‘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.

Vitaliy and Marina have finally arrived home! Their journey was long and hard. We want to thank God for keeping them safe in their travels! Also, we want to thank Rich and Sherrel, who took care of them and everybody who prayed for their safety. This is their overview of their travels and adventures: Our way Home! On February 27, 2020, we flew to America. Tickets to go back were purchased for March 24. Everything went according to the plan: many meetings, speeches. However, President of Ukraine made a statement on closing the borders of Ukraine starting on March 17. Following this statement, we received a letter from Delta Airlines canceling our flight home. We were in shock! We decided to call them and ask but did not get an answer. The answering machine said they would call us back in 23 minutes. Nobody called. It was morning of March 12. We asked everyone to pray for our return home. I do not remember who told us to visit the website of the Ukrainian Embassy in America, it was there that I found information and a phone number for those Ukrainians who got stuck in America. It was late evening and I did not expect them to answer me so when I heard Ukrainian on the other end I was so surprised. It turned out that they are answering phone calls 24/7. Representative of the embassy explained to me that we need to fill out a form they have on their website (lists of people for evacuation were made). We immediately filled out the form. It was already March 15. On March 16, we received a letter from them stating that Ukraine International Airlines had resumed the sale of its scheduled flight from New York to Kyiv (departing on March 17 at 01.30 am). There were about 28 hours left before departure. The first wish was to fly to New York and fly home. But how do we get there? We are on the west coast of America, and plus not all the work has been done here. Then I called the embassy where a representative told me that he was not quite sure if this flight would be valid after the president's official statement and advised that if we had the opportunity, it would be better to stay here until the end of quarantine. OK! We continued doing our business, while life around us did not change. There were many people everywhere: on the beaches, in the shops and all without masks. After that I called the embassy every day to ask if there was any new information. The answer was always the same: “Wait for something to happen, we will send you an email”. A letter arrived on the evening of March 20 informing us that on March 26 UIA will operate a special commercial flight from New York to Kiev, and we need to make a preliminary application for it. YES! We had understanding that it was our time to go. Thus, we applied. Ticket sales began the next day. I was very worried and nervous. What if we will be late with buying the tickets? What if Vitalik buys a ticket for himself and I do not, or vice versa? So as soon as we woke up we started the process. The link to the ticket purchase website worked very strangely so it took us a while to finally buy the tickets. One more point: our Delta tickets to Ukraine that have been paid in full were canceled. The company did not refund our money but gave us an E- credit to use this money to re-purchase tickets in the time span of one year. However, we were allowed to use the E-credit no sooner than a week after cancelation of the flight. Therefore, we had to pay again for our new tickets. New York - Kiev flight cost 500$ per person plus 15$ for choosing a seat (to sit side by side). Then we booked tickets Portland - Detroit, Detroit - New York which cost 160$. By the evening of that day tickets for the flight from New York to Kiev (186 seats) were sold out. After that, the waiting and preparation time began. News were only talking about coronavirus. Every day something changed then cities and states began to close. Restaurants and all shopping malls except grocery stores got closed. By the way, it caught my attention that almost no one wore masks. There was growing anxiety and fear that something would change and we wouldn't be able to get on the plane to New York. Everyone was afraid to sneeze or sniff so that you wouldn't be asked if you were sick. I began to listen to my body, terrified with the thought that if I got sick with regular cold they might not let me in. We were constantly washing our hands and using antibacterial wipes, wiping everything: hands, phones, and door handles. The time has finally come! The bags were packed. There was a large pack of antibacterial wipes (thank you to Rich and Sherrel for giving them to us), food (we were informed that we will not be fed on the plane to Kyiv), ginger (to chew, supposedly it protects against viruses), antibacterial ointment for the nose (supposedly it also protects against viruses), masks, disposable gloves. We used it all!) Again, we asked everyone to pray. We were worried because we did not know until the end whether everything would work out as planned. We left for Portland on the evening of 25th it was a 3 hour drive. We were surprised that there were very few people and cars at the airport. The atmosphere was calm. The workers did not wear masks only gloves. All people kept distance between each other. No tests or temperature checks were performed. On the plane to Detroit there were about 20 people, the flight attendants were without masks and in ordinary clothes. After 3 1/2 hours, we are already in Detroit. The airport here was also semi-empty. There we met first Ukrainians who were flying home. Some of the airport workers wore masks. It took us a long time to get from one terminal to another and on the way we broke a wheel in one of our bags so we had to pull it. Then we saw that we could have used a train to get there.) People everywhere kept distance and no one was sitting close to each other. There were as many as 15 people on the plane to New York. The first thing we did as we got on the plane was to wipe everything around us: