Leave at Noon, Arrive after 3

Our return flight is scheduled to leave Warsaw at 12:10 p.m. local time and arrive in Chicago at 3:15 p.m. It looks like a short flight, but we're flying against the Earth's rotation. It's actually 10 hours 5 minutes if I did the math right.

It's flight LO0001 on a Boeing 767-300.

160 Decisions for Christ

According to the figures compiled by Brother Bob there were around 160 decisions made by Ukrainians this past week to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour.

While Larry Avery and Bettie Dugger saw the largest and most impressive outpouring of the Holy Spirit with all of the decisions made in the villages where they worked on the northwestern edge of Chernivtsi, all of the teams who went out on home visits saw immediate results.

What won't be known for some time will be the fruits of the seeds planted this past week.

Dealing with the youth this week I was disappointed in not seeing immediate results, particularly when I found out that we were going to be dealing with kids more than teenagers and young adults. I haven't helped with Vacation Bible School since I took part in it as a kid myself.

Needless to say they nearly wore us out, especially the imp on the left of this picture from some of the kids from Anadoly, a small village downriver from Khotyn and about an hour away from Chernivtsi.

We were there most of the day on Monday and Tuesday, playing games, teaching songs, and just generally telling kids about God. It wasn't called Vacation Bible School, but that's the closest description if take a normal 4-hour VBS schedule and triple it to 12 hours.

On the previous Friday and Saturday we went to the home of Brother Simon, one of the assistant pastors at First Baptist Church in Chernivtsi. His family was hosting the equivalent of a Backyard Bible Club in his garage with games at a nearby park down the street.



Like I mentioned earlier, I was disappointed at first when I learned that we had missed the week of youth camps and would be present for a week of kid camps. I didn't feel like what we were doing was as important as the other teams.

No matter how many times Jesus' words kept flowing through my mind - "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these (Luke 18:16 NIV)" - I still didn't see the connection until we all started comparing notes on the van ride to Lviv yesterday.

Oleta Arnold told of a visit she and my mother Betty Musgrave made to some friends of Brother Simon a day or so after we worked with the kids at his house. After witnessing to the family, including the two kids, repented and accepted Christ.

Later she asked the man of the house who had not wanted to sit down long enough to listen, why he finally did and made the decision he made. His answer was surprising. It was hearing the songs about Jesus and God his children had come home singing that they had learned from us and Brother Simon's children.

Young Adults Sing in Khotyn

The team that has been working with young people this week spent Tuesday evening in Khotyn, Ukraine, which is an ancient city about an hour away from Chernivtsi on the Dniester River.

It's best known for its fortress along the river which we visited last year and had a chance to visit again with the new members of our team on Tuesday. This was the second time for Joe and I at the church at Khotyn, pronounced Ho-Teen.

When they talk about youth in the Baptist churches of this part of Ukraine, they're talking about anyone up to around 30. Most of the people we met with Tuesday night were college age.

Every group can sing. Here they sing a praise song that's native to Ukraine (or Russia). Often times it one we know. Below is one of theirs.

Back in Poland

Our flight out of Lviv was an hour late, but the plane ride was comfortable and smooth. We're now back in Warsaw staying at the Radisson.

Warsaw is a beautiful modern city, and I'm not just saying this because there's free high-speed internet in the hotel room.

We're off now for a walking tour of the old city and dinner at 8 p.m. (two more hours). I plan on uploading some videos and photos later tonight along with an update of our (the Lord's) success on this trip.

Village Update

Jay and Larry Ditty returned yesterday from the mountains so I'm told, but I actually haven't seen them yet.

Larry Avery and Betty Dugger are supposed to arrive around noon today from the village(s) they've been at this past week. I just saw Oleta in the hotel lobby and she said there has been 80 to 90 decisions made in the villages where Larry and Betty have been working.

My team worked at the main camp yesterday at Boyen, ate dinner at our interpreter's house and traveled to another village about an hour away for church services and a meeting with some of the youth.

Tonight we should all be together and I'll be able to get better updates myself. I haven't talked to Bob in days, but we've passed on the streets at least twice.

Aubrey is developing quite a fan club. Some of the same guys from Tuesday night came to the church we were at last night and for some reason I don't think it was for my signing.

