We have come to our Sunday morning when we will have a chance to interact with a local church congregation.  Today we will be worshiping in Ukrainian, enjoying the music that may be different from what we are used to.  The ladies of the church have been preparing lunch for us, and we look forward to more good Ukrainian food.  Not that we haven’t had good food so far, but rather that we are thoroughly enjoying new things!

Yesterday we traveled by bus to the center of the city where numerous high rise apartments were built in the early 1950’s.  We were introduced to social workers who had selected 15 particularly needy families with children for us to minister to.  We took clothes, shoes, slippers, school supplies, combs, toothbrushes and the like, as well as large bags of food staples like rice, buckwheat, flour, oil, pasta.  These social workers knew in advance what each family needed and in one case, she stopped by a small open air market where those with gardens had brought their fresh produce.  She carefully selected fruit and vegetables for one elderly lady who had difficulty getting down from her 18th floor apartment to do the shopping! In each home we entered, we prayed with the adults and provided for the desires of the children of these poorest of the poor. We also distributed gospel bracelets, explanations, tracts and Bibles as it was appropriate.  One family visited by Hannah had nine children, and she felt led to pray specifically for the needs of that family before we left.  We were greeted graciously in all of these homes.  Eventually all five of our small groups reassembled on the bus and were taken to the Chernobyl Museum where we learned of the 1986 disaster.  Besides the city of Chernobyl, there were some twenty other smaller cities and villages that were contaminated.  Several days after the explosion, the residents were told to get on numerous army trucks to be evacuated for a “short time” while the clean up was being done.  When many began to die shortly thereafter, the government decided to quickly build hundreds of high rise apartments before the winter snows began to house those who had been evacuated.  We felt privileged to have been able to meet some of the needs of those who now live in these same apartment buildings, and to have been allowed to minister openly to the children in the villages that have sprung up just outside of the heavy radiation zone.  Continue to pray for those who heard the gospel, that their hearts might be receptive to repent and come to know our Lord.