Graduation, the War, Ireland?, and photos of the tour (for a pdf file of this newsletter click the download below)

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“The world is too much with us: late and soon,”  William Wordsworth from College Readings in Poetry by Del Plaine and Grandy, I bought in a Thrift Shop. We studied this poem in High School.

GRADUATION,

Whenever I can’t decide how to begin a newsletter, I go first for the pictures. Here at Menaul School in Albuquerque, you see Daria under the flag, Jenya having her tassel flipped to the graduate side, and Anastasia waiting her turn behind the speaker, all graduating from high school. Daria and Jenya will enter University of New Mexico. Anastasia is returning to Ukraine for a gap year. Our other graduates are entering eleventh grade: Kostiya, Nazar, and Dasha at Menaul, and Danylo at Rabun Gap in N. Georgia. 

Daria under the flag

Jenya being congradulated.

Anastasia waits

Kostiya 

Nazar

Danylo in DC learns theater lighting

Sometimes, “The world is too much with us…” I remain awed by the change we have wrought in the lives of 7 teenagers by placing them in school in America. 

THE WAR

You have probably heard or read the news of an epic drone strike by Ukraine, damaging a number of Russian military aircraft. I understand no enemy soldiers were killed, but the Russians lost perhaps 30% of their bombers and missile carriers. By hiding small personal drones in frames  fabricated to look like cabin roofs, the army of drones was transported by trucks, far into Russia, close to airfields and released to do their damage. 

Every day hundreds of Russian drones enter Ukraine, hitting apartment buildings, energy infrastructure, schools, and hospitals, or exploding in town squares to kill and terrify ordinary people. "The war is too much with us late and soon.” There is no end in sight. Russia has no interest in peace.

IRELAND?

Do you know anyone in The Republic of Ireland?  I have read that Ireland  receives families from Ukraine without visa requirements, offers them residency and permits to work. If we can make a connection with someone in Ireland, we can begin searching for sponsors to help. 

PHOTOS FROM THE SPRING TOUR OF THE USA

Immanuel Pres, McLean, VA. 

  Yorba Linda Pres in Yorba Linda, CA

Attending to hear the Ambassador from Ukraine, speaking in DC

Zoom call with a gathering of Rhodes Scholars. Those people are smart.

With Chuck Booker at Bethesda Pres MD. I was the guest preacher. 

The Mall, Washington DC   

Somewhere in New Mexico

We look forward to summer programs beginning July 11th in Varna, Bulgaria. We will take 150 people in groups of 50, design programs, and stay a week each. It's an old Soviet era Hotel with a big pool and a 7 min walk to the Black Sea. 

Grace and Peace,

Robert Gamble and

Olya Balaban

Below: two going to the University of New Mexico