MAY 26

If you haven't noticed, RAIN has been the theme through the weeks that the teams have been here. It did that through this last night and continued to downpour this morning making work outdoors next to impossible. 
I know the plants are appreciating the watering, that's a plus.

This afternoon of waiting for the land to dry out, before it rains again, has given me a bit of time today to catch up and get the latest pics up here on the blog.

Sunday evening, May 22nd, a team from Dayton, OH came with Jon Gibson and with him a gal who is also doing ministry in the western part of Ukraine with kids and their families who are disable. It was such a blessing to meet and listen to Nataliya share her wisdom and experience and share with her the kids that I work with here in Tsyurupinsk. We all made a day trip the orphanage and then to Nedpriana so Jon could meet some of the guys who will be in Stephen's home and take back info to share with his church members. His congregation has been deeply involved in the lives of kids in Nataliya's home for orphans. Those kids are now young teens moving on in life. It's beautiful to see. 

This transition is opening doors for the congregation in Dayton to reach out and hopefully become involved in the lives of the young men and women I work with too. God is so good!

Jon with Sasha in Tsyrupinsk

Nataliya with Lena in Tsyurupinsk

This was a wonderful day and I'm so very glad the Lord made this connection.

Pastor Jon Gibson, along with one of the deacons from his church, Gary Hurst participated in the Mid-West bike ride this past September with my sister Wendy in an effort to raise monies for these homes. God made that connection happen &...

...He holds the future!

The following day, May 24th, we had sunshine!!!

The guys really got a start on the walls on the septic tank. This has become the high priority as the one wall collapsed before, the hope is that this won't happen again before we can get the walls up so we won't have to dig out the fallen dirt again. Praying for a break in the rain to be able to accomplish this.

Sasha and Sergei getting the first layer of brick down.

Bryan, up top with Paul, mixing and delivering the mortar for the bricks 

to Sasha and Sergei.

Getting close to the end of the first day of work on this...

...it is no small task.

MEANWHILE, on the house

the hired company of men were working on putting in the rest of the foundational slabs in the entry area, kitchen and utility rooms of the home. 

This work is going together fast.

from the far back corner of the house looking to the front entry where they work