Robin Hardy Online

Susan and Gary Bauer of Alpha Video Productions of Richardson, Texas, traveled to Ukraine March 28-April 20, 2006, to shoot a country-wide video for Mission to the World reporting on how God has grown the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Ukraine over the past 10+ years. Following is a three-day snapshot of their trip (with photos):

Tuesday, April 11: Hi! We've had a marvelous, fascinating day and thank you for your prayers and the Lord for watching over us on the roads and everywhere we went. Both of our drivers today prayed before we set out, and that is an especially great idea here! There are potholes left from winter ice, repair crews and construction zones, and the passing on 2-lane highways and city driving are done with much tighter tolerances than at home.

First stop was the Evangelical Pres. Church of Odessa, the 1896 bldg that's been renovated/restored to extraordinary beauty. In addition to seeing it fully restored--look, no scaffolding!--we got to see our young friend Olya from the TV station here and active in the church, taped a seminary tutorial in Hebrew class there, saw the cross back up on the steeple (the one that lay on the roof since 1917 and outlasted the entire Communist era), and heard the only pipe organ in this entire city play. It brought tears to our eyes it was so incredibly beautiful. The congregation is celebrating their 10th anniversary as a church on Friday night, and we are excited to be here for the event. We thought we were going to have to miss worship with this church so special to us, because of all the new churches we needed to get to.

Next, an hour outside Odessa, we went to The Ark, the drug/alcohol rehabilitation center started by Tanya and Sergey from the Odessa church. It's a 12-step program focused specifically on Jesus Christ. They purchased a shell of a house in a village, surrounded by farmland, and with American support have a 2-story live-in facility where lives are being turned around and men and women are finding true freedom in Christ. The Baptist babushka who cooks for everyone there hugged us as if we were her own children. We got interview footage, ate a delicious Ukrainian lunch of borch with bread and meat cutlets and tea, plus got material on the men's dorm room, women's dorm room, working in the garden where they grow much of their own food, and visited the goats, too. I found out the lovely green fields we were seeing yesterday were probably clover and wheat. They also grow lush bright fields of sunflowers but it was still too early for them. My, they are gorgeous in summer.

Oh, enroute, we rode down a highway built by Kruschev, lined with trees, and those trees had orange ribbons supporting the Orange Revolution. Politics here are still rather uncertain, with the various parties, and we have also seen in the cities graffiti for the communist party complete with hammer & sickle.

Then, our final stop of the day was at Sunrise Christian School started by people from the Odessa church. There are 36 students, and we enjoyed songs about Odessa and Ukraine the 2nd and 3rd graders sang specially for us, and the artwork of all 3 grades was just darling. Such talented people, these Ukrainian brothers & sisters, young and old. Just as we were leaving, I pinched a finger on my left hand pretty severely by collapsing the tripod--the wrong way, apparently!—but though it's blue, I can use it ok. And my right writing hand is totally fine, so I can make notes on the stories and write down our expenses ok.

Well, Wednesday has been another interesting day in Ukraine for us, and the Lord brought us to Belgorod-Dnestrovsky and back safely. Jerry Formanek would have enjoyed the 6 trains that stopped us along our way today--mostly freight and work trains, but very enjoyable for us to see. Enroute, we drove along a narrow piece of land with the bay on our right and the Black Sea on our left, a Ukrainian beach community, then up onto a major bridge where the 2 bodies of water meet.

Dr. Sergei Betin came to get us this morning and take us back with him toBelgorod. Don Underwood (friend of the Burkes at LRBC!) who's a short-termer here went with us, and he was fun to have along, and helpful also. It was amazing to see the full-blown Christian clinic, with children's wing, lab, pharmacy, ultrasound, and even guest rooms--when it was only a dream in the hearts of the church there in 1997. They prepared us a lovely lunch of green borsch, bread & cheese, and we also went to see the nearly-completed church building, very encouraging to see it and their vision for the many ways they plan to use it to minister to people. The interviews today gave us very good material and tied in well to the theme of the revolution of the heart.  One of the people went up to Kiev during the Orange Revolution and was checking his computer for internet news frequently--even in the middle of the night during those weeks--to see how the country's future would be going. He gave us a CD with photos from that, and we look forward to getting to see those.

You can visit the clinic yourself by going to their website or typing a search for Christian clinic Belgorod Ukraine Gary is still having some respiratory trouble, so it was good that Anya, a young MD at the clinic, was able to see him and review all the symptoms and medications he's been using.  We're trying a different antibiotic starting late today. Please keep him in your prayers.

On the way home, we stopped at a huge store called Metro, much like a Sam's Club. We notice big changes every time we visit Ukraine.

Darlene had a wonderful dinner waiting for us when we got back--tacos and apple pie. Clay is due back tomorrow morning on the overnight train from Kiev. Tomorrow we are supposed to do some more interviews and may visit an orphanage.  Friday night is the Odessa church's 10th anniversary celebration. That's also the day I hope to shop at the park for handmade items like painted wooden eggs we enjoy so much. Then Saturday and Sunday we are supposed to be in Izmail, a 5-hour drive away. Please pray for the logistics of that travel (sometimes I just have to close my eyes and not look at what's happening on the road) and that we get the material we need there. It is a very important story on a crisis pregnancy/life care center started by the church there.

Thank you for being interested in this adventure.

Love,
Susan and Gary

Thursday, April 13: It's nearly time for bed and we are worn out--from laughing! After all these busy days, we just had a hilarious time with the Quartermans after dinner. Laughter is good medicine--especially in a country where many things aren't what they appear, and even the floors in the nicest places are a bit like Six Flags' old Casa Magnetica. A sense of humor is definitely required on the mission field, we think.

The missionary school is having an event to honor their seniors tomorrow, and as part of the program, Clay is doing a reading of Ladle Rat Rotten Hut (an "unauthorized" version of Little Red Riding Hood). He read some to us while we washed the dishes, then later in the evening we just hooted over something small and it all went downhill (in a funny way) from there. All I did was make an innocent little quip about the Ryrie Study Bible to a Reformed theologian and seminary president (our host)! :) It was like old college times, when the 4 of us had double-dated to the "What's Up, Doc?" movie with Barbara Streisand and Ryan O'Neal.

For the previous paragraphs to even make sense, you probably have to be born before 1955 or so. My apologies to the younger crowd! :)

On the serious, but still "good news" side, we went with Olya Verba to Orphanage #34 where 160 children with mental handicaps live. They appear to be rather mildly affected but I'm not experienced enough to know for sure. Olya is a vivacious local TV news producer here in Odessa, in her mid-20s, active in the Presbyterian Church here since she was in high school. God has put on her heart the needs of the kids in this particular orphanage, and they just shouted and hugged her when she walked in the gate today.  Olya has been doing Bible classes, crafts, Christian videos and books, and even a 3-day Bible seminar for the staff here. Today, they did acrylic paints on crosses in preparation for Easter, and we also got to go with Olya to the supermarket (they now have some of them here!) for some foods to supplement what the kids have to eat on weekends.  Some of you have shared funds with us for this trip, and you'll be glad to know that each of the 14 children remaining at the orphanage this weekend will receive their own fresh orange, apple, chocolate candy bar, package of tea biscuits, and pudding cup--thanks to your generosity. And your gift frees up some funds so that Olya can do something extra special for the children next week, for their Easter, on the Orthodox church calendar different from ours.

Keep smiling!

Susan & Gary