Ukraine: Part 4, Kiev

Gabe and I left our team 3 days early and carried on to Kiev to meet with Pastor Igor.  Gabe spoke in his church on the Sunday.  The church meets at a cultural center, and has about 50 members.  Our translator, Masha, who'd been with us in Crimea happened to be in Kiev for a bit of a holiday and was gracious enough to interpret again while Gabe preached!



Pastor Igor

 

Gabe and Masha



We were fortunate to stay in a rented apartment while in Kiev for 3 nights.  It was very quiet after the noise of the village, and the busy house full of our team!  This was the time we really started to miss the kids, when everything calmed down a bit.  We had a relaxing morning on the Sunday, as Igor's church didn't start until 2pm.  Then we were at church until 6, between the service, visiting an teardown.  



Gabe and Paul, 17



we had some toy rings the little girls loved!

After the service we went out for pizza with Igor, his wife Victoria, our translator Masha, and Judith from NLI. 


Mmmmm...yummy spicy pizza!

 We learned more about the culture in Ukraine.  Interestingly, in Crimea, the teens HATE McDonald's, but in Kiev it is VERY popular- so much that we would have had about a half hour wait the one time we went in, just to get to the counter to order!  We were also told that their education system is difficult in the sense that if you want your teacher to care about your child and help them to do well, you must pay/bribe them.  Not to get false marks, but to get quality education.  As with any country there are governmental issues, many here look to be making things harder, not easier on the people.  I asked Igor, out of plain curiosity, why people don't smile in Ukraine.  He said that Russian's have a mindset: If you smile for no reason, you are stupid.  Hmmm...Guess it's pretty easy to pick out the foreigners! :D  Another thing that facinated me on this trip was the way people dressed.  Nearly every person we met was dressed to the 9's ALL THE TIME.  We were told 2 reasons: One, there are more women than men in Ukraine, and any sensible girl knows she needs to attract a husband. The other: they want, above all else, to appear rich.  Alena told us of one family they knew who sold their apartment so they could buy an SUV, which they LIVED IN.  Simply for the appearance of wealth.

me and my good friend Masha!

 We spent our time in Kiev with Igor and his family, touring the city, getting to know them a bit.  His eldest daughter (he has 4 girls!) Alena was our tourguide on the first day.  We did some shopping for gifts for our kids, and saw some of the city.  The metro was a little crazy, SO many people.  Kiev is over 3 million, so it was easy to feel overwhelmed at times, being a  small-town girl from Canada!


Kiev





crazy escalator into the subway




 

Friendship Monument, devoted to the reunification of Ukraine and Russia, was dedicated on Kiev's 1500th anniversary in 1982.

We spent the evening with Igor and his family at their apartment.  Lots of laughs- the older three speak English very well, as does Igor.  We introduced them to a Canadian (?) tradition: COKE FLOATS.  They had never heard of them before!

Gabe, Sasha, Alena, Igor and Victoria.

They were a little unsure at first, but as you can see, i think we won them over !  :D We really enjoyed our time with our new friends in Kiev and  are looking forward to seeing them again, possibly working with them in the future! 

 



Ukraine: Part 3, Mangup

We had a few adventures during our time in Crimea, but the one that tops them all was our trip to Mangup-Kale, a cave city on a mountain plateau minutes from Krasni Mak.
   We arranged rides up the mountain (it is possible to hike) from a guide and another man who was our driver.  We went up what we'd like to call a road in 2 old army jeeps.  It's at times like these that i'm glad to have grown up in the north, quadding in the bush.  Makes our adventure not so scary!  :)  So, needless to say, our ride was a little precarious. We had an older lady from Maxim's church, Nadia, along for the ride.  It didn't seem to phase her!  I told her after that she's a very adventurous lady. 

   So, we arrived at the top, seeing the ruins for the first time.
Mangup is a fortress city, built centuries ago during the Byzantine (Roman) Empire, when Constantinople was the capital city (renamed Istanbul in 1930).  There are many cave cities in the Crimea region, two of them being minutes from where we were staying.  Mangup was destroyed as a result of the Tatar-Mongolian invasion in 1475, when Turks invaded the peninsula.  Something the people of Krasni Mak are very proud of: it took the conquering army 5 months to take the fortress!

