Monday - Last Day in April

Tomorrow is May 1st and I will be teaching a two day driver safety course at the Evans Senior Center starting at 6PM.  Today I was pleasantly surprised that I still have air time on Time Warner Cable to air my 30 minute program called Lighthouse.  I submitted the first show which will air next Monday.

Last Sunday in April Here in Buffalo

Next week it will be the month of May, already the fifth month of the year.

Saturday here in Buffalo

Temperatures still cold here in Buffalo but otherwise a nice day to walk. Reconnect with old friends.

Friday here in Buffalo

Connected with my friend Hiram today and joined him for  a noon time bible study at Buffalo Christian Center.  Then off to Apollo Media Center to try and get a program on the air again.

A New Day Here in Buffalo

Well this is my 9th day in Buffalo but I have decided to forgo numbering each day and just taking each day as a new opportunity as things begin to happen now that I am back in my hometown.  I made a bus ride to downtown Buffalo yesterday and then to the tv station to see about resurrecting my old program that I produced and aired each week before leaving for Mexico.  I should hear some news regarding that today and then we will take things from there.

8th Day in Buffalo

Several days ago I discovered I had a raccoon in my attic.  Yesterday i discovered my friend Ray has a raccoon trap.  One of these days we are going raccoon hunting in my attic.

7th Day Back in Buffalo

Still cold but the snow is gone.  Looking for a warm up to temps in the 50's tomorrow.

6th Day Back In Buffalo - Snow is Nature's Way of Saying "Chill"

Spring Time In Buffalo, NY

A Walk Up My Street Here in Buffalo this morning.  

4th Day in Buffalo

Rainy and cold.  Stayed indoors most of the day, making a bedroom upstairs into my office and reading room.  Two comfortable couch chairs and desk and book case.  Time for memoirs, reading and planning the road that leads to tomorrow.

3rd Day in Buffalo

Making my way to the Galleria mall here in Buffalo to visit the Apple store to see what's wrong with my computer.  Can't seem to be able to make DVD's anymore.  Hoping there is an easy solution.

2nd Day in Buffalo, NY

On my second day back home here in Buffalo, NY early in the morning I was off to Richmond and Summer Streets to hold my first AARP Driver Safety Program courses.  Start time was 9AM but with the help of my good friend Ray, since I no longer have a car of my own, drove me there earlier.  Had time for a cup of tea and a slow time of setting up before getting into teaching for 6 hours to 17 people who showed up to take advantage of having their auto insurance reduced.

It was good to teach again here in Buffalo after having taught 5 such classes in El Paso during my time there.  The big difference between the Texas courses is that they were only 4 hours long while the Buffalo classes are 6 hours.  Two extra hours of talking and showing video.  But it all went well.  I will be doing it again in a couple of weeks at another location.

1st Day Back in Buffalo, NY

I arrived safely back in my home town of Buffalo, NY yesterday evening at 7:30PM after a 12 1/2 hour drive from Asheville, NC.  It was a great ride thanks to my new friend and brother in the Lord that I just met yesterday morning.  My good friend Pastor Leonty Ostopovich whose church I spoke in this past Sunday morning made a few phones calls for me to the truck driving community there that he is associated with.  He knew several truck drivers and called and found this ride going to Buffalo at 7:00 AM yesterday morning. 

God has been faithful this whole mission and He continues to be.  It's good to be safely back home with the memories of my latest mission to Juarez still fresh in my mind.

Here I am at the Seneca Nation Fuel Stop just before we make our final approach to Buffalo.  Anatoly was able to take Exit 56 and drive a hop, skip and a jump to the McKinley Mall where he dropped me off at the #16 Bus Stop.  After a short half our wait I boarded the #16 Bus that took me to the street where I live in South Buffalo, New York - USA.

6th Day in Hendersonville

Today we travel back to Buffalo.  An hour from now I will be on a semi-ruck heading north to Buffalo, NY where my most recent mission to Mexico started.  I will resume life back there for several months before embarking on another mission, Lord willing.  For now the mission is to get back home.

5th Day In Hendersonville, NC - Waiting to Travel Home

I  spent the better part of the afternoon at the cabinet making shop of the Konko family enjoying time with all my friends in their daily work environment.  It was an opportunity to share a little life with them and to enjoy each others company.  During the early afternoon I received a phone call from my friend Leonty who pastor's the church I spoke in this past Sunday and he had good news for me.  My transportation back to Buffalo had been secured.  Another semi-truck trip up to Buffalo.

This will be my 4th semi-truck trip involved in making missions to Mexico.  Don't have a clue as to why God has chosen this method of transportation for me lately but this is the way it is going.  Tomorrow morning we will get up early and drive toward Asheville where I will meet the semi-truck driver and board his cab heading north to Buffalo. Looking forward to getting back to my own house and home.

4th Day in Hendersonville. NC

This morning I was one of the speakers on the platform at Slavic Revival Church in Asheville, NC.  I was given the opportunity by my old good friend Rev. Leonty Ostapovich the pastor here to speak to his people once again as I have in the past about this latest mission to Mexico.  Here's a photo of the people Gad had me speak to this morning.

