Ukraine Spring Report #17

Report #17 for Monday May 3 2010

I woke early to a cloudy day but still a pleasant temperature. I boiled two eggs but didn’t have a timer and they ran out onto my plate. I put the second one back into the pan and scrambled it.

I knew we were not going anywhere first thing this morning, so set out to listen to some messages on cd and read some. I was really challenged by the two preachers I listened to, and felt the time spent very profitable.

I called Vadym about noon and found he had worked on the car until about 4am, so was just getting going. I ate lunch and he arrived. While he was here, Max Mclean called me on Skype and we all talked and could see each other. It was the first time Max and Vadym had met since 2004.

We then headed out to change some Canadian money and load our phones again. This is very convenient. We just stopped at a machine fastened to a light pole, selected a provider, punched in our phone # and put 50 R in the slot. Voila! The money goes into your phone, faster than it took me to type this.

We went to see a car parts shop behind the Priest’s home we stayed in for 3 different times. I said I would like to renew the acquaintance again so we rattled the gate and both Roman, the priest and his wife were home. Well you would have thought we were family. Hugs and kisses and coffee and cake.

Sad to say the conversation was mainly about a “sister” who we will refrain from naming, who was once a great help to us in finding needy families and orphanages, but has gone absolutely “rabid” Charismatic.

She comes and visits the priest and tries to convert him (which is not a bad idea!) but dances before them and even brought their pastor who tried to anoint him with the Holy Spirit.

These antics, along with pleas for funds because they are so poor, has really hindered any appreciation of so called evangelicals.

Well we were able to convince him that we would have none of that nonsense and I was able to witness to him the SIMPLE gospel without all the other “add-ons”.

We were pleaded with to come and stay with them again sometime, but that will not be necessary now.

We did some shopping and went home to a late supper at Vadym’s and then went to visit a sister, Marie, who comes to every meeting. She has a husband who had a stroke 18 years ago and cannot leave the one room apartment on the 9^th floor of a former student dormitory. They share cooking and toilets with several other families. It’s worse than our prisons!

On previous occasions, we have not had opportunity to share the gospel, but this time I was determined to do so. He couldn’t have been nicer, he listened intently. Marie said that she was able to read the bible to him last night. I really pray this man will get saved.

I forgot to mention that having rushed over there from our full chicken supper, Marie had a table full of food too! We were not able to do much with it but tried to sample a little of each item.

All for now, heading out to a new town and home for mentally handicapped.

God bless and keep praying.

Malcolm

Ukraine Spring Report #16

Report #16 for Sunday May 2^nd.

It was a lovely Spring morning with the pigeons cooing outside and the trees in full leaf, I forgot to say that when I came home the other night, there was a hedgehog right under my kitchen window, walking towards the apartment door. He looked so cute but I didn’t disturb him.

Only 13 out to meeting but was very happy to have Sveta, Vadym’s wife and Amelia come for the first time.

I spoke on the Passover lamb and how it spoke so clearly of Christ the Lamb of God and what it meant when Christ said “finished” (only one word in the Ukrainian Bible), and what the rending of the veil meant.

Then Vadym spoke about Lazarus and the rich man and seemed to be well received.

We gave out seeds to the people, who were there, they seemed very happy to get them.

We then went to Vadym’s for a shishleke (Shish kebob) supper. Vadym was working on the car with another mechanic trying to fit it with shocks all round. It doesn’t look as if it will be done, everything is so rusted.

Sveta brought me home in her car and told me that she sat in her car the other night and told God she knew she was a sinner and believed in God, but she doesn’t know if anything happened. I told her the only way she will know that anything happened is to believe what the bible says. I had to leave it there but will talk later.

All for now, don’t know what tomorrow will hold for 2 reasons, one it is a holiday and everywhere will be closed and 2, will we have a car? Please pray for us.

Love in Christ.

Malcolm

Ukraine Spring Report #15

Report 15 for Friday and Saturday.

Vadym and I headed out to Yabluniv and were there 15 minutes before 10 am, that’s a first!!

We found we were speaking to 2 or 3 classes of grade 4 and 5’s packed into a classroom.