handles, armrests, chairs, seatbacks, monitors. Only after that we sat down. The plane was small. It carried around 80 people with two rows of two chairs. We arrived in New York. Here we often met Asian looking passengers all wearing masks with respirators, goggles and white overalls. Comparing to them everyone seemed very unprepared. Again, it took us a long time to go and pick up our bags. In addition, there was no information about our plane on any of the information boards. Fortunately, before departure we were informed about the terminal number from which the departure will take place. Terminal 8 was accessible only by train. We saw many Ukrainians there. All UIA employees were wearing masks and gloves. The recommended distance of 1.5 meters between people was gone. Generally, our personal space is always less than personal space of people from US and the virus is not a lesson for us. Nevertheless, almost all passengers wore masks. We were met by flight attendants on the plane. They looked just like Asian people only difference was that their masks were ordinary. At this moment, I thought about people in the Bible who were sick with leprosy. I think I begin to understand them.) When we got on the plane it turned out that, our seats were located apart from each other. To my question, the flight attendant replied "Well, what did you expect, it is a special flight." Thank God, the girl near me agreed to move to Vitalik's place. It is still better to fly 9 hours next to your husband. Another miracle, the third place near us was empty and it was very convenient. Due to the amount of hand washing and use of antibacterial wipes skin on our hands began to crack so we put on gloves. Everyone on the plane was given 2 masks, an information agreement on self- isolation, which we had to sign and a memo. Food was not served so we rarely saw the cabin crew. At the end of the flight one of the toilets ran out of soap. By the way, we had very tight masks so it was very difficult to breathe. We had to make an effort to take a breathe. By the end of the flight my head started to hurt. We have been on the road for almost a day with little sleep and in constant tension. Finally, at 5.30 am, our plane landed in Kyiv Boryspil terminal B. 15 years ago was the last time we met people at that terminal. We were asked not to leave until we were checked by medical workers. Two men came and checked our temperature. Again I had a thought run through my mind: what if I have high temperature, then what? Fuh! The temperature was normal. We were allowed to get off the plane. Or passports were checked at the exit and a bus was waiting for us. Already in the terminal we have been told that we can take the coronavirus test if we have a fever, cough or shortness of breath. We wanted to take the test, although we had no symptoms but we were told that in the absence of symptoms it makes no sense to take it because the test will not show anything. Ahead of us was passport control. It was a long procedure with many people. I think that several planes with Ukrainians from abroad came at the same time. They checked the documents and collected the signed consent forms. They now had our address of self-isolation and a phone number. We were under control!) At 7.30 am we left the airport. We were almost home! God, thank you! The evacuation plan for the Ukrainians did not include home delivery, so we had find a way to get home by ourselves. Thank you to the brothers who came to meet us. Understanding all the responsibility, we did everything we could. We wiped all the bags and handles with antibacterial wipes, changed the masks and asked brothers not to get out of the car and not to touch either us or our bags. Upon arrival at home, all the bags were left to be ventilated in a separate room, the clothes were immediately washed. We took a shower and only after that we rested. How good it is to be at home! Self- isolation is not that terrible. Now we are thinking about how to be useful for society even on the distance! Vitalik and I want to thank God for the successful plan of our resque and for all who prayed for us. I think our plane was the last, or almost the last, to return home. According to the President of Ukraine there will be no more special flights with Ukrainians heading home until the end of the quarantine. I am very sorry for those who did not have time to return, because I understand that they are left alone with their problems: where to live, what to eat, how to pay? I hope there will be people around them to help them at this difficult time. I also want to thank the President of Ukraine for the opportunity to return home, representatives of the Embassy of Ukraine in America for their work, all flight attendants and pilots of this special flight. For them, it is a feat! Especially after knowing information that the source of the virus is people that are coming back from other countries. We probably looked like people with leprosy to them. Thank you to Rich and Sherrel for planning our trip to America for your concern about us and for helping us get our tickets home! Thank you to the “Light” church who were worried for us, prayed and waited for us to come home! Thank you to our sons who bought us food for two weeks, prepared something to eat and even baked a cake! We really appreciate everything you have done for us! Understanding all responsibility for our actions I want to assure you that we take self-isolation very seriously so we will not be in contact with anyone for next two weeks. Our house is closed to visitors and we will not visit anybody. Even our sons left home for the time of our isolation. Thank God, wherever we stayed in America none of the places had recorded case of coronavirus. We feel good but tired because we have been in a constant state of anxiety for 30 hours. We also remind that all services in the “Light” church have been suspended for quarantine time. Therefore, if anyone tells you that they have seen us somewhere or that there will be a church service with us, consider it a lie! Thank you all for your attention!