Planes, trains, and avtobuses...

After two days of traveling, we finally arrived at our home away from home in Sevastopol, Ukraine! Amanda and I were curious about exactly how long it would take us to get here with layovers and all, so we started the timer on our iPod as we left for the San Francisco Airport from my dad’s apartment in Santa Rosa. We crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge just after sunset and began our voyage. It was beautiful to see the city lights of San Francisco and the beautiful fog surrounding the steep glowing spires of the bridge, but everything after that (three flights, escalators, trams, taxis, conveyor belts, and metros) was mostly a blur until forty four hours later when we made it to our apartment in Sevastopol! Overall, we had a great trip though, and we are thankful for 21st century technology that allowed us to get here in hours rather than months!

But what would a voyage be without a few setbacks along the way? It wasn’t until an hour before we were about to take off from New York that we realized that I booked the flight out of Kiev to Simferopol a day early! I did everything I could to get a hold of the Ukrainian airline company but to no avail. Praise God our friend Julia in Ukraine. We were able to talk to her on the internet at the JFK airport, and she called the Ukrainian airline for us. They ended up rebooking the flight we already missed for only $30 dollars!

In Kiev we were so blessed to be met at the airport by a new friend named Alina. She is a local Ukrainian that served in the camp for orphans this summer with Andy and Jamiee. She helped us make our Ukrainian domestic flight connection to Simferopol, which can sometimes be a little tricky. We also had a long lay over there, so Alina took us downtown and we spent that day seeing some of the sights before flying to Simferopol at 9:30pm. By the time we boarded the plane for Simferopol, we were so exhausted that Amanda and I both fell asleep before the plane ever took off. In Simferopol our new friends and partners in ministry, Sasha and Anya, picked us up! Sasha and Anya moved from Kiev to Sevastopol just a few weeks ago to be part of the Operation Lazarus team, and let me tell you, they are a huge blessing! They are currently living with us until they find their own apartment, and we are having a great time together. It is going to be so great to have them here with us, as they are filled with the love of God and they can speak with the kids fluently in Russian. We believe God is going to use them to help the kids begin to grow a lot deeper in their spiritual walk!

We have our first get together with the kids this Saturday at the beach! After a successful outreach at the orphanage camp this summer, we believe there are going to be a lot of news kids meeting with us each week, hungry for love and truth. Please be praying for this Saturday, the kick off of our time with the kids this trip! We can definitely feel the effects of your prayers thus far. Also, thanks to all of those who have supported us financially. Your support is a great blessing to us, and we pray that it would be an even greater blessing to you! We will post regular updates on this blog, so stay tuned. Please send us an e-mail when you get a chance – we would love to hear from you! You can write us at: TheWhitesInUkraine@gmail.com If you would like to make a one time gift to support us financially, you can donate online by clicking on the Paypal link below. Gifts made through this link go directly to us. You are in our prayers. May His Kingdom come His will be done on earth as it is in heaven!