The land is shaped like a hand, with "fingers" stretching out and away from the main fortress.  These were used for farming and defense. 
You may be wondering who the Tatars are, or maybe not.  I myself needed a bit of refreshing on my history! (as I mentioned in my first post on the trip). The Tatars are Turkic tribes (Muslims) living in Russia and republics of the former Soviet Union- nearly 8 million people.  In WWII, Stalin accused the Tatars of being Nazi collaborators and deported the entire people group to Central Asia and other lands of the Soviet Union.  We were told he gave them 2 HOURS to leave.  Many died of disease and malnutrition.
Since the late 1980's, about 250,000 Crimean Tatars have returned to Crimea.
   It was really quite something to be walking on ruins over 600 years old!  The fortress is gone, but in the sides of the mountain are many caves.  Some were used for housing animals, storing food, and hiding from enemies.  Our team had a lot of fun exploring!

Mangup was definitely a hilight of our trip!
The return of the Tatars to the Crimea region is a big reason why we are involved in supporting this church plant.  Over 200 mosques have gone up in the past few years in Crimea, and we want to help Maxim and his church to be an Evangelical influence in their area.  God has big plans for Crimea and all of Ukraine!
Some of our prayer time included words about the valley of Krasni Mak being like the valley of dry bones, and God will breathe life back into those bones!  Jer. 1 talks about uprooting and tearing down, destroying and overthrowing, building up and planting.   We belive the time of destruction is over, and it is time to build up and plant.  We believe God has a plan for the women of these churches.  That they would be like Jael, stopping the enemy in his tracks. Also knowing their job as leaders and intercessors.  They play a vital role in God's plan for this nation!  God is big enough for their past, and can carry their future!

Ukraine: Part 2, Krasni Mak

the Club

Our time in the village was spent in a few areas.  Church, school presentations, prayer-walks, and touring/learning history.
 The second day we were there, we spoke in Maxim's church.


inside the Club

  He and his wife, Jenya, their daughter Anya (and the new baby girl who was born 2 days ago!!) pastor a small church in the village. The church meets in the village "Club", kind of like a community hall.  It is not heated, so in the winter they crowd into a smaller room that they can heat, to stay warm during service! The power went out in the building 5 min. into the service.  So we moved some benches outside and held the service basically in the driveway!  Worship was led by one man on his guitar.  We listened hard to the tunes for any we knew in english- there were a few!  It was a great challenge to worship the Lord without knowing the words!  There was a sweet purity to their worship, a good reminder that we don't NEED a full band in order to enter in.
Tony (our pastor) introduced the team.  A few of us (including me!) shared with the help of our beloved translator, Masha.  I was able to share about being fully convinced; i think it was encouraging! Two others shared as well, and I think we were well-received.  We prayed for each church member's needs and learned a bit more of the lives they lead.  One little boy we prayed for had recently been poisoned and recovered, but was still suffering with some side-affects and coughing.  His grandmother told us later in the week that since we'd prayed for him, his cough had disappeared! Healthcare is not high on the government's priority list.  Many have suffered from strokes, deal with chronic pain.  Women in their 50s are already quite debilitated in their knees, etc.  I think nutrition has a lot to do with it too.

The Orthodox church is predominant in the country, rooted in tradition and religion.  I think people mostly attend because of tradition. Orthodox means, "correctly behaving", or "correctly glorifying".  The church practices original ancient traditions, believing in "growth without change".  They even believe some Catholic churches to be heretical.  There are many people who don't attend church at all.  I think they find it difficult to have faith after what they've been through as a people.  It seems to be an uphill battle to establish evangelical churches in the area, where so much hope has been lost.

me and my little friend Sasha



Gabe doing a Canada presentation



Playing volleyball with the teachers- we received honey to give us strength to win the next time!

We visited the school on several occaisions, doing Canada presentations in their geography classes, playing volleyball, and talking with the teachers about how we raise kids in Canada.  The kids were so fun, very well behaved, respectful, well dressed.  The teachers cared a great deal about their students- it looked like a wonderful environment for them!

