I got home about 1 hour ago.  It is so good to be home.  Mary should be landing in Poland any minute.  She’s staying at the same hotel I did last night.  She will return tomorrow about lunch time.

So documents MUST be prepared this week.  We are pushing the appropriate people as hard as possible but acting in love and gentleness.

Thanks for your prayers!

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

No I didn’t have interent on the plane.  :-)  I just wrote the last post on the plane and then posted it when I got to the hotel.  

God was watching out for me to get me to the hotel.  I did a stupid thing and just got on the bus.  The lady at the information desk at the airport said take bus 175…so I did.  I very quickly realized that the stops had nothing to do with hotels.   It was just a city bus.   And there was no way to know what hotels were at what stop.  Just normal city stops.  I rode for about 10 minutes and the lady in front of me asked if I spoke Polish.  I said no, English.  She turned back around.  :-)

She was lost too.  She went up and asked a young couple where something was and they told her.  So then I though since they had helped her, she might help me!  So I took a chance and asked her, in Russian, if she spoke Russian.  She said no, but that she could understand it.  Not sure how that happens, except that Polish crosses over between 30-50% with Ukrainian.  Anyway, I asked her if she knew where the Holiday Inn Warsaw was.  She said no but maybe that couple would.  

Ugh…  They were going to get irritated at people asking them all these questions I thought.  I went over to them and asked if they spoke Russian.  She answered “a little”  in English.  YES!  They spoke English.  They said they had no idea where it was.  I said thanks and started to walk back to my spot and they said wait.  He pulled out a smart phone and did a quick google search and found it on the map.  They tried to point out where it might be behind some buildings.  But they weren’t exactly sure the directions.  Then they said… you should get off with us because the next stop would be too far.  We were at their stop… so off we went.  They pointed where they thought it was, bid me a good weekend and said good luck.  :-)  What was on the corner where I got off?  A STARBUCKS!!!!!  I was so happy.  I knew that someone in there was bound to speak English and since it might be close to the hotel, they might know where it was.  And, oh yeah, I could get a latte.  :-)  And was it good!  The cashier spoke to me first in English so I instantly relaxed and asked about the hotel.  He said, “Oh yes.  It’s very close.”  He pointed out some buildings it was behind and told me a street name.

So I strolled off with my wonderful latte and went in the general direction where it might be.  I saw the street name and found the hotel.  Phew!  Tomorrow, I have to figure out where to catch the bus back to the airport, but that’s for tomorrow!

If I hadn’t talked to that woman, and then that couple at just that moment, I would have stayed on the bus and wouldn’t have found the hotel.  But as Corrie Ten Boom says, “There are no IFS in God’s Kingdom!”  SO thankful that he watches out for me so closely.  Home tomorrow and Mary flies to Amsterdam.  Pray that she can find a cheaper ticket.  She is trying to find something right now.

Bless the LORD, O my soul. And ALL that is within me bless His holy name!

Thirty-five thousand feet about the ground, everything looks different. That’s where I am right now. Flying. Things look so different from up here. Instead of my limited vision I have when I’m on the ground, I can see for at least hundreds of miles. The picture is quite different.

It’s like my vision compared to God’s. I see with limited vision only what is around me and only what is happening right now. I can’t see the whole picture. I can’t see tomorrow…much less eternity. When I think about today in that light, I feel a bit ashamed of my feelings, emotions and fears. With my somewhat clouded vision…it’s easy to panic.

When did I decide to take a trip to Poland? About 2 hours ago.

We have been trying to get documents together for our permanent residency. Of course, we are waiting on other people for what we need. We have everything that we can provide.

Yesterday, the man that is helping us thought he was going to work things our with our passports. You see, Monday marks 90 days that we have lived in Ukraine. Without visas, we can only stay in Ukarine for 90 days…then we have to cross the border and come back. We can do this ONE time without visas. After that, we have to either have visas or our residency status. To get visas, we would have to go back to the USA. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

For the last 6-8 weeks we have been told that it should be no problem. Well, we found out this morning that it was a problem. So he said he would try again Monday and there was a good chance it would work out. Let me just say that in America if someone told me “it should work out” I would consider the odds pretty good. In Ukraine, that means “forget it.”

