BLACKSBURG -- Three visitors from Kiev this weekend are strengthening the bonds between Blacksburg United Methodist Church and a small church in the Ukraine.

Vladimir Khabryko, pastor of Spring of Life Church in Kiev, and his wife, Mila, are in Blacksburg with their personal translator, Iryna Volodarska.

This is the second time the Khabrykos have visited Blacksburg, and members of the Blacksburg church have visited the Ukraine twice as the partnership has evolved.

"This partnership came out of something the Methodist Church did when the [Berlin] wall came down," said Dick Arnold, a member of Blacksburg United Methodist Church and a consultant for General Board of Global Ministries of the Methodist Church.

Arnold helped start the first Methodist church in Russia. He now acts as a liaison for churches across the United States who want to partner with churches in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

In 2001, a group of 10 church members visited Kiev and in 2003, established an official partnership with Spring of Life Church, which has about 50 members.

The Blacksburg church supports the Kiev church financially, funding the pastor's salary and rent payments while the church works to establish a permanent home.

But the Blacksburg congregation's involvement in Kiev goes deeper than a sisterhood with one small church.

During the 2001 visit, the group from Blacksburg discovered an outreach program for street children in Kiev. There are an estimated 50,000-70,000 homeless children in Kiev.

Spring of Life Church also ministers to a men's prison and a center for children with cerebral palsy.

"Twice a month, we are allowed to go there and talk to them," Khabryko said of the men's prison. "We try to serve them and meet their spiritual needs, then we try to find out what they need physically. We help them with clothes, medication, food."

Church members also help former convicts get job training, find work and re-establish relationships. "Most former prisoners have no place to live. They have no profession, no family, no home," Khabryko said.

While they are in Blacksburg, the Khabrykos have a busy schedule of activities that will give them a taste of American life. They took a tour of the Virginia Tech campus Friday. They will visit a preschool and elementary school. They will watch today's Virginia Tech football game on TV. They will attend Sunday worship services at Blacksburg United Methodist Church and meet with the church's youth group and other groups to share their ministry work. They also will speak to members of the Wesley Foundation at Virginia Tech.

But as they get a taste of American culture and cuisine, the Khabrykos are most looking forward to visiting with their American friends.

Minnis Ridenour, who is involved in the ministry with his wife, Louise, and has traveled to Kiev, said he was humbled by their memories.

"They were sharing with us how they remember all the people in Blacksburg ... and they remembered them by name," he said. "I remember the faces of all the people we met in Kiev, but I don't remember the names."

There are plans developing for future trips to Kiev, as well as exchange programs for Virginia Tech students. Ridenour is now working with Arnold on a program to train theology students in the Ukraine.

"We're committed to the congregation," said the Rev. Reggie Tuck, pastor at Blacksburg United Methodist Church. "It's helpful to have them visit so we can learn about their needs."