We have
arrived in Odessa, Ukraine and completed our first day of training. When we
arrived yesterday, the electricity was “off” and so we couldn't blog, send, or
receive emails. It is off again as I write this, but I trust it will be on
again sometime before we retire for the evening.
Our travel
was gratefully uneventful. We flew on United Airlines from SLC to Dulles,
Washington, D.C. We flew on Austrian Airlines -- a division of Lufthansa? --
from Dulles to Vienna, Austria. And then we had a Boeing 737 from Vienna to
Odessa, Ukraine. This last flight was interesting, because it was Ukrainian
International Airlines. The instructions and crew were in Ukranian, which was
too much for my limited Russian to follow. :)
None of us
slept much on the plane, and so after dinner and a brief walk around the
Odessian city center, we slept well. Our first accommodations are at the German
Ukrainian Lutheran Church. This is the headquarters for the Lutheran Church in
the Ukraine, and so their facilities include the bishop’s office, the pastor’s
office, a dormitory, and a large stone church building. It is a beautiful
facility, and only four blocks from the downtown center.
The key
theme in our training today was on service. We are here as servants—bond-slaves
of Jesus. Our grounding text is Mark 10:42-45. Our team has 18 people. We are
expecting a hundred children next week, and the same again the week after. Pray
for us to get over our jet lag We are glad to be here and serving Jesus and these
children on your behalf. P James, Jennifer Wollesen, Amber Wolff, and Wendy
Jepsen.
PS - the
photo is Wendy Jepsen, Diana, and Amber in front of St Paul's Lutheran Church.