Update from Chernivtsi

Sorry for the delay in any updates, but my team has been getting back to the hotel each night between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

My team includes Joe Wagner and Kara Baker from DuQuoin and Aubrey Bogle and Matt Davis from Marion.

They've had us busy with younger children at day camps which are kind of like Vacation Bible Schools, except they run about 12 hours a day. Thankfully, we don't have to be there when they start.

We've been operating mostly in the Khotin area which is about an hour away from Chernivtsi.

We're definitely more spread out this this trip. Jay Ditty and his father Larry are in the mountains at a village. Larry Avery from Andulusia and Betty Dugger are at another village not in the mountain (I believe - I actually haven't seen them since Saturday), and Derek from Poland by way of Texas is at another village.

Matt's mother Virginia, my mother Betty and Oleta Arnold have been busy here in the city and Brother Bob has been around just about everywhere where we have people.

Everybody is fine. The food is great (both traditional Ukrainian cuisine and the three pizza restaurants we've tried as well).

My team is getting ready to take off here in a few minutes at 10 a.m. local time. We go back to one of the camps when to a church service tonight.

Keep us in your prayers. We have two more days here in Chernivtsi before we leave for Lviv on Friday where we will fly out of on Saturday.

We Have Arrived!

We have arrived.

Here's the satellite view of the city.


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We've Arrived in Lviv

Here's a picture of Lviv International Airport I found on Wikipedia. It was taken four years ago, but the exterior still pretty much looks the same.

I flew into this airport last fall. While the terminal is physically impressive it's certainly not designed for the 21st Century.

They're in the process of expanding the airport with plans to triple its capacity from around 110,000 passengers a year in 2005 to 330,000 passengers a year when it's completed, according to Wikipedia.

Here's the satellite view of the terminal.


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Leaving the European Union for Ukraine

Our flight to Lviv, Ukraine is scheduled to take off from the airport in Warsaw at 11:25 a.m. (which will feel like 7:25 a.m. Illinois time) and land at 1:45 p.m. Ukraine time which is an hour ahead of Warsaw.

It should be a hour and 25 minute journey on flight LO765.


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On the Wings of a Prayer, or at least LOT

Our flight is scheduled to leave Chicago at 5:25 p.m. It's flight LO0002 (that's LO as in LOT and 0002 as numbers) on a Boeing 767-200.

We're using LOT Airlines, which is the national carrier of Poland and one of the oldest airlines in the world according to its Wikipedia entry.

The seats are arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration so each of us only has a 1 in 7 chance of getting the middle seat. (Oh, why do I think this will be my lucky day!). The flight itself is 9 hours 25 minutes which means we should arrive in Warsaw at 9:50 a.m. local time.

Use this map. I think it will work to view our progress. It's from Flightview.com. If it doesn't work, or if you want more details such as when we actually took off, to to the website and search for flight LO (airline code) 0002 (flight number).

Off to O'Hare

It's Wednesday morning and time to go. Check-in for our flight begins at 1:25, four hours early, if we so choose to get there that soon.

We might go see something along the way today, or we may not.

Here's our map from Monee to the airport.


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2nd Baptist Team Readies to Leave

Here's what we looked like 9 hours ago. Now, most of us are asleep.

The eight of us from Second Baptist left Marion around 3:30 p.m. and Joe and Kara joined us at Benton.

We made it safely to Monee, Illinois, just south of Chicago, around 9 p.m. this evening.

Earlier we ran into rain a few times on the way up, including a severe thunderstorm at Arcola. We pulled off at a gas station and waited out the storm while eating junk food at the convenience store.

Tomorrow we get up and head to O'Hare to meet three more members of the mission team and to fly to Warsaw, Poland.

Keep us in your prayers.

On the Road Again...

On the road again.
Just can't wait to get on the road again.
The life I love is making music with my friends
I can't wait to get on the road again.

Okay, maybe Willie Nelson isn't the best choice to kick off our 2008 mission trip to Ukraine, but now it's here and we're finally on the road again.

Here's a map from Google, which you are free to zoom in or out using the + or - buttons in the upper left, or switch back and forth from the map view, the satellite view or the terrain view.


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Our goal today is the Holiday Inn Express in Monee, Illinois. That will place us at the south edge of the Chicago area and about an hour away from O'Hare.

