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For me, that meant getting ready for the Christmas banquets for the nannies and the pressure of preparation for those 3 nights of celebration. It’s become a bi-yearly event to thank the nannies for their work at the orphanage and the effort they put forth as they work with the kids. This year we were anticipating about 75 nannies and medical staff, close to 60 came. It was a delight to serve and bless them and they were so very grateful.
Much has gone on in these 2 months back in Ukraine; again to give an abbreviated summary:
December 15th – Returned Oksana to the institute in Kahovka, visiting her friends in Ndepriana on the way to share a bit of cheer
December 24th-28th – American Christmas celebrations
January 1st – New Years, the biggest holiday celebrated in Ukraine. I went to bed early and got a good night’s rest.
January 7th- The start of Ukrainian Christmas celebrations
January 13th – Sasha and I spent the day grocery shopping to host up to 75 nannies
January 14th - I made three cakes for each of the nights and cleaned the home for the following day of preparation for the main meal.
January 15th - Phyllis arrived in the morning and we baked the 2kgs of pork & 2 kgs of beef in two crock pots, mashed potatoes and all the vegetables we’d need for the salads over the coming 3 nights, and apple strudel. At 2:30 we packed up the car and went to pick up everyone who was helping that first night. The guests arrived at 4:30 and the banquet started at 5pm.
January 16th & 17th - Were very much the same as the first night with dinner and dessert, a musical program and the reading of the birth of Christ followed by small gifts given to each of the staff members.
January 18th – Sasha, his wife and I drove to Odessa to pick up Rex Barber, who was arriving to help with the design of Stephen and Naomi’s home. Rex is an architect working with Engineering Ministries International out of Colorado Springs, CO. His 21:05 flight didn’t arrive because of fog. We found a place to stay with a wonderful gal Robin and at 2:37 the next morning I got a text from Rex saying he’d be on a flight at 3:30, I missed the “p†after the time, so we waited.
January 19th (the last day of Christmas celebration in Ukraine) - It turned into a long day of waiting. The flight was cancelled at 19:20 after 2 delays, because of continued fog in Odessa. Sasha returned home late that night to Kherson. Waiting in Odessa for Rex had delayed the pick-up of two kids from their home in Kahovka a day. The staff in Kahovka already distraught because the director was going to be gone. I stayed on in Odessa to wait for Rex’s arrival.
January 20th – Rex was scheduled to arrive into Odessa at 10:15 in the morning, it was delayed and then cancelled once again, so he changed his routing to Kherson, from Istanbul, and I returned on a late bus home to Kherson. Sasha & Phyllis brought the kids back from Kahovka and they were able to enjoy a Christmas party together, opening gifts and sharing with friends.
January 21st – Rex arrived into Kherson at about 15:00 without any luggage, being grateful to have made it. He spent an hour filling out misplaced luggage forms and then headed out to Darivka to look at the building sights before the fog thickened too much and it got dark. Rex and I stayed up very late that night and talked, discussing many ideas and plans, one being a greenhouse for the homes.
January 22nd – Continued our conversation from the previous evening for another couple hours before heading to the center of town to meet the director of architectural planning in the city of Kherson. Gregory is more than willing to work with us and we had a great meeting, gaining a lot of definitive information for designing and planning Naomi’s and Stephen’s homes.
January 23rd – Phyllis and I hosted the Christmas baking day out at the orphanage with the kids, so Sasha and Rex escorted us out to the orphanage to help carry all our supplies. Rex got to meet quite a number of the kids and see their current living conditions. This was a day of great fun for the kids as we also celebrated many Birthdays. Rex flew out of a very foggy Kherson at 15:15 without ever having connected his luggage.
January 31st - Oksana and I fly out of Odessa to Istanbul and on to Houston, TX, a 13 hour flight, on then to Austin for Oksana’s next round of dental procedures. Praying the fog will have lifted in Odessa so our initial flight can go out.
May 6th – I return to Ukraine
July 23rd - Oksana returns to Ukraine with my new full-time co-worker, Kamitra
I’m a little beyond exhausted, but still able to move forward by the grace and strength in the hands of our Lord. ~ Alys West
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