Our good friend, Brady Smith, arrived in Ternopil from Lausanne, Switzerland where he serves as missionary minister. He brought a week of in-depth Bible instruction and encouragement. The following is an excerpt from his blog at evendays.org:

Greetings from Ternopil, Ukraine (not CHERNOBYL, Ukraine).

So far I’ve learned:

• This is the warmest winter in years;
• My host lost her grandfather at Stalingrad during the war. They never found him;
• Lots of people eat carp. You can buy them live, pulling them out of zinc buckets, and they cost between 2 and 3 dollars the fish;
• You can preach for 50 minutes and it’s not a problem. In fact, after you’re done, someone else will get up and talk for another 40 minutes. Most people seem to listen;
• You’ve got to remember to stand up when you pray. Ukrainian tradition…;
• It’s amazing how fast those little buses can go in the dark in the fog on a rut-filled road. I’m glad those drivers are professionals;
• Tobacco is alive and well here in Ukraine;
• With no TV, no radio, and no family, there is no excuse not to pray.

I’m teaching every evening on raising children. In the mornings I work on the lessons. In the afternoon I fish for carp.

It’s a wonderful life.