Report 14
Sunday April 10th
We headed for Lviv at 9.30am with three ladies. One lady was going to visit her son in prison. He got 3 years for USING drugs, not even selling them. He has one more year to do. She only gets to go twice a year so was loaded with stuff for him, clothes and food. She will come home on the bus later today.
We had a very nice Remembrance Meeting with a few less than last week as Flo and Max and Ingrid went to Lutsk to the Assembly there. I spoke on the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2, after meeting, and the seriousness God sees in leaving our first love to Christ and the believers.
Hurried back home to Ivano for the meeting at 4 pm. We were very glad to see a good number out and especially the girl we picked up from the bus stop a week ago, Natalia. We spoke to her afterwards and she says she can’t believe she was picked up by such nice people. (I think she was speaking about Dan, but who knows!). She is very interested in what we are preaching but is just a “believer in God” so far.
We finished up with a good talk to Oleg and Ola about what they were doing and where they were going. We told them how much we appreciated them coming to the meetings.
Well out for pizza again then headed back home.
We have plans for each day this week, as I am leaving for Lviv on Friday, and staying there until I go home on Monday.
All for now.
Keep praying that we will get done all we want to do this week.
Malcolm and Dan.
Monday April 11th
Today we wanted to go to the school in Vicovna, on the border of Romania. We had bought a sound system for this school of 400 students and wanted to deliver it. Oxana, the Director of the school told us that when we came she would get all the staff together for us to speak to. We got the equipment and left town at 10 am for the 2 hour trip. We have to cross the mountains to reach the town, but didn’t expect what we found. About 6 inches of snow had fallen in 2 storms, one on Saturday and one on Sunday night. The road is very similar to driving through the Rockies, except that there is no one to clear the roads. Fortunately, it was not cold and so the snow was mainly slush. We still made it in 2 hours but it was not fun driving.
We set up the p/a system in the auditorium and the teachers came in, 26 of them. We only had 20 minutes and so I spoke and we asked if anyone wanted a New Testament. They all did except those that had got one when we spoke to their class. We also offered them some books for children to read about the bible. They were snapped up right away. They all wanted a group picture taken and were very happy with the message. I gave my testimony to them.
We then went for lunch with Oxana. To say the least, it was not too appetizing. Lent is being celebrated here and most of the children and staff as well, I think, are not eating any meat. Some are even fasting all day. The soup we had was great but the main meal was rice and sauerkraut. I could not finish my plate full, but the home made buns were great.
We spent a long time talking with Oxana about the difficulties she is experiencing from the Authorities. I don’t know where they get these people from, but their actions and decisions are inexcusable and ridiculous. There is no space to record all the nonsense but I do want to mention one great need that I see and hope we can help with some day.
As I mentioned, there are 400 students in the large school building, but there are no washrooms in the building. They have to use an outside toilet that is absolutely disgusting. The doors don’t even close and they are just filthy holes in the ground. The building is about 500 meters from the school but right next to a new apartment building. They have received complaints from the residents to move the building because of the smell. I Asked Oxana if there were any plans to put toilets in the school. She said that they had been talking about it, but there would be no help from the government. She showed us where it could be located attached to the school building. I told her we would pray that this project could get under way as the present situation is unhealthy and disgusting. Please pray with us. A photo is available to anyone who would ask.
Thankfully, the snow had melted on the way home and the ride was far less stressful. PTL . We plan on going to a sanatorium tomorrow, if the children are all there. We have to phone in the morning.
I should add that Dan has an appointment tomorrow with a teacher who may be able to teach him Ukrainian. He really wants to start lessons.
No comments:
Post a Comment