And then 20 years ago today…the wall came down.

World Next Door is looking for interns to travel to Ukraine next summer to photograph and blog about various ministries in Ukraine. The main connection will be with Mission to Ukraine in Zhitomyr.

This looks like a fabulous opportunity for anyone who loves travel, missions and photography.

So, hopefully Harrs and Huntingtons will see this post. Not to mention Lena and Stepasha. Not sure how this would work for nationals!

Contact World Next Door for more information about this internship. And/or contact me for more information about Ukraine!

Okay, this flu-panic quarantine has just hit a little too close to home. No worries — Jim and I are fine.

BUT, I was not allowed to visit my little orphan friends at the hospital today. I am so thankful that Kristoslava is still able to be in the room with these precious ones. The six-month-old little boy has been there for several weeks now, but a new patient was admitted a couple of days ago. Less than a week old. Left by the mama.

Pray for patients admitted to any of the hospitals! No visitors can cause very lonely days.

And also pray that this quarantine might be lifted before the guesstimated three weeks.

I have such respect for travel agents, and others who have the patience to search out the best possible flights from one place to another. I am going a little nuts as I try to find the cheapest way from Kyiv to Alborg Airport in Denmark. Part of our problem is that we have no flexibility in dates — we need to be there on Monday January 4 and we need to be on our way out on Saturday January 9.

Ukraine has this wonderful discount airlines here (wizzair) that flies into London and Oslo (among other cities in Europe). We were hoping to fly at least one of the legs on this airline. Then I found flights from Oslo to Alborg. None from the London Luton airport to Alborg. So far so good, eh!

I was feeling pretty clever working backwards. Researching which airlines serviced Alborg. (That in itself was a challenge for me…). And then trying to connect to a city that wizzair serviced.

How disappointing to discover that wizzair doesn’t fly to Oslo on the dates that we need! Ugh!

Back to the drawing board. Looks like SAS may be getting our money. With an overnight in Copenhagen on the way back. A sweet little 13-hour layover — a mini-break before diving back into our crazy ministry schedule!

Hope to make the final arrangements even tomorrow. (If any of you are travel agents feel free to look around the internet and let us know what you find!)

Just received notice of an incredible book sale: the CCEF Library of Classics. Jim and I have read the vast majority of these books (I think all but two) and heartily recommend them to anyone looking for a biblical perspective on everyday challenges.

We personally own two of each of the books that we’ve read so that we can always have one here for quick reference, and so that we can also loan them to others.

We’re talking half price. Order a set for yourself. Additional sets to loan. But order them now…the sale is only this week!

Jim and I recently began to read Calvin’s Bible Commentary on the book of Zechariah as translated by John King and published by Forgotten Books.

Some of you may recall that we are praying about opening a home for orphans who are HIV+ and our working name for the home is Zechariah’s House. Zechariah means the Lord remembers, and we know that He has not forgotten these precious children.

Jim and I look forward to digging deeper into this book. Pray for us as we peer more closely at God’s Word. That the Spirit might enlighten our minds to understand what we are reading. That we might be changed so that we, in turn, might be change agents.

And to God be the glory.

In addition to schools and cinemas (among other things though NOT including the National Opera House — the show does go on!), orphanages have been closed to visitors for the next three weeks. The fear is not that you will become sick from children at the orphanage, but that you might carry the germs of illness to them.

Besides regular visitors, this also eliminates potential adopting parents. Friends of ours had an appointment scheduled for today at the SDA, but were told that the meeting would no longer take place in accordance with the declaration of no public gatherings. THAT doesn’t make sense to me unless the government intends to halt all work everywhere. How can you not have private meetings? But, in all honesty, even those who would be granted a meeting and actually given a referral would not be able to visit the children for three weeks! The orphanage meeting gives the child and parents time to interact and have any questions answered regarding the child. The orphanage director, in my limited understanding, approves or rejects the process at this point. Yikes!

