‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40

The Least of These

Contact Us: The Least of These 890 SE Bay Blvd., Unit 210 Newport, OR 97365 Email: richtlot@gmail.com Phone: (541) 961 3350

We are in social media

This website is protected by copyright, it's content in whole or in part may not be reproduced or used without the express written permission of The Least of These ©2003 - 2018 Copyright - The Least of These All Rights Reserved.

Last weekend for the first time members of the “Light” church went for a retreat! Unfortunately, not everybody was able to make it but we still had a large group of fifteen people heading towards Carpathian Mountains. Our adventures started from the longest train route Lysychansk-Uzhhorod. In order to save some money we bought the cheapest train tickets, which are called “platzkart”. There you have your own bed but all beds are located near the hall without any dividing walls so everybody sees you and you have almost no personal space. For some of us it was a first train ride in “platzkart”. After surviving the train, we got out on Volovets station, which is located in the mountains. From there we had to ride couple of miles to get to the village Izky where our little motel was located. After having lunch, we immediately went to the closest ski resort where we wanted to get to top of the mountain Gymba using a lift. However, we did not expect that it would be so cold and windy on the top! When we got there, we understood that fog is covering all the view and wind is getting through our clothes. After couple of minutes, we enthusiastically jumped back on the lift and escaped to the foot of the mountain where continued our adventures to a local waterfall called Shypit. At the end of the day, we got home and had time to rest. While girls played board games, boys went to the sauna. By the way, the food that lady - owner of the motel cooked for us was very delicious! In general, service that we got there was on a very high level. Second day we started with a church service and communion. We praised God and remembered our brothers and sisters that stayed in Plesetske. After that, we had plans on going skiing; however, the weather did not help us with that. It was raining and majority of the snow melted. We did not get disappointed, switched skies to boots and went for a walk. Some of us took photos with the mountains on the background, some went hiking, and some stayed and enjoyed cozy and warm rooms of the motel. In the evening majority of the girls went to an authentic Jacuzzi, which is a giant pot that is heated by an open fire underneath. The difference is that there are no bubbles. You sit in a hot water and when you get very warm you jump in to a cold pool. On the last day of our trip, we said goodbye and big thank you to the owner of the motel and went on for new adventures. Our first two stops were Shenbern palace and St. Miklosh castle. Both places were very interesting and unique. The palace reminds of its past luxury and is surrounded by a beautiful garden in the middle of which is a pond. The castle is simpler but not less interesting. Last decades it was turned in to garage and then in to a garbage dump until it was leased to a couple who happened to be local artists. They used their own money to clean the castle and restore it. Ukraine has many historical sites but unfortunately, many of them lay in ruins and are being destroyed little by little. Our next stop was thermal waters resort where we were able to swim, get warm and rest. After that we took a “platzkart” train back home. Although, sleeping in the train was not very pleasant we were all satisfied with the time that we spent together. It was an unforgettable time of unity among us. We hope that in the future we will have more trips like this!

Photos