They were very interested and took great part in answering questions. There were 5 or 6 teachers in as well who also seemed to enjoy what we had to say.

We then went to the senior’s home and delivered a big box of pampers. It seems by all the bags and boxes of vegetables in the office that they depend very much on charity to keep going.

We went over to the orphanage to see some of the performance the students are performing in Kiev this month but there were not enough of them and they would have to change etc. So we watched a DVD of a performance they had done for a minister from the Education Dept. It was quite good and they gave me a DVD of it. (The performance was good the taping was not)

Saturday.

A day to clean up the apartment, put another set of metal shelves together, sort out a lot of empty and half empty boxes of clothing. It looks like we have lots of winter clothing but hardly any summer clothing. I washed a pair of white sheets and it took 4 hours? These washing machines are so slow but I think we had it on a wrong setting as I did a load in an hour tonight after Vadym came and read the instructions. (If at first………… alright I know the rest!).

Felt very fit and brave, so walked down town to the market and bought some things and walked back and CRASHED for an hour. The reason I was so tired was that it was very hot today and had nothing to do with my fitness.

Spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for Sunday.

Poor Vadym was beside himself. A week ago he ordered a part for his Toyota car. It was only available from another city and was sent by bus. It was the wrong part, so Vadym phoned and told the man specifically what he wanted. The part arrived today the same as the first one!! The problem is now that every where is closed until Tuesday. We are going to be using his father’s old Lada for a few days.

So goes Ukraine, carelessness about so many things.

Went out for pizza for supper and then helped get the Lada to Vadym’s home, it was at their datcha and had not been run for 6 months as his father passed away a month ago.

Not very productive but you need a day like this sometimes, to clean up and catch up.

God bless you all and please pray that we will be lead to the right places for my last 4 days.

Malcolm

Ukraine Spring Report #14

Report #14 Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday was another lovely sunny day, up in the 20’s C. So many tulips everywhere; every garden seems to be loaded with them as well as public parks. There are people, either parents or grandparents walking everywhere wheeling babies and walking pre-schooler.

We set off for Labulin where the orphanage, and the peoples home are. There is also a large school that we have visited a number of times before. We went to the school to see when we could talk to the kids.

Administrator was away but the assistant told to come back on Friday at 10 am, as the young children leave school early and we need to be there early if we want to speak to them.

We said we would come on Friday and went on to the orphanage to deliver the material we had bought for the costumes the students needed for the competition they were entering in May.

The administrator was also away, it seems to be the time of year for staff in-services, as either the administrators or teachers seem to be away.

We then went to the senior’s home and gave them a walker we had sent from Canada and 3 bundles of adult pampers.

Not a very profitable day as far a speaking to children but that is how it goes. We tried to find the phone number of the school before going but no one seemed to know it. (Strange because Vadym seems to have everyone’s phone number in the whole area in his phone!).

I can’t remember what we did when we came home, I must have been tired, I know we went to bed early.

All for Wednesday.

Thursday was another bright sunny day. As it was Nick’s last day here, we spent most of the day around town. We went to visit Natalia, the 36 year old who is bedridden with MS. We got to cheer her up and she cheers us up with her ready smile and happy attitude. Her mother and boy friend were also there, so there was plenty to talk about. She was telling us about a TV program that told about the discovery in the US of a cure for MS. We had not heard about it, but she and her mother were quite excited about it.

Her biggest concern now is the awful rash she has on her face from a reaction to one of her drugs. She looks as if she has got a 3^rd degree sunburn, but it is healing.

We left there and headed to the Epi-Centre to buy a folding bed, as most people visiting in our apartment would not want to sleep on cushions on the floor like Nick did, by choice I might add!

We cleaned up the apartment for the meeting at 5pm and got Nick packed ready to leave for Lviv right after meeting.

There were a nice number of people at meeting and we had Vadym speak to the people first. He seemed to do very well as the people listened attentively. Then Nick gave his final message and I closed.

Funny enough, we all spoke from Romans.

After meeting we gave prizes to the 4 people who said the books of the Old Testament. We gave the 3 ladies a bunch of flowers and some money and the young man an insulated mug and some money.

They all seemed very happy.

