A country that doesn't exist

My passport now shows the following:

Sat. 1/16/10, 8:30am- I left Ukraine
Sat. 1/16/10, 7pm- I entered Ukraine

But there is no other stamp showing that I went to another country. So where did I go, you might ask, and why does it show that I left Ukraine and returned? Well, I did indeed leave Ukraine and I really did go somewhere. But the where is the fascinating part of this:

PRIDNESTROVIE(known as Transnistria in English)
*pop.(in 2007) 537,000
*density-345 square miles, located in a tiny sliver on the eastern edge of Moldova, bordering Ukraine.

It is a "country" that is not recognized as a country by any other country or world organization. It has its own independent government and currency, yet no country recognizes Transnistrian passports. Therefore, all residents must have passports from another country. The "nationalities" are broken down almost evenly in three ways: Moldovan, Russian and Ukrainian. Since it is not a recognized country, it can not place stamps with its official seal in passports from any other country. So, there is a very brief answer to the mystery of how I left Ukraine, went "nowhere" and returned 10 hours later.

Now, why did I go there? We, as a church, have a connection to a Christian orphanage there and try to go monthly. We have a Ukranian girl serving there who went through the training here a year ago and is now full time staff with IM. So we go to play with the kids, doing a full day long program with them, and to encourage her. I was super impressed with this orphanage, because the vast majority over here are pretty bad. But this one has sponsors in Ireland and a different view on how to work with children. They prefer to call it a children's home and try to do as much as they can to make it a home for the 20 children(from over a year to 10 yrs. of age) who live there. The children were clean, well dressed, well fed and loved. It was so encouraging to see that and I had a really wonderful time, especially with the little ones. To see more photos, click on the title of this post.

Quiet Sasha

Can I have this one, please?? (precious Edik)

Sweet Natasha