Well today is our last day here in Donetsk. We began the day by going back o the children's rehab hospital. We finished putting in the flooring and putting back all the cabinets. That only took about 3 hours and so then we spent the rest of the day walking all over Donetsk.
Just to give you some background, Donetsk is a city of about 2+ million and it is a steel and coal mining town. All of the people here dress to the nines. You don't see anyone walking around that doesn't look like they just walked out of a Macy's Department Store. They may not eat well but they sure dress well. It is horrible to see how poorly the orphanages and hospitals are while people are dressed in designer clothes but apparently it is just their culture. I just don't get it but hopefully that will change at some point.
Anyway, back to the story. We spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs and then walked about a gazillion miles to get these gifts. After that we went to Jay Don and Mary Lee Rogers house for a wonderful meal. Jay Don is the Dean of UBI and does a great job at what he does. They have been here for many years and took over when Doug and Marge left (who were on the trip with us). Mary Lee is wonderful and a great cook as well I might add. We had a great Americanesque dinner and had a great time visiting.
In the morning we will leave for the airport at 5 am. Ouch! Our flight leaves Donetsk at 7:20 and then we get to Moscow and then on to Chicago and into Nashville at about 8 or 9 pm. We catch 8 hours coming back, which will be nice.
We are all ready to come home and hug our families and just be at HOME! It got me to thinking that this will be what it is like when we are at the end of our life. We had a great time here and will miss those who we have grown to love but we are ready to go home. Just like we are ready now to get home and hug our wives and kids, we will be ready to fall into the arms of Jesus. That gives me goosebumps just thinking of that. See, I am capable of a deep thought. I think when I told Frank that he was very shocked that I could come up with something like that!
It has been an honor to work with all of my team members on this trip. We have had a fruitful trip and hopefully have helped to further the kingdom. If you have never been on a mission trip I encourage you to go. Like Rob said in chapel the other day, Jesus told us to GO! I encourage everyone to jump out of their comfort zone and go... I promise you won't regret it.
I may not get to post on the way home but will post to tell everyone we made it when I get home. Thanks for reading this blog and I hope it has been beneficial and entertaining!
Today's Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/bman727/DonetskAlbum4#slideshow
Friday, September 19, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Thursday...
Thursday is in the books. We went to a hospital that is a rehab hospital that treats children that need physical or mental rehabilitation. The two buildings were former doctors homes that the Communist government took over during the Revolution and turned them into hospitals. They were probably built in the 1910's and I don't think much has been done to them since then. We painted the outside porches on both buildings and are putting in linoleum in two rooms (one in each building). The painting made a huge difference and I'm sure it will give the doctors there more pride in where they work.
This hospital is supported by the government to the tune of pennies per day so basically that is non-existent. They rely on local donations and apparently there is one city official who is known as kind of "the Godfather" of the hospital. If people in the community need his help and want to repay him, then he asks them to give money or some kind of support to the hospital which is just awesome. I think it would be really neat to meet this guy.
When we got into the first room the floor was like walking on marshmallows. We knew we couldn't just put linoleum over the old and so Eric went on a mission to find some plywood so we could put in a new subfloor. We knew that if we pulled up the old floor that there was no telling what we would find so we decided to put the new floor just on top of the old. We got the new floor down and on Friday (today for us already) we are going to put the linoleum down in both rooms. The other floor in the second building is sturdy enough that all we will have to do is put the linoleum down so things should go fast today. We hope to do a little shopping this afternoon because I know that I have been put under strict orders by Riley and Laura that it would be to my benefit not to come home without a souvenir. :) I think all of us have been given a similar "suggestion" by our kids.
Couple of stories from the day. Let's just say that there are no Lowe's or Home Depots here. Eric and Ludmilla drove all over creation to find the wood for that floor. They had pretty much exhausted all ideas and they went to the last possible place and wouldn't you know it... there it sat. Don't ever say that God doesn't provide. Another story is that while painting, Rob spilled some paint on the asphalt right in front of one of the porches we painted and the blob was really bothering Frank. Well, Rob then turned this circle of paint into a fish. So that will explain the fish picture when you go to today's pictures.
