Odessa June 23, 2008

We apologize for not posting for a few days. The Internet provider went out after a big storm on June 21 and did not come back online until the 23rd. There will be more pictures uploaded as soon as possbile. We want to share with you the sights of the 15th Anniversary of the founding of Grace Baptist Church and to let you see the crowds as they left the service that morning.

Sunday night we went to a concert of the joint choirs of Second Baptist Church and Calvary Baptist Church as they did the Oratoria by Edward Sheve (1908). It was held in an inner city church and was open to the public. This music score is about the last three days of the life of Jesus Christ and then the resurrection.

We are on our way back to Williamsburg now but will continue to post pictures and stories for some time. Please continue to check back, especially after the 27th for more postings and pictures.

KJ and John Proctor

Grace Baptist Church and its Ministers

GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH, ODESSA, UKRAINE

The banner says: "Grace to you and peace."

Grace celebrates it's 15th Anniversary this Sunday.

Interior of Grace foyer

Grace Children's Shelter

Peter Vladimiravitch and his wife, Lydia the first set of house parents

at the Grace Children's Shelter when it was founded 8 years ago. This p;icture with John Proctoir was taken in the sanctuary of Grace.

Vasili Efmavitch Logvinenko, Pastor Emeritus of Grace Baptist Church (age 83)

Pastor Benjamin, age 86, on June 15

Odessa Government Hosptial where pastors and members of Grace Baptist hold weekly prayer meetings each Wednesday. They provide music, scripture and a short evangelistic service to the patients, nurses and administrators of the hospital.

More Black Sea Camp Construction

One view of the Black Sea from the older section of the "lower camp", meaning the part of the camp that is on the sea level of the property owned by Grace Baptist Church. The camp extends upward to the top of a high hill overlooking the sea. There is space for people on the lower level and on the upper level as well.

Andrew, the Ukrainian electrician stringing the wire is on the left. John Proctor is center in the red jacket and Tom, from outside Wilmington, NC, is on the right. He, his wife Linda andWalt Rumminger from South Carolina put up the studs and particle board walls and ceilings (with wood screws) in both of these 8 room cabins. The men are standing in the hallway that will be partitioned into baths in the nexty phase of construction.

Walt Rumminger, front, and Grace Senior Pastor Igor Bandura inspecting the work on the cabins. Below, shot of the interior wall work with electrical wiring.

This is a view of the older cabins in the lower camp. You can see the wash hanging on the line. This is camp life for the construction workers. The camp cook prepares all meals in the new kitchen/dining room. There are western style shower houses and outdoor pull showers for coming off the beach. These buildings have been restored on the interior but still need much finish work on the exterior porches.

This is a view of the completely restored cabins at the lower camp. They are duplexes with one room sleeping 4 and one room sleeping 2-3 so families can stay in one cabin with some privacy. These and the older cabins do not have private bathrooms, but offer spectacular views of the Black Sea and the breezes from the water.

The camp is also in dire need of upgrading their playground equipment for the children. Right now the slide and the swings are old metal, rusted and dangerous in my opinion. Igor saw the new playground at the WHBC Learning Center and was quite impressed. He is now researching to see if there is anything like this in the Odessa region.

KJP

Attention Construction Team: Here are some pictures from the upper level of the Grace Baptist Black Sea Camp. A team of three from North and South Carolina have been here for three weeks working with some of the older boys from the Grace Shelter. In that length of time they have completed the studding out (see below) and the particle board on one 8 unit cabin and are starting on the second one. As you can see these will have exterior entrances into the bedrooms with individual baths at the back of the bedroom. The men also strung all of the interior wiring with the help of one Ukrainian man, Andrew.

Here is a shot of some of the power tools that are on hand. They are purchased in Odessa or Uzhiney by teams and left for the next group to use. While there is still construction needed on the upper camp, there is much finish work and maintenance to be done on the older lower camp and the area that fronts the Black Sea.

More pictures to come in the next installment of the Missions Blog!

This is Valla. She is the wonderful lady who cooks our breakfast every morning. She is a wonderful Christian woman who also cooks for teams and groups coming to Grace to serve during the summer. She has been doing this for us for the past 8 years. She and John are standing in the dining hall just in front of the window to the kitchen.

Senior Pastor Igor Bandura reading a letter from WHBC Minister of Music John Thompson to Daniel Terenko, Minister of Music, Grace Baptist Church, Odessa. Rev. Thompson sent several copies of music, contatas and hymn arrangements to Rev. Terenko. The music is not only greatly appreciated by the choirs at Grace, but also at the Baptist Theological Seminary where Rev. Terenko is the Director of Music Studies.

