Another rainy day

September 16, 2008
We finally got to do some work today – we moved brick from one stack to another. Sounds a little like a make work project but the bricks needed to be relocated to a spot closer to where they are going to be laid. It felt good to be useful. The weather was spitting rain again but not so bad that we couldn’t be out in it to work.
One thing we are learning about the Ukrainian people is they are extremely hospitable and will not let them help you with chores in any way. We offer to clean off the table after meals or to wash dishes but there is no way they will let that happen.
We had time between moving bricks and bible study for the children to tour the neighborhood around the church and to visit a monument to the local men who died in WWll. It is next door to the church so is an obvious place to visit.
We had sixteen very enthusiastic children at Bible school. They are all very pretty children willingly do everything they are asked. Pretty impressive from a grandparent’s point of view.
The food continues to be excellent – not gourmet, but very tasty. Day four was pretty much a success.
Gene
P.S. Yesterday was my birthday and I was surprised with a birthday cake at dinner. (See the picture in yesterday's post!) Of course, someone is in trouble for letting the word out.

September 14 & 15

Sunday was a day to learn something about worship in a Ukrainian Methodist church. We found that they sing a lot and sing beautifully. We wished for good recording equipment to preserve it. The pastor preached for about an hour without notes and always with passion. Too bad we couldn’t understand it, although a few of us can understand enough Ukrainian or Russian to get the gist of what he was saying. Church was followed by a meal in the home of the local pastor and like everything we’ve had to eat here, was delicious.

Today was a rain day so we could not work on construction. They fed us anyway. The ladies held Bible study for the children but the men had to go back to the Nehemia Center for their afternoon naps. Tomorrow the weather is expected to be better so some work might actually get done.

We know we have most of the week ahead of us but we have already been shown that we will take more away from the Ukraine than we leave behind – even if we are able to work hard every day

Gene

P.S. - Jennie is very impatient with the upload of pictures... We will do our best if the internet connection behaves better, but for now this is all we can do!!

We're here!!!

We are here, and all of our bags made it too!! Praise God!

It was a long, grueling journey from Oklahoma City to Uzhhorod, but we made it with few problems. The border crossing between Slovakia and Ukraine adds about 2 hours onto the trip - what with stopping to fill out the forms to prepare for the crossing, then waiting in line for exit from the Slovakian authorities, then getting another form to fill out for Ukraine, and then waiting in line for entry from the Ukrainian authorities... Ai-eee... Going from an EU country to a non-EU country takes a while!

And now, finally, we have internet access. My new laptop proved difficult for the weekend crew to figure out how to set up the connection on Vista - but it's done now! Unfortunately, my Sony camera's memory stick does not fit in the card reader for the new computer (should have played with it before I left) and nobody brought USB cords. So, we are relying on Gene to take pictures with his SD card so we can get them on the blog.

There's the basics of the first couple of days - the journey and the arrival. It's time for dinner (and birthday cake!) now, so we will post more about Sunday and Monday after eating what I'm sure will be a wonderful meal!!!

Are you ready to go?

The time for our departure is rapidly approaching. Are you packed, do you have your passport and are you totally psyched up for the trip. It's going to be exciting