Coming Home Soon!

Friday, June 1st - 8:00 am
posted by Lynette(Janell's sister)

I visited with Janell last night and they are very anxious to get home. They were going to spend the day getting their passports and getting rested up to begin the trip back home. They are leaving Kiev on Saturday and arriving in Cincinnati around 7:00 pm and spending the night there. Right now they only have 4 tickets to leave Cincinnati. They need all of our prayers so that they can all come home together that morning. The scheduled flight is suppose to be around 10:30. Janell will let us know any additional information as soon as she knows.

A Full Day

Tuesday May 29 at 9:30 pm

Got Jon writing this time...Janell will return soon :)

We were off early this morning at 6:00 am on our way to the orphanage. We arrived to see the last day of school ceremony take place. It was quite a presentation. The ninth grade class graduated as well. We then waited for Seroge and the Deputy Director of the orphanage to go and get the court decree signed. We have a story about that to tell when we get home. All went well and after they returned to the orphanage we packed up Lienna and Tanya's things. Mostly toys. They did not have many clothes with them. Another story to tell when we get home. The girls said their goodbyes and it was tough for us to know the reality of that situation for our girls and for the other kids still at the orphanage.

We headed to Bilivka, about a two hour drive, to get their birth certificates. We were there for over two hours as they checked every detail of the court decree. We then raced to Odessa trying to get to the passport office before it closed. We missed it by about an half hour. We did make it to the Odessa vital records office, just as they were closing, for another stamp on the birth certificates. We will get the passports first thing Wednesday morning and then board a train to Kiev at 11:47 am.

Thank you for the prayers today. We waited around for many hours but the girls have done well. We are hoping things in Kiev will go smoothly and quickly so we can make it home soon.

All for now.

ten day waiting period over

Posted Monday, May 28, 2007 at 5:00 pm

Amber writes…Well it is hard to believe that we only have a few days left until we come home. I think I am ready to come home. I had fun at the orphanage spending time with the kids and getting to know some of them. Even though they have so little, they found things to give me as a gift to make my birthday special. I will miss some of them when I leave. I thank you for all your prayers. God has been really good to us on this trip.

Janell writes…..Yesterday Jon preached again at our sister church. We then had another meal and visited. We have really enjoyed the people we have gotten to know here and learned a lot about their church.

Pastor Alexander presented us with a gift at the end of the service.
Jon preached the second out of the three sermons at this Sunday morning service. If you think our Sunday services are long, try listening to three sermons with two in a different language. We have someone interpreting during the Russian message but with no pauses. It is hard to hear with two languages going at the same time and our interpreter has to talk fairly quiet. It amazes me how someone can interpret and listen at the same time. I have a huge appreciation for people who can do that and will do that. I was so thankful to our friends for interpreting. When Jon preaches he pauses after each phrase and the translator repeats in Russian. That is easier to listen to but harder for Jon to deliver the message. For those of you who have traveled to other countries and visited their church services, you know that we in America have no reason to complain about long services. Maybe we have it too easy as Christians in America if we are not eager to hear more teaching from the Bible.

This picture was taken after Wednesday night bible study. Their church has been under construction for several years. We know what that is like.
Pastor Alexander and his wife Lubov.

In the evening(Sunday), we walked to a salt lake with our friends, Tanya, Liza, and Dennis. Tanya is Vasily's wife and Liza and Dennis are 5 and 2. Tanya speaks English and has also been great to have as an interpreter as well as a friend. This lake is as salty as the dead sea. The salt and mud are therapeutic to people with all kinds of ailments. There is a large clinic here where people will come for treatments. The locals just go down to the lake and cover themselves with the mud. The lake is very large but shallow enough to walk across. The one drawback: the mud stinks. It was interesting but I opted out of the mud bath. Morgan, of course, loved it. I was mostly worried about her getting the coal black mud on her clothes because we have so few clothes along. I know, I know, I should just let the kid have some fun!

Today (Monday) we are preparing to leave. We walked several miles to a mall and found pizza. It tasted so good! We only order ham and pineapple because those are the only words we know. The other choices here seem to be salami, chicken, fish, and veggies. The crust has always been thin, very little sauce, and the cheese is a little different. We think maybe it is Russian cheese. We got a few other supplies and headed back to pack.

We leave tomorrow morning very early for the orphanage to pick up the girls. If all goes well, we will be on an overnight train to Kiev Tuesday night. On Wednesday we could complete documents and be ready to leave on Thursday. Then we will have to try to get two plane tickets for Tanya and Lienna and change our four for an earlier flight home. That may be the toughest step. So we don't know when our next blog post will be. Maybe we will be headed home when you see it next! Hopefully we won't be in Kiev another week.

