The Grand Finale

Tuesday started early for the workteam as we prepared to cheer on the IVA students running a 5K race from Hope Center to the Black Sea and back. We had a post on the route and encouraged them on to the finish line. All received a t shirt with the words "Borsch powered" on the back. After crepes for breakfast, we prepared for the Graduation Ceremony and also packed our suitcases for the trip home.

The ceremony began with speeches and gifts to thank teachers and staff of Hope Center. Each received a certificate, an award for personal characteristic, and a gift of money from the workteam. Some had passed their driver license test and received that also. A trio of IVA guys entertained with a song and five of the IVA class of 2007 returned to say a few words at the ceremony. It was great to see them make the effort to be there.
Ice cream and goodies were served.

It was time to board the van and depart from Hope Center. We traveled for 5 hours to Yalta where we stayed in the old (1927) part of town in a newly remodeled bed and breakfast. We began Wednesday with our guide, Yuri, by taking a boatride out on the Black Sea to the Swallow's Nest high up on a cliff- about 700 stair steps up. Sara Gaw who along with her husband, Matt, accompanied us on the trip was nearly carried away by two eagles. You see the Swallow's Nest up on the cliff behind her.

We also toured the grounds of the Lividian Palace which was unfortunately closed that day. After a lunch at a Pizza place, we walked through the beautiful botanical Nikiti Gardens.

From there the van took us to Simperofel to catch our flight to Kiev that night. We stayed in downtown Kiev and began the day at McDonald's for breakfast. We were able to walk around the War Memorial Museum and Park. This huge statue symbolizes the Motherland to the Ukrainians

It glistened beautifully against the blue sky.

We did a little more gift shopping and left for the airport. Our return to USA went well for most of us- Kiev to Frankfort, Germany- to Chicago to home! Great to sleep in our own beds and eat good old American food again. Two days of jet lag and we are back to normal again--our willingness to go to Ukraine as a"Life Changer" has resulted in our own lives being changed as well.

Our Last Weekend in Ukraine

It is Monday here. We took the cars and all of us on the workteam to the City's market where we bought lots of chocolate and fresh bread. Lots to look at.

Yesterday we had a rare glimpse of the fortress that is hidden in the hills of Kerch overlooking the Kerch strait. This huge complex is cement and masonry mostly underground and was begun in 1850. It was fought over by the Russian's and Nazi's for the control of the waters and lines of shipping. Our guide was an officer assigned there during the second world war. His son is a Christian who volunteers at Hope Center.

These men have been in the military on opposite sides. Bob- the Marines, and Tom -the Navy, Our tour guide ,a Soviet officer.

Our Ladies Tea was well attended-about 50 women. We decorated the Dining Hall and served sweets and open face sandwiches. Mickey sang a beautiful song, "Indescribeable" and it was translated on the screen for the ladies.

Carol gave her testimony and Darlene followed with her testimony and the invitation to ask Jesus into their hearts. We enjoyed watching the ladies as they made cards for a craft time. There were 37 women who participated in a Global Action program called Heart to Heart which builds relationships and introduces the Gospel.

We will be heading home tomorrow after the IVA students graduate. We plan to tour Yalta and also visit the war museum in Kiev. The guys are busy today with a few more cement jobs and unloading the truck carrying humanitarian aid from Sweden which arrived last night. One of our favorite IVA guys from last year, Artur, came back from his job in Moscow and visited with us and played some Phase 10 for old time sake.

Darlene and Mickey completed 2 more blankets today, so we made our quota. Spring weather is beautiful here!

Thursday and Friday in ukrainia

Thurs and Fri have been easier on the men than Wed. They have continued with cement projects with a cement mixer rather than the ready mix truck. Greg walked down to the Black Sea before breakfast this morning. He is doing a great job all aspects of the cement projects --The stairs to the dining hall, medical building, kitchen, and guard shack. We are blessed to have someone so skilled and always pleasant. Bob (the builder) wears his tool belt all day and is a great help. Rich is known as Sewer Man. No one wants to sit with him at the dinner table.