We came back in the evening for a youth service with a youth choir, duets, solos and recitations and even some youth preaching.  Real nice evening at Slavic Revival Fellowship Church in Asheville, NC.

3rd Day in Hendersonville, NC -Saturday

Went back to the airfield behind the house again this morning with 3 of friend Paul's boys.  This time we went to see the Air Museum that was open on Saturday for day tourists like myself.  Had fun looking at the old old planes from a by gone era.

2nd Day in Hendersonville, NC

Today I went to the Library in Hendersonville and was impressed by the number of people using it and the entire facility itself.  A nice library.  Stayed  couple of hours there put some finishing touches on a brochure I have designed for future mission work that I am planning on giving away to people after I get it published.   

                                          Front and Back View of Hendersonville Library

Later in the afternoon with the help of google search I found a small print shop within walking distance of the Library and decided to go and pay the place a visit.  I met great older gentleman running the place named Fred.  I assume it was his business.  I asked him if he was able to print from a flash drive and he said yes and we were in business.  I managed get some  color brochures made for .80 a piece and some black and white ones made for .20 cents a piece.

And still later in the afternoon two of Paul's boys and I went for a walk to the airport behind their house.

                          Karina, Paul's five year old wanted to but didn't get to come with us.  But we told her all about it and showed her all the photos.  One of the sweetest little well behaved unspoiled little girls you will ever meet. I've met and known a lot of little kids, none like her.  

1st Day in Hendersonville, NC

Yesterday around 6PM  I arrived in Hendersonville, NC about twenty minutes south of Asheville where I am staying with friends that I have stayed with twice before on previous missions to Mexico. It is good to see  my friend Paul Konko and his family of boys and a little girl again and to spend some time with them.

Last night I went to church with Paul in Asheville.  It was a nice service where I listened to s special speaker they had from Ukraine named Victor Kurelenko a man who was totally blind and who taught very well from the Word of God concerning the Baptizm of The Holy Spirit.  Here is a photo that Paul took of the two of us outside after the service and after I spent several minutes talking with him.


                           Visiting with my friend Paul and his family here in Hendersonville, NC

         

                 Staying With My Friend Paul Konko and his family here in Hendersonville, NC


                                         

 Yuri Konko working on edging a piece of granite that will become a kitchen counter top.

Here we are on day 2 in Hendersonville, NC.  The weather is nice here, a little cooler than I was getting used to down in Spartanburg but the skies are blue and can't complain.  Paul's wife cooks really well and the meals are always nice.  Yesterday we visited the shop where the men of Paul's extended family work in their kitchen cabinet and counter tp making business.  Had a good time re-connecting and visiting with them.  Here is a photo of Yuri Konk at work, working on a piece of granite.

                                         

                   A reminder of what God does with each of us.  He starts with raw material and then           begins forming it into something nice and useful.

10th Day in Spartanburg, SC

I am anticipating a phone call today that will tell me I have a ride to Buffalo on another friend of mine's semi-truck going there.  In the mean time I will be enjoying today here in Spartanburg as I prepare myself for departure.

It's about 4PM now here in Spartanburg, SC and I just received word that I will be going to Hendersonville, NC in a couple our hours to stay for several days with my friend who lives there and runs a  granite counter top making business.  He and his brother and relatives operated this business and work it every day except Sunday.  It will be good to spend some time with them and get to visit their church in nearby Asheville and re-connect with my friends there as well.

After my time in Hendersonville and Asheville I will be heading north back to hometown Buffalo, NY.

9th Day in Spartanburg, SC - Went Fishing Again This Morning

8th Day in Spartanburg - Starting a New Week here but leaving soon

Returning to Church today for more church.  In Slavic tradition one day is not enough for Easter celebrations.

After church friend Alex drove me across the street to show me their Family Life Center Building.  I was  expecting to see a gym floor inside but that's not what I found.

Here's what the inside looks like now.  Workers are putting the finishing touches on a re-modeling job that will turn this into a facility where they will have receptions and dining functions not only for the members of the church but even to rent out to the community for weddings and special functions.  Sound like a plan to me.

Happy Easter / Resurrection Day ! 7th Day in Spartanburg, SC

Today was Easter Sunday and we had a wonderful morning service with many musical performances and preaching concerning the greatest event in human history - We celebrated the Son of God's raising from the dead; defeating death, hell and the grave.

In the evening service I was given 25 minutes to share the Word of God and to tell them about my recent mission to Mexico.  I thanked them for being one of the ways God met my need for support to do missions work.  I was here last in October, 2011 and asked for their prayers and support for the mission and they gave both helping to make the work I did in Mexico this time possible.

6th Day in Spartanburg

Today we get to spend a little time on the water here in Spartanburg, SC USA.

Last night in church another friend of mine named Alex who once accompanied me on a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico invited me to come visit him at his home.  He said he had his own little lake in his back yard and that we could go fishing on his boat.  How can you turn down an offer like that.  So I accepted and this Saturday afternoon I got to meet most of his family;  his wife, and two of his three boys and his grandchild named Noah.

So Noah, Alex, Sam and I got into their little electric motor powered skiff and we silently motored across the water and took our turns casting our lines into the water.  What a nice afternoon this was here in Spartanburg, SC.  We even caught some sun fish which we eventually slipped back into the water.