Testimony Handouts

As in past years we are using a special handout as part of our evangelizing effort. It has the plan of salvation in both English and Ukrainian (or Russian in some of the older versions), as well as each one of our testimonies that has been translated as well.

Second Baptist Church - Marion

• Oleta Arnold — [Russian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]
  
• Aubrey Bogle — [Ukrainian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]
  
• Matt Davis — [Ukrainian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]
  
• Virginia Davis — [Ukrainian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]
  
• Betty Dugger — [Russian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]
  
• Betty Musgrave — [Ukrainian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]
  
• Jon Musgrave — [Ukrainian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]
  
• Bob Wagner — [Ukrainian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]

First Baptist Church - DuQuoin

• Kara Baker — [Ukrainian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]
  
• Joe Wagner — [Ukrainian: PDF | Microsoft Publisher]

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Why We Go

People ask me why do I keep going back to the same place. To a great extent it's the people. I've spent more time with some of my interpreters and drivers over there than I've seen some of my relatives here in Southern Illinois over the last few years.

This will be my four mission trip with the church to Chernivtsi, my fifth trip overall to the city and my sixth to Ukraine, counting a trip with the People to People Ambassador program when I was in high school.

Here's a slide show of some of the people that we've met, got to know and learned to love.

2008 Trip Almost Here

There's less than two and half weeks to go before the 2008 Ukraine Mission Trip for Second Baptist Church in Marion.

The map below shows our journey to and from Chernivtsi.


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Return Trip Changes

Brother Bob called yesterday and it looks like our return flight this summer has been change. It now looks like we are staying overnight in Warsaw.

Alternative Lodging for 2008

As much as we love the Hotel Cheremosh, there are alternatives in the region, particularly if we have a team focusing their time at the camp or if we send a team or two up to the mountains.

In Bulany, a village on the highway about 8 or 10 miles outside Chernivtsi and about 5 miles from the camp, there is the Bukovina Star Hotel.

This hotel is owned by the local rich businessman and is very modern inside. It's on the same scale as the hotel in Frankfurt that we have stayed at before. While it doesn't have wireless internet in the rooms like the one in Frankfurt it does have something the other does not — air conditioning.

For a higher price they also have first class rooms and apartments for 300 and 400 Grivna — $60 and $80 a night.

The shower even has a shower door and it's a larger opening than the tiny one at the Prosolok Hotel we use in Kiev.

Rates are 150 Grivnas for a one person room and 180 Grivna for a two person room. At the current exchange rates that's just $30 and $36 a room, or $15 and $18 a person per night. This is cheaper than the Cheremosh, and like the Cheremosh the prices include breakfast in the restaurant on site.

There's also a small amusement park across the street and just down the street is a 24-hour supermarket.

The same man also owns the Sun Valley resort just down the lane from the camp.

They have a number of modern high end cabins (the president of Ukraine has stayed there). Single room rates are 180 Grivna, First Class (3 people) are 400 Grivna and Business class - 250 Grivna. (Divide by 5 to get the amount in dollars).

It's more, but not that much more and anyone staying there could literally walk to the church camp. The two properties are neighbors.

On Friday Wally and I went to the regional tourism office near the university and talked with the staff there. We found out that there are lodging facilities in two of the mountain towns where there are Baptist churches.

In Vizinecha (bad spelling) there is the Nimchik lodge which looks like a modern establishment. Cost is $38 per person per night and that includes breakfast. (There is also whitewater rafting on the Cheremosh River at $34 a person).

In Putila, the village farthest from Chernivtsi there is a bed and breakfast inn that can host 8 people in presumably four rooms at $10 per person per day and that price includes meals. The house is relatively new construction. The bathroom is indoors with a modern toilet, but it is shared.

Weather Forecast Loods Good

The long-range forecasts for Chernivtsi have been fluxuating all over the place the last few days. Last week AccuWeather predicted highs in the 80s nearly the whole time we would be over there.

Then over the weekend they predicted a cold front would come through dropping the highs down to the 70s for most days and even in the 60s for three days.

Now, with less than a day before we are to leave, the forecast calls for highs in the 80s on only two days, and 70s in during the rest of the time.

The lows are usually about 16 to 20 degrees lower.

You can check out the current conditions at the Weather Underground site where it was 73 degrees a couple of hours ago at around 9 p.m. local time.