Day One (Dec 27): The Journey Beings [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on January 24, 2009 by Darren

This is the first entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later is now. I’m hoping to publish each days notes over the next week (one a day) but we’ll see what happens…

Waiting at the Toronto Airport for our flight to Germany

Well today was the day I left for the country of Ukraine on a missions trip with my church. I’ve been looking forward to the trip but also a bit pensive about it. Not knowing what to expect AND knowing I’ll miss my family I’m somewhat pensive about the days ahead.

Here’s the route we took today…Toronto (jet) – Frankfurt (jet) – Borispol(near Kyiv)(train) – Krivoy Rog (bus to apartments)

The flights were fairly uneventful. We had about a 1 hour layover at Frankfurt which meant we basically went to the boarding gate after landing from Toronto and waited to get on the next leg of our journey.

...This is a preview of Day One (Dec 27): The Journey Beings [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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Day Two (Dec 29) – Getting our Feet Wet [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Darren

This is the second entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later is now.

Today was our first full day in the city of Krivoy Rog and since we were still suffering from jet lag (and lack of sleep on the steam-filled train ride) we took it easy – scouting out a few places we’ll be spending time at over the coming week. Here’s a rundown of some of what happened today:

The guys at the boys rehab center...pretty creative with their costumes! (picture by Dan Davis)

went to boys rehab and watched a presentation they were putting on. Wow! Pretty creative stuff! They welcomed our team and greeted each us with home made “Happy New Years” pins.
In Ukraine New Years is a huge deal, and even bigger than Christmas (their Christmas occurs on January 7th)!
We were given a tour of what we would be working on at the boys rehab (sink area, showers, and front entryway) In Ukraine the front entryway of a building is the most important feature of the building. The front entryway of the building is a “status” thing.

...This is a preview of Day Two (Dec 29) – Getting our Feet Wet [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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(549 words, 2 images, estimated 2:12 mins reading time)

Day Three (Dec 30) – Reno Day [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Darren

This is the third entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later [much later actually] is now.

started the day out with a breakfast of an egg omelet of sorts and a small dough cakes with a sweet cottage cheese sauce – very delicious.
For the morning, some of team went to the McJoyful today, some went with Ed to a children’s hospital (for infants) and a crew went to work on the boys rehab. I went with the team to the boy’s rehab.
These are the sinks we replaced at the Boys Rehab Center

At the boy’s rehab we ripped out some old sinks and set in the new sinks preparing them to be hooked up tomorrow. We also tore out the front entryway and got it ready to finish the next day
Thoughts on the work there:
- We tore out the old sinks, stuff that would usually be thrown out back in Canada but here wanted to have them put to good use and reuse them in the workshop.

...This is a preview of Day Three (Dec 30) – Reno Day [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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(1120 words, 2 images, estimated 4:29 mins reading time)

Day Four (Dec 31) – Fireworks at Sunshine [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Darren

This is the fourth entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later [much later actually] is now.

after breakfast I spent time in prayer and message preparation. Still don’t know what I’m going to preach tomorrow and Sunday!
Joined some of the team to go to the bazaar to get a picture frame (for the picture of the ladies giving the teddy bears) and then fireworks for the New Years Eve celebration.
Went to McDonald’s to hopefully meet up with a team there for the McJoyful but they were already done.
Went to a mall near the McDonald’s – Walt wanted to look at some boots for his wife. There’s some nice footwear – price is fairly comparable to Canada BUT what is different is the quality for the price. FASHION is a big thing in Ukraine (and light years ahead of back home).
Had an awesome lunch – I was feeling a bit queasy though so I didn’t eat that much (“that much” is a relative term in comparison with the other meals I’ve eaten so far…the food is so amazing here)

...This is a preview of Day Four (Dec 31) – Fireworks at Sunshine [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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(1055 words, 7 images, estimated 4:13 mins reading time)

Day Five (Jan 1) – A Brand New Year [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on March 7, 2009 by Darren

This is the fifth entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later [much later actually] is now.

It was a beautiful bright sunny day today (although cold!)
Today we didn’t have breakfast until 10am allowing us some time to sleep in because of the late night before.
It was a bit of a slower day today because almost everything was closed with it being New Years Day
Ed Dickson with some of the kids who were at McJoyful

The entire team went to McDonald’s for McJoyful and we ended up having lunch there.
Following McJoyful we came back and got ready for the New Years day service at 4pm at the Krivoy Rog church (Pastor Gregory’s church).
The service was not a typical service but it was awesome with a wide variety of skits, special music, the worship was amazing, loud, special guests and of course I had the privilege of speaking.

