A Trip to Odessa

Last weekend we took a trip to visit our MTW teammates in Odessa. (Last week was not Easter for us living in Orthodox countries. Our Easter will be on April 27th this year.) We had a great visit with our teammates there and the children enjoyed playing with other children and speaking English. It was only a short 2-day visit. Below are some pictures we took.

On the marshrutka. We had to wait close to an hour for the bus to fill up and then 145 miles later (3 1/2 hours) we were in Odessa. The Artisans Square. All sorts of art are can be bought - from jewery to paintings. There are also rides for kids (ponies and the battery-powered cars). The building is an Orthodox Church.
A Porsche limosuine for 700 grivnah ($140)/hour.

A view of the Black Sea and the port of Odessa.
At McDonald's. It had been 5 months since we last visited the golden arches in Kiev.
After church on Sunday at the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Odessa. The church is in the background. This is the first church plant for MTW in Ukraine. The building belonged to a Reformed church before the Communists closed it and turned it into a government building and later a puppet theater. After Ukraine became an independent nation in 1991, the government sought to return property taken by the Communists back to their original owners if possible. The church building was given to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Odessa on the condition that it would be renovated. The church in Odessa is growing with close to 200 people worshipping their on Sunday.

On a different note, Julia was able to find lasagna noodles, parmesan cheese and pesto.