Pictures of Transition House

The exterior of the Grace Church Transition House on June 16, 2008. The exterior plaster must still be put on and the front of the house/steps finished. Work now begins on the interior walls, ceilings and floors. Pastor Igor Bandura and John Proctor are seen in the picture. The Transition House is being built for the children who are living in the Grace Baptist Children's Shelter. On becoming 18 they must leave the Shelter located next to the church, but have no safe place to go. This building will house older children for another three years to allow them to learn to become self-sufficient. The rooms are being built as efficiency apartments for 2 to 3 persons, with a common dining room, house parents quarters and space for meetings, conferences and visiting youth groups.

This is a picture of the interior construction of the Transition House. The limestone blocks will be covered with plaster and a railing will be placed along the stairways. These blocks were recycled from the old buildings torn down at the Black Sea Camp, put onto trucks and hauled into Fontanka for this project. The core of the building (basement and three upper floors) are made from this material.

June 16 in Odessa

The day is clear and beautiful with weather in the upper 70's. Being close to the Black Sea we have the same type of skies as in Williamsburg. One difference we have noticed is the Moon. At night it seems to descend instead of ascend over the course of the night. Makes it quite interesting when you are out walking!

Today we went out to see the progress on the Transition House construction. When the children at the Grace Shelter become 18 they must leave under Ukrainian law. The Transition House is being built to provide them a place to live until they are emotionally and financially able to care for themselves. It is amazing to us each time we come and see the work that has been done. The concrete has been poured (by hand) for the first floor, the walls have been reinforced and plastered and the ceilings have been put in place. When you consider the rudimentary way they have to do this work and the fact that the finished 4 story building will have approximately 60,000 square feet of living space, this is quite an accomplishment. However, it can't be finished quickly enough. We already have young men and women who need the safety of the home and the house parents who will live there with them. I will try to upload some pictures so you can see the "house". I must also share with you the miracle of God in providing an abandoned project that is now, even in its unfinished state, worth 3 to 4 times what was paid at purchase.

The night service at Grace was a continuation of the Trinity Sunday services. Along with wonderful choral music, three pastors shared the answers to questions asked about the Holy Spirit. Although we did not understand every word, it was a great experience to hear the interchange between the people and the pastors as they taught the Word.

It has been a good day with Christian friends. May God bless each of you and keep you safe until we see each other again.

Trinity Sunday

Greetings from Grace Baptist Church on Trinity Sunday. Today the morning services were dedicated to telling of the Holy Spirit and how the indwelling of the Spirit of God enables us to do ministry. Brochures were given to each person this morning outlining the Biblical teachings about the Holy Spirit and giving each person a chance to write out any questions they had about the teachings or the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The questions were then gathered at the end of the service.

It is very interesting that in a former Soviet, communist controlled country, tomorrow (Monday) is a state holiday - the holiday of the Spirit - with everyone off of work for the day. Grace Church will take advantage of this and have a service Monday evening. A portion of this service will be at time of dialogue between the pastors and the congregation in answering the questions written on Sunday morning. It should be very interesting.

We arrived here on Friday afternoon and after an early dinner, collapsed and slept. On Saturday morning at 9:00 am we took 40 children to the new outdoor Aqua Park for the morning. (Think Water Country). After two hours of general mayhem and fun, we drove about 15 minutes to the church's camp on the Black Sea for a picnic and more time on the sand. (Ask John later what he did during this time!) Getting back very late to the church apartment we discovered that the key we had to the computer room didn't quite work, so we have been delayed in posting to the Blog.

The weather here is very pleasant; a big change from last year with the drought and the heat. Everything is blue and green, much like the early spring weather in Williamsburg.

We shared this morning's worship with a youth group from Houston who were coming through Odessa on the way to some villages further to the North, and a group of Baptists from North and South Carolina who are here for 4 weeks working on the cabins on the upper level of the Black Sea Camp. It is always great to meet other Christians from home who are about the Father's work.

We meet this week with Pastor Igor Bandura and the leaders of the church to plan out the September trip. They are preparing for us to come and visit with them already!

More news later!

June 2008 Mission Ministry to Grace Baptist Church, Odessa, Ukraine

On June 11, 2008 John and K. J. Proctor will leave for Grace Baptist Church, Odessa, Ukraine. This ministry trip will help to prepare for the upcoming Walnut Hills Joshua Team trip in September.

Taken from the story of Moses sending scouts to the "promised land" to bring back reports, a Joshua Team goes out to listen, learn, discover and bring back to the church their reports of the ministries of Grace Baptist, the possibilities for our two churches to work together, and things that touched their hearts about the people there. The September 23 - October 2 Team members are: Gail Jenner, Terri Bolt, Tina Crawford, Pat and Allan Wright, Danner & Dr. Tony Neal and John and K. J. Proctor.

We ask for your prayers for good health, safe travel and understanding of God's will in this matter. Stay tuned to the Missions Blog and see what is happening in Odessa this year!