HALONEN.CA

Just a few photos of continuing renovations in our house. It’s a never ending thing, especially here in Ukraine. We decided to replace our living room windows, as the old wood framed windows would not open. They were supposed to open, but were painted shut with many layers of paint, and several panes of glass were cracked. So… we couldn’t get any fresh air in the summer, and they didn’t insulate as well as they should in the winter. Last Saturday, with the help of Roma, I replaced the two front windows.

Also, with the crazy design of Ukrainian houses, we had to walk through Petra’s bedroom to get to the bathroom, so she never had any privacy. I decided to build a dividing wall to split the room into a narrow hallway to the bathroom, and leaving Petra with a smaller, but more private, bedroom. Here is a photo of the wall under construction…

Two weeks gone in September already…

So, what’s happening?

We have ordered a new fence for the property around our other house. The old fence doesn’t do a very good job of keeping dogs in – or out…

A couple of days ago, we delivered a new hotplate (purchased with money provided by friends in Canada) to one of the dorms so that the kids can cook for themselves.

What else?

We have a couple of Ukrainian volunteers so far who are interested in helping us work with the orphanage graduates. Eleanor and Natasha have been working with them to get them started on the right track.

I have started building an office in a back room of the other house for Natasha. So far, I have built a new dividing wall, installed a door, and installed new electrical outlets. Next, I have to repair the three walls of the office that are old – which involves scraping off the old flaking paint, and a lot of patching before painting…

Our friends at Shelter+ (the youth centre that we help with) have decided to join a union of independent churches here in Ukraine. There are a number of reasons why they have done this…

So, on Saturday afternoon they had a service at Shelter+ which I attended with Kai. At this service they had a pastor from Moscow, a couple of other Canadians who were visiting, as well as a “Bishop” from this church organization in Kiev. Four of the young guys from Shelter+ were commissioned as pastors during the service.

They do not have plans to start another church in the traditional sense – there are enough of those here already! They are hoping to expand on their ministry to the youth of this city, and this is just another step in the process. Who knows where this will all lead!

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera, so I didn’t get any pictures to post here…

Orphanage Graduation

On Friday (August 31st) we went to the graduation ceremony at the orphanage for the kids who are leaving the orphanage and moving to the dorms of the technical schools. We gave the kids bags for carrying their belongings, as well as a few items to get them started (shampoo, toothbrushes, etc…). Natasha, who now officially works for us, talked to the kids about the organization we are starting to help support them as they move on to this next stage of their lives.

First Day of School

On Saturday, September 1st, we visited a boarding school for the official opening of the school year. This is the boarding school where Natasha has been a full time employee, and she will continue to work there one day a week while she works for us.

Here are a few more photos from the past few days…

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