So my mind went into high gear. Here were our options…

Take the whole family across the border in Poland and come back. Why didn’t we do that? It sounds so easy. Yeah, except our car’s papers are for 9 seats. We have 10 people who ride in the van when everyone is with us. They wouldn’t let us cross the border because of the discrepancy. In Ukraine, it’s no big deal. Here, nine seats means that about 20 people can get in. I’m not kinding.

So we thought about Mary and I going and having Sveta stay at the house with the kids. Why didn’t we do that? It is 7-8 hours TO the border (if a Ukrainian is driving…I was told might be up to 10 hours since I drive the speed limit). Then there is at least a 2 hour wait to cross into Poland IF they are not busy. Then there is at least a two our wait to get back in to Ukraine IF they are not busy and then up to ten hours home. You do the math. That couldn’t happen. AND we felt strongly that we should not leave the country together with the kids at home. What IF something happened and they wouldn’t let us back in. We decided divide and conquer was the best way. Worst case, they won’t let ONE of us in and the other is with the kids. Then we figure out what to do.

So here’s what we decided. I would fly out today and come back in the morning. I chose Poland because it was the cheapest (but cheap is relative when you are buying a ticket for a trip the same day). I can’t explain how excrutiating it was to outlay that money from an ever dwindling coffer. It was hard. It was an act of faith. So I will overnight in Poland (Warsaw) and head back home tomorrow afternoon. Just in time for church tomorrow evening. Mary will stay home and try to find a cheaper ticket this evening. As bad as mine was…her’s for some reason is proving to be MUCH worse. Not sure why except that it is Sunday-Monday. Not really sure why.

So I return to Kyiv about 30 minutes before she will leave. That way if something goes wrong and I don’t get back in, she can abort the mission and we will drop back and make a new plan.

Then, we simply MUST get the documents we need turned in this week. We also found out today that the lady who will help us fast track our documents is going to have a baby soon and must finish process before…she will be out on leave for several months.

Today…I have to admit that fear gripped my heart. What if… How could this be happening… What is God thinking… Where is He… Yeah…shameful to admit that, but it is what it is. Here’s the answers to the questions.

Yeah…what if? What if God has a plan that we don’t know about today? What’s the worst that will happen? We will keep trusting Him and following HIm down the path wherver it leads. What if? We will follow the One that has the plan and the power.

How could this be happening? Simple…it fits into God’s plan. He knows the plans He has made. They are not to harm us. Period. Might the road get rougher and more difficult? Well, sure. But if it’s in His hand…isn’t it still the best place to be?

What is God thinking? He’s thinking that He desires that none should perish and all should come to repentance. He’s thinking that all things will work together for good for those who love HIm and are called according to His purposes. He wait…that’s us.

Where is He? Same place He has always been. At the helm of this ship we call life. And our lives are just PART of the journey. Just a small part of the big picture…of eternity. How vain to think that He will do everything that we want and make our lives easy just because we moved to Ukraine. What about the belivers around the world who will die today because of their faith? We are just trying to get paperwork done. Seriously…weigh this against eternity and there’s no contest.

It’s so easy to not look beyond ourselves. But suddenly something happens and we see that there is so much out there beyond our little bubble. Something small (in the scheme of things) happens and we set off the alarm bells. Guess what? There are simply no alarm bells in heaven.

This journey we are on (both life in general and this part of our lives as it relates to moving to Ukraine) is not about us. It’s not even about the beautiful people of Ukraine. It’s about a God who is reaching through eternity to share His love, forgiveness, and Salvation.

We do appreciate your prayers in this time. Not that you pray that it will be easy. But that we will have the strength to stand and the faith to trust and the perseverence to walk.

We bless the name of the Lord. Blessed be His glorious Name.

10:30 p.m.  About to go to sleep.  Please pray for a miracle with some paperwork we need done.  God knows all about the details.  

Tomorrow we are attending a picnic – cookout – at an orphanage in Kyiv.  It’s a privately run orphanage and we are looking forward to spending some time with the kids.  We were there a couple of months ago to visit the kids.  

