This morning we went to church at the Ukrainian Baptist Church in Neudorf. Neudorf was the name of the village when the Germans settled here. It now has a different name in Ukrainian (as does Heimtal). The church in Neudorf was established by German Baptists in the 1860s and was the mother church of numerous other Baptist churches in Volhynia. The present building (see pic) was built in 1907. Since we know Grandma Bartz was Baptist, we think there's a good chance she would have been in this church at one time or another. In Soviet times the church was used as a granary and had fallen into an extreme state of disrepair. A few years ago the Ukrainian Baptists restored it, with help from Don Miller and other American donors. They did a great job. The 2 hour church service was a memorable experience. As honoured guests, we had to sit up front with the choir. The congregational and choir singing was all a cappella and those Ukranians sure can sing! Don preached a sermon and Alex, our local tour guide, did the translation. After the service we went to the house of Dr. Olga, a medical doctor who works with Don Miller's mission. She told us about her work. Doctors here sure don't live like they do in North America. There were chickens, turkeys and a calf in the yard. Had to watch where we stepped! We then drove to a small "slough" nearby, where the Neudorf church used to have their baptisms, and had our picnic lunch there. This was also the warmest day we've had in Ukraine so
far, about 23 deg. On the way back we stopped at a cemetery where some relatives of Jim's were buried, but it was totally overgrown, with not a single headstone to be found. Later in the afternoon we drove to Heimtal, where the big Lutheran church used to be. There is absolutely nothing left of it today, but we could see a depression in the earth where the foundation used to be. Grandpa Bartz would no doubt have played his tuba in that church. Across the road was the Lutheran teachers college and seminary. It was built of red brick and some of the walls are still standing as ruins. German craftsmanship is evident in the brickwork (much better than modern Ukrainian brickwork). The nearby cemetery again yielded only a handful of visible headstones in the underbrush. We then visited with Pastor Victor in the Ukrainian Baptist church in Heimtal, after which we went to his home next door where his wife Maria and their daughters had prepared a traditional home cooked multi-course Ukrainian feast for us. What a meal! Best we've had in Ukraine and will undoubtedly stay that way.