Nathan and Katelin Day

I decided it was high time to give everyone an update on the situation in Ukraine.  You might remember our to-do list from last month, and here is how things are progressing:

• Finding, fixing up, and moving into our own apartment.

We have found an apartment, and we should be getting possession of it on February 15th.  There is not much that needs fixing up, but we will need to do some furniture shopping.

• Writing wedding thank-you notes (Katelin).

The thank-you notes are done and are on their way to America.

Envelopes. Tasty!

• Preparing for and teaching the Bible study after English club (Nathan).

I started teaching on Galatians last Tuesday.  Everything went well, but I could tell my Ukrainian is still a little rusty (another couple teaching sessions should remedy that).  I have never taught on Galatians before, so I am putting together my notes as I go.

• Beginning language lessons (Katelin).

Katelin just finished her 2nd week of language lessons, and is starting to pick up on what is being spoken around her.

• Wrapping up year-end finances for our organization, ETO (Nathan).

Giving reciepts have mailed, but ETO’s tax document still needs to be filed.  But it’s not due until May!  The due date for our personal taxes, however, is getting closer.

• Making a decision on health insurance.

Decision made and insurance purchased!

One more thing to be praying about is the Ukrainian presidential elections (again).  Tomorrow is the run-off election between the top two candidates from the first round of elections on January 17th.

About half of our boxes have arrived from the States!

Hello from Ukraine!  During the last couple days, I have been thinking about the need to post an update.  However, I feel like I should fill in the gaps since my last post, and when I consider how much has happened since then, it’s a bit overwhelming.  Finally I decided to go ahead and post a quick update, and fill in the gaps later.  I’m thinking about posting a collection of photos to tell the story, so stay tuned…

(FYI, those who were on Katelin’s newsletter list (plus some others) have been added to the subscription list for our blog.  If you don’t want to be on the list, you can remove yourself via the unsubscribe link in the notification email.)

In Colorado

Katelin and I arrived in L’viv on the 5th of January.  We had a good trip and all our bags arrived in good condition.  Since our coworkers, the Steele family, are currently in the the States, we were able to settle in their apartment.  It was a real blessing to be able to crash in a warm, furnished apartment with internet and reliable running water… well, almost.  Because of the sporadic water system here, the Steeles have a tank/pump system to carry them through the “dry spells.”  The pump had broken in honor of our arrival, so all we had was a weak flow of cold water.  Because Christmas in Ukraine is observed on January 7th (according to the Julian calendar) and celebrated by lengthy holidays from work, we were not able to get the pump fixed until just yesterday.

We have also begun the process of looking for our own apartment.  Yesterday we looked at a few apartments and we are planning to look at some more today, if possible.  Yesterday was New Year’s Day (Julian calendar again) and our realtor said we might not be able to look at many apartments due to widespread hangovers.

We feel like we’ve finally gotten over jet lag!  Usually it only takes me a few days, but this time it took almost a week!  It’s nice to wake up in the morning feeling energized and go to bed feeling tired (instead of visa-versa).

On the home front, Katelin is becoming well acquainted with the local grocery stores and their products.  She’s also doing a fabulous job adapting her recipes to Ukrainian ingredients, I might add.  If I look like I’ve put on weight the next time you see me, you’ll know why!

Below is a list of what we have on our plate in the near future.  You could also call it a prayer list of sorts.

• Finding, fixing up, and moving into our own apartment.
• Writing wedding thank-you notes (Katelin).
• Preparing for and teaching the Bible study after English club (Nathan).
• Beginning language lessons (Katelin).
• Wrapping up year-end finances for our organization, ETO (Nathan).
• Making a decision on health insurance.

I had hoped to put together a newsletter before I left Ukraine for the States, but as that is looking more and more unlikely, I decided I’d better at least post an update to my blog!

Our summer outreach, Carpathian Mountain outreach, ended on August 11th.  There were two young men, Daniel Courter and Evan Hein, that came to Ukraine to work with us for the summer.  This year, instead of distributing literature in L’viv, we focused our efforts on the areas around L’viv.  Over the 2 1/2 months of CMO, we reached the majority of households in 21 cities and towns.  We are still receiving responses back from our efforts.  Just today, Bryan and I took 34 copies of the book Good and Evil to the post office and mailed them to some of this summer’s respondents.

Evan and I walking along the main road of one of L'viv's satellite towns

We also did work in 15 villages in the Carpathian Mountains, and showed the film Fireproof in 11 of those villages.  Most of those were villages we had done work in before, and we were usually received fairly well.

The film showing in the village of Volosyanka

As to my trip home, because new laws regarding foreigners have made it slightly more complicated to live in Ukraine, I decided to return to the States earlier than I had planned and save myself some headaches and money.  I had been planning to return home around October 1st, now my plan is to leave L’viv on August 30th, and I will be arriving in Denver on September 1st.  I will be in Colorado until the middle of October, at which time I will be flying to Texas, the wedding will be on November 7th, Katelin and I will be returning to Colorado in December, and flying to L’viv on January 4th.

As I write this post, the Steele family is en route to America for a 8-9 month furlough.  You can read more on their blog.  While the Steeles and I are in America, the rest of the team will be carrying on the work in Ukraine.

The 2009 ETO staff team. From left to right: Bryan, Kelsie, Denise, Joshua, Nathan, Teresa, and Jessie.

Currently, I am scrambling to get as much done as possible before I leave for the States on Sunday evening.  Katelin is working on her wedding dress and is preparing wedding invitations. So keep an eye on your mailbox!

• Pray for the people we reached over the summer.
• Pray that the copies of Good and Evil sent today would make it to their destination and that God would use them in the lives of those who receive them.
• Pray for a safe trip for the Steeles.
• Pray that I would make good use of my last few days in L’viv.