Trip to the Ukraine. The Ukraine Facts about the Country It is a little smaller in area than the...
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Transcript of Trip to the Ukraine. The Ukraine Facts about the Country It is a little smaller in area than the...
Trip to the Ukraine
The Ukraine
Facts about the Country
• It is a little smaller in area than the state of Texas•With a population of about 44 million people• Its capitol, Kiev is 5,340 miles from Nashville• It is divided by the large Dnieper River• The dominant religious institution is the Russian Orthodox church Their numerous domed buildings can be seen throughout the country
An Orthodox Church Building in Kiev
Purpose of the Trip
• To meet with congregations in Kremenchuk and Odessa• To teach them and build them up in the faith- Acts 18:23• To encourage them because of the danger and uncertainty they
were facing• Our lessons were prepared to accomplish these things
Our Travel in the Ukraine
• Landed in Borispil outside Kiev late Tuesday night• Immediately drove to Kremenchuk where
we taught for three days• Traveled by train to Odessa on the Black
Sea, worshipped with the church and had lessons on Monday and Tuesday• We traveled by train back to Kiev where
we did some sight seeing • We then returned home on Saturday via
Munich and Charlotte
Anya
• Member of the church in Kremenchuk• Made arrangements for the trip,
translated our lessons, served as our guide, got the best prices for us everywhere
Nickolai
• A member of the central church in Kremenchuk• Drove us from the airport in
Borispel to Kremenchuk and all around the city
In Kremenchuk-1
• A city with an area about the size of Lebanon• With a population of about 226,000 people •We met with members of the Central church and taught two
lessons on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night• A young member named Andrew served as our interpreter• They received us cordially and seemed to appreciate the lessons • They invited us to return and teach in the future
In Kremenchuk-2
• Andrew, his father and me in front of the Central church building
In Kremenchuk-3
•Members of the Central church present on one of the three nights
In Kremenchuk-4
•We also visited two orphanages in the area • And purchased and delivered
food to the Alexander orphanage in a village outside of Kremenchuk• Here the food is being loaded
into Nikolai’s trailer
In Kremenchuk-5
• Here is the food and some of the children in the orphanage
In Kremenchuk-6
•We also took food and shoes to a poor family in a village near Kremenchuk• Andre, who is a christian, is
almost blind and his younger sister, Valentina has poor eyesight
In Kremenchuk-6
•We visited a christian woman named Inna• She and her husband had 3
children, and they adopted 6 more• Her husband died earlier this
year• This is an old picture of Inna,
her husband and Mike
In Kremechuk-7
• This is an older picture of Inna, Nikolai, Mike, Anya and some of Inna’s children
In Kremechuk-8
•We ate with Anya’s family Saturday evening before leaving Kremenchuk• This is me with Anya, her parents
and her brother, Igor
In Odessa-1
• Odessa is a resort city of almost a million people located on the Black Sea• The Black Sea empties in the
Atlantic Ocean by way of the Mediterrain Sea• Here some men were fishing in
the Black Sea
In Odessa-2•We worshipped with the church in Odessa on Sunday morning and
Mike presented the lesson•We met for worship with members and presented lessons on
Monday and Tuesday nights •Michael, their preacher served as translator•We met a preacher named Alex from eastern Ukraine and ate with
him and his family• The members in Odessa were hospitable to us and invited us to
come back in the future
In Odessa-3
• Those members present for worship on Sunday morning
In Odessa-4
• Those present for one of the evening lessons
In Kiev-1
• Kiev is the capital city of Ukraine containing about 3 million people• There are a few small congregations there, but we did not have
contact with any of them•We visited several sites there including some Orthodox church
buildings, catacombs containing the bodies of “saints” and former president Yokanovich’s estate•We returned from Kiev to Nashville on Saturday
In Kiev-2
• St. Michael’s cathedral in Kiev
In Kiev-3
• Statue in independence square commemorating their independence from the Soviet Union
In Kiev-4
• One of many memorials in Independence square to those killed during the protests in February
Conclusion
• The congregations in Ukraine are few and small • Our brethren there are willing to receive instruction• They need teaching and encouragement to become more firmly
grounded in the truth of the gospel• Let us remember them in our prayers• Seeing the economic and spiritual conditions there makes me
appreciate the advantages and opportunities that we enjoy in this nation