When we lived in Ukraine there was a ministry we worked closely with other than the Widow’s House. It was called Angelina and is now called Hope. It was one of the two ministries that was pro life. This ministry had a unique approach.
First of all I must tell you that children raised in an orphanage never learn life skills. They go to school and learn reading a writing and stuff like that but they are never taught how to make a bed or cook a meal or do the dishes. Absolutely nothing practical to live outside the orphanage. At age eighteen they have to leave the orphanage. They are not prepared to live at all. So a lot of the girls turn to prostitution mostly for food and a roof over their head. Continue reading →
When we lived at the Jesus House of Prayer in Jericho one of the things we did was give out food packages to people who needed them. There was a fence around the house and we locked the gate at ten at night and didn’t open it until after breakfast in the morning. This was mainly so someone didn’t come asking for something in the middle of the night. Continue reading →
When we lived in Ukraine one of the things that struck us was the way they honor their veterans. Once a year they hold a special day to honor them. It is always a big thing and the village where we lived was no different. The civic center was where the events were held. It was a very big deal in the village. Continue reading →
A lot of people want to go to Jamaica. I know several people who have gone and loved it. I’m not one of them. When we lived there we were not in a lovely all inclusive vacation spot.
I probably shouldn’t have started this post that way and really thought about changing it. But on second thought I do believe in being honest . A ministry asked us to run a mission house in High Gate, Jamaica for several weeks until the full time couple could get there. We said we would before really thinking it through. I don’t like hot weather and Jamaica is considered warm, well actually hot, all of the time. Not only that it is extremely humid.
The mission house
I called the ministry headquarters to find out if just possibly the mission house was air conditioned. I was told it didn’t need to be because it was up in the mountains. Our job was really very easy. Each week a different ministry team would come stay at the mission house and they would build a home for a family who needed one. A pastor would tell the headquarters who needed a home and different teams would come to build it. We had a cook for all the meals and a couple of maids to make sure the rooms were cleaned before a new team would come in on Sunday.
So what was our job? I had to get up very early and put the coffee on and set it up so people would have coffee when they got up. The cook came in and fixed breakfast. After breakfast we had devotions with the team before they left to go out to work. We also had to do the shopping. The cook would give us a list of what was needed and how much. We would go to town and buy what she said to get. That sounds easy but up in the mountains it is more like a third world country. So we went from place to place to buy what was needed.
All meals were eaten in the dining hall
Going to church was also quite an adventure. We went to a church in Berrydale. It was one of the churches the ministry worked with. The first thing we had to do was get to the river, then get on the rafts. Yes, we had to take a raft to church. But when we got off the raft we had to walk a half mile to the church. Remember it is summer and the weather is not only hot but with one hundred per cent humidity. We went to a different church each week but there was not one this exciting to get to.
Going to churchstill going to church
Next week I will tell you about the houses that were built and show you the joy of the people receiving the houses. But I will tell you they are not houses as we think of houses.
Shopping when over seas can be quite a challenge. When we lived in Chervonoarmeysk (also known as Pulin) in Ukraine we lived in a big village. After all it was five thousand people. Now granted that included those who lived around the village also. However, it was the largest village for miles and miles. The large city of Zhytomer was over an hour away by car and most people didn’t have cars. Continue reading →
I taught many Bible Studies in different homes while in Jericho. However the biggest one was at the Jesus House on Saturday morning at ten o’clock. We would have ladies that showed up at eight in the morning for the study at ten. We kept the door locked until we had everything set up for the study. Continue reading →
When you are serving overseas, you sometimes wish you had more alone time. When we were at the Jesus House, we always had people at the house. I never cooked a meal just for Bob and me. There would be someone else to feed, but I rarely knew who that would be. So I want to share with you some of the meals we had in Jericho.
My visit to Syria was quite enlightening. A group we sometimes travel with was going and we signed up to go with them. A dear Syrian brother had come to the states to minister and he stayed with us. So we were excited to go to Syria. Continue reading →
Our first apartment in Jericho was about 2 miles from the Jesus House. As the crow flies it probably wasn’t even a mile but we had to walk on the roads to the house. Our apartment was on the second floor of the building and it was quite nice.
It didn’t have a washing machine and there were no laundromats so I did laundry the old fashioned way, by hand. The Jesus House had a washing machine, so when I had a load of towels or jeans we called a taxi and took the clothes there to wash them.
doing laundry the old-fashioned way
One of the fun things about living at this apartment was the neighbors. The woman who lived downstairs with her son was really nice. We called her momma and her son’s name was Mohammed. Every evening they would sit outside and, since it was winter, they had a fire. Many of the neighbors came out to chat and the children would play in the street. Of course we didn’t know the language, but they always made us feel welcome when we joined them
Momma & Bob
Evening wasn’t the only time they sat outside. They sat out during the day too. Mohammed was crippled and couldn’t talk plain so he didn’t work. Many days he and momma would sit outside and neighbors would come and talk with them for awhile. There were opportunities for prayer for people and they let us pray with no problem. We prayed in the name of Jesus, but they didn’t care. We saw several healings.
Momma, son Mohammed, and a neighbor
After awhile the neighbors started bringing us food they cooked. Most of it was absolutely delicious. We figured some neighbors weren’t such great cooks because other neighbors brought us the same dish that was excellent.
While we lived there I so enjoyed the times together even if we didn’t understand each other. I also remembered when I was little and people sat outside and talked in the evening. I loved those times when all the kids played together and their parents talked.
Jericho was and still is an unusual place. The first time I went to Jericho it was to hold a public outreach. Terry McIntosh had established the Jesus House of Prayer and had permission to have a parade and to have worship in the city square. This is a Muslim city but the officials gave us permission to do this. Continue reading →
Tales from the Mission Field 