#DUSTYSGOTTAGO

It’s been a little less than 2 years since we bought our first car. A 1999 Peugeot Expert, aka Dusty, aka the most unreliable car in Ukraine. Don’t get me wrong, we have been very grateful for how much more ministry we’ve been able to do since buying Dusty. However, since May of 2014 when we bought the thing, it’s been in for repairs 32 times. Thirty-two times! I’m sure there are things I’m forgetting, but I can tell you for sure we’ve replaced/worked on the radiator, the fuel pump, the power steering, the tires, some cable I never learned the English term for, the interior, the fuses, the shocks, the clutch, the headlights, the shocks again, the door, the discs, the clutch again, some more shock repair, the starter, and the whole transmission. I wish I was kidding.

Thankfully, repairs, labor, and parts are all cheaper in Ukraine, but we’ve still spent a lot of money and have been to seemingly every mechanic in Sumy. We kept thinking, after we fix this, then it’ll run well. And then it’d break.

And now the heat isn’t working. And the emergency break decided to start sticking. And then on Tuesday, the transmission went out. Again. Seriously you guys, I’m not making this up. Boyko and Sasha even took some video to help you see our current car reality. Dusty has got to go!

We need something just a little more reliable. And we need your help to make it happen!

We are hoping to buy a van for around $14,000. While we don’t have funds set aside specifically for a car, thanks to some of the wonderful, faithful donors who give to Open Arms, we’ve got about $8000 in our general budget that we can put towards OAU van 2.0. We will hopefully get $1000-2000 out of selling Dusty for parts/as is, but we’ve learned that you can’t really guarantee anything with Dusty. So we are aiming to raise about $6000 to get us up to what we need. It seems like a lot, but we think we can do it! If you want to give online use this button. If you want to send a check, you can mail it to us at PO Box 1148, Oakley, CA 94561. We are so thankful for any amount you can give!




Follow #dustysgottago to keep up with our fundraising progress and see more of the struggles and adventures of Sasha, Boyko, and Ira continuing ministry without a car.