We made it back again.  Despite the terrorist threatenings, airline crashes, and lost luggage - all went well.  We accomplished so much. We taped interviews, gathered information, and spent lots of time with the kids.  Did you hear about the Russian airliner?  One hundred and seventy people died.  Evidently the plane was hit by lightning at about 30,000 feet and plunged to the earth.  At that particular time David and I were driving from Kherson to Odessa in a blinding rainstorm.   We had no idea about the crash.  When we got on our Russian airliner the next morning we noticed peeling paint, old carpet, broken seat backs, and fingerprints on the inside walls.  Yikes! 

Oh...and did I say that, once again, our luggage was lost for four days?   Somehow wearing the same clothes from Sunday through Thursday didn't seem like as big a deal as last Christmas.  I think the Lord wants us to relate to the street kids who wear their clothes for weeks or months at a time.

And yes!  We did spend a lot of time with Nastya.  She is now fourteen and has lived on the streets off and on since she was four.  On October 31 she will be fifteen.   We had time to spend.  One morning we just sat in the center.  Nastya and a couple of friends were watching "Brother Bear" while I wrote in my diary describing our surroundings for our book.  At the end of the video Nastya and her friend were sobbing for awhile...watch the video and you will know why.

Last night I was watching a special on the spread of AIDS.  The story focused on Africa but then shifted to newly developing case countries, especially Ukraine.  They pointed out that there is now evidence that the disease is taking hold in that country.  While we were there  we drove through on small city and it was pointed out to us that this was the first city to discover AIDS cases in this country.  Our interpreter asked, "What is AIDS?"   I am so afraid that soon -- the street kids will become the newest victims.