July 3- Day 2 - WE ARE FINALLY HERE IN L'VIV

Dear Family and Friends,
We did a TON of sight seeing today in Kiev and saw many historically significant places. We ate breakfast at the hotel, which was a tasty variety of eggs, potatoes, fruits, big bacon, and pastries. Our first destination upon sightseeing was the wall that used to be the entrance to the city of Kiev. It looked like it was made of Lincoln Logs! After that we went through this incredibly beautiful gold and blue entrance way to the Santa Sophia chapel that was built in the 11th century A.D.! The walls were painted with incredible paintings of saints, but the many years ago the Soviets tried to take over and they painted white over all of the wall paintings and mosaics. The chapel has since been restored and acid was used to remove the white paint and uncover the beautiful artwork underneath. In this chapel, services are held once a year on the Ukrainian Independence day. There is an Iconostasis wall with golden leaf pillars and paintings of saints separating the sanctuary from the place that the holy people (priests, etc.) go behind to prepare the Eucharist for communion. It was awesome seeing ground, mosaics, and paintings that were so ancient! Next, in the chapel, we went into a room and got to see an enormous mosaic that a woman, Oksana Mas and 70 others made of the Virgin Mary out of Pysanky (Ukrainian  Easter Eggs)...over 15,000 eggs were used to create the final masterpiece!
Next- we went to a monastery in Kiev. We went down into the Lavre Cave of the monks from the 11th century, where monks lived in small rooms in the caves throughout their entire lives- the nuns would bring them food and dump their chamberpots! After their life of prayer had ended, the monks' bodies were not removed from their rooms, locks were simply secured on the doors and never opened again. Other bodies of monks from this time period were placed in coffins made entirely out of glass and you could view them as you walked by; the bodies were covered with holy cloths, however. The bodies are removed during each holiday and the cloths are changed. Many of the Ukrainian women kissed the coffins as they walked passed out of respect for the deceased monks. The women of our mission team got a taste of Ukrainian culture as they were required to cover their heads while in the caves with scarves; the team also held candles to light the way. At the end of the caves we were able to leave our candles burning as a blessing upon someone we had prayed for.
After the monastery some of us experienced public Ukrainian restrooms! These toilets cost one ghreivan (one-eighth of a U.S. dollar) to use and they even give you a receipt! The toilet is basically a hole in the ground that you squat over...you even have to supply your own Toilet paper! (Thank you Hannah Nixon for keeping tissues on-hand!) Walking to our next destination we were able to look at all of the artwork sold by street vendors.
After the Monastery we went to the Ukrainian WWII memorial. Many statues of soldiers were present there as well as tanks, cannons, and helicopters from the war.
We ate a tasty lunch/dinner at the same place we had dinner yesterday, and headed back to the hotel to get our luggage and use the "WC" or Water-Closet (a restroom) and changed into comfy clothes for our 7 hour train ride we were preparing to embark upon.
We got to the train station 45 minutes early so we stayed in a really fancy waiting room that cost 10 Ghreivan per person, which is just over a dollar. It was worth paying for, however, as it was quiet and comfy and air conditioned! We boarded the train next, which was not air-conditioned however was comfortable and had tables that turned into beds and overhead bunks.
We arrived in L'viv at 12:00ish and took exciting and cramped (Kjersti and Julie shared a backseat with three LARGE suitcases) taxi rides to the Kosmonaut Hostel just below the student center.
Everything is going well & now, at 1:53 am, we are exhausted and GOING TO BED!
Much Love,
The Ukraine Mission Team

Day 1: July 1 and July 2nd

Dear Family and Friends,
We got through security and into the terminal with no problems except about 50 People to People kids that got in line directly before us in the check in line.
We then were greeted in terminal B (after the aerotrain trip) to 50 more People to People kids in which I believe almost every Grace Mission Team member had at least one People to People kid to sit next to them. It was quite exciting for the student next to me as he had never been on a plane, loved airplane food, and I got to get up 10 tens for him to use the restroom! Unfortunately Camille's P2P kid was more like a 40 year old business person (this whole plane thing was normal for him)...
We were on a 747 which was 2 floors! This was quite exciting as well! I don't think that Julie slept a wink! Dinner included pasta with spinach or chicken and mash potatoes. The salad even had shrimp on it! Breakfast a mere hours later included fruit, natures valley bars and bread. My fifth grader looking 9th grader decided he wanted to be just like me and try coffee with 5 creams and 4 sugars (the coffee was only the size of a dixie cup!)

On to Germany we are.... German security was much more intense many of us got searched including Rhys' guitar. The we were off to sit in the B terminal again but Gate 33. Next flight was 9:50 am German time - about 3:50 in the morning.

We boarded the next plane and much to Rhys' and the teams surprise the guitar had an assigned seat. Julie had the opportunity to sit next to a very entertaining Ukrainian father/son pair and she introduced them to everything from sour patch kids to her JMU sweat pants...soon nearly the whole team passed out after yet another plane meal- who knew what plane meal this was at this point.. I think everyone passed out and we were awoken suddenly with a jarring landing.

We then met Michael an intern and sat/stood in the shade until David, Bob (David's father in law) and Volodia came. We said lots of greetings and headed to a very cramped bus ride with all of our luggage. It took quite some time to get our hotel rooms and thus we were able to hang out in one of the nicest lobbies we had seen in a while (lots of falling asleep during this time)....

We are all paired up for tonight's hotel stay and after a little freshening up we went to meander through the hilly streets of Kiev to find a lovely place to eat dinner. Ukrainians like to wander as David told us and we wandered the city lots before and after our dinner. Dinner was a point and pick meal in which you just point to the food you think looks good and put on your tray. There was everything from salads to soups to pierogies to ricotta filled crepes and fried chicken breast cutlets-no worries EVERYTHING is accompanied with a "Daisy Dollop" of sour cream.  During our walk we chatted lots and saw everything from strip malls, president's office, a ghost building - used by government employees as a hospital, to several embassies. We walked A LOT.

Exhausted we are all headed back to go to bed after a quick grocery store stop to get bottled water and lots of other yummy items :)

8:30- earlier to bed!
Much Love,

The Ukraine Mission Team

We are safe and sound in Kiev. Thank you all for the prayers! We will update when we get to l'viv and have a computer . Much love to you all,
The ukraine mission team

Off to Ukraine!

After lots of planning, meetings, and packing of suitcases we have finally come to departure day!
After a long flight and a transfer we will land in Kiev and take a train to L'viv. In Ukraine, we will be teaching English to Young Adults and Vacation Bible School to school age children. It should be a great trip with lots of learning, teaching, prayer, and spreading of God's Love.

Much love to all of our friends, family, and church. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers while we are gone.

-The Ukraine Mission Team