The first full day of activity began early as we met at the Ivano-Frankivsk airport at 6:00 a.m. to see the Nashville group leave. They are going to Kyiv and then returning to Nashville on Wednesday.
John Durham has remained behind for about five weeks and will be teaching English in the School of Law here.
After seeing the group off at the airport we stopped at the construction site on the Church’s property. The work is progressing very well. The plot is now visible and its size is impressive. The excavation is completed and the first layers of the black dirt has been removed (it took 150 dump truck loads to remove the black dirt!).
Today they were working on the fence that is to surround the property. I could see the foundation that has been poured and it is about five feet in the ground and then about twelve feet above the ground. Andrew the contractor met us there and observed that he was making sure this structure would last a long time.
The transformer has been installed and power line has been run. Over here you have to buy your own power line for electricity and run it to you site and provide the transformer.
They have dug the well and the water is potable. The well is 40 meters deep and will supply the Church with potable water from an artesian spring without any charge! All possible efforts are being made to construct this facility so it will be as self-reliant as possible.
We continue to face opposition from those seeking to destroy us. Now that the registration has been provided and we are beginning the construction, it would seem that all would look good. But today I was introduced to an engineer from the transportation department who said that he had received a complaint that since we are located on the main highway we need to provide an access road so that traffic can merge onto the highway. So, now we are being told that just turning right or left out of the entrance is not permissible but we need to provide a merge lane. There is a restaurant next to us who does not have this merging lane. So it appears that the Greek Catholics are still doing everything they can do to cause obstacles! We are dealing with this situation.
The congregation is excited about the building and are doing all they can to assist in the construction. They are also taking up a special collection for the building. They have made a wooden box that has a sign about the construction. Whenever any member has some money they want to give toward the building, in addition to their usual contribution, they place this in the box.
After the visit to the construction site we prepared to go to the Sniatyn children’s home which is about a two hour drive from Ivano-Frankivsk. This is home to 350 children ages 5-18. Some of the buildings were built in 1910 but are used to house and school the children. In every building there is marked “bomb shelter” which directs you to an underground area where the children can be kept safe if Russian bombs are sent. In previous visits Jerry Morgan and I have helped supply the home with school supplies, clothing, and some finances for food. The home receives money from the State to feed and clothe the children but it is less than 50 cents per day (this is to include 3 meals, clothing and shoes, school supplies, and health care!).
Upon our return from Sniatyn we had five minutes before our first evening class of the trip began. There were 26 present at this class—the largest ever first class count! We began discussing the topic “Making God in OUR image.” There was an energized discussion after the lesson material was presented. This discussion was really encouraging as it demonstrated the spiritual concerns that are present.
After our class was over we enjoyed a birthday “tort” (cake) that Marina brought. Marina’s birthday was Saturday but we were in the retreat and it was not practical for her to provide birthday tort for so many. So she waited until tonight’s class to provide the birthday tort. It was a delicious chocolate-sour cream tort!
Tomorrow I will be on the road again going 1-2 hours to visits and then rush back for the evening’s class.
Pray for our efforts!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine
You must be logged in to post a comment.