We then rushed off to Lviv for the 2 hour drive, dropped of Nick at Flo’s, spoke to Howard who arrive at 4 pm and was still in a zombie state. Then back home arriving at 11pm. very tired.

All for now, keep praying. Malcolm

Ukraine Spring Report #13

Report # 13 for Monday April 25.

We had to be up early as we were going to a very large school over 2 hours
away right on the Romanian border. It is one of those out of the way
forgotten towns and schools. They don't even have a gas supply, the pipe
ended at the border and they heat the 400 student school with scrap wood
from a saw mill.
We had phoned to ask if they had any needs that we could help them with
and they needed sports equipment. We went to a very good sports equipment
store that gives us a 10% discount. We bought some soccer, volley ball and
a basket balls, a volley ball net and a badminton set.
We met with about 100 or more of the students, the senior graduating class
wanted us to speak in English to them. They have a very good English
teacher and they listened very well and understood what we were saying,
when asked.
We spoke to many of the junior students but many of the middle grades
could not come as there was a fire alarm check before we got there and all
the students were on the playing field. This meant that they were out of
class and it is getting near exam time.
The equipment was very much appreciated by the lady administrator who had
a tremendous responsibility not only with the running of the school but
over 200 of the kids board at the school all week, as they live up in the
mountains and cannot travel each day.
She has over 60 staff.
We prayed with her before we left for home and got home at about 7pm, very
tired but glad for the opportunity to speak to staff and students.


Tuesday April 26.
We had a few things to do before heading out to Petriliv (Peter Village)
about an hour away. We had visited there last week and found that the
school was badly in need of school supplies. As they have always given us
a great welcome and we have always spoken to all the children, we felt we
should help them. We bought them a copier/scanner and paper, pencils and
crayons, coloured paper, pens etc. We also managed to get them a used PA
system for their auditorium.
We hit the right day as they were having an in-service with six teachers
from other schools. The students started off with a skit about "Why we
don't need mathematics". It was very good; they then had two teams answer
academic questions. All very well done.
They then asked me to speak to everyone there and tell them why we come.
It was a good opportunity in the gospel. We also gave all the teachers and
visitors New Testaments.

Then the Mayor, Olga said how much she appreciated us coming and what we
have done for the school. Then two students gave us final thank you from
the student body.
It was all very nice we REALLY are appreciated there.

We were then escorted to the dining room for a traditional Ukrainian meal.
I can't begin to explain it except that it was wonderful. We said our
goodbyes and headed back home in the pouring rain. As I write this it is
pouring right now.
We had a nice meeting at 5pm and spent some time with a lady who is not
yet saved but I think will not be long getting saved. Pray for Sveta.
All for now, God bless and keep praying.

Malcolm and Nick

Ukraine Spring Report #12

Report #12 for Saturday. April 24, 2010

We had a light breakfast today and Nick prepared it. I do the dishes or something else so it works out well.

We were to start early this morning as we had a lot of shopping to do and also wanted to visit Tania and her mother Natalia, who has the problem with her nose that has been half removed due to a serious infection and is waiting for plastic surgery.

We went to change some Canadian money. I had changed some yesterday and the man said that if I came back today with a certain amount, he would give me a better exchange rate. The rate yesterday and today was 7.20R, he said he would give me 7.25R today. Vadym phoned a man who exchanges money on the street, who we have dealt with often and he gave me 7.28R. In this country it is not what you know but who you know that counts!

We went to a store to buy school supplies for the school in Peter Village that seems to be so far off the map that they are forgotten. We plan to go and take them on Monday and may be see the Minister of Something who plans to be there as well. We also got a good price on a copier scanner for their office.

After this we went to a fabric store like I have never seen before to get material for the orphanage we went to the other day, so that they can sew costumes for the student to perform in a competition.

We are going there on Wednesday and hope to speak in the big school next to the orphanage. We have been there before and had a very good reception.

We went to Tania,s home for a light late lunch and saw Natalia again. She now has not only lost her nose but the Chemo has caused all but 3 teeth to fall out. It is strange but she never lost any hair. For a woman of 48 she looks like a poor old woman. We talked with them and spoke of hope in Christ and then gave them some funds to help them with the further surgery. They both wept openly at the generosity of the Christians in Canada for meeting their need. It was very touching. If only we can see this dear lady made whole; It will cost a great deal for the nose build up and skin graft, but God is able to provide.

