Wayne's Blog

It has finally happened -  Kaharlyk has fielded its first cricket team in a tournament.  The team is made up of Ukrainians, Aussies and Kiwis. Unfortunately, a couple key Aussie players weren’t able to play. So, I was really concerned when our depleted team took to the field.  Thankfully, we were able to ring in [...]

I had the privilege to represent the Kyiv Cricket Club in the inaugural Ambassador’s Trophy game against British-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce. This exhibition game was also the launching of the Kyiv Post Cricket League (in which Kaharlyk will be entering the first team in Ukraine with Ukrainian players). It is also first step in a [...]

Having a car has begun to change my ministry. I’m suddenly able to things that I’ve had on the wish list to do for a long time. Orphanage ministry: With Micah in the USA, I’ve been able to plug into  visiting the orphanage.   I can really see the fruit of the the love that Oksana [...]

Sometimes, I just laugh when I think about how my life is working out. This next adventure is no exception. Tom, God father of Cricket in Ukraine invited me to attend a unique (at least for me!) gathering at the newly built Hyatt hotel in Kiev.  The occasion was the British-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce’s (BUCC) [...]

This Spring saw our involvement in Kaharlyk reach a new milestone. We donated 1000 litres of biodiesel to fuel local government tractors during the Spring cleanup throughout our local community. Just days before, I’d invited the Mayor and his close associates to come and see our biodiesel facility. He was very impressed. I was able [...]

Sometimes I just think about my life and laugh!  I mean who can ‘afford’ to create their own indoor sporting complex.  But thanks to couple small donations (from other expat missionaries) and money made from the biodiesel enterprise, we’ve been able to convert one of the now dormant mushroom growing rooms into a our very [...]

Gavin and I met up with a couple of our team mates at the train station in Kiev.  We were selected to represent the Kiev Pioneers in a cricket tournament in Kharkov over the Victory Day weekend. It was like the Ukrainian version of the Indian Premier League! There were eight teams competing and the [...]

My whole missionary experience in Ukraine has changed by adding one word… CRICKET. I was one of three Aussie missionaries invited to play for the Kiyv Pioneer Team in the recent All Ukrainian  Twenty20 Championship. We were the only ‘white’ players in the eigth team event. Despite a sandy dirt field and a thatched mat [...]

I always wanted to be an international cricket star! Now, after fifteen years in Ukraine my international career may finally be starting to blossom! On Saturday, our group (three Aussies, two New Zealanders and Yura) went to Kiev to the season opener. We were received with open arms by the locals. Actually, the ‘local’ contingent [...]