Please pray.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST:

Andrei, one of my sixth form boys (who is also my neighbor), fell off the roof of our apartment building (9 stories) yesterday. A bunch of boys were horsing around up there (the roof is flat) and runnng, and apparently he was running and didn't look where he was going. From what I understand, he broke quite a few bones, had something happen with his stomach, and has had/will have 12 operations.

All of us at school, especially the sixth form, are pretty shaken up by this. Everyone was a little quieter than normal, and as I said, the sixth formers were upset to the point of tears. At English club this afternoon, one of them got a call that Andrei had died, but apparently there was a miscommunication and he hadn't died yet, although I guess it's a distinct possibility. They're moving him from the hospital here in Balaklia to Kharkiv this afternoon.

I've been impressed with the kids here and how soon they started collecting money to help with hospital bills. My neighbor boys came around yesterday evening asking for donations, and the first thing my sixth formers said when they saw me (after, "You heard about Andrei, right?") was, "Are we going to take up a collection for him at school?" For a country where money is often tight, that says a lot to me. We also made him cards in English club, although the general consensus was that, since Andrei doesn't really know English, we should write them in Russian or Ukrainian.

Please keep Andrei and his family in your prayers.

~*~

Random semi-humorous thing I heard in the store today (not directed to me): "Why are you so serious? You're like Lenin in October."