THE JOURNEY FROM DNEPROPETROVSK TO SIMFEROPOL TO OLENIVKA

What can you say about a train ride from one city to another more than you have said in past. Honestly? Okay! Not much!

Pastor Konstantin Maximov with Ruslan Andreye, his assistant pastor, and Sergey the husband of another staff member transported us and our luggage to the train. It can be a task to get your luggage up the steps of the train station and then up into the car where you are assigned to spend your time sleeping. They accomplished it with ease.

The next issue facing us, was the making of our beds. You are provided with two sheets, a pillow case, a pillow and a wool blanket along with a hand towel. I will give you credit enough for your ability to know what we did with these items. You are right! We did!

Then we waited for the train to finally leave the station and venture out into the wild so we could do the final personal preparations for a night of “rumbling - screeching brakes - whistles - shaking - tornado like sounds as your train and another pass in the night.” Two “Tylenol PM’s” are not even enough to kick you into “never-never-land of slumber.” You just toss and turn and trust the remaining six hours will fly by. They did and we arrived, disembarked from our train and hired a “cart man” to take our luggage the 3-4 blocks to the station.

This is where the fun began. He had his own idea of where we wanted to go. I could have understood his problem if I had been the one to communicate where we wanted to go. But since it was done by Oksana, in clear Russian, you would think he would get it right! Wrong! He went almost two blocks too far. So we made him take us back, now three blocks to where we wanted to go in the first place.

We had to wait almost two hours for another party of eight from Chernivtsi to meet up with us. While waiting I purchased my train tickets from Kiev to Khmelnitsky and then back to Kiev. (Not really interested in this are you? Tough!)

The next struggle was when the bus driver who was to transport all of us to Olenivka and the Equator Hotel. He had parked so that we had to walk three blocks. But when we got to the foot of a stairs that went over the entire train tracks and train yard – three stories high, I put my good “ole USA” voice into operation and emphatically told him “Nit!” – Russian for “NO!”

Thank God for Oksana. She translated for me and I instructed him we were not going to carry four large suitcases weighing an average of 50 pounds and two carry-ons plus my briefcase up those steps and to his bus. The two ladies, Marilyn and Oksana could not carry them, which meant I would have to make at least three round-trips up that mountain of steps. He was going to have to move it closer. He hesitated, but, seeing our resolve, he finally obliged.
In ten minutes he returned and we only had to pull them about two sort blocks to his bus-van, load them and wait for the rest of our party. They soon arrived, loaded their belongings and we were off for a two hour ride to Olenivka and the welcoming party – our hosts for the Pastors Retreat.

As you can tell, we made it safely, took our luggage to our fabulous two room, bath and one-half suite. A quick meal, a little unpacking and we HIT THE BED FOR A NAP! Up and wait for the bar-b-que to be finished and then indulge in a great meal, fellowship, laughter and preparation for the coming event.

Our hosts, Roma and Tanya Goudyma, partners in the Equator (the other partners were not able to be here) are super people. They, with their partners, have opened their facilities to as many pastors as come for the low cost of about $7.00 per day for three meals per person – and there is no fee for the rooms.

Why do they do this? Because they want to invest in the lives of the men and women of Ukraine who lead the Body of Christ. Think about it! How much would it cost for 50-60 people to have great rooms for three days? Thank God for these men and women of God who are investing in the Kingdom of God.

Thanks for your prayers and keep reading for further developments,

Dr D and Marilyn