Getting Ready to Go!

Greetings Family and Friends…

I (Karen) am blogging for us tonight…well, we have just finished packing up our things for our early morning departure tomorrow morning to Tulchyn. We figured we better pack tonight so we don’t leave anything behind. It has been a quiet day for us…we got up this morning and Jim made a nice breakfast—cheese omelets, toast w/strawberry preserves and o.j.—it was great! We then headed off to church while all of you were fast asleep. It was a brisk walk for us and a little slippery as things are kind of frozen around here. We enjoyed church very much and got to see some familiar faces of folks that we met last year at this time, as well as some new ones. One of the pastoral apprentice guys we met last year was being ordained today and so that was really special. We also got to meet another missionary family who have only been in Kiev for about 4 weeks, but they are not new to the mission field, just Ukraine. They were really nice and also have 2 adopted daughters…I especially enjoyed talking w/the wife!

After church we went out for a long lunch/dinner with a doctor-friend and his wife (Jim and Maryanna) that we had met here last year. Jim really wanted to talk to him about some upcoming medical trips that are in the “works”. It was great just sitting and talking w/this couple about their life and how they ended up in Ukraine. They took us to this neat little restaurant and we both tried some new and interesting food. Jim and I both had “pancakes stuffed w/chicken, mushrooms and onions”—they were delicious! I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed it. Jim also enjoyed a nice Greek salad while I ventured out and had “pancakes stuffed w/bananas, covered in a warm chocolate sauce for dessert”—Yum! It was sooooo good…I could have had a second, but didn’t want to seem piggish! Ha! Ha! Ha! We left the restaurant and headed back here to the flat where we have been packing and are waiting for Helen to arrive w/some important documents for us to travel to Tulchyn tomorrow. The walk back was quite brisk-I think it is about 19 degrees or so out there—cold! We had some snow flurries a little while ago, but it has all stopped.

I forgot to mention that while we were out to lunch/dinner our friends mentioned that they had a friend in the nearby town of Vinnytsya (about 1 hour north of Tulchyn) who is a believer and who would be a good contact for us if we needed a driver for anything or if we needed a translator, as his eldest daughter is college age and available and speaks good English! He also told us that this guy (Ruslan) has about 10 foster kids!!! WOW! But wait, there is more…while were sitting there our friend, Jim, gave Ruslan a call, as we will be in need of a larger vehicle tomorrow b/c once we get to Vinnytsya we will be picking up the director of Roman’s orphanage there (I forgot to mention that) and the car will be too small w/us, Svetlana, the Director, our driver AND our luggage! So, after Jim got done talking to Ruslan he told us that not only would Ruslan be able to help us w/transportation BUT he knew of Roman’s orphanage and has been there many times and was planning on going there tomorrow already!!! Talk about amazing…he is even hoping to foster about 6 kids from Roman’s orphanage…he also said that he has seen Roman before and knew exactly who were going to adopt! We were just floored…and it’s great b/c he speaks English very well! God continues to put puzzle pieces together all over the place…He is amazing!

Here is how you can be praying for us:

1) For a safe trip tomorrow…as of right now we are still planning on leaving sometime between 5:00-6:00 am…it is about a 3 hour drive or so to Vinnytsya and then a little over an hour to Tulchyn…we are not sure of road conditions so pray for safety.

2) We have a meeting tomorrow w/an “inspector”—kind of like a social worker—who will issue us a letter to go to Roman’s orphanage—pray for God’s favor and that he/she would be willing and wanting to get this done in a timely manner

3) As I said already, we are picking up Roman’s orphanage Director and will be traveling for about an hour w/her…pray again for God’s favor and that she will be desirous to help us get all paperwork underway QUICKLY and that she would be agreeable to help in whatever way she can. Pray that we will be able to show her the love of Christ, not just in word but in deed.

4) Pray for our living arrangements…not sure what they will be yet. I only asked that it be warm, have an inside potty and shower and that Jim not get asthma. Also, pray for someone to be willing to come and cook for us since there are NO restaurants in Tulchyn—so long as they don’t cook tongue, animal organs or pig’s feet! J ha! Ha! Ha!

5) Pray for us and Roman as tomorrow we will be reunited! WOW—it has been a long time coming.

6) Continue to pray for our children…and those caring for them.

We are not sure what kind of communication we will have once in Tulchyn so we will update when we can (you could pray for that too). We miss you all so much and love you and are so very thankful for your faithful prayers on our behalf…God is good—all the time!

Love and blessings,

Karen and Jim