Of course there were other interesting stories that we will all have to tell you when we get back but those are a couple I can think of right now from Thursday.
So it is now Friday morning and Brandon is speaking at chapel and then we are going back to the hospital to finish up. Time is winding down and we are getting anxious to get back and see our families. We leave at 7:20 am local time tomorrow so we will have to leave the school at about 4:30 am to get to the airport....ouch! It will take us about 24 hours to get home but because of the time difference we will leave on Saturday morning and get back to Nashville on Saturday night, which is hard to wrap my head around.
Well must end for now. I will try to post one more time before we leave and by the way, hug Frank Scott's neck when you see him. Not only has he been working with us every day but the he has also been giving a seminar every night. He has been incredible. Ok, gotta go!
Link to pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bman727/DonetskMissionAlbum3#slideshow
This hospital is supported by the government to the tune of pennies per day so basically that is non-existent. They rely on local donations and apparently there is one city official who is known as kind of "the Godfather" of the hospital. If people in the community need his help and want to repay him, then he asks them to give money or some kind of support to the hospital which is just awesome. I think it would be really neat to meet this guy.
When we got into the first room the floor was like walking on marshmallows. We knew we couldn't just put linoleum over the old and so Eric went on a mission to find some plywood so we could put in a new subfloor. We knew that if we pulled up the old floor that there was no telling what we would find so we decided to put the new floor just on top of the old. We got the new floor down and on Friday (today for us already) we are going to put the linoleum down in both rooms. The other floor in the second building is sturdy enough that all we will have to do is put the linoleum down so things should go fast today. We hope to do a little shopping this afternoon because I know that I have been put under strict orders by Riley and Laura that it would be to my benefit not to come home without a souvenir. :) I think all of us have been given a similar "suggestion" by our kids.
Couple of stories from the day. Let's just say that there are no Lowe's or Home Depots here. Eric and Ludmilla drove all over creation to find the wood for that floor. They had pretty much exhausted all ideas and they went to the last possible place and wouldn't you know it... there it sat. Don't ever say that God doesn't provide. Another story is that while painting, Rob spilled some paint on the asphalt right in front of one of the porches we painted and the blob was really bothering Frank. Well, Rob then turned this circle of paint into a fish. So that will explain the fish picture when you go to today's pictures.
Of course there were other interesting stories that we will all have to tell you when we get back but those are a couple I can think of right now from Thursday.
So it is now Friday morning and Brandon is speaking at chapel and then we are going back to the hospital to finish up. Time is winding down and we are getting anxious to get back and see our families. We leave at 7:20 am local time tomorrow so we will have to leave the school at about 4:30 am to get to the airport....ouch! It will take us about 24 hours to get home but because of the time difference we will leave on Saturday morning and get back to Nashville on Saturday night, which is hard to wrap my head around.
Well must end for now. I will try to post one more time before we leave and by the way, hug Frank Scott's neck when you see him. Not only has he been working with us every day but the he has also been giving a seminar every night. He has been incredible. Ok, gotta go!
Link to pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bman727/DonetskMissionAlbum3#slideshow
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday in Donetsk...
Well we had an eventful day today. We went to a local hospital that specializes in breathing disorders and we put in new flooring (linoleum) and put several beds together. We didn't quite get done and so we will go back tomorrow to finish up. Actually some of us will go and finish up there and the others will go to another hospital and put in more linoleum in a couple of rooms.
Let me just tell you. There is not a one of you that is reading this blog that would take one of their children to a hospital in these conditions. It is like a hospital out of the 1930's in the States. And to beat it all, this was a hospital for breathing disorders! In one of the pictures I am posting today take a look at the one that is showing an air filter. It is completely clogged up! It breaks your heart. Some of the pictures are of rooms that they currently are using and it doesn't really do it justice. Also, a couple of pictures are of the room that they take baths. There is no such thing as a bathroom with a shower in the rooms and they are lucky if the room has a toilet/sink. Trust me when I say that these pictures don't tell the picture very well but it is the best we can do. It is a far, far cry from Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
Next we went to Mikail's house, who is one of the missionaries we support and we ate and ate and ate and ate. We ate a ton of good Ukrainian food. Things that would make my mother proud that I ate. I actually ate the same stuff the last time we were here but actually that makes me even better because I was willing to do it again. :) It really was all good food and we had a great time visiting with Mikail's. And by the way I am spelling his name wrong but I'm close. One of the pictures I am putting up today is of me and Mikail, he's the good looking one.