Nick and I came home and I washed the outside of our apartment windows. They are lovely new windows but don’t think they had been washed for a long time. Nick made supper of pilemeni and horrible canned peas, but we were satisfied. He has just gone for a walk and I am going to get ready for meeting at 3 pm tomorrow.

Good night and God bless.

Malcolm and Nick.

Ukraine Spring Report #11

Report #11 for Friday April 23, 2010

Nick was up first today (after all, he was in bed by 9:30PM!) and cooked scrambled eggs and bacon. Sure smelt good, but not our kind of bacon, but Oh well, that’s one of the costs of being a missionary!!

We were not planning an early start so got some ironing done. By the way, Nick now has some nice cream shirts as he didn’t know that new cream towels tend to “share” their colour with anything white, including white undershirts!

Well we wondered where our driver was and called him. Well he was walking over as his car had given up the ghost. As soon as he arrived I got him to phone and find one to rent. He phoned everyone he knew and nothing was available anywhere. Then the lady who rents us our room here called him about something and he told he was trying to find a car to rent. She asked him if he wanted to rent hers. She has a Nissan Rogue SUV. He told he what it would cost to rent from a rental agency and she said she would rent for 50R less a day. So we have rented it for 7 days. It is a lovely car, like new.

So we came home and really loaded it up with children’s bible stories, baby clothes and blankets and items for an old people’s home. It was really full. We headed for one of our favorite towns Yabluniv.

We can help all ages in this town. We go to the maternity hospital with baby blankets and clothes for the new born babies. A lot of the mothers are from the hill and mountain area and are very poor. We met the head doctor of the whole hospital complex and he was very appreciative of what we were doing.

In the same building is the old people’s home and we took adult pampers and two nice blankets for two of the ladies there.

We also went across the road from the hospital to and orphanage of 127 children of all ages.

We spoke to them all and then gave each one a new tooth brush donated by my dentist, Hans Staziuk who is also of Ukrainian EXTRACTION, Excuse the dental pun.

We asked the administrator if she had any immediate need and they have students attending a Ukrainian festival and the need costumes, so we are buying the material for them to make themselves.

We then headed home rather exhausted and had supper and plan to do some much needed shopping tomorrow for medications and the material as well as school supplies for Peter Village school.

It was a gorgeous day, warm and sunny and looks as though Spring has really Sprung.

Thank you for praying. We trust Louis and Dan got home without any problems.

Malcolm and Nick.

Ukraine Spring Report #10

Note …..Louis & Dan were able to fly to Warsaw today, then over night there and on home tomorrow.

Report #10 Wednesday April 21.

As there is no meeting on Wednesday we planned to go to Petriliv, or Peter Village. Vadym had phoned to the mayor, Olga, and she said we should come in the afternoon so we arrived at 1 pm.

It is a lovely drive through the valley of the river that flooded the whole valley 2 years ago. Thankfully no one died who were flooded but many lost their homes under 6 to 8 feet of water.

The biggest surprise to , as I had not been to Petriliv for several years, before the flood. To put it mildly, the whole town was a crumbling disaster, a former large collective farm no longer operating.

Since the flood, the government has taken notice of the area and poured millions into the area. They have built about 16 lovely new, 1,2 and 3 bedroom houses, well up the hill away from the river.

The Village hall, where the Mayor, Olga’s office is, has been almost completely renovated. When I was last in it, I thought they should knock it down and build a new one.

We left Olga to go and visit the school. Most of the children were working outside either at home or helping others. We were joyfully welcomed by the Principal and teachers. There were about 20 children in school so Nick gave them a little object lesson.

We went then to the Principal’s office where we were served a late lunch of fried (cold) fish, macaroni and sauerkraut. Quite tasty really.

We found out their needs, which were many, and agreed to do what we could. The funds that came to the region did not come as far as the school, even though the water filled their gym 6 feet deep. They showed me the mark on the wall. Fortunately, the gym was in a basement.