The ladies attended an evangelistic concert at the public school in a small village. One young woman gave her testimony to the teen-agers there. We handed out a set of three books to the older children on spiritual growth.The younger children just wanted hugs and their picture taken with us. This is Darlene with her new friends.

The Beginner Sewing Class for the IVA young ladies was comical as one of the girls sat down at our sewing machine and proceeded to sew French seams on the pillow case we had decided was simple enough for beginners. She is amazingly proficient and obviously had sewed piece work before. We watched with our mouths open in surprise. She didn't speak any English. The others in the class handed their pillow cases to her and she whipped them out in no time. In our spare time, we work in the sweat shop on the quilts that Hope Center needs pronto. We have 15 of them done. This morning we worked with Tanya Prolov on sewing pajamas with a pattern. Her little girl, Sonja, had fun riding an old toy around the grounds.

One of the IVA boys is talented with drawing. This morning he wore his latest art- a pen and ink drawing. Here is the shirt and this is Vitalik.

Three of our team members need prayer for health and healing. Please include in your thoughts and prayers our Ladies Tea which will be held on Saturday here at Hope Center. We are unsure of how many will come. Pray that God will give us inspiration to speak from our hearts a message that will change theirs. Mickey will sing as well as several Ukrainian groups. We have a craft planned and food of course!

Wednesday at Hope Center

Getting ready for new stairs to the Medical Building. Tom, Jack and Greg.

Darlene, Mickey and I were allowed to visit new Mothers and babies at the Maternity Hospital in Kerch. We were greeted by the head of the hospital physician staff and were escorted by the head nurse to the rooms where we presented each mother with the flannel blankets and small baby clothes and items mostly from Palm Creek Quilters. One mother is 16 years old and is in an orphanage herself. They graciously accepted the gifts and a few allowed us to hold the babies. What a joy!

The guys were working very hard on the cement projects as the cement truck came twice. All are sore and tired but glad that the projects were completed. These young boys are enjoying the new tables and chairs which were donated by Hope Center to their orphanage.

Tom and two IVA boys named Genya were having their icecream break while admiring their work on a cement sidewalk.

Tanya P.and sewing friends learning about quilting from Darlene.

The rain stopped and the sun is out in Ukraine

We have heard that you may not be receiving our recent blog posts, April 27 th and 25th. To determine whether the images I added to each blog are the cause of the trouble, I won't include any on this one. Please use the comments to tell me if you are receiving the posts.
Today is Tuesday and there is much work being accomplished. The cement work is going well. There are some of the smaller areas that used the cement mixer that are done. The cement truck will come tomorrow with 2 loads to pour the larger areas. The shop areas now have cement floors. The ladies were asked to teach a small group of Ukrainian women how to quilt. The serger they were using in an unfinished basement of an apartment building looked like vintage 1940's The other sewing machine that was set up was an antique from the 1780's. It had a hand crank! They want to sew quilts like the ones from the US. They will sell them and use the money to establish a free Christian daycare for the kids who are out of school all day in the summer and have no supervision. We taught them a simple block quilt and will work with them again on Thurs. at Hope Center where we do have a sewing machine with electric. We want to show them how to use the rotary cutter as well as some of the finer details that are new to them. Darlene, Mickey and I are working on the 20 quilt type blankets that the Hope Center needs for the orphan Festival in May. We also have been to the surrounding villages to deliver books to the teachers and students and aprons to the helping staff of the school. We unloaded boxes of clothing from Sweden to give to the very poor of this village. On Monday we went to the small orphanage to visit and play with the children who had no family with whom to spend the holiday. We met with the women who invited us to speak at the Ladies Tea on Saturday. The word is out in Kerch and we may have many more than the 50 or so first mentioned. Pray for the message that we will bring that it will be meaningful and encouraging as we share our hearts with them. I am sorry that you don't have any pictures of the cute kids or the babushka's picking out their clothes, but you are probably glad I can't send you any pictures of the work on that awful sewer. I have lost my appetite completely after I was requested to come and take pictures to document the work! We are enjoying the fun that the IVA students are having as they work along side of the men. Tonight - a bonfire and a first time in their lives for them to roast marshmallows, making smors.

