THE “TRIP” and THE “TRAIN” (Sunday, May 16th)

How can one adequately describe our 24 hour trip from Crimea to Chernivtsi??

Our trip to the Train Station was typical of a bad driver on curvy pot hole filled roads. I thought of Tammy and Peggy last year when they didn’t want to repeat one of our trips to a Village. He was going so fast around one curve, he careened into the shoulder. Thankfully, we made it with an hour and a half to spare and had to sit outside and wait on the train. We had outdoor facilities left over from the Soviet days.

There were eight of us - 3 men, 4 women and a child. We realized that we were in three different cars and 5 different “cabins” and ALL of us had upper berths. At one time, I might have been able to do the upper berth but I do have some limitations and knowing that it would be an up and down thing every time there was a need to go to the bathroom, I was a bit apprehensive.

There was a young lady and her daughter in Oksana’s and my cabin. She was not a bit friendly nor did she want to share any of the space under “her” beds. These cabins are not made for American travelers and at best, it is hard to get everything in. But when you don’t have the advantage of any under berth space it is impossible. We spent the time from when we got on until after the next stop trying to figure out what to do. The men were a little impatient with this young lady.

Finally Sveta came with news that she found a gentleman who would trade out his lower berth for my upper one in an entirely different car. We thought we had everything figured out but the women who is “stewardess” (more like a woman craving the position of authority) didn’t like it that we were changing things around although we though we had her convinced that everything was fine - when we got ready to go to bed, she insisted there had to be a child in our cabin. Everyone, shifted again and we were finally settled for bed.

They noticed the young lady who was in the cabin that I went to had a “God is Love” key chain. After a while they ask her about it. She goes to a Church that David has preached in numerous times and she had even read David’s book. She is 37 and had taken her 11 year old son, Igor, to a Sanatorium in Crimea as he has numerous health issues. (Please be praying for him.) Her son was worried about who might be in her cabin and he had prayed that there would not be a lot of men. She said, we were an answer to his prayers. Although she was quite shy, we had the opportunity to pray with her and she let all of us crowd into this cabin to eat our lunch and dinner which was a real blessing.

We arrived at eight this morning to pouring rain. I was the only one with an umbrella so the upper part of me stayed dry while all the rest were soaking wet as well as the suitcases. We had a nearly 3 hour drive to Chernivtsi with one stop for breakfast.

Although there is Church tonight and David is preaching, I am staying home as I got a cold on Friday and believe it is wise for me to rest tonight.

Continue to pray for our health and safety and for continued divine appointments - those we might have planned and those that the Holy Spirit orchestrates. This brings you up to date.

Marilyn