We came back to the school and Frank gave his second lecture in his series and then we provided refreshments for everyone in attendance. Oh and good news, Frank and Bobby FINALLY got their luggage! Better late than never I guess. We (Brandon, Bryan, Rob, and Eric) then went up on the second floor to play some of the students in Ping Pong. Brandon did well, as did Eric. Myself? Let's move to another subject....
Here is the link to today's pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bman727/DonetskMissionII#slideshow
I do need to explain the picture from yesterday where Eric is eating the banana. Rob discovered that they peel the banana from the opposite end than we do. We peel from the part that is attached to the bunch. They peel from the other end. The explanation? They have a handle to hold the banana. Made sense to us and it is Rob's mission in life now to convert everyone in the United States to that way of eating the banana. Well it late here and afternoon there. I am now going to cash in my chips and go to bed. Post more tomorrow!
Let me just tell you. There is not a one of you that is reading this blog that would take one of their children to a hospital in these conditions. It is like a hospital out of the 1930's in the States. And to beat it all, this was a hospital for breathing disorders! In one of the pictures I am posting today take a look at the one that is showing an air filter. It is completely clogged up! It breaks your heart. Some of the pictures are of rooms that they currently are using and it doesn't really do it justice. Also, a couple of pictures are of the room that they take baths. There is no such thing as a bathroom with a shower in the rooms and they are lucky if the room has a toilet/sink. Trust me when I say that these pictures don't tell the picture very well but it is the best we can do. It is a far, far cry from Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
Next we went to Mikail's house, who is one of the missionaries we support and we ate and ate and ate and ate. We ate a ton of good Ukrainian food. Things that would make my mother proud that I ate. I actually ate the same stuff the last time we were here but actually that makes me even better because I was willing to do it again. :) It really was all good food and we had a great time visiting with Mikail's. And by the way I am spelling his name wrong but I'm close. One of the pictures I am putting up today is of me and Mikail, he's the good looking one.
We came back to the school and Frank gave his second lecture in his series and then we provided refreshments for everyone in attendance. Oh and good news, Frank and Bobby FINALLY got their luggage! Better late than never I guess. We (Brandon, Bryan, Rob, and Eric) then went up on the second floor to play some of the students in Ping Pong. Brandon did well, as did Eric. Myself? Let's move to another subject....
Here is the link to today's pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bman727/DonetskMissionII#slideshow
I do need to explain the picture from yesterday where Eric is eating the banana. Rob discovered that they peel the banana from the opposite end than we do. We peel from the part that is attached to the bunch. They peel from the other end. The explanation? They have a handle to hold the banana. Made sense to us and it is Rob's mission in life now to convert everyone in the United States to that way of eating the banana. Well it late here and afternoon there. I am now going to cash in my chips and go to bed. Post more tomorrow!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Day 2 in the books...
We had an eventful day today. We went to the orphanage that we purchased the playground equipment for and spent most of the day. We had thought that we were going to be installing it but apparently the installation came with the cost of the playground. This turned out to be a good thing because it would have been a difficult task to put it all in with the tools we have, which is basically nothing. We did mostly landscaping at the orphanage and are all going to be sore tomorrow. I don't think that lawnmowers are part of their culture. :) We had a blast though and got to tour the orphanage and hand out candy to the kids. Of course we wanted to take them all home with us.
This particular orphanage takes in the kids and they stay there for three months maximum, at which time they are taken to long term orphanages if they don't have any other family (aunt, uncle, etc..) to take them in. It truly breaks your heart. They were so well behaved and I caught myself watching them and praying that their life turns out well even though they have been dealt such a difficult lot in life. I know God will protect them though and the administrators and teachers at the orphanage were great people and took good care of them, so much so that they never want to leave.
