I've arrived! I am safe and sound in Ukraine. I've been here almost a week now and so much has happened!
My trip went well. Everything was very smooth. My flights were on time and my luggage all made it through safe and sound. There were no hassles about anything in my luggage (I had a couple of concerns). My flight was slightly delayed arriving, but my sister was there to meet me with her family and we were able to head out straight away to Rivne (the city where I live). They came to spend a week of vacation with me and my parents (who also live in Rivne).
The same day that I arrived (Monday) my bags that I had shipped also all arrived. As far as I can tell (without unpacking everything) they are all intact. The vitamins and medicine that I was worried about definitely arrived, which is a huge blessing!
The third blessing is that I found an apartment!!! It is an incredible blessing. It is unfurnished which is very unusual here; it has parket (wood) floors; two good sized balconies (it is a two-bedroom apartment); it's on the second floor and has bars over the windows already (this is a VERY good thing, even though I am in a relatively good neighborhood). Oh and it has a nice sized kitchen as well, not large, but certainly big enough for me. And a couple of built-in closets, which is virtually unheard of in Ukraine! Overall, I just couldn't imagine a better apartment for myself. I had hoped to find something closer in town, this is a little on the outskirts, but this is definitely the place the Lord led me to. To top that all off the price is quite reasonable for a two-bedroom here! So I am very excited. This week we have some people cleaning and painting it and I should be able to move in in a week.
I do have a couple of prayer requests:
I have a brutal cold and have almost lost my voice, so I would appreciate prayer for that particularly as it relates to the next request.
My parents and I are teaching English at a camp this week. We leave tomorrow morning early and return Saturday afternoon. We will be camping in tents in the mountains. This is an evangelistic camp with the goal of making friends with unbelievers and then bringing them into English Bible studies during the year and from there into the church. Please cover us in prayer, esp. my father as he'll be giving the morning devotional thought and the evening message as well as teaching English for two hours every morning. We are expecting about 120 people, half of which are unbelievers.
Please continue to pray for arrangements with my apartment as I get set up there and find my way around my neighborhood. There are minor repairs to be done there and I need to get internet set up as well. I was already able to set up my cell phone and I have a land line in my apartment as well. While work goes on in my apartment I am staying at my parents' place.
PS. The parket floors are important to me because of my allergies. It is much better for me not to have carpet.
Esther!!! Welcome back, sis!!!
ReplyDeletei hope to meet u sometime `couse it`s easier now while you`re in Ukraine:)
Lyena
Wow! Hi Lyena!
ReplyDeleteAre you still in Kyiv or are you someplace else now? It would be great to see you again!
How did you find me on here? :O
how i found u here....ummm...have no idea:) but i`m happy i did!
ReplyDeleteyes, i`m in Kiev and not going to move from here:)
are you going to live in Rovno?
im here:
http://nail-belka.livejournal.com/
and here:
http://www.photoshare.ru/user/nb/
would love to see u again, Esther!!!