News from Kiev

Sasha was a 3 year old little girl when her parents abandoned her.  She has a hyperactive girl with a foul mouth and none of the family or neighbors wanted her.  Jim and Sandi lived near her and saw what was happening.  After praying about it, they decided to take her in and make her apart of their family.  The older sisters took her to their apartment and loved and trained her.  Now they have a large house so that every one of the 25 + children can live together.  This little girl with a foul mouth and rough character is now a petite little 7 year old girl who is filled with joy and is quick to serve.  Lately I look at her and just marvel how no one wanted her except one family.  As a result of God’s love along with theirs, she is a new person.  She loves her new “parents” and has changed her name to Sandra after the mom.  Someone was teasing her and calling her Sasha the other day.  She yelled back… “I am not Sasha. I am Sandra!” hmmm sounds like 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am sorry to say that I haven’t kept up with my blog.  I got some feedback that made me hesitate blogging but I will try again.  Here it is a year later and again I am waiting for heat.  The usual October 15 date for heat to be turned on has come and gone and we still don’t have heat.  Even though a few weeks ago it was very cold, now we have had a warm spell.  Soon it will officially be winter.  I wonder when the heat will come on.

Of course, my life has changed this year.  I have moved from the capital city of Kiev to a city in western Ukraine.  I had been praying that I could leave the metropolitan city and experience village life.  If you pray according to God’s will, He answers.  I have moved to a historic town which was once a part of Poland before World War 2.  I have really been blessed being here.  I am teaching English/ministering to a family of 25 foster children.  Even though there are many challenges in working with so many children from dysfunctional families, they now have a healthy, loving, Christian family and I am blessed to be with them.  They have been ministering as a family in a village in the mountains and soon we will all move there.

But leaving Kiev has been eye opening.  I only have enough water pressure to wash my clothes or take a mild shower in early morning and early evening.  I had had water all day long even if low pressure, but lately I often haven’t had water during the day.  I can only use my small space heater plus being on the computer, but if I change rooms, I have to turn that heater off and turn on the other one.  If I want to wash clothes, I can’t heat water in the electric kettle or run my heater or I will blow my fuse and have to disturb my old neighbor to turn the switch it back on.  Generally I don’t have hot water but my old boiler in the bathroom will give me about 2-3 minutes of tolerable hot water before it is too hot to shower with.  I found myself mildly complaining earlier and then told myself that my family is planning to move to a little village.  Who knows if I have Internet, indoor toilet, etc.  So I told myself to stop complaining and adjust. Isn’t God good to give me a halfway point to adjust before throwing me into situation that may be even less than what I now have?