I am putting pictures in this post from the time we left until today. The last couple are of Frank Scott in the seminar tonight. He is giving a three day lectureship series on family life. The pictures are pretty self explanatory from the timeline of my other posts but I will try to label them at some point.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bman727/DonetskMission#slideshow
Tomorrow we will be at a hospital putting in flooring and beds so I will post more then. Until tomorrow....
This particular orphanage takes in the kids and they stay there for three months maximum, at which time they are taken to long term orphanages if they don't have any other family (aunt, uncle, etc..) to take them in. It truly breaks your heart. They were so well behaved and I caught myself watching them and praying that their life turns out well even though they have been dealt such a difficult lot in life. I know God will protect them though and the administrators and teachers at the orphanage were great people and took good care of them, so much so that they never want to leave.
I am putting pictures in this post from the time we left until today. The last couple are of Frank Scott in the seminar tonight. He is giving a three day lectureship series on family life. The pictures are pretty self explanatory from the timeline of my other posts but I will try to label them at some point.
http://picasaweb.google.com/bman727/DonetskMission#slideshow
Tomorrow we will be at a hospital putting in flooring and beds so I will post more then. Until tomorrow....
Monday, September 15, 2008
The first day is in the books...
Day one is over and it is actually day two here for us. It is 8:33 her and eveyone at home is asleep. I have gotten to speak to April, Laura, my mom, and my sister on Skype today so that was a pleasant surprise. Technology is amazing! They were able to see me online for free and we were thousands of miles away.
Frank and Bobby got here safe and sound sans their luggage. Hopefully that will be arriving shortly!
Yesterday we went to a children's hospital and put up beds for them and got to visit with several kids. It looks nothing like what we would consider a hospital and I don't really know what we would compare it to, but suffice it to say it wouldn't be anywhere that we would be feel good about taking our kids to. That being said the doctors take good care of the kids and really have a heart for them and their work. We also delivered diapers, toys, and a heater to go along with the beds and they were happy to receive them.
After that we went to Anatoliy's house and had a huge lunch. We had the best chicken noodle soup that any of us have ever had. We then had basically pork kabobs and rice. We also had other things but quite frankly I can't remember what they were called. It was awesome at any rate. We then came back to the school and hooked up with Frank and Bobby. Jet lag kicked in pretty hard on us after that big meal yesterday and we were all dragging. On a side note, my father was scarred for life from the driving over here even though I warned him beforehand.
We went to a restaurant last night called the Golden Lion and we had a good meal there but most of us just ate light since we had such a big lunch and then came home and crashed. We are now about to go into Chapel and so I shall end this post. We all miss our families but we are in good hands and excited to be here.
Until next time!
Bryn
Frank and Bobby got here safe and sound sans their luggage. Hopefully that will be arriving shortly!
Yesterday we went to a children's hospital and put up beds for them and got to visit with several kids. It looks nothing like what we would consider a hospital and I don't really know what we would compare it to, but suffice it to say it wouldn't be anywhere that we would be feel good about taking our kids to. That being said the doctors take good care of the kids and really have a heart for them and their work. We also delivered diapers, toys, and a heater to go along with the beds and they were happy to receive them.
After that we went to Anatoliy's house and had a huge lunch. We had the best chicken noodle soup that any of us have ever had. We then had basically pork kabobs and rice. We also had other things but quite frankly I can't remember what they were called. It was awesome at any rate. We then came back to the school and hooked up with Frank and Bobby. Jet lag kicked in pretty hard on us after that big meal yesterday and we were all dragging. On a side note, my father was scarred for life from the driving over here even though I warned him beforehand.
We went to a restaurant last night called the Golden Lion and we had a good meal there but most of us just ate light since we had such a big lunch and then came home and crashed. We are now about to go into Chapel and so I shall end this post. We all miss our families but we are in good hands and excited to be here.
Until next time!
