In the above photo you see the treasures of snow that fell
on Kramatorsk, Ukraine!
I have now arrived in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. We were met at the train station by Vlad who took us to the hotel and then to his home where Oksana had prepared a delicious meal for us. We had borsch then Shepherd’s Pie and sour cabbage. For dessert she had cooked some delicious muffins. It is always a joy to be invited into Vlad and Oksana’s home and enjoy their wonderful hospitality!
During the daytime the outdoor temp had warmed up nicely from what we left in Kyiv last night. Even though the sun was out and the temps warmer there were mountains of snow all around! The melt off today was amazing but there is still a great deal of snow. The relief from the cold is only during the sunlight hours—tonight the temps are to fall to -11C!
On tomorrow’s Lord’s Day I will be preaching at the Kramatorsk congregation and then travel to a village called “IZUM.” This is a location where the Kramatorsk congregation is establishing a new congregation. The mission effort in Izum began when the congregation was contacted by a family that had moved to that village. They had previously lived in Kramatorsk. The family requested that the Church come to their village. The village is too far for the family to travel back to Kramatorsk to worship. So the congregation decided they would take the Church there each Sunday after the assemblies in Kramatorsk are concluded. Following worship some of the Kramatorsk congregation travel there to worship with the family. The congregation is currently involved in outreach efforts to invite more in the village to join them in worship. This is a district where no congregation exits and transportation to an existing congregation is not possible. On my last trip Vlad had explained this effort to me and I was impressed at the initiative of the Kramatorsk congregation. But I was unable to go with them last October. Thankfully tomorrow I will be able to travel with Vlad and others and join in the worshipping assembly in this location.
Tonight is the “spring forward” daylight savings time reset. I have enjoyed this experience in Alabama and then enjoyed it again as I had to get use to a 7 hour time difference because of travel and arrival in Ukraine and now I get to enjoy it once again! With this change I will be 8 hours ahead of the Central USA daylight savings time!
Continue praying for our efforts and the opening of doors by which the gospel can be preached!
John L. Kachelman, Jr.
Kramatorsk, Ukraine
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