Hello brothers and sisters!

Scott and I left the US on Monday and arrived safely in Ukraine on Wednesday, after a long flight and an even longer train ride. We were greeted at the train station by Pastor "Dima" , who hosts us at his church during our visits, and by "Egor", one of the church Deacons. They are always so happy to see us and this time was no exception. They carried our bags to the car and soon we were all catching up with each others' lives since our last visit.

One of our main objectives during this trip is to complete the construction of an indoor bathroom for "Aunt Nadia" who has never had indoor plumbing. You may recall from previous trip reports that we connected running water from her well to the inside of her house,  during the Spring of last year, and then this past spring we had a septic tank installed in her yard along with the required plumbing to the house. Our focus this time will be to get the tile floor completed and a shower, toilet, sink and clothes washer installed.

Projects like this can be challenging because it is sometimes difficult to find skilled labor. So many men have gone to serve in the military. Materials seem to be plentiful, however, so we don't expect any difficulties there.

So, Thursday morning we set out for Aunt Nadia's to get a start. Traveling with us was Asst Pastor "Constantine" who served as our driver, and project coordinator. Constantine is knowledgeable about various construction techniques and sources for the materials and labor that we need. He has proven to be an invaluable resource for us in the past.

We arrived at Aunt Nadia's after a 45 minute drive into the country. She was expecting us and was waiting outside her large rusty, steel paneled gate. With big hugs and kisses she welcomed us back to her small village home.

Scott, Constantine and I surveyed the future bathroom and developed a plan to get the job started. Constantine contacted the plumbing and tile professionals and they agreed to start the work on the upcoming Monday or Tuesday.

Before we left, Aunt Nadia of course had to feed us lunch which is always excellent and mostly produced from what she grows in her immense garden. Potatoes, cabbage, carrots and onions are added to tender pieces of pork, to fashion the most delicious borsch. Then she lays out heaping plates of mashed potatoes, stuffed cabbage rolls, bread, cheese, fatback and a lunch staple of chicken meat in fat gelatin. We ate our full and headed off to the store to start looking at bathroom fixtures.

Another objective for our trip is to provide portable Lithium power stations to needy families or individuals. Last fall we also gave power stations to families.

Russia, as they do every Fall leading into winter, bombs the civilian power grid and other infrastructure, so that Ukrainian families will not have electricity, heat or water going into the harsh winters here. So far, the power has gone out every day that Scott and I have been here, usually for many hours at a time. So, after going to look at bathroom fixtures, we met with Pastor Dima who had made arrangements for us to pickup five power stations at a store in downtown Kyiv.

With some difficulties getting my credit card to work here in Ukraine (that's a whole story in itself), we eventually made payment for the power stations and picked them up over a two-day period.

That night we delivered one of the station's to Pastor Dima's daughter at her small apartment. Her name is Mary and she serves as a pediatric doctor here in Kyiv. Unlike young pediatric doctors in the US who make well over $150,000 per year, pediatricians here average $8k to $12k/year, and like most people here, cannot afford to buy a lithium power station. Mary often comes home late at night after a long day treating children, only to find that she has no electricity. No lights. No functioning refrigerator and no functioning microwave to heat her food. That gift of a power station will make a big difference in her quality of life.

After that delivery, Pastor Dima introduced us to an elderly couple that had been displaced from their homes twice since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, due to the bombing reaching their doorsteps. Each time they were forced to move, they lost everything that they had. Now they are living in a small apartment with their granddaughter, just outside of Kyiv. They greeted us with lasting hugs and expressions of deep gratitude. When I told them that our church and our friends had donated money for their power station, I watched as the man lowered his head and wiped the tears from his face. They do not understand why people from so far away would care about them and their desperate situation.

Today Scott and I helped around the church with grounds maintenance, raking up massive amounts of leaves and depositing them at a nearby leaf collection point. It was good to be outside in the cooler weather, giving our old bones some exercise. It was even better that this time, unlike last Fall, they offered us a leaf blower to help with the job!

Tomorrow we will attend a funeral. The mother of the children's'  Sunday School Director passed away and Pastor Dima asked us to join him for that service.

Thank you for your prayerful support of our work over here. May God bless our work such that lost souls see Christ through us and choose Him as their Savior.

I'll send further updates as time allows, and when we have electricity available to us!

Moe

Galatians 6:2

This second update comes later than I had hoped due to persistent daily power outages (no lights and no internet). We have had a lot going on and too much to include in this update, so I will provide others later, probably when Scott and get home where we have consistent electricity!

We continued our work at Aunt Nadia's house this week and I'm happy to say that we finally finished the bathroom project that we started two years ago. The completion of the bathroom really started taking shape on Friday of this week when the plumber and tile specialists finally arrived (they were 5 days behind schedule). The tile was mostly completed on Friday and after encouraging the workers to work into the night, the shower, sink, toilet, water heater and washer were all set into place. While they were working on the bathroom, Scott and I and Asst. Pastor Constantine, assembled and installed her kitchen sink. Keep in mind she never had indoor water or plumbing before and these fixtures were all new to her. Oh, and of course the power went out as we were all working, so we had to work in the dark with flashlights to get it all finished.

Nadia was so very grateful and sent her thanks for all that our church and friends and family have done through their contributions, to make her dream come true.

Enjoy the photos of that project!

More updates to come later but I have to cut this one short due to a scheduled power outage in a few minutes!

Moe

Galations 6:2