Garry bought equipment....and then

On Monday Garry finally got his tractor- on Tuesday he got his baler- on Wednesday he tried baling straw- after finally buying some in the field and getting them to stop chopping - but the baler didn't work very well- so he tried to fix it for three days - on Friday morning he got his hand stuck between a moving part for the knotter and a hard place - and got 15 stitches and has been going to the hospital for treatment every morning. So far no infection (he was covered with grease and dirt when it happened- and the hospital had no water to wash his hand before sewing it up) and is on oral and injectable antibiotics.
I have a photo of the stitches - there are two cuts on the top of his hand but Jonah decided the one of him with his new puppy and kitten is better viewing. That's what he did while I was teaching English this week- one more week to go! If you are on facebook there are photos of me posted by students and fellow teachers.
So the inside of the barn looks nearly ready for cows, there are some bales of straw in the mow, and the field is worked so they can plant millet for feed for the cows this winter, and Garry will heal up as usual, just more scars to explain.

We are well here- very busy with Summer English Institute and the weather is hot as usual for July(+35 C). It did not rain again today (dry for 4-5 days now), so the grain farmers are getting the combines in the fields. we have had rain (thundershowers mostly) almost every day for more than two weeks. Some of the grain will be not very good- quality drops with weeds coming up through the wheat and barley in the fields so the grain they are getting off has a high moisture content. There is no good way to dry it. Most of the harvest is spread on the ground or if they have one to use on a cement floor inside a barn, about two feet deep, and they rake it around every day to help dry it. The humidity is really high, so I am not sure how much drying is taking place! It even was dry enough to finally get the backhoe here to move the dirt around behind the barn, as you can see in the photo.
All the rain really helped the corn and sunflower crops grow- the corn has been in tassel for a week or so and the sunflower fields are bright yellow! The garden really has been a bonanza- Garry bought a freezer as we have been picking green and yellow beans over the last two weeks (I am freezing about a laudry basket full tonight before spending the week teaching) and his first two rows of sweet corn have been mostly eaten as cobs- he even brought some into Dnepro one day for the SI team to enjoy after class- the lunch room ladies cooked it and we had it with the food we buy after class everyday at 2 pm. (Don't worry - he planted two rows every two weeks so we have plenty more to eat and freeze!)English classes are going well- two more weeks to go, with the exciting bonus of one lady accepting Christ this week. God had been working on her heart for a while, and she talked to Daryl and Sergey after classes one day about what she had read in the (English/Russian) New Testament we make available to the students.

Sad news

Yesterday we recieved phonecalls and emails here in Ukraine from Canada telling us the shocking news of the death of Bruce Reimer in a farm accident on Thursday evening. Bruce and his wife Cathy were the leaders of the team that came from Emmanuel Free Church in Steinbach to help build the barn. Bruce had come to Ukraine on mission trips before the idea of mission and farming was very close to his heart. We recieved many encouraging emails from him before and after the team came asking how things were progressing here in the village. Bruce was a great Christian friend. Please keep his wife Cathy and family in your prayers.

Last Sunday and week

On the 27th of June we went to the beach (on the island in the Dniper River) for church after the service under the trees, 4 young men were baptized- one of them found the Lord after attending last year's Summer English Institute. You can see them in the photo after the baptism with Pastor Vova (Word of LIfe) and Pastor Andrei on either end.
After a picnic lunch we checked out a 3-on-3 basketball tournament taking place on the river walk. It was a hot day, so we had some ice cream before the guys dropped me off to help with the last day of English testing for placement at Institute.
This week included insulation for the milkhouse, and hiring these two neighbors to dig the well. The got to 6 metres but hit a rock, so did not get as deep as Garry hoped. On the first Garry and I celebrated our anniversary by going to dinner in Zaporosia and picking up more insulation. As of Friday the water line is already in the milkhouse, after Garry, Maxim and a couple of 12 year old boys that wanted to work, but didn't dig much, dug a trench.
Then Garry and Maxim headed off to attend Maxim's brother's wedding- I'll see if I can get him to write about it. They had a car accident after the wedding- they were hit on the passenger door by a taxi, and everyone was fine, but had to wait for a couple hours to get the police report done.