Shopping in Odessa

Saturday, May 26, 2007 at 5:00 pm

We got final word today that Monday is a holiday here. We are not sure what holiday though. Therefore, we will be going to get Tanya and Lienna very early on Tuesday morning. Seroge, our facilitator said Lienna has called him and is anxious for us to come and get them. Seroge and the deputy director will go Tuesday morning to get the court decree signed and you can pray that it will go smoothly. That should be about 1 am Central time so you can just include it in your bedtime prayers. We will get to stay at the orphanage to pack up the girls and say good-byes while they get the paperwork done. An answered prayer: we have found a van to take us to the orphanage and drive us around Odessa to do paperwork on Tuesday. It shouldn't be as exciting (nerve-wracking, treacherous) as the taxi here.

Morgan being Morgan!


Today we were blessed with some clouds and a cooler breeze! We did the Ukrainian thing and walked lots of miles today. We did some shopping for gifts for the kids at the orphanage and found McDonald's. McDonald's is a good 45 minute walk. We succeeded in ordering our meal. We also got some more feel for the city life here.


Outdoor rumage sale, Ukraine style. People lined the sidewalks and streets with their items for sale. The clothes are not drying, they are for sale.


If you don't have a table, you put down a sheet and open for business. We saw hundreds of entrepreneurs like this.




Morgan writes.....


I am going to miss all the kids at the orphanage. It will be hard to say goodbye. I made a lot of friends when we were there for six days. Especially in school. It has been fun staying in Odessa. Pastor Alexander and Lubov found out I liked oranges and have three plates at every meal for me. I miss you all. Thank you for your prayers.

A Day at the Docks

Friday, May 25, 2007

Thank you so much for all the emails you have sent. Hearing from home is such a blessing to us and helps us keep going. In case you have tried, you can’t put responses on our blog site but you can email us with our normal email addresses. Unfortunately, each day brings frustration though as we try to connect with the internet. So we never know if we will get our blog updated or get our emails.

On Thur May 24, 2007

Yesterday, (Thursday) we went for a boat ride from the Odessa dock. While waiting for our boat, we saw a large ferry from Turkey come in and watched it dock. While sitting on our boat we watched other large ships (above) come in and saw how the tugboats maneuvered them in the port. We sat on our boat for two hours. Pastor had driven us down to the port and does not speak English so we could not ask what was happening. He was a little frustrated too. But it was a nice day with a breeze off the sea so it was comfortable. The girls also watched the jellyfish. Morgan however found a Ukrainian girl her age to befriend. It took a whole hour before she talked to her though which is longer than usual for Morgan. When the boat finally took off we got a nice ride along the coastline of Odessa.


In the evening we went to Vasily and Tanya’s home and ate and visited. The girls played and picked fresh strawberries. The gardens in Ukraine are huge and they can grow such variety. They produce grapes, cherries, pears, and strawberries along with their many veggies. Jon wants everyone to know that he has eaten quite a variety of veggies. Most of the food here is homegrown and we are told some Ukranians get sick from American food due to the preservatives.
Today (Friday) is laundry day, rest, and try to stay cool. For those I asked to pray for warm weather for me, Jon says you can quit! We are trying to get some breeze blowing through our dorm to cool it down at night.

Our room is second floor on the far left. This is a new building with ongoing construction all around it at the seminary.

This is the main office building for the seminary in Odessa.

Going Underground

Wednesday May 23, 2007 (posted Thursday at 9:30 pm)

Today we traveled with Sasha and his cousin Julia. Sasha is a deacon at Good News Church and also the AWANA missionary for this region. Julia came along to translate for us.

They took us to visit some of the Odessa catacombs which run underneath much of the city. They are actually unable to build a subway system in Odessa because of all the catacombs that exist. The city may collapse if they tunnel anymore. It was very interesting to see how and where these people lived in the catacombs.

We had lunch at the church and then were able to spend some time in the afternoon resting in our room.

In the evening we attended a Bible study and fellowship time at Good News Church. Jon led the Bible study and answered many questions about our church in South Dakota. It was a more casual experience and interesting to see that Ukrainian Christians wrestle with many of the same issues that American Christians do.

We have been well taken care of by the Christians here in Odessa. They have been very hospitable and kind to us.

Much of the following is copied from another person’s blog. He wrote such a good summary of our tour and I don’t have time to write that much.