First Weekend in Ukraine

Saturday flew by and now it is Sunday, the Ukranian Easter Holiday. Darlene and I taught a basic hand sewing class to the seven girls who are part of the Hope Center's Vocational Outreach for orphans. These are young women from poor circumstances, formerly from orphanages. A statistic mentioned in church this morning was that a shocking 60% of girls who had been raised in orphanages became prostitutes and 70% of the young men became criminals. The young women in the sewing class are happy, friendly, and eager to learn. They have been changed by their time at Hope Center. It was a joy to see how open they were to learning how to sew a simple pillow case. We will be showing them how to use the sewing machine next class. They would like an art class also. The men worked very hard along side of the IVA students and accomplished more than they thought they would. The boys are hard workers with a good attitude. The forming up and welding and prep work went well. On Saturday we took some supplies and a story book about the real meaning of Easter to a small group of children in one of the local orphanages. They are quick to learn and adept with their hands in making a beaded cross. On Saturday afternoon, Rich was asked to speak at the graduation for the high school students who attended a series of classes at Hope Center which focused on economics, English language, computer skills and spiritual development. God gave him the right words to say on short notice! Darlene and I were amazed at the quality and aptitude of these students. We asked them about their families and their dreams for the future.

Saturday evening was really a fun time with some of the IVA young men playing Phase 10. We all laughed as the language barrier became a non-factor in communication. Bob and Mickey arrived here at 10:30 pm after a 10.5 hour drive from central Ukraine. We are so glad they are joining us as part of the work team. Luda, one of the Cooks outdid herself as she served colored eggs and Ukranian sweet bread, crepes and sausage rolls for Easter breakfast.

We attended a large local church service in an auditorium in downtown Kerch. The portion of the Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of Christ" depicting the crucifixion was shown during the service while we received and shared communion as a Church----powerful and moved many to tears. Lunch was pizza and salad in a downtown restaurant. Sunday is a great day for a nap (Carol, Mickey, Bob and Tom) while some chose to hang out in the coffee room. Darlene led the devotions today on trusting God. The rain cleared late afternoon. We are hoping to keep moving on the cement projects on Monday, weather permitting. Please continue to pray that we can be encouraging to all we serve. Pray for health, that we have good immune systems to fight off infection. We are all sleeping well and certainly can't complain that we are not getting enough food! We are served family style and there is plenty for all.

We have arrived!

Well, we made it! Here we are in Kiev, Ukraine after a 5 hour lay over without food or sleep. We left home at 8:30 am on Wed. and flew to Chicago where Rich and Carol, Jack and Greg from Minnesota met up with Darlene and Tom from Michigan. That afternoon , we flew to Frankfort, Germany, arriving at 5:30 am. At the price of a Euro vs a US dollar, Tom and Greg had a hot dog (Frankfurter) for around $16. Rich bought 3 ice cream cones for a cool $20. Dar and I took a nap after the lo-ooong air flight.
We left Germany for Kiev at 9:30 and flew to Simferopol. Matt from Hope Center in Kerch met us and the last leg of the journey in the van. Great to be here! We arrived at Hope Center a little after midnight and greeted people then to bed for some much-needed sleep.


The morning coffee and breakfast at 10:30 am started our busy day on Friday. This is a picture of a school in a small village near Kerch. These beautiful little children welcomed us as we gave some packs of fruit and some received Children's pictural Bibles also. What a joy to bless them with smiles and hugs.
We had lunch and a meeting about the work trip projects. Darlene and Carol will be going out to 3 orphanages for various meetings and special activities, as well as feeding programs and helping to host a Ladies Tea. On May 1st we will be visiting the maternity hospital with many gifts. Please pray for all of these precious times when we will have the opportunity to help and "love on" the children and adults. Darlene and I will be teaching a basic sewing class tomorrow. We had a nice scenic walk by the shore of the Black Sea at sunset tonight. End of Day 1 in Ukraine!