Tuesday - December 19, 2006

We got up, ate, and boarded the bus for Zaporojie. We had to pack our bags again because we would be spending the night. We arrived there later than Pastor M liked, which didn’t put him in a good mood. We had the typical night meeting with introductions and Justin T’s sermon. The church had two stories with a balcony. The kitchen, fellowship room, restrooms, and office were downstairs along with the ABC. Upstairs was the sanctuary and balcony. We ate supper and then split up into homes.

This time Phoebe and I went together to Mary and Alona’s apartment. The pastor of the church drove us there since Mary doesn’t have a car and neither does her mother, Alona. Later we found out we were lucky to have a direct ride to our destination since most of the others had to ride the public bus for 30+ min.

We got to the apartment. We also met their cat, Busca. They feed us a very large supper, which I thought was delicious. Their apartment had a bedroom, living room, bathroom, and small kitchen/dining room. They were very gracious and kind. They put us first and themselves last.

This kept reminding me about how Christ loves everyone. He put Himself last when He was on this earth, and His Spirit was very evident in this apartment. This Christian love and service we experienced was the main thing that kept our spirits up and kept us going through the rough times.

It was funny with the cat. Phoebe hates cats and I love cats. They put us in the bedroom and they slept in the living room. The cat was used to sleeping in the bedroom and so it came in the room. Phoebe told it to go away, but it only smirked at her.

Then Alona came in and took it away. Phoebe very firmly closed the door and the cat was out of luck for the night. However, in the morning, Phoebe went out the door and didn’t shut it tight enough. The cat snuck in, went to her corner, and curled up. When Phoebe came back in, she saw me laughing. She asked what was going on, but I only laughed harder. Then Phoebe saw the cat and groaned. It was very hilarious for me.