Hey everyone! Hope your Sunday is going great. As I type this, many of you are either in church or headed there. We have met with the Saints today and are back at our hotel doing some writing and relaxing.
Today was a good day. Valentine and Galena (pictured on the left), Evgenia, Elnora, and Mansoor were present for worship. Adding the two of us with our translator, there were 8 souls gathered this morning for worship. Valentine and Kipp led singing. I always enjoy getting to sing praises to God with these guys and today was no different. Where ever I go, I can’t help but think of the church in Mariupol when I sing I Need Thee Every Hour. We shot a little video (maybe 60 seconds) of the singing and the first part of the preaching service. After while I’ll process that video and post it on the blog. I hope you have been able to watch the Quick time movies I have posted to this blog.
After worship and the others left, we were able to visit with Valentine & Galena for a little bit. Valentine is 71 and having some difficulties with his eyes. Doctors have told him that his eyesight is getting worse and eventually will go completely away. He has been to all the doctors here and they have told him the same thing. There is a new doctor in town who has newer equipment from Kiev that he thinks may be able to do some laser treatments to improve his condition. We are hoping there may be an opportunity to help him with some benevolence and will check into this a little more before making a decision.
Valentine has continued to press us on going out on the town to take a tour of Mariupol....which is great...and will be enjoyable. But...he wants to do this without our translator...He says that he can point and say a word or two enough for us to understand what we are looking at. He wants to show us the surrounding countryside and other areas. We explained that the excursion will be much more enjoyable for us if we have our translator with us so we can understand what he is saying. Right now we are planning on going out with him on Thursday.
Valentine has a lively personality and I hope through the posts and email reports that you can get just a peek into his heart. He is genuine, open, and wants to make us feel welcome. He and Galena have been married 37 years and it is a lot of fun to watch them interact. They both go out of their way to make us comfortable while in their home. Their hugs and kisses on the cheek with a gentle “spaceba” (Thank you) make our day.
After worship services today, we had lunch and then have come back to the hotel...where we will be till tomorrow.
Don’t forget to visit Kipp’s blog: http://soupboysthoughts.blogspot.com
Have a great evening!