Monday - July 10

We finally managed to get some sleep! The apartment we are staying in has a very comfortable, large bed (extremely uncharacteristic for Ukraine) … so although we had a visitor with us (a daughter, whose inflatable Winnie the Pooh bed was still somewhere in between here and Germany), we got a good night’s sleep – almost 12 hours!

We visited the Ukrainian Education Center this morning, which is the primary focus of Chris and Lena’s ministry here in Ukraine. The center, located very near to the Polytechnic Institute here in Kyiv, is comprised of a rather impressive library housing a collection of books in the Russian, Ukrainian, and English languages – ranging from such topics as theology and Biblical studies, to the English language and literature, to nursing, to name a few – a wide variety of subjects to aid students pursuing diverse areas of study. Other forms of media are available for check out as well, including CDs, Videos, and DVDs. There is also a kitchen and rooms for study groups and small conferences, etc. The renovations of two apartments to create this space was done very well, as the center is a warm, inviting place, that is up to date and useful. In addition to reaching out to local students, it also serves as the meeting place for local church small group meetings during the week. We hope that we will be able to attend some of those this week.

We were able to take Chris and Lena out to lunch, where we experienced another great Ukrainian meal – and the conversation was great as well. As we are just getting to know Lena, and Katherine is getting to know Chris as well, much of the conversation was personal in nature. It was good to learn more about how God brought them together, and is now using them in ministry together. We are definitely looking forward to having more time with this couple. They have been so helpful and encouraging.

At 7:30 this evening, our luggage finally arrived at the apartment! Hurray! Yesterday we had been informed that the bags would arrive in Kyiv around 1:00 the following day, and that they would be delivered to the address that we supplied to them. As no time frame had been mentioned, we called around 4:00 this afternoon hoping to get an idea of when we might expect them to arrive. The lady I spoke with told me that our luggage had arrived, but that she was not able to confirm that the bags were being delivered today. She told me that if I would call back around 5:00 that she would have been able to contact the driver, and could give me more help. When I called back at around 5:00, I spoke with a gentleman who informed me that the bags were not in the system, and that he could not confirm that they had arrived at all! In the midst of this somewhat disturbing conversation, I explained my earlier contact with that office … and after putting me on hold for a few minutes, he came back with the information “everything is alright with your luggage.” Nothing more in the way of explanation, or what I should expect was offered. Needless to say, we were relieved when our apartment was buzzed at about 7:30, and the luggage appeared.

The rest of the evening was spent unpacking and trying to get organized. We did buy an outlet adaptor today from a vendor on the street – which allowed me to hook up my laptop to a power source here in Ukrainian. Tomorrow, we will hopefully acquire Internet access. Chris, again, has been helpful in regards to this area.

Well after trying to catch up for a few missed days of journaling, I am ready for bed – it has gotten pretty late on me.

Thanks again for reading these updates – and if you have time, drop us a comment back.

Much love,

Scott, Katherine, and Abbie