...This is a preview of Day Five (Jan 1) – A Brand New Year [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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Day Six (Jan 2) – Driving Around [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on March 8, 2009 by Darren

This is the sixth entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later [much later actually] is now.

I didn’t really do a whole lot today other than driving around with Ed and Walt to various places in Krivoy Rog (I got to see a lot of Krivoy Rog through the day):

One of the girls from our team holding a baby from the children's hospital.

To children’s hospital to drop off girls who were going to visit with babies there.
To McDonald’s to drop off one of the team members for McJoyful.
Went to hospital to talk with the director of the hospital and pick up the girls who we dropped off earlier. We then dropped the girls off to shop at bazaar (they were getting makeup and nail polish and beauty supplies for using at the Sonshine orphanage in the afternoon).
Took lunch for guys at rehab center who were continuing on the renovations there.
After lunch we drove the girls to SonShine Orphanage so they could do the “beauty day” with the older girls at the orphanage.

...This is a preview of Day Six (Jan 2) – Driving Around [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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(569 words, 2 images, estimated 2:17 mins reading time)

Day Seven (Jan 3) – Beuleuka [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Darren

This is the seventh entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later [much later actually] is now.

Today I started out by going to the children’s hospital and holding babies in the morning. Took the Mushuka (spelling? – Ukrainian bus)

Me holding Konstantine

held a baby girl about 3 months old who had been taken from her mother just the day before because of poor care.
Held Konstatine who we had brought medicine for. Konstantine had a problem with swallowing that would be easily solved by medication. The hospital didn’t have the funds to pay for this medication and there was no one else as Konstantine’s caregiver. The medication only cost about $150 USD – easily provided by our team! Without it, his future didn’t look too well.

After that I went to one of the shops with the girls. Most Ukrainian shops are kind of neat being basically in an apartment building in stalls (kind of like what our flea market would be) – usually in the center of an apartment complex. You have to watch where you walk because of open sewers. While walking there I noticed slits in the basements of some of the apartments….they came across to me as a “defense” architectural feature where machine guns could be pointed out (but maybe not the case?).

...This is a preview of Day Seven (Jan 3) – Beuleuka [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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(595 words, 5 images, estimated 2:23 mins reading time)

Day Eight (Jan 4) – Sunday Morning Live! [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Darren

This is the eighth entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later [much later actually] is now.

Today was our last day in Krivoy Rog. Here’s a quick rundown of the events of the day:

woke up and ate Breakfast @ 10am
Preaching at Krivoy Rog Church

Church Service @ 11am – I preached – service was awesome! What was really moving for me was the response of the congregation as I preached and the freedom I felt in speaking. Having to go slower for the translator gives me time to think what I’m going to say and I often veered from my notes. Of course, that was due to the leading of the Holy Spirit as well. During the service Pastor Gregory gave me a note asking me to give the altar call for repentance – that I was nervous for BUT I followed through because I believe we give the invitation and it’s God’s job to draw people. Well 7 people came forward and I led them through a salvation prayer with the translator using 1 john 1:9 (If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness). It was awesome! The entire church cheered for those who had given their hearts to the Lord and after praying I hugged each one of them. Pastor Gregory also had me pray for some needs people had written down and handed in. That was cool too! I was just blown away by this Sunday morning service and SO EXCITED about the new people joining the family of God!!

Praying for people at Krivoy Rog church

Following the message Pastor Gregory had the team members and I pray for people who came to the front for prayer.

...This is a preview of Day Eight (Jan 4) – Sunday Morning Live! [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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(670 words, 5 images, estimated 2:41 mins reading time)

Day Nine (Jan 5) – Last Day [Ukraine Missions Trip]

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Darren

This is the ninth (and final) entry in the series I am writing about my trip to Ukraine – I didn’t have daily internet access while there so I recorded each day for later publishing. And later [much later actually] is now.

Woke up around 9am and left the Bible College around 10am. Traveled to a square downtown Kyiv. The architecture is amazing and got lots of pictures around the square. Interesting that a lot of the shops and stuff is under the city. Some of the team traveled by subway.
St. Micheal's Cathedral

We had a quick lunch at a McDonalds and then we made our way to St. Michael’s. We entered the church – guys had to take their hats off – ladies had to wear hats. Couldn’t put hands in pockets or take pictures or video. Incredible paintings and artwork BUT sad that it’s the church is really doing nothing for the people of

A mural at St. Micheals

Ukraine….(with all the money poured into the building…was this really what Christ was thinking of when He started His church?)
St. Andrews Cathedral

From there we walked down the road by St. Andrews Cathedral (known as St. Andrews descent because legend/history has it that he was led to his crucifixion down that road.

...This is a preview of Day Nine (Jan 5) – Last Day [Ukraine Missions Trip].
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(627 words, 5 images, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)

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