Day 16- Guess Who Got Lost in Ukraine?
Have we got quite the story for you? We had to go to our lawyers office tonight to sign some papers. We also invited us to stay for their small group Bible study. I had already been to their office last week, so I thought I could get us there and back without Dad or Mom. It was pretty simply directions, and we made it there in about 25 minutes with no problems.
When we arrived at the office, Dima, asked if I could preach a 40 minute sermon tonight. I thought he was joking with me. After a little while, he approached me again and said that he was half serious. I usually have notes when I preach and teach, and I only had my Bible. Yikes! :) He said maybe I could do a bit of a discussion time instead of a sermon. So I had been recently studying 1 Peter 1:13 and had preached on it recently. Dima and another girl translated into Ukrainian/Russian. We spent about 4 hours together. It was truly a wonderful time!!! We got to know one another, we ate food together(Lisa made & brought brownies), signed some documents, and discussed 1 Pet. 1:13.
We departed about 10pm. Evan and Marina? walked Lisa and I to the bus. Evan asked me what bus I needed to return. I told him bus 45. When the bus came, he said that is one we needed and I looked at the number and thought for sure I also saw the number 45. Well, it was actually bus 45D. Lisa and I were not able to sit by each other, so I sat in the back of the bus and she sat toward the front. The bus was packed in like sardines. I'm guessing we drove about 20 minutes and I happen to notice a familiar face get on the bus. It was Carl Kresge, who I've only saw a couple times and met once briefly in the USA. Carl and his wife Lori just arrived in Kiev yesterday and are here in Ukraine for a little over a week. Carl oversees the missionaries here in Ukraine that are with SEND International.
I wasn't for sure Carl was who I thought he was, but I decided I would ask. I don't think he recognized me until I told him who my parents were. We then proceeded to chat and noted that we would end up getting off at the same location because the bus 45 empties out at certain location that is close to our apartments. We were amazed that we happened to meet on the same bus together. Well, the bus stopped and emptied out, but we were not in right location and we really had no idea where we were at or how to get where we needed to be. Fortunately, I had a cell phone, so we are able to call my parents and another missionary, Steve Wooden who came and got us.
Ok, now think about this for a minute. There are many 45D buses in Kiev. This city has millions of people in it. What are the chances that we would run into Americans that we recognized and both get on the wrong bus at the same time. If that isn't the hand of God, I don't know what is. In addition, if we hadn't bumped into Carl & Lori, they might have been in some real trouble. They had no cell phone and hardly any money. They didn't have an address of where they needed to go nor a phone number. All of us could not stop laughing at the whole event. What an adventure! I think we got home after 12am.
When we arrived at the office, Dima, asked if I could preach a 40 minute sermon tonight. I thought he was joking with me. After a little while, he approached me again and said that he was half serious. I usually have notes when I preach and teach, and I only had my Bible. Yikes! :) He said maybe I could do a bit of a discussion time instead of a sermon. So I had been recently studying 1 Peter 1:13 and had preached on it recently. Dima and another girl translated into Ukrainian/Russian. We spent about 4 hours together. It was truly a wonderful time!!! We got to know one another, we ate food together(Lisa made & brought brownies), signed some documents, and discussed 1 Pet. 1:13.
We departed about 10pm. Evan and Marina? walked Lisa and I to the bus. Evan asked me what bus I needed to return. I told him bus 45. When the bus came, he said that is one we needed and I looked at the number and thought for sure I also saw the number 45. Well, it was actually bus 45D. Lisa and I were not able to sit by each other, so I sat in the back of the bus and she sat toward the front. The bus was packed in like sardines. I'm guessing we drove about 20 minutes and I happen to notice a familiar face get on the bus. It was Carl Kresge, who I've only saw a couple times and met once briefly in the USA. Carl and his wife Lori just arrived in Kiev yesterday and are here in Ukraine for a little over a week. Carl oversees the missionaries here in Ukraine that are with SEND International. I wasn't for sure Carl was who I thought he was, but I decided I would ask. I don't think he recognized me until I told him who my parents were. We then proceeded to chat and noted that we would end up getting off at the same location because the bus 45 empties out at certain location that is close to our apartments. We were amazed that we happened to meet on the same bus together. Well, the bus stopped and emptied out, but we were not in right location and we really had no idea where we were at or how to get where we needed to be. Fortunately, I had a cell phone, so we are able to call my parents and another missionary, Steve Wooden who came and got us.
Ok, now think about this for a minute. There are many 45D buses in Kiev. This city has millions of people in it. What are the chances that we would run into Americans that we recognized and both get on the wrong bus at the same time. If that isn't the hand of God, I don't know what is. In addition, if we hadn't bumped into Carl & Lori, they might have been in some real trouble. They had no cell phone and hardly any money. They didn't have an address of where they needed to go nor a phone number. All of us could not stop laughing at the whole event. What an adventure! I think we got home after 12am.
That's an awesome story! Glad that things seem to be going well so far!
PS: Hugs are waiting when you return.
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Thursday, February 26, 2009 11:26:00 AM