Kiev to Odessa
We arrived in a snowy Odessa a week ago Tuesday to meet with missionaries for two days before going to Makarovo. Mike, Rachel, Nancy and I slept pretty well on the overnight train but the rest of the team didn't. Norm and Dave also were not feeling their best. Travel can be hard on you here if you are not used to it. 
We also had a lot of extra luggage with us for humanitarian aid. It looked like we were moving to Siberia with the mountain of baggage we had. Security is an issue so we were careful not to forget anything...we thought.
We spent the day seeing Odessa and meeting some friends. Rachel arranged an excellent tour of the history of the area.
Mike lost his cell phone while here and it was important to find it because of all the numbers he had saved. So he called it and a railroad cleaning lady answered. She heard it while cleaning the train for the return trip to Kiev. He had left it there when we got off earlier that day. Rachel arranged to meet the lady on the cleaning track in the afternoon. She left our group, caught a trolley and went to the rail station. These stations are huge (like Seatac) with thousands of people coming and going and dozens of trains. She was told to walk to the end of one of the many platforms then keep going a long way down the tracks to the train cleaning area. She walked past several trains. Finally she stopped to talk to one train engineer about the location of the train she was looking for. She continued another long walk and eventually found it and the lady doing the cleaning. She gave the lady and reward for finding it (expected here) and then returned. Then on the walk back the train engineer in his engine passed her, waved and asked if she found it. It was a picture of the unusual nature of missionary life as well as an answer to prayer.
Wednesday we spent time in meetings with missionaries and a local pastor, and getting an update from the Church Ministries Institute director, John Taylor. The Institute took a loss with the fire two years ago but now has repaired the usable part of the facility. A new church plant in Odessa pastored by Peter Rodoslovov also serves as a class room for the institute. We were encouraged as we discussed our mutual interest in what God is doing in Ukraine. Peter Rodoslovov is a long time ministry friend and local pastor. He is head of the association of Baptists churches in Ukraine.
Our men toured the ABWE Ministry Training Center and were updated by the director regarding progress made after the fire a year and a half ago. A third of the building was burned. The building is being repaired and this has forced a few changes. The number one thing to pray about is the need for privatization of the land which has never happened. Please pray for this important step because for the last ten years the facility has never received a permanent occupancy permit. Government issues have prevented this.
Please pray
We also had a lot of extra luggage with us for humanitarian aid. It looked like we were moving to Siberia with the mountain of baggage we had. Security is an issue so we were careful not to forget anything...we thought.
We spent the day seeing Odessa and meeting some friends. Rachel arranged an excellent tour of the history of the area.
Mike lost his cell phone while here and it was important to find it because of all the numbers he had saved. So he called it and a railroad cleaning lady answered. She heard it while cleaning the train for the return trip to Kiev. He had left it there when we got off earlier that day. Rachel arranged to meet the lady on the cleaning track in the afternoon. She left our group, caught a trolley and went to the rail station. These stations are huge (like Seatac) with thousands of people coming and going and dozens of trains. She was told to walk to the end of one of the many platforms then keep going a long way down the tracks to the train cleaning area. She walked past several trains. Finally she stopped to talk to one train engineer about the location of the train she was looking for. She continued another long walk and eventually found it and the lady doing the cleaning. She gave the lady and reward for finding it (expected here) and then returned. Then on the walk back the train engineer in his engine passed her, waved and asked if she found it. It was a picture of the unusual nature of missionary life as well as an answer to prayer.
Wednesday we spent time in meetings with missionaries and a local pastor, and getting an update from the Church Ministries Institute director, John Taylor. The Institute took a loss with the fire two years ago but now has repaired the usable part of the facility. A new church plant in Odessa pastored by Peter Rodoslovov also serves as a class room for the institute. We were encouraged as we discussed our mutual interest in what God is doing in Ukraine. Peter Rodoslovov is a long time ministry friend and local pastor. He is head of the association of Baptists churches in Ukraine.
Our men toured the ABWE Ministry Training Center and were updated by the director regarding progress made after the fire a year and a half ago. A third of the building was burned. The building is being repaired and this has forced a few changes. The number one thing to pray about is the need for privatization of the land which has never happened. Please pray for this important step because for the last ten years the facility has never received a permanent occupancy permit. Government issues have prevented this.
Please pray
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