I arrived in Ukraine Sept 15th after 24 hr. of travel and two stops on the way; Cincinnati and Paris France. Flying over Ukraine is like any other place in Europe; Farms’ villages rivers and a few bigger cities. Once on the ground however things change fast. I was told we did not need a visa but I worried about it to no avail. Sure enough here was a “None Visa” line. They are building a new terminal and they do need it. The line was long but when I got up to the booth and presented my passport and filled customs slip, I was told to go ahead no questions asked and no luggage checked. Migel (Michel) was standing in the crowd holding a sign with my name and I was glad to see him.
We have been in Kyliv village for two days but with jet lag it seems like forever. We hope that tomorrow will be better in terms of sleeping and feeling rested. The food is great, not really very different except that we had pasta with a sharp cheese mix for breakfast. Usually we have soup for lunch followed by a rice dish and hot tee, bread and cheese and some kind of baloney with almost every meal. Tonight we had potatoes for the first time and chicken. Hey, we are not suffering.
It is in some ways a second world country particularly away from the capital Kiev but that belies the character of the people. The Pastors are great people very friendly and open. This is obviously an eastern culture, people are very musical, out going .very expressive in speech. Every one gets to talk and not necessarily on the subject at hand. Everyone wants to talk as well.
Our lectures and messages have been accepted well with a lot of good comments. These are very intelligent people but given the history of seventy years of oppression there was little opportunity for training yet the church survived and is now growing. Seminaries are allowed so people do have the opportunity to train more today than in the pastThey are intelligent, friendly and open and very musical.
Yesterday we visited Kiev it is for the most part a modern city with good public transportation.
In the village I feel very much at home; that may be our European or African background but I could see myself living here with little difficulty.
Heavenhigh 