Planning a trip

An old photo of us

For quite a while my friend Alys and I have been talking about taking a trip around Ukraine together. She had one ministry she specifically wants to connect with, and I added several more. After talking about this for quite a while, we're finally doing it. We'll be leaving on Saturday evening, and these are some of our plans.

First, The Elisha Foundation: They have just moved to Ukraine, and we're excited to see what they are doing in Chernigov. I really don't know much about them yet. Alys connected with them through someone she knows in the USA.

Second, Wide Awake: These are my friends, although we haven't met in real life yet. I'm very excited to finally meet the Johnsons! We've written back and forth since before they even came to Ukraine. We might get to see the house and property that they're working on, which is a project so much like what Alys is doing, or we might just get to talk and share ideas and experiences. They work with MTU; I don't know if we'll get to see that ministry, too, or not.

Next I really wanted to visit L'Arche in Lviv. I finally called them just now, after trying various mixed-language written messages. (Remember, in Lviv they speak pure Ukrainian.) I talked to three very nice people, but they ended up saying that they're too busy for more guests next week. We could come almost any other time, but not now. So, that leg of the trip is cancelled. I still hope to go at another time.

That might open up another option, though. For Agape Will has been talking to Americans who work with an organisation called Rodyna. This was the first we had heard of them, and I thought it was too late to add a visit with them on this trip, even though they're right there in Kyiv. But maybe it's really not too late?

Please pray for us as we travel. Somehow pulling together plans for this trip has been rather difficult. It would be nice if the actually travel time was easier. Pray that we'll be an encouragement to the people we're visiting and that we will also be encouraged and inspired.

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UPDATE: The Chernigov part cancelled out, so we changed our tickets and pushed our departure back a few days. But I did make contact with Rodyna, and we're definitely going to visit them.