We are also going to try to find a swing set that we can afford.  The kids live outside in the good weather and we really need something for them to play on.  We are hoping we can find something in our budget.  Things here are so expensive…everything…  Frankly, we don’t know how people survive here and how they clothe and feed themselves sometimes.

We continue to study hard at language and continue to make small steps forward.

We got to our lesson early yesterday and there was another student there that has been studying for over six years.  He spoke quickly and confidently.  Kind of made us feel bad to be honest.  I hope to get to that level one day.  Of course he’s been studying a long time…  The thought of waiting that long to speak so well is a bit frustrating.  That seems like such a long time.  Praying for quicker understanding and ability.  But we shall see…

Thanks for your prayers about our documents.  

Blessed Be the Name of the Lord.

We hired a translator this evening for our Sunday afternoon Church service.  We have been depending on a volunteer guy that doesn’t always get to come.  And then there is another friend who has helped, but he’s not as quick as we need.  

We have worked with the young lady we hired before and she will be a great help to our ministry here. 

It helps us and it helps her family with a little bit of money.  We’re pretty excited!

Today was language.  Oy.  Actually, it went pretty well and I felt good about my use of language today.  But wow…there is SO much to learn.

THE POST OFFICE

Last Friday we got a notice in our mail box that we had a package.  We weren’t home and they didn’t leave it.  I’m not really sure why because it would have easily fit in the mail box.  Anyway…I got brave this morning and decided to take the paper and my passport and go pick it up.

The address of which post office I needed to go to was clearly stamped on the paper so I went.  I got to the window (after figuring out which was for mail and not for paying bills, or paying for long distance phone calls, etc).  The lady spoke very VERY fast.  I asked her to repeat it and clearly she realized I was not Ukrainian.  She was nice, but LOUD.  :-)  She told me she didn’t have the package.  Also, I thought I heard her say that I needed to go to the second floor and then she started pointing this way and that.  Then I wasn’t sure if maybe she meant to go to the central post office (a few blocks away) and go to the second floor there.  

Well, I couldn’t find stairs at the post office I was at so off I went.  I got to the other post office (with no confidence that I would leave with my package) and got to a window where there was a very nice lady.  She knew ZERO English, but we did okay.  She told me to go the post office on Gagarin.  I told her I had just been there and that they told me the package was not there.  I wasn’t completely sure that’s what I had been told in exact context, but hey…my Russian is limited.  She asked me where I had gone.  I told her the address I went to and she nodded and then got on the phone and told whoever she talked to that I said they said they didn’t have the package.  Well, they DID have the package.  So back I went.  And this time with a name of the lady who could help me!

I went to a different window (so as not to be a frustration to the lady I had talked to before–and since I said she said the package wasn’t there…  :-)  ).  I tried a different question this time and asked her where I could go to pick up this package.  She told me 2nd floor (aha…I had heard correctly) and she did a lot of pointing.

So I looked for stairs and then left building and walked around.  There was what I would consider a service entrance and I decided to give it a try.  Sure enough there were stairs inside.  There were no lights on (but that’s not unusual in Ukraine… I mean why have lights on in stairways when there is a tiny window somewhere up high letting in a pinhole of light?) but I took off up the stairs.   There were 3 doors at the top of the stairs.  Suddenly, I saw the word package on the sign on the door and realized I was in the right place.  I went in and the lady was very nice.  But in my gut I knew what was coming.  Sure enough…she asked me the question… “Who told you the package wasn’t here.”  Obviously she knew she had not seen me in there and since that was where you were to go to get packages…what in the world was I talking about??!!  She giggled so I knew all was well.  I just explained in my broken Russian that I had been in the wrong place on the 1st floor.  She just chuckled, checked my passport and handed over the packages.   We had TWO!  One took about 6 weeks to get here and one took 2.  Go figure.  Both mailed from Moore.  Both first class USPS.  

One was some neat magazines for the kids.  The other was from Micah’s Sunday School teachers at FBC Moore.  He was SO EXCITED to get it.  He loved the movie, the Bible stories and has been carrying around the photograph album all day.  Looking at it over and over and he told us he wanted to go and see them.  :-(  He showed our friends Yuri & Sveta the pictures and was so excited!!!  Thank you friends for sending these treasures from America!

That’s today’s story…  stay tuned.

Bless the Name of the Lord!