Okay, i can't figure out why I can't post pictures, so I'll keep working on that. Pictures would be much more interesting!

So maybe I should explain a bit more why we’re here. Back in February, Bill Lovelace showed up into our lives and got this all started. Bill is the District Superintendent for this part of the world (Ukraine, specifically). He’s a missionary with the GBGM as well.

He proposed we support these 3 churches in Ukraine (in and near Uzhhorod) for $10,000. “We,” meaning Church of the Servant. The Mission Council of COS had been looking for an international missionary or project to support, and this seemed like just the right one. But the Mission Council doesn’t just want to hand out money. We want to be more than a bank, or a foundation-type organization that gives out grants. We know that relationships are key in ministry, and if we want our choice of how we spend our money to be an effective one, it means we need to be involved. We need to get to know them (the churches), get to know the pastors and church leaders, find out their needs, and then help fill those needs. So our trip here is a relationship-building exercise. We started meeting with the pastors today, and have started to know more about them, and we have been telling them about us. Healthy relationships are two-way, so we also want them to know about Church of the Servant (we showed them pictures of COS today), and eventually bring some Ukrainians to Church of the Servant to visit. We can learn from each other!

So I hope that explains it. There’s a lot for us to learn here, and we’re already learning a lot. For one, there’s a big divide between the eastern and western parts of the country. The east tends to lean more toward their Russian past and culture, while the west tends more toward their own Ukrainian nationalism and own culture. Another issue they deal with is the oppression from the Soviets, and Stalin. It’s a long, complicated history, more than I can explain here. But the economy, corruption, poverty (or at least the divide between the rich and the poor) are all barriers to modernization and good governance.

Also, one of the pastors tells us that the Oklahoma Conference (or a church from within) bought the property for the church in Uzhhorod in 1924. Pretty cool.