A vintage grace church Sunday

Good evening Blogski,
It has been a wonderful day in Odessa. The weather is damp, cold and miserable, but the fellowship was so warm and encouraging it has been worth the trip just to spend a day in fellowship with these folk. The day started with breakfast and Paul recording a video for the Youth ministry in Sergei's church. Then at grace church, Pastor Igor Kucher led and preached and then Paul preached (here seen with our good friend and wonderful translator Viktor)  The church was finishing their studies on "the sermon on the mount". It was serious stuff about the reality of hell and need for Jesus (our gate to life). Throughout the day there has been a tangible sense of seriousness and joy as we have been reminded of  Jesus Christ in all his uniqueness.

Over lunch we had the privilege of catching up with Pastor Igor Bandura. It was through Igor that we first heard about the project when he was the pastor of Grace church. Now Igor's responsibilities have grown greatly and so it is not as easy to meet up, but there is still a great sense of God's goodness when we do. We talked (reminiscent of two old men on a park bench)  about how God has provided so remarkably for this project over the last 6 years. There was a real twinkle in our eyes as we look now at the exciting way God will be able to use transition house for his purposes. Architect plans have been drawn up for the basement, and tomorrow we work on making them a reality, but as always the greater work is what Christ is doing in people's lives. Like the little people who have just joined the growing church family even in the last few days and sat with us in church this morning. Sperated as siblings they lived in different state homes but would have no possibility of foster care because the rule is you can only be fostered as a complete family group, but who would want to take several children with a huge age-range???? the church that's who !!! This is not an isolated story. The church is showing the love of Christ, that there is a God who cares, even when the world says you are left on a heap and you don't fit in with its uncaring criteria.

This evening, pastor Igor Bandura finished off the series in Matthew, and a guest youth choir sang. As always the music was top notch, but what impressed us was their attitude and discipline. How many teenagers do you know who would sit in church for 2 sermons, sing a solo (boys) with a smile, then recite poems and memorise prose to encourage God's people? I suggested Mark finished the evening with one of his songs (as there was a spare microphone) but sadly no one thought this was a good idea (especially those who'd worked on site with him last time.) Viktor translated all day for us ( 2 longs services and 4 sermons what a hero!)

With a perfect meal to finish the day, it couldn't have got better, but then it did because out came the pumpkin pie. You don't know how good it is until you have had it from the church chef. I won't tell you how many large slices we ate, suffice to say we are all sitting down, and not moving for some time. I am hoping we can still make it through the basement door in the morning.
Thank you for praying for us today, if you did ... your prayers were answered in ways beyond your comprehension. God is good, and each new day here brings fresh joy and understanding of how privileged we are to be part of this work.
Hope your day was as encourageing as ours, chat tomorrowski ...
P on behalf of the crew.

Good evening faithful Odessa supporters and friends. We have arrived safely, and immediately have got to work putting boards and metal framework materials into the basement, ready for next week. Things got even better when the takeaway Pizza arrived... It seems like  the week has started as we mean to go on. We are so amazed at God's goodness as we arrive out here. Here's 6 praise pointers to start with.
1) The huge storms which hit transition house did not do any damage other than minor and cosmetic. All materials for repair were kept in store and no cost was added to the project. Checking the roof also prompted the folks to spot something that was a minor repair but could've been much worse later in the winter. (God is good and by his sovereignty saved the team some money through the provision of a storm.)
2) 2 Kitchens have gone in since we were last here - and look good too (photo's tomorrow)
3) Pieter, Lydia, Alexei, John and Sergei, (the TH team) all look well and in good spirits.
4) We arrived safely on time in Odessa, despite our flight leaving in bad fog, 40 minutes late with lack of ground crew.
5) The team are a great bunch of guys, and go to warm beds full of amazing Pizza.
6) We are thrilled with the way God has provided for materials on this trip. We had a target in mind that we prayed for, but God has given us 3 times this amount. All of it will be extremely well used and appreciated here.
Pray for us tomorrow as we try to encourage the church.
God is so good, and part of that is so much your partnership with us. Whatever part you are playing.. whether coming out, giving, or praying.... keep going, God is working amazingly to his Glory, and it is a privilege to be a small part of it.
Signing out from a slightly chilly Odessa.
Paul, Josh, Kev, Mark, Darren and John C (looking chuffed with a fresh supply of Cadburys and Yorkshire Tea)

End of another trip. This week the team have been working on the third floor building partition walls, boxing in girder's and laying the last of the laminate flooring. All the rooms on this floor now have flooring laid.
Tuesday we took some of the children along with the house parents bowling. 29 played over 6 lanes for 2 hours, an enjoyable time was had by all.
Wednesday we were taken to the opera to see Cossacks Beyond the Danube, a mixture of opera and traditional dancing.
Thursday afternoon we were taken to the Black Sea Camp where we had time of fellowship and treated to one of Peters BBQ's.
Today we had the honour of visiting Odessa Theological College to witness a graduation ceremony. Paul had an opportunity to preach and afterwards we had lunch with staff and students.
This evening we shall pay one last visit to see the children before we leave for home tomorrow.

End of the first week and work at Transition House has gone well. The last of the floor tiling on the third floor went down which was a significant moment. The team spent sometime on Saturday walking around Odessa and in the evening Paul went to the airport with Peter and Sergey to collect Mark, Nas and Josh, who are from Pauls church and will be working with us this week.
Sunday, we went to the morning and evening services at Grace Baptist Church, Paul had the opportunity to preach in the evening service. The afternoon was spent relaxing.
At the start of a new week, Emlyn, John and Paul are building partition walls, Nick is tiling the window sills in the main stairway, Mark and Nas are painting the last of the rooms on the third floor and Josh and myself have been grouting floor tiles. Its good to have the extra hands on board.

Arrived safely on Sunday and greeted at the airport by Peter, Alex, Sergey and John. Sergey lives at Transition House with his family and has been working with us and translating for us. We are camped out on the second floor and working on the third floor and main stairs. Nick is finishing off tiling in bathrooms, Paul is finishing off painting walls in the corridor, Emlyn has been preparing walls for painting and I am finishing some floor tiling. We visited the shelter on Tuesday evening to spend some time with the kids and house parents. There are some new children at the shelter which is encouraging to see.

The team have arrived

Our latest team have arrived in Odessa to continue work on Transition House.

Keep an eye on the blog for updates on their progress

Many thanks to everyone who supported the car wash & breakfast yesterday.