July 14, 2012

• Cooking from scratch, sore muscles, and our first Kiev visitor…

  As I start this week’s blog, I was thinking about the many things that Jenni is now making in the kitchen rather than buying in a store. Some of the things we have not been able to find in Kiev. Other things are priced so high because they are not made in Ukraine that we simply don’t want to buy them. Just to give you an idea… Jenni is now making breadcrumbs (drying the bread in the oven and grind them up), ice cream, cream of chicken soup, miracle whip, maple syrup, chocolate chips, and tortillas. She is amazingly creative. I think that she should earn a minor in culinary arts for making this transition! She really enjoys looking on the internet for “substitute” ingredients when we can’t find something here.

  Well, we completed our 45 day visa process in Krakow, Poland, a couple of weeks ago. The next (and hopefully last) step in the process is to apply for a 1 year residency permit. The process involves multiple trips to government offices, translation of passports, background checks, registering our living arrangements for the apartment, securing “acceptable” health insurance, a trip to the US Embassy in Kiev, etc. Last week was very full with such activities and the coming week will be more of the same. Thanks for your prayers. We have been working through the details and are surviving (barely) the paperwork involved.

  One week ago today, I went to Gidro Park in the late afternoon to play basketball with a new friend of mine named Aiden. Aiden is my new barber in Kiev. He is in his mid twenties and is from Azerbaijan. He speaks a little English… about as much as I speak Russian. So, conversations can be “interesting”. He loves basketball and invited me to play. We had a great time. It was basically pickup basketball like you would find in any park in America. You don’t need to speak much Russian to play basketball because the rules are the same. So, I felt right at home… until the next morning when I woke up to an aching body… oh, to be in my 20s again!

  Yesterday, Jenni, Bekah, Sarah, Lonnie/Connie Norris, and I traveled to Zhytomyr, Ukraine. We visited a children’s camp for disabled kids that was being conducted by Mission to Ukraine. We met Dr. Ken Ney, a physician from Indianapolis who has a Nazarene heritage. We are longtime friends with Dr. Ney’s parents, Mel and Lunda Ney. Ken is one of the founding board members of Mission to Ukraine (www.missiontoukraine.net). It is designed to minister in two primary areas: Crisis Pregnancies and handicapped children. We met many workers in this excellent organization and we blessed to see all of the smiling faces of the children who were being loved on during the camp. We were very impressed and blessed to spend the day with everyone. Partnerships in ministry are vital to successful mission work so we are excited to serve alongside such quality people in the days ahead!

  I am preaching this Sunday evening at Poznyaki church plant. Some have asked me if I miss preaching every week. I certainly do. I am always excited to preach here in the CIS whenever the opportunity arises. At the same time, I must admit that I don’t miss that burden of the “Sunday is coming” feeling that I had every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

  On Friday of this coming week, we will pick up my mom, Jan Rainey, from the Kiev airport. She is our first visitor to the field. We are so excited to have her come to our new home. We have a ton to show her. We already have more on our “to do” list than we can get done in the 10 days she is with us.

  • 6:22 am
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