Bryn
Monday Morning
Our first morning here and we are ready to go. We got up and went to....wait for it....McDonald's. Yes we just can't get away from that. Interestingly enough they don't have breakfast food so I had a McChicken sandwich and fries so that was a bit weird.
We had chapel this morning and Doug spoke about his recent trip to Athens and Nazareth. We did do some walking around and saw all of the changes from three years ago. Things are more modern and cleaner, which is good.
We are getting ready to go to a local children's hospital and put beds together and bed tables so that should be fun. Frank and Bobby Huffine get here in a few hours so we are looking forward to hooking up with them. You may have heard about a plane crash in Russia (that had Americans on board) but obviously it wasn't us. Apparently it did leave from Moscow but was headed to the Ural Mountains. Keep those families in your prayers.
The trip over was eventful. It started out with our flight to Chicago from Nashville getting cancelled and having to take an earlier flight, which actually was delayed until about time of our original flight time. In Chicago they gave us a hard time about not having a visa but we didn't have to have any because we weren't leaving the airport. We got this taken care of and then in Moscow we went to the Transit office and they had no idea how to help us with our connecting flight but after about 3 hours we got through that. It was a good thing after all that we had a long layover. We are concerned about the trip back through Moscow though because our layover is just a couple of hours so we are going to try to take care of that this week and figure out how to manage it. There is a local Don Bass Aero office nearby so we will go there to try to figure it out.
One thing that God obviously had his hands in was getting Doug and Marge here. They were leaving out of Dallas and barely made it out because of Hurricane Ike. They ended up going a different route through Frankfurt to Moscow and we hooked up in Moscow. They were supposed to come through Chicago with us but were lucky to get out of Dallas when they did.
Well that is enough for now I guess. We are anxious to get to work and work out some of this jet lag we are feeling. I will post later this evening about our days events and hopefully eventually get some pictures up.
Later!
We had chapel this morning and Doug spoke about his recent trip to Athens and Nazareth. We did do some walking around and saw all of the changes from three years ago. Things are more modern and cleaner, which is good.
We are getting ready to go to a local children's hospital and put beds together and bed tables so that should be fun. Frank and Bobby Huffine get here in a few hours so we are looking forward to hooking up with them. You may have heard about a plane crash in Russia (that had Americans on board) but obviously it wasn't us. Apparently it did leave from Moscow but was headed to the Ural Mountains. Keep those families in your prayers.
The trip over was eventful. It started out with our flight to Chicago from Nashville getting cancelled and having to take an earlier flight, which actually was delayed until about time of our original flight time. In Chicago they gave us a hard time about not having a visa but we didn't have to have any because we weren't leaving the airport. We got this taken care of and then in Moscow we went to the Transit office and they had no idea how to help us with our connecting flight but after about 3 hours we got through that. It was a good thing after all that we had a long layover. We are concerned about the trip back through Moscow though because our layover is just a couple of hours so we are going to try to take care of that this week and figure out how to manage it. There is a local Don Bass Aero office nearby so we will go there to try to figure it out.
One thing that God obviously had his hands in was getting Doug and Marge here. They were leaving out of Dallas and barely made it out because of Hurricane Ike. They ended up going a different route through Frankfurt to Moscow and we hooked up in Moscow. They were supposed to come through Chicago with us but were lucky to get out of Dallas when they did.
Well that is enough for now I guess. We are anxious to get to work and work out some of this jet lag we are feeling. I will post later this evening about our days events and hopefully eventually get some pictures up.
Later!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
We are Here!
Well we finally made it. It is about 10:30 local time on Sunday night and we are pooped. We have pretty much been up for 30 hours straight except for some dozing on the trip into Moscow. We are excited to get to work tomorrow and look forward to reconnecting relationships and working for the Lord over here! Nothing went very smooth on our flights over here but we got here no harm, no foul. I will write more tomorrow when I have more time and my mind is a bit clearer. We miss you all and love you!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Tomorrow We Leave...
