Thursday evening update

Good Thursday evening
Forgive my delay in adding anything to the blog for the last couple of days. I was a little "ill" from frozen pizza purchased & consumed on Monday evening or from just the plain old flu. Very early Tuesday morning I knew it would not be one of my best days and I was right. After sleeping and waking over the next eighteen hours, I started feeling better.
On Tuesday morning Ruslan and Flora headed out to Drohovitch around the Mikolaiv area. (I stayed home and slept) They visited a school with approximately 300 students and were able to present them with the good news of salvation of how Jesus willingly became a substitute for us by taking upon Himself the punishment for our sins. Only through faith in His finished work at the cross of Calvary can one be assured of a place in heaven. All grades were included in this school and Flo informed me that they were very well received. One book we purchase from the Bible Society is a book that helps to teach children from the Bible itself. Some copies were left with the teachers and they were very happy to get them.
This week we purchased cleaning supplies and disposable diapers and such items from money sent from exercised individuals or assemblies. Various clothing and footwear were packed and we visited Viliky Lubin, Starry Rosedille, and today, Bookva the home for handicapped girls. The visit with the directors of Lubin and Rosedille were basically the same, in that these two men are having to handle homes for children with special needs with very few funds from the government. The wages for the staff is minimal.
One thing that has come up on several occasions already is the fact that the director of these homes, Yosopovitchy included, have to account for everything they receive. If they get a visit from government officials, they are given the third degree about where the extra food or cleaning supplies come from. It is such a problem that the staff hides fruits or vegetables or anything else that are brought to them for the children. They didn't tell us what all happens, if anything, or if they are just given a hard time. I'll try to remember to inquire about this.
Tomorrow we plan on visiting those we know in the Lviv area. I have lessons tomorrow morning. I have been trying to upload pictures to the blog but it is proving very difficult with the dial up connection. I'll keep trying.
That government owned gas station I mentioned previously has found fuel!!! They are all opened and are selling their gas cheaper than everyone else!
For a peek into an average person's life here.......the man driving for us presently (Ruslan is unavailable for a few days) also has a job as a security guard at a government firm. He works 15 24-hour shifts per month. So every second day he does a 24 hour shift. His monthly salary for this is 700 hryvny. I will let you do the math on this one. One Canadian dollar is presently worth 4.75 hryvny (today's exchange rate) For each of his 24 hour shifts he receives approximately 47 hryvny. My math isn't always the best but I am pretty sure at this point we all have something close to $10.00 for a 24 hour shift!! And this is Lviv where the price of gas is actually higher than in most places in Canada. His wife also works and with their combined salary they make 1500 hryvny a month. How do they live? We are still asking ourselves that question.