Trip to the Ukraine

The Ukraine

Facts about the Country It is a little smaller in area than the state of Texas With a population of about 44 million people Its capitol, Kiev is 5,340 miles from Nashville It is divided by the large Dnieper River The dominant religious institution is the Russian Orthodox church Their numerous domed buildings can be seen throughout the country

An Orthodox Church Building in Kiev

Purpose of the Trip To meet with congregations in Kremenchuk and Odessa To teach them and build them up in the faith- Acts 18:23 To encourage them because of the danger and uncertainty they were facing Our lessons were prepared to accomplish these things

Our Travel in the Ukraine Landed in Borispil outside Kiev late Tuesday night Immediately drove to Kremenchuk where we taught for three days Traveled by train to Odessa on the Black Sea, worshipped with the church and had lessons on Monday and Tuesday We traveled by train back to Kiev where we did some sight seeing We then returned home on Saturday via Munich and Charlotte

Anya Member of the church in Kremenchuk Made arrangements for the trip, translated our lessons, served as our guide, got the best prices for us everywhere

Nickolai A member of the central church in Kremenchuk Drove us from the airport in Borispel to Kremenchuk and all around the city

In Kremenchuk-1 A city with an area about the size of Lebanon With a population of about 226,000 people We met with members of the Central church and taught two lessons on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night A young member named Andrew served as our interpreter They received us cordially and seemed to appreciate the lessons They invited us to return and teach in the future

In Kremenchuk-2 Andrew, his father and me in front of the Central church building

In Kremenchuk-3 Members of the Central church present on one of the three nights

In Kremenchuk-4 We also visited two orphanages in the area And purchased and delivered food to the Alexander orphanage in a village outside of Kremenchuk Here the food is being loaded into Nikolai’s trailer

In Kremenchuk-5 Here is the food and some of the children in the orphanage

In Kremenchuk-6 We also took food and shoes to a poor family in a village near Kremenchuk Andre, who is a christian, is almost blind and his younger sister, Valentina has poor eyesight

In Kremenchuk-6 We visited a christian woman named Inna She and her husband had 3 children, and they adopted 6 more Her husband died earlier this year This is an old picture of Inna, her husband and Mike

In Kremechuk-7 This is an older picture of Inna, Nikolai, Mike, Anya and some of Inna’s children

In Kremechuk-8 We ate with Anya’s family Saturday evening before leaving Kremenchuk This is me with Anya, her parents and her brother, Igor

In Odessa-1 Odessa is a resort city of almost a million people located on the Black Sea The Black Sea empties in the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Mediterrain Sea Here some men were fishing in the Black Sea

In Odessa-2 We worshipped with the church in Odessa on Sunday morning and Mike presented the lesson We met for worship with members and presented lessons on Monday and Tuesday nights Michael, their preacher served as translator We met a preacher named Alex from eastern Ukraine and ate with him and his family The members in Odessa were hospitable to us and invited us to come back in the future

In Odessa-3 Those members present for worship on Sunday morning

In Odessa-4 Those present for one of the evening lessons

In Kiev-1 Kiev is the capital city of Ukraine containing about 3 million people There are a few small congregations there, but we did not have contact with any of them We visited several sites there including some Orthodox church buildings, catacombs containing the bodies of “saints” and former president Yokanovich’s estate We returned from Kiev to Nashville on Saturday

In Kiev-2 St. Michael’s cathedral in Kiev

In Kiev-3 Statue in independence square commemorating their independence from the Soviet Union

In Kiev-4 One of many memorials in Independence square to those killed during the protests in February

Conclusion The congregations in Ukraine are few and small Our brethren there are willing to receive instruction They need teaching and encouragement to become more firmly grounded in the truth of the gospel Let us remember them in our prayers Seeing the economic and spiritual conditions there makes me appreciate the advantages and opportunities that we enjoy in this nation