We came right home and got ready to spend our first night in the new apartment we have rented for the meetings. The weather turned very cold and wet in the night and we had not turned the heat up, we spent an uncomfortably cold night in bed. I was in the bedroom and Nick slept on the floor in the living room on all the cushions off the divan and chairs. We are getting some better bedding for tonight.

Good night and God bless.

Thursday April 22.

The Rain had stopped in the night but there was a bitterly cold wind with snow not to far away, we were told.

Nick boiled eggs for breakfast along with toast and cereal. Quite sufficient to start the day with.

Vadym arrived in his wife’s car, as his had thrown the timing belt and was already in his garage with his mechanic fixing it.

We planned on visiting some people in town today as we had the meeting at 5pm. We went to visit one sister but she was not home, which was unusual. We found out that her son, who is mentally challenged, had to be taken to hospital for some reason. Anyway he was brought home later.

We then went to visit another home and just caught Dana as she came in from the village where she has a garden. A major renovation had been started 6 months ago but is still not completed. The man who is building her cupboards has not installed them yet. She has not had a sink for six months.

We are following up on the delay.

We shopped for some items we still needed in the apartment and got ready for Meeting tonight.

We were pleasantly surprised by a good number coming out and 3 new ladies attending.

We are hoping for a full house on Sunday.

I put up one of the sets of shelving we bought, what a job! I left the other one until tomorrow, maybe!

Good night, please keep praying.

Ukraine Spring Report #9

Report #9

Sunday 18^th of April.

We were up at 6 am to leave by 7am to go to Lutsk for the morning meetings. We eventually got away with 2 vans and 13 people. It takes just under 3 hours to get there, so is a little tiring but the roads are certainly better than a few years ago.

We all packed into the small room that is useable in their “being renovated” building. Things really take a long time to get done in Ukraine but the building is progressing and is going to be very commodious once it is finished.

The men we had baptized on Saturday, wanted to break bread, so Timothy Sloan interviewed them 10 minutes before meeting and they were received into fellowship. They were very happy and have been told what the assembly is and what the responsibility is to part of one.

Right after the B of B Nick and I ministered the word. We then all went for pizza and headed back home again.

Monday 19^th of April..

Because of an invitation to a school in Chevrongrad, where we were last week, Flo wanted us to stay and speak there, so we headed off as early as possible. We were well received and spoke to the whole school in 3 groups of about 100 each. Nick suggested I speak to all three groups which I did. The teachers were very happy and one asked some very interesting questions.

We headed back home so as to be ready for Vadym, Louis and Daniel coming in time for supper and then Nick and I going back to Ivano Frankivsk. Sveta, Vadyms wife came along too as they used her car.

They arrived at about 7pm and we had a good chicken dinner prepared by Flo.

After talking for a while we managed to pack our 4 bags, boxes of bibles and several bundles of adult pampers into the car. Vadym drove in driving rain most of the hour and a half home.

We went round to the new meeting room to unload the bibles and were really impressed with the apartment, it is totally renovated and has all the latest heating and fixtures. Nick and I decided we would move in there in a couple of day and give Vadym and his family their home to them selves. We will come to eat supper with them.

Tuesday 20^th of April.

We woke to a miserable rainy day with heavy overcast skies.

We received news from Lviv that owing the volcano catastrophe, Louis & Dan could not leave on Tuesday and not be able to get out for two weeks. This is bad news for Louis, as he needs medication twice a day and he is out of pills already. I think they are getting some in from Kiev. I guess they will stay and work with Flo until they can get home.

We were invited to visit a blind lady Maria, who attends all the meetings and is saved. For the first time for me, she had cooked borsht and chicken and potatoes. Well the bowl of borsht was so large we could have bathed in it, but we struggled through it and the chicken but did not have any potatoes. Maria has two children, an 11 year old boy with a problem, maybe a.d.d or the like, his older sister is in university studying tourism, a nice girl but not saved. We talked with her for a while.

We decided to shop for the things we would need in the new meeting room as Nick is going to try out his culinary expertise on me. (I’m glad I have health insurance!) It took longer than we expected, to shop and we were late for an appointment with a lady who is house-bound but always wants a visit. We rushed in and found bowls of borsht sitting steaming on the table and a massive bowl of mashed potatoes and meat cakes. Well I could only eat half of my borsht and one meat patty.

