Nancy, Nehemiah and I spent Memorial Day flying and arrived safe in Kiev, Ukraine on a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Some of the passengers applauded when the plane landed but not as many as usual. That's a good sign :-). There are building improvements at the Kiev airport and many more cars are on the roads. That is good.

Mike (our son-in-law), Rachel (our daughter) and Ellie (our granddaughter) whisked us home for dinner. Then we went for an evening walk and played with our little Ellie at a playground near their apartment where thousands live. It was so good to see our kids again after a year. We all took "cold" showers (no hot water for 2 weeks here) and then retired. Welcome to Ukraine.

Wednesday Mike, Nehemiah and I headed downtown on the subway to see some of the historic sights such as the ancient gates of Kiev and the some of the ornate gold-domed orthodox churches. The ladies stayed in the apartment to prepare for the evening youth meeting. Today (Thursday) we visited an outdoor historical museum covering several hundred acres featuring the ancient buildings and churches from the rural areas of Ukraine. It was fascinating.

Many are in spiritual darkness here and that is why our missionaries are here. Keep them in prayer as they work to help proclaim the Gospel of Christ. We will be involved in aspects of that too this month. Friday Nancy will be speaking at a special women's meeting dealing with spiritual issues in the home.

Saturday Nancy, Nehemiah and I will head south by bus. Our son Caleb will meet us and we will spend the weekend with our sister church in Makarovo. Pray for us as we have worship with them there and in neighboring Sahanskoi. Then we will continue south to Odessa on the Black Sea to be with Caleb's family and and prepare to visit Moldova and Vasiliy Kaletnik.

-Pastor Mark

JESSE WITH THE LORD

Jesse Armstrong, missionary to Russia, passed into the Lord's presence on May 7th at age 39 from ALS. Condolences may be sent to the family via secretary@discoverybaptist.org or to Discovery Baptist Church at 4902 Gustafson, Dr. NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98335. Services were held 5/16/09. See details here.