Well at least most of us leave tomorrow. All of us except for Frank and Bobby Huffine will leave on Saturday while they leave on Sunday. We leave out of Nashville bound for Chicago at around 1:20 and then from there we head out to Moscow. We are all excited to get on our way. Our preliminary itinerary is as follows:
Arrive on Sunday night in Donetsk at around 9 pm
Monday- Go with Anatoliy (one of the missionaries we support) and we'll go to one of the hospitals and assemble some baby beds and bring some things for them, like diapers.
Tuesday- Weather permitting we will go to a local orphanage where we'll install the playground equipment.
Wednesday- We'll go to hospital for kids with lungs problems and put linoleum in three rooms and a border around it. We'll also be installing new beds and bed tables there as well.
Thursday and Friday- we'll go to a hospital for paralyzed children. They need linoleum in two of their rooms and they also need us to paint some of the outside of the building.
Arrive on Sunday night in Donetsk at around 9 pm
Monday- Go with Anatoliy (one of the missionaries we support) and we'll go to one of the hospitals and assemble some baby beds and bring some things for them, like diapers.
Tuesday- Weather permitting we will go to a local orphanage where we'll install the playground equipment.
Wednesday- We'll go to hospital for kids with lungs problems and put linoleum in three rooms and a border around it. We'll also be installing new beds and bed tables there as well.
Thursday and Friday- we'll go to a hospital for paralyzed children. They need linoleum in two of their rooms and they also need us to paint some of the outside of the building.
Every evening (starting Tuesday night I believe) Frank will be conducting a seminar at the school. We'll probably be able to be there to help with that in whatever ways we are needed, unless we just need to stay at our work sites to finish up.
So we have our work cut out for us. We definitely will be busy and going into some rainy and cold weather. Looks like a lot of rain is in store for us and high temp's in the 50's and lows in the 30's.
Will post again as soon as I can after we have left!
So we have our work cut out for us. We definitely will be busy and going into some rainy and cold weather. Looks like a lot of rain is in store for us and high temp's in the 50's and lows in the 30's.
Will post again as soon as I can after we have left!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Two Weeks Out...
Today is Sunday, August 31st and we are just shy of two weeks before our trip. We are beginning to get excited about going back to Donetsk and seeing our brothers and sisters that we met 3 years ago. Madison has supported the work in Donetsk for several years now and the Lord has supplied us wonderful Christian brothers and sisters to work with.
Three years ago, Eric Bright, Gregory Huffine, and Bryan Moore went along with Doug Reeves to Donetsk on a visit to meet our missionaries that we support and witness the good work that is going on for the Lord there. We decided that the next time we would really do more physical work because there are so many needs that we knew we would love to be part of.
This visit we will be constructing a playground and fence at one of the local orphanages that the school in Donetsk supports as well as putting in new flooring and furniture in some rooms at one of the local hospitals. We've got a lot of work to do in just a short amount of time. I will be posting up until we leave on some of the history of the work there and how it is set up because it is really a neat way of reaching the lost.
We are so thankful for the support that so many people have given us, both financially and through your continued prayers. We are excited about fulfilling God's mission in this trip and are so thankful of the support that we have gotten and will continue to receive.
Continue to check the site during the week that we will be gone, September 13th thru September 20th. We will hopefully be able to keep everyone abreast of what we have done each day and pictures of our progress.
More later!
Three years ago, Eric Bright, Gregory Huffine, and Bryan Moore went along with Doug Reeves to Donetsk on a visit to meet our missionaries that we support and witness the good work that is going on for the Lord there. We decided that the next time we would really do more physical work because there are so many needs that we knew we would love to be part of.
This visit we will be constructing a playground and fence at one of the local orphanages that the school in Donetsk supports as well as putting in new flooring and furniture in some rooms at one of the local hospitals. We've got a lot of work to do in just a short amount of time. I will be posting up until we leave on some of the history of the work there and how it is set up because it is really a neat way of reaching the lost.
We are so thankful for the support that so many people have given us, both financially and through your continued prayers. We are excited about fulfilling God's mission in this trip and are so thankful of the support that we have gotten and will continue to receive.
Continue to check the site during the week that we will be gone, September 13th thru September 20th. We will hopefully be able to keep everyone abreast of what we have done each day and pictures of our progress.
More later!
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