. Little does this little guy know that he is living an amazing life right now. Everyone holds him, takes care of him, feeds him, and loves him. Right now he is safe and he's surrounded by love. 

   This is us! We are being held by a God that loves us, that is much bigger than we are and He won't drop us. He knows what we need, even though sometimes we feel like He doesn't. We cry and cry, and then God assures us that everything is okay and that He is in control. And then before too long, we start crying again, and God again is there to rescue us. God doesn't give up on us; He is the perfect parent, as He shows His patience with us every day. God is our daddy, who loves to make us smile.

   So Timothy brought tears to my eyes today, looking at his little face, so young and so precious. Timothy reminded me today that even though I worry often about my future, or about what I have to do each week, God is in control and He won't give me anything I can't handle! God is our daddy, and He carries us everyday! You see, that is the thing...at the end of the day, I give Timothy back to his Mommy and Daddy, and I get to go home. But God holds us 24/7! He will never leave us or forsake us!

God bless you all,
~Alex R. Pratt

Timothy David Pratt!

   Timothy David Pratt is the newest member of the family, my very first nephew. Three weeks ago today, this little guy became a part of this world, and he's already making it a brighter place! He is a blessed child who has been born into a loving family that takes great care of him. My older brother, Aaron, is the father with his loving wife, Sara, as the mother.

   My brother met Sara while they were attending Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe. Sara is from Finland, and so when they got married they moved to Finland where my brother leads worship for a Calvary Chapel in Turku, Finland. They now have three children: their two daughters, Emily and Isabella, and now their first son, Timothy!

   So, we set out on our little adventure to Finland to visit Timothy. We packed up the car and left Ukraine on Friday, at four o'clock in the morning! From there we set out to Poland, the first country that we drove through. After about three hours at the border, we were into Poland and on our way into Lithuania.

 

   Our trip through Poland was relatively uneventful, with one exception...the car died. While we were parked next to McDonald's, the car battery died and it wouldn't start up again. We gave it a little bit of time, and then tried to start it again, with no success; the battery was really dead. Eventually, we found the owner of the car next to us and we hooked up some jumper cables and then we were back in business.

   We continued along with no more difficulties as we arrived in Lithuania. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We even stopped at a gas station to have a small family picnic. After our picnic we packed up, took some pictures of the bison, and we moved on to the hostel where we stayed that night.

  

    Our night in Lithuania was amazing! We parked and unloaded our baggage at the hostel where we were staying, and then we went out for a nice evening walk through the center. We just walked around, observed the people, and kept our eyes open for neat cafes, or anything unique that we don't have at home. The weather made it very enjoyable as there was just a soft breeze blowing through as we walked around the street.




   Along the street were many interesting monuments, such as the large chair that I'm sitting on here. There were many statues and even an old-fashioned looking movie theater. There was also a very beautiful church which is in the picture above. We enjoy any opportunity we have to get out of the car and just walk around, take pictures in front of fountains, or do anything to stretch our legs after the long car ride.

   We got up in the morning, got some breakfast, and then we took off. However, we did have a slight complication leaving Lithuania...our GPS broke. So before we could leave, we had to find a mall, go to the electronics store,and buy a new GPS system.

   We got the GPS installed and then we were back on track. Another lovely day with great weather, not a cloud in the sky. We drove through Lithuania and arrived in Latvia. You know you've had too much experience with this kind of lifestyle when someone has to ask, "What country are we in again?"

   While we were going through Latvia we ended up driving along the sea and decided to stop there and have another little picnic close to the water. The sound of the waves along the beach was an amazing sound, very refreshing and peaceful. Yet again we took some last minute pictures, packed up the van, and drove on to Estonia.

   Estonia! Traveling through this country was definitely an experience. We arrived at the hostel that we had reserved and it wasn't exactly what we had been expecting. The room was very small; in fact there was hardly any room to fit all of us and our luggage. However, the size was not the only problem that we observed in our room. Some of the lights didn't work, part of the ceiling in the bathroom was falling apart, and last, but definitely not least, someone had left a pair of underwear on the heater next to one of the beds! So, it was definitely an experience. But we have stayed in worse, so we stayed there as was planned.

   

    Before we went to bed that night we went out into center to see the city. The city was definitely a fabulous sight; the architecture was stunning. Many of the buildings looked so medieval that I constantly felt like we were in a Robin Hood movie or something. So, the city was beautiful and it seemed like there were many nice restaurants for people to chose from. Estonia had many people out and about that evening.





 We all agreed that we hope to visit the city again on our way home, during the daytime, when most likely there would be less people on the streets partying. While we were walking around the city the emotions I felt were bittersweet; on one hand, the city was amazing and I wanted to see everything. But on the other hand, there were many people out who were drinking and some of them were even very loud, making it harder to completely relax, as it is important to be aware of everything that is going on in those situations.


 
   We all had a great time and I look forward to going back through Estonia, and all of the other countries that we traveled through.

  So, Sunday morning arrived, we grabbed our luggage and left our hostel first thing in the morning. We then boarded a large ferry and began our last leg of the journey! Glad to be almost finished traveling, we relaxed on the short ride over on the ferry. Before we knew it, we looked up and we were pulling into the harbor. We had arrived in Helsinki, Finland; all that was left was a short car ride to Turku.

   

   Finland at last! I had been here five years ago when my first niece, Emily, was born. I really enjoyed the time I had here and I've been hoping to return ever since. The country is beautiful and I find everything here to be very fascinated. I would be interested to learn more about the culture and hope at some point, to spend at least a summer here.

   So, after three days of long hours in the car, a ferry ride, and lots of snacks on the road, we were finally at our destination, and I got to meet my amazing new nephew, Timothy David Pratt!

God bless you all,

~Alex R. Pratt