We ate and ran, as we only had 50 minutes until the meeting in the new room.

We arrived at 4;55 and some people had already arrived. About 16 eventually came and we had a good meeting. They are so glad to see me back and really enjoyed their first “taste” of Nick.

We gave them a challenge to learn the books of the Old Testament, last year many of them learned the New Testament. We’ll see how they do.

Sorry this will be bunched up but I cant get on line until Thursday.

God bless and please pray for Louis and Dan.

Ukraine Spring Report #7 & 8

Reports #7 and #8

We had to be up in good time as Nick and I were going alone to Holovetsko in the Carpathian Mountains. Flo was going to stay home to prepare the meal for the people who would be coming for the baptism on Saturday.

Before going we had to shop for food items to give away to some of the very poor families who live in the village. There are some large families in the area, one lady we visit has 14 children.

It takes a good 2 ½ hours to get to the village over the most dreadful roads for the last third of the trip. The weather was bright and warm until we got into the mountains when it turned dull and rainy at times. We met our “guide and interpreter” Natalia, on the road, she was walking home from another village. I met her the first time I went to the mountains, several years ago. She is a teacher of English in two schools and had to walk from one to the other each day. When I was here with Dr. David Brandt, we bought her a bicycle which she still has and uses.

She was single when we first met her but is now married with two lovely little girls. She got saved, so she says, when she was interpreting for us and I was using the “2-roads Chart”. We trust it is so . She is so useful to us as she knows each family and their needs and we travel around and let the people sort out some of the used clothing and we give out the food items. At each stop, I gave a word in the gospel, they always listed well.

It rained quite hard several times but this did not hinder the people coming. It is very interesting seeing people coming down the hills and across the stream, just to get some used clothes and some food supplies.

We went to Natalia’s sister, the lady with 14 children, and she gave us a good lunch before we headed home.

It was not only a rewarding day but also very interesting for Nick and John to see the “mountain people” and there way of eking out a living.

Saturday.

A beautiful day but a cold wind. News of the cancelled flights began to filter in as all the airports in Ukraine are closed because of the ash from the Volcano eruption. Louis and Dan are set to go home next Tuesday, so there is some concern but we hear things may be returning to normal by Sunday. We’ll see.

We had to get things ready for the baptism that was going to be held at 11am in the large Baptist church. People would be coming from Lutsk, the only Assembly in Ukraine as well as all the people who meet in this apartment. Flo and some of the other sisters prepare a meal for everyone back at the apartment.

We arrived at the church at 11 and the folks were all there from Lutsk plus our own people.

Anatoly is an interpreter from Lutsk and led the “service” with hymns and prayer, then Nick gave a good word on baptism. Timothy Sloan and his wife Rhoda were here and he was very glad to have Nick speak as he spoke at the last baptism.

I then baptized two brethren, Andrei and then Oleh. Andrei got saved when I was here last Fall when we were visiting and Flo was speaking to him. He is very bright and his mother is saved and in fellowship.

Oleh is the husband of Ola and the step father of Voladia who are both in fellowship. Ola’s first husband dies of cancer many years ago and she married Oleh within the last 5 years or so.

Everything went very well, UNTIL we went to change and found that the tank must have had an overflow and spilled over onto my dry clothes down stairs. Not very pleasant having to put wet clothes on. Anyway , we had a great time of fellowship and dinner back at the apartment.

We are going to Lutsk tomorrow so have to be up early as we leave at 7am to get there by 10am, a long trip.

God bless you all and thank you for praying for us.

Malcolm and our Crew.

Ukraine Spring Report #5 & 6

Reports #5 and #6 Thursday and Friday.

The morning broke with lovely sunshine as we planned to have our first visit to a school in Chevronograd. (purely phonetic spelling!)

On the way there we picked up Bogdan, a Christian brother who had arranged for us to visit this new to us school. Firstly, we had to go to the Dept. of Education office and Bogdan had to try to convince a lady that we were not going to indoctrinate the children with some strange religion. We wasted about half an hour as she sat in our van and went through our literature. She eventually said we could speak to the first 4 grades, but not the seniors as they were near to their exams.

