WORD OF THE DAY - Friday 31 July 2009

Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” (John 19:5)

Our Dear Heavenly Father ~ Thank you for the exhilarating gift of life that flows through our bodies because of your ingenious creative power and watchful care. As we stand from far off and behold our suffering Savior, standing innocently before a malicious mob, help us to recall all the indignities that he suffered in order to make it possible for us to stand innocent on Judgment Day. Give us courage and wisdom so that we will reject the evil path and obediently follow Christ as Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

Photos: Yesterday morning we finally settled on an apartment to rent for a year. We have discovered a short cut that reduces our walk from the church meeting place to the area where we will live. Now, it only takes us 20 minutes if we don't stop and shop for some fresh fruits. That is hard not to do! We met a real nice couple that recently purchased the apartment across the corridor when it came up for sale. They just spent some money putting in new flooring and wallpaper and a few other improvements. We will not have to be concerned about getting enough exercise since the flat is on the fourth floor. This is an older building in the center of the city which means no lifts - other than the ones God gave us. After we completed our transaction using a real estate agent who specializes in renting apartments, we were concerned that our young friend Sasha was waiting to take us to meet his Mom who makes and sells salads in the market. We decided that the market was directly on the way back to the "church", so we just stopped and found her table where she had been standing all day selling her Korean salads. We already learned to love this from Magadan. She explained that the product in Magadan is closer to Korea and is more spicy. She toned her's down for the local Ukrainian palate. Nevertheless, it still has that unique and tasty Korean spice. Nadya, this mother quizzed us very thoroughly on just who we were and what we are teaching her boy. She laughed when she told how Sasha came home all excited about his new American friends. She said she thought, "Oh no, who has he met now!" After our visit, she promised that she will try to be at our worship services on Sunday. She expressed this before we had even gotten around to inviting her. When we came back to our office, there was a mob of kids milling around outside the door. We had to pay them some attention, but we had so many other details to take care of that we could not allow them to stay for the study. They were begging to start the class several hours earlier. They told us they were hanging around the courtyard area of the apartment complex where the church meets on the ground floor. They said they were counting the minutes until time to start the class. Since our pro basketball player Tyrelle, is not here to chauffeur us around, we hired a taxi and went to the big Metro market and purchased some things we need for our children's class. Fourteen children ran to us from the courtyard when we pulled up and we could keep them at bay no longer. We had a great Bible study with them about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Viktor and Oxana will be with us on Monday - God willing and we will definitely appreciate their help. At 6.30, we had our usual group that come for the evening Gospel preaching services. We have not yet even had time to put out any advertisements. This morning we will be busy with moving out of the hotel by taxi. We will not miss much about the hotel, mostly the AC and the elevator. It doesn't take much to spoil us. Thank you for the many prayers and expressions of love!