Suprises :)

Today was an incredible day, last night I could barely sleep because I was so excited for our plans.  The itinerary was to wake up have breakfast go into Kiev attend church, lunch then some sightseeing a little shopping and we had a meeting with the president of the Down Syndrome board.  Being the selfish and historically interested person I was I could not wait until we got into the city to look at all of the beautiful sites and churches, the architecture and of course the shoes :)  We went thru the day and everything was amazing but the most amazing part was this meeting.  The driver pulls up to a run down building with graffiti all over it, it looked more like a loading dock then a center for kids.  We spent 5 minutes looking for a door when we heard a deep voice yell something i could not understand, so we go to the door and we are greeted by a stereotypical large Ukrainian man. His name is Sergi and I expect he is the husband of the president of the association. After we walk into the brightly painted room and are served coffee and tea this woman introduces us to the president, Sergi.  I was shocked he looked so out of place among the bright colors, like he would be more at home on a rugby pitch!! He was scary looking, he hadn't cracked a smile at all and was stiff as a board, but as he started to speak in Russian to us, it was such a beautiful experience.  I don't know Russian and had no idea what he was saying until the translator told me but I didn't need her.  When he spoke you could hear the love, concern, and care that he had for these children, and the reverence that he had for God.  He spoke for a few hours and as time went on I could continue to hear the concern in his voice.  I am continually amazed at how God is using the things that scared me about this trip to open my eyes and bless me in ways I did not expect.  No matter what language we speak God is in them all, hears them all, and translates them all :)