MISSION UKRAINE: CHILLING IN CHERKASSY

Caleb took our luggage from the apartment down to the car so we could get to our train on time. But the elevator jammed between floors causing the kids to panic (and me too). Perhaps it was the weight of the bags. He managed to press some buttons by the light of his cell phone and after about fifteen minutes the elevator worked again. We said goodbyes, took pictures with our grand kids here and Nehemiah s new friends and boarded our night train to Cherkassy (see pic). It was hot out but hotter in the train (100 degrees) since rarely does the air conditioning work here. We sweated through the night in our compartment (coopay) but arrived on time at 5 a.m.. Our car attendant spoke some English and was fun to visit with.

Vladimir and Maria Sagadeyev (Our son Caleb's in-laws) met us with a good breakfast and a tour of the town. We were surprised that the large and prominent statue of Lenin in the city square was missing. That is a good sign. Recently city officials pulled it down at night (because some still might oppose it (see pic). We had our picture with Serj taken on the site and in front of the government building.

Their church body has grown and has many parallels to ours. Both are about the same age, both are about the same size and both have purchased used buildings that we have remodeled. Nancy and I spoke to the group that evening and enjoyed the interchange of ideas and renewing of friendships. On Thursday we attended a village small group meeting at the village Doctor's home near the Dnieper River (see pic). Here we sang to guitar, intensely studied I John 2 for almost two hours and had a full dinner afterwards in our honor. One of the men also did a beautiful tenor saxophone worship concert outdoors for us. The whole village could hear. He is known in Ukraine for his music and recently came to Christ.

Part of my purpose here is to encourage the believers in ministry, model expositional preaching and always learn from them. It has been a blessing to learn how Christ has built His church (Mat. 16:18) here in spite of severe persecution, current economic difficulties and little availability of formal theological training. It was inspiring to be in their prayer meetings and to visit with Pastor Vadim who is faithfully leading them to growth and greater maturity. Thanks for praying for us. We travel to Moldova through Kiev next.