Please be praying for all of the families who are currently in Ukraine and suddenly find the process is on hold, or who are arriving in the next few weeks and will not be permitted to proceed.

Our friends are in a little bit different situation. They already know the children. BUT they don’t already know the orphanage director. Please be praying that a meeting “off the grounds” might be worked out! The director needs to voice approval before a court date can be set.

Thankful for a Sovereign God Who is not surprised by any of this. He is not caught off-guard at all. It will be interesting to see how He plans to use all of this to His glory!

In conjunction with National Adoption Awareness Month, friends at adoption316 are giving books away throughout the month! Ramona and Connie are both adoptive moms with heart-warming, heart-wrenching, heartfelt stories to share of their journeys and the resources that helped them.

Jim and I met both of them this spring — Ramona in Huntsville, Alabama and Connie at the Tulsa Airport over Starbucks coffee.

If you or friends may find adoption resources helpful, please enter now to add to your library! And spread the word about their blog!

I’ve been seeing lots of surgical masks and other makeshift masks out and about in Kyiv these days. The flu panic is not in full-swing in Kyiv as it is in western Ukraine, but I’m sure that it’s just a matter of time.

My friend Greg posted this interesting link on facebook and I thought it might be helpful to pass it on.

I’m not sure that mask-wearers understand the purpose of what they’re wearing. Are they trying to protect THEMSELVES from others who might have the flu, or is he trying to prevent HIMSELF from passing on his own germs. It makes a difference.

Personally I’m thankful that so many people are wearing masks or scrunched down into their turtlenecks or wrapped up in scarves: It surely helps prevent THEIR germs from passing directly to me!

Well, since the Rada (Parliament) made some decisions regarding news that the flu (not just H1N1, by the way) is in epidemic proportions in Ukraine, we are beginning to see how a panic might look. We were used to responses to storm warnings in the U.S. — milk, toilet paper, batteries, etc. became in short supply. And I remember news reports showing folks sporting face masks when the SARS outbreak hit Asia. The declaration that schools would be closed for a minimum of one week though probably for three weeks, movie theatres would be closed until further notice, presidential campaign gatherings were cancelled…all of this began to sink in over the weekend.

But now we have a flu panic in Ukraine. On the way to church this morning I stopped counting how many people were wearing masks: medical masks, scarves, some homemade from cotton batting. It appeared that maybe one in 10 or one in 20 on the metro was covering mouth and nose, if not by masks then by turtlenecks or zipping coats up high.

Even during the church service several in the congregation wore masks. Lots of questions for Jim. And they gave him a few minutes at the end of the service to promote some basic preventive measures, stressing the need to wash hands many times a day.

When we returned home we learned of some new measures being taken: per a local English-language newspaper (Kyiv Post) President Yushchenko has ordered local government agencies to shut all markets! How are people supposed to eat? Supermarkets will remain open, presumably, but by shutting down the markets where we all buy fresh produce seems a bit extreme. Not only do we have to pay higher prices for these products at the grocery store (no competition anymore!), but the vendors have just lost their livelihood! Face mask production should be up to 1 million per day within the next few days.

Reports are that 48 have died of H1N1 in Ukraine with another 150,000 people sickened by the virus.

WHO is sending a team of experts to Ukraine early this week.

So, with all of the meeting closures, cinemas shut down, schools on vacation, why is it that we are going to the National Opera House tonight with some of our favorite orphans to watch a production called The Night Before Christmas, a Ukrainian classic. I asked our friend Sasha about this and he smiled and said that the National Opera House is a national treasure. It won’t be closed. (He did call to be certain that it would be open for the performance this evening.) I chuckled to myself thinking that in this live production, not only is the audience potentially sharing the flu with others, but also the performers! Not sure why this is considered safer than a movie theatre…

Looking forward to an entertaining evening.

(I’ll let you know how many folks are wearing masks…)