Odessa is said to have two cites. One above ground and the other below the surface. Odessa is built on a thick bed of limestone. For well over a century, the builders of Odessa mined blocks of limestone from below the surface to construct the city above the surface. Over time, the mine shafts formed a labyrinth of tunnels, or catacombs, below the city. There are three layers of tunnels. The first, or top most layer consists of softer limestone mined for roads. The second and third layers were comprised of harder stone and used for construction of buildings.There are over 3,000 kilometers of tunnels under the city. If laid end to end, there would be enough tunnel to stretch from Odessa to St. Petersberg. Catacombs run anywhere from 12 to 20 meters below the surface. The third, or bottom layer has been flooded by water. At one time, the catacombs were mapped but, during WWII, the maps were destroyed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Nazi’s. Today, the catacombs are sealed to prevent curiosity seekers from becoming hopelessly lost and to curtail criminal use. In 1941, the Nazi army laid siege to Odessa. For 109 days, citizens could not receive food and supplies by either land or sea. Odessa's waterworks were destroyed by bombardment. The regular Soviet Army and citizens of Odessa used what ever means possible to hold off the invaders, including, the catacombs. The vast, network of tunnels were perfect to launch attacks and move both fighters and supplies. Eventually, the city fell to the Nazis and for the next 3 ½ years, the resistance or, partisans, used the catacombs to harass the occupying force. Many children, some as young seven years old, fought against the Nazi’s. Odessa was home to many Jews and the catacombs were used to shelter them from Nazi patrols.The Nazis used specially trained dogs to pick up on the scent of the catacombs. Anyone on the surface who was identified by these dogs was assumed to be part of the resistance and killed immediately.

This is the entrance to the catacombs. To the left is a door in, in the middle you can see layers of shellstone as it is called here. Also in the middle is a memorial. To the right you can see how blocks of shellstone are used to build.

Behind this door is a path to the center of Odessa. Above ground it is 15 km. Through the path of catacombs it is 100 km.

This is an office for planning. They had a phonograph for music, typewriter, library and an oath to fight to the death.

Bedroom. It appears as if bedding consisted of mats made from dried reeds or straw. Living quarters were divided into three sections: men, women and families.

A barrel used for an oven.Kitchen. The occupants of the catacombs ground flour using a small, stone wheel and baked bread in a 55 gallon barrel that was converted into an oven. Smoke from the oven would give away their position so the oven was vented into the first level of tunnels, directly above the kitchen.

The well was also used to smuggle supplies and information to the partisans who were living in the catacombs. Partisans who remained on the surface, would go to the village well at the prearranged time to draw water. They would lower food and supplies in the empty bucket to partisans waiting below who would remove the supplies and fill the bucket with water (about six feet below this level) for the return trip to the surface.

A memorial to those who died from either direct military action, starvation or disease. Limestone carved into the shape of two hands, cupped together. A lantern rests in the open palms of hands.

As part of the memorial, the face of a weeping woman was carved into the tunnel wall. When enough condensation forms in the hallow of her eyes, it trickles down her face to appear as if the woman is weeping in sorrow. It is damp and chilly in the tunnels. On the right is a barrel used to heat water for their bathroom. The heat also dried their clothes.

Views of city surrounding the museum and entrance to the catacombs. It appears much as it did in the 1940's. Though it might appear like a rural village, this area is within the boundaries of Odessa.

City of Odessa

posted Wednesday, May 23, at 8:45 am
Yesterday, Tuesday, we got a tour of many parts of the city. Pastor Alexander drove us to meet Michelle who works at Internot #4 (orphanage #4). She is from Omaha and teaches craft and dance classes in the orphanage. Our church helps support her work. We had hoped to meet some of the children that are pen pals with some of the Mitchell Christian School kids. Unfortunately there is a government inspection and visitors can not come in this week. We went to lunch with Michelle and saw her apartment.

from left: Morgan, Michelle, Pastor Alexander, Amber, Jon

After that Pastor Alexander took us on a tour of more of the city. To summarize, Odessa is like many cities trying to restore the beauty of the old buildings. It has great potential though because of the beautiful old buildings and history here. They just finished another beautiful park with many benches that was quite busy on a Tuesday afternoon. Off from there was a street with many upscale shops that was closed to traffic and was paved with cobblestone.

Opera House in Odessa (under restoration)

The new apartments and the old apartments. We saw many old apartments that were built in the 1980's under Soviet control. Apartments then were assigned to people. Here is a picture of the balconies. They build onto their balconies in a variety of ways to meet their needs. Many have windows to create a sunroom. This is where their laundry hangs from.

Chess and dominoes in the city park.

We went to Arcadia Beach area. That was a nice beach, full of people, with many shops and more in progress.


We then went to Pastor Alexander's for supper and visited with their family for the evening. Their son and his wife did most of the translating and we learned about their family.