We were spirited up to the third floor auditorium where about 100 first and second grade students waited. They were very attentive as each of us spoke. We then gave out suckers and stuffed gifts along with a children’s bible story book and a children’s hanging text. We could see that the teachers were delighted and as soon as the children were dismissed, they brought in another 100 older children who were just as attentive.

Before the last group came in, we were invited to the Principal’s office for tea and cookies. The reception was excellent and very warm by the several staff who were present.

To our surprise, another 100 came in afterwards with some older ones who I think had sneaked in. They too were very attentive and gave good answers to the questions we asked them.

As we were leaving, we were told that the principal had contacted two other schools and they both wanted us next week. We have lengthened our stay here to go and speak at the one school on Monday.

We left the town and headed to a Gypsy camp near by. What a shock! There were crowds of men, women and children camped in the woods near a garbage dump and a disused collective farm.

This was a new camp to me and certainly the biggest one yet. It was hard to believe, but one older lady said there were about 100 of them. These people looked very much more poorly dressed and dirty, but they were extremely friendly and some were probably saved.

We had picked up a saved gypsy preacher when we drove in, who was waiting for us alongside the road. His name is Misha and works as an itinerant preacher among them. There was also another gypsy preacher named Ivan, we think, who works with gypsies in the Carpathian Mountains.

After being introduced, a man and woman started singing to a guitar some of the hymns that we knew, but of course in Ukrainian. They led many of the others and they sang at the top of their voices, including some of the children.

Then we let Ivan speak to them and did he ever preach; full blast and quoting scripture as he spoke of the Lord showing his power to heal so many people, when he was here. After he spoke they sang another song and then Nick spoke, then another song and I spoke.

After we had spoken they asked us to pray with several sick people, plus one young lady who said she was baptized but could not quit smoking, would we pray that she could have victory. Then it was for a mentally challenged boy and a boy with probably rickets.

After that we gave out the food items and clothing we had brought. We then bid them farewell and headed for home after what we thought was a very rewarding day.

We arrived home weary but very satisfied that we had had such an opportunity to speak the Word to so many in one day.

Thank you for your prayers.

Malcolm and Crew.

Ukraine Spring Report #4

Report #4 Wednesday from Lviv.

Not a very nice morning, wet and damp. We all had a good night’s sleep, for the first time here.

A good omlette for breakfast, very tasty and good on a cold dull day.

Ruslan came for us and we went to his old apartment to pick up his old fridge and gas stove. They were both in lovely condition but we were going to donate them to the boy’s prison that we were going to visit today. The reason we were donating them was that the prison is starting some training programs for the boy’s to fit them for re-entry into society. Cooking classes are to be one of the programs. We paid Ruslan half the price of a new set that he is going to place in the apartment. Brother Edmond Johnston and his wife from Ireland plan on coming to work full time in Ukraine and will be renting this apartment.

We headed out into the country on our way to Kolomia, where the prison is located. It is about an hour and a half from Lviv on mainly good roads until we hit the city, then they change drastically.

We were welcomed warmly by prison staff and the main teacher in the prison school who is a Christian and whose wife also teaches a Christian Ethics class to the boys.

After being checked in through the guard house we went up to the auditorium. The boys came in and almost filled it. They are completely orderly and very attentive. There were over 70 counting several staff. Both David and Nick gave a short message and then I spoke using a flashlight that would not work because a battery was in wrong. They listened very well and responded when they were asked. Ruslan interpreted very ably and finished with a little word.

When we went outside, we were told that we were free to come at any time and what we preached was just what the boys needed. This was very encouraging.

We headed up the road a little and stopped at a restaurant for good soup and some pirogues.

We got ready for meeting once we were home and had a good time with a fairly good turn out with just two people sick. We were treated to a sister reciting Psalms 1-3 from memory, then Andrei ,who has a speech impediment and is being baptized on Saturday, recited the whole old testament books. It is so encouraging to see the growth in these Christians. He then told us he had got a job and starts work tomorrow. PTL.

All for now, God bless and thank you for praying.

Malcolm and the Crew.