Thursday 31^st May

It’s 10:21pm now and we have just returned from a visit to the Black Sea Camp, which is situated about an hour drive from Odessa and is on the shore of the Black Sea.

Grace Church uses this area to run summer camps for children. It is a hive of activity at the moment as preparations are made for the start of the camps next month.

Yesterday evening we enjoyed a trip out to the local bowling alley with the older lads from Transition House and some of the people who have been looking after us. Everyone had a good time and completion on the alley was fierce.

This morning was spent platerboarding ceilings and completing the metalwork in one of the rooms. We were pleased to have completed the metalwork and also to almost have all the plasterboard up on that ceiling. The other team have very nearly completed the ceiling in the other room as well.

Lunch today was a truly multi-cultural affair with at least 18 of us sitting around the table, representing Ukraine, England, Wales, Iran and USA.

Everyone is getting tired now so it was good to have a break this afternoon and go for a BBQ at the camp. It was pleasing to see all the work that had been done there with new pathways being laid.

We are all looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow morning with the challenge of getting as much done as possible before we have to return home on Saturday.

If you saw yesterday’s blog, the last photo referred to Ben, who being quite tall has been nicknamed ‘Big Ben’ by the lads who continuously ask him the time. They have also fashioned a clock face out of a piece of plasterboard to hand round his neck.

Look out for Friday’s blog with photos of the work completed so far.

The Sun Shines in Odessa

Good afternoon from sunny Odessa, the rain has moved on and we woke this morning to brilliant sunshine. We've been having some problems with internet access, in fact we are at Transition House at the moment and Andy has had to get the internet up and running so that we can send this blog. The time is now 5pm here (3pm in Worcester) so only about an hour or so left to work today. We hope to go out this evening with the lads fromTranstion House and some of the people from the church who have been looking after us.

We have just had a 'chai' (tea) break which consisted of a selection of different types of tea, soft drinks, fresh strawberries, cherries, apricots and biscuits. when you work hard you need the energy!

We have been working hard again today, plastering, continuing with the metal ceiling supports and plasterboarding the ceilings.

We have had some help today from some of the lads from Transition House as well as Pastor Igor's two sons.

Plasterboarding the ceiling with the boy's help.

The 'Rev' Hughes wearing his new prescription spectacles!!

The ceiling in the room we started Monday is now almost complete, time to move on to the next.

The guys are are still persevering with the metalwork, they are now at the difficult stage around the windows.

We've split off into another team now to start on the room that has just had the metal supports put up. No pressure on the metalwork team at the windows then!

Andreas putting the first finish coat of plaster on and levelling out John's plastering!!!

There is fair bit of Ukraine v UK banter going on. Check out tomorrows blog for an explanation of this photo.

Go Go Goski

Hi all from a damp Odessa, apologies for the blog delay, everything we typed turned up in Russian, which we guessed was of limited use for those who speak "West Midlands".
Our day started at 7, (5am Uk time) with Breakfast, Bible study and prayer. (We are looking at men of God in the bible and the secrets they share with us of how to be fruitful in life). Today we learned about a guy called Shamiah (heard of him?).
We leave in our minibuses for the building site at 8:15, and were greeted by Pieter who is the granddad of the orphanage, his smile will light up any room. We were really encouraged to see how transition house has developed with many internal walls shower rooms and dormitories taking shape in a way we could've only envisaged in September. We seperated into 3 teams, for putting up ceilings, suspended metal work and plasterboard) and John learned the art of Ukrainian plastering (he was very good, covered in white plaster).
You will see from this photo that the sight is very very very dusty, the flash is showing the dust (not that we are working underwater.)

These guys are putting up a false ceiling in one of the sleeping areas...
(careful Andy with that tape measure, Sascha is more fussy than you think!!!)

these chaps are on plasterboard, they have the eye of a finely skilled surgeon (unfortunately the hand of someone with boxing gloves on)

We were encouraged by a very patriotic sound system brought in for this year (it plays the whole backcatologue of Phatfish, Lou Fellingham, Stuart Townend, Deep purple, switchfoot and Beach Boys.

After Lunch cooked by the only Lady in the Ukraine (Lydia) who cooks proper "Borsche"...

we really cracked on and saw some real progress in the day, returning home at 7:00

Sascha the foreman is pleased, but maybe he didn't smile as much as we hoped :)

Supper has arrived, speak tomorrow,

P

Sunday 27^th May

An awesome day in Odessa.

Today we have been entertained by our wonderful friends at grace Baptist church.

On a beautiful sunny morning it is quite a sight to see over 500 people arrive at a vibrant church all in their best outfits. We are sleeping in the orphanage itself, where it is impossible to go anywhere without being hi-fived or someone shouting “ghellow” (good morning in Ukrainian English). Here are some of the orphans marching off to church...

There are 130 children in the church, they all love singing, (even the boys) and seem very happy to be there. During the morning service there are usually 2 sermons, today some weird Worcester chap was spouting. 

The translator is Pastor Igor Bandura, senior pastor at Grace. He is a very influential man in the Ukrainian Evangelical church network, spending much of his time travelling back and forth to Kiev (where he returns tomorrow). He helps many churches and has been very strategic in starting many new churches. The church is full of flowers and you will see that behind the preacher there is room for a full choir, who sing to an exceptionally high standard.

The church had invited some English language students to spend some time with us over lunch. 

We found out that Ukrainians are quite keen on keeping their distinctive culture and language for future generations, and rather offended by their Russian speaking president who pretends to speak Ukrainian (with humiliating consequences).

During the afternoon as we visited Old Odessa we were struck by 3 things

1. There is such a community feel to the parks, boulevards and public spaces. The older men gather on Sundays to play dominoes chess and cards, with a passion that resembles a Samoan prop forward .
2. The architecture is stunning. Although many of the government buildings strike an imposing shadow on the walkway, the most stunning building (the opera house) is surrounded by flowers in a bright open space.
3. The market stalls sell everything... from Ukrainian dolls (with David Cameron, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher on) and tea-cloths to tooth pick holders, statues of Lenin and guns.

We feel very privileged to be here with great people, we are in a great city, loved by a great GOD. We’ll catch up tomorrow but now we need bed so до свидания

Paul

Woodgreen Team arrives in Odessa

The team from Woodgreen arrived safely in Odessa this evening. 

They are looking forward to attending Grace Baptist Church tomorrow and visiting Transition House to see how the work is progressing before starting work on Monday.

Saturday 26th May

At London Heathrow Terminal 1 waiting for our 1110 Lufthansa flight to Munich, where we have to change for our onward flight to Odessa. Due to arrive in Odessa at 1810 (6.10pm).

What you do when you need the cash 8-)

We had a great team meeting last night, the final one before we go, and the guys wanted me to say a massive thanks again to all of you who have helped us find cash down the sofa and raise money to purchase materials. These guys did a 10 mile sponsored bike ride, (I don't think they've sat down since!)

These guys, washed over 40 cars...

Some were bigger than others...

 These guys cooked 40 hearty breakfasts...

Some ate more than others

Many people have done some great things to help buy materials, why not send us a comment or photo (see comments box) about what you did to help. We'd love to hear from you.
Paul