We were so thankful to have Trey's parents visit us in L'viv last month! We had been looking forward to the visit with great anticipation, and despite the chilly weather, the four of us had a wonderful time together! It was a great chance to spend quality time all together, give them a glimpse of our daily life in Ukraine, and take some time to explore and enjoy the city. As an added bonus, they were here for Mom/Miss Kim's 60th birthday, so we got to celebrate with her!
Before they arrived, the weather forecast was showing cold temperatures and rain almost every day. We prayed for better weather, and although it was still very chilly and cloudy, we ended up getting very little rain during the visit. For the first few days they were visiting, we had snow/flurries for a little bit each day. Although it wasn't enough to stick, Mr. Don and Miss Kim, who live in Louisiana (where it was t-shirt weather at the time) enjoyed seeing snow in April. And they were glad they brought their coats!
The Stewarts arrived a few days before Palm Sunday (which was the same day as Easter Sunday in America this year) and left on Good Friday. Visiting during Holy Week turned out to be an interesting and unique time to visit L'viv. Not only was the Easter Market in full swing in L'viv (which, among other things, meant that Ukraine's beautiful, world-famous, hand-painted eggs were out!), but numerous locals were on holiday from work and were attending the city's Greek Catholic and Orthodox churches for special services, times of prayer, or visiting the stations of the cross. This time of year carries a lot of unique traditions (read more here), which added another wonderful dynamic to the experience of visiting L'viv. (It was also an interesting year for the Stewarts, as they had 2 Palm Sundays this year, but no Easter!)
During their visit, we participated in some of our normal ministry activities, including English Club and a work day at Bethel House. (Unfortunately, the orphanage has been under a flu quarantine for several weeks, so we couldn't visit the kids.) We spent a lot of time seeing Lviv's beautiful churches, walking through the city center, and visiting in some of our favorite cafés and restaurants.
Below is a slideshow with photos of our time together in L'viv. If you're viewing this as an email, the slideshow won't show up; click here to view in your browser.
Below is a slideshow of photos of some of L'viv's beautiful churches that we enjoyed seeing with the Stewarts. If you're viewing this as an email, click here to view in your browser.