     We walked through Krasni Mak and 2 other nearby villages on different days.  Maxim would stop and talk to people we saw, sometimes we prayed for them.  Then we would go to a high point overlooking the village, and pray for the people.
 Some of what we prayed had to do with taking time to rest and rejuvenate.  Some was about hope, the fact that these people are not forgotton.  We had a great picture of Maxim being like Moses during battle, and we were Aaron and Joshua, holding up his arms, enabling victory!   Maxim was very encouraged by what God was showing us, and asked us to pray for wisdom for him, as he's unsure of his role.  One thing that was apparent to me as we prayed, was that this is not too big for God.  It seems like a HUGE job to reach these people, but nothing is too big, His arm is not too short!
     Some of our touring involved seeing some original Ukrainian homes, learning how people lived there many years ago.  Their history is built on tradition and symbolism.  Everything had meaning: from coins under the house foundation for prosperity, to the support beam of the house being passed down through the generations to pass down blessings. 

They had a saying, "Beauty saved the world".  Their homes had beautiful paintings on them, symbolic of many different things.  But because of the artwork, conquering armies did not destroy their homes! :D
That's all for part 2, I need to do a bit of research to continue with some of the history we learned! 
More to come,
Darcie.

  

Ukraine Trip, Nov. 2010

OK, there is so much to tell, and i'm not sure if it will all be put down here, but for those of you who want to know about our trip, here's the story! :D

We left our kids in Alberta with my parents, and flew from Calgary to London to Kiev to Simferopol, over 3 days.  We arrived in the village of Krasni Mak on the night of November 12th.  There were 10 people on our team, 4 couples and 2 men who's wives remained at home.  We were billeted in 2 homes in the village, with some lovely older Ukrainian women who housed us and fed us for the duration of our trip.  Our hostess, Zena, even did laundry! We had traditional foods, lots of cabbage in soups, salads, cabbage rolls.  We also ate a lot of bread/sausage/cheese, rice, chicken, pork.  Not a lot of vegetables, and very little fruit.
    Our first day was a leadership training conference for the Crimean churchplanters in Yalta.  But there was a matter of travelling space available, so only 4 of the men went, and the rest stayed to be shown around the area by a lady from the church, Nadia.  We had our translator, Masha, with us.  The men were able to go and teach, encourage and equip area pastors at the conference.  We ended up VERY glad to not have gone as the road to Yalta was very twisty-turny, and most of the guys were carsick!  lol.

(back yard of our hosts home)

      So we walked with Nadia for nearly 3 hours, through the valley where the village is, through old orchards, near some ruins, out to a Tatar village.  Let  me see if I can describe the village to you.  The houses are mostly small, made of bricks that are made from shells from the Black sea.  Their yards are mostly unkempt as they have turned them into mini farmyards.  EVERYone has at least one dog in their yard, barking away as alarm systems.  They rarely stop barking, actually. :)  Many people have small cows tied up grazing, usually milk cows.  Most of the yards also have chickens, geese, roosters, and cats.  (Needless to say, the noise level was such that sleeping at night was difficult, due to fighting dogs and some very confused roosters! lol)  There are many buildings standing empty, and the orchards are overgrown and unused.

(ruins we past on our walk)

    We asked a lot of questions of our interpreter.  What we realized is that the fall of Communism was a very difficult thing for people in the villages.  Where once they had the stability of government farms, orchards and vineyards which supplied them with jobs, they now had no way to earn money.  They don't know how to function outside of the old way of life.  We were told that people have very little hope, that they have given up.  Alcoholism is rampant among the men in the villages.  To the point that only 5% are employed.  Women are the directors of the schools, government workers, and church attendees.  Quite eye-opening and shocking to us, really.  People bought buildings in the village for cheap after Communism ended, and couldn't afford to put any business in them.  So they sit empty.  Strip malls, stores, greenhouses, factories.

roadside store

     We walked out to a Tatar village and learned a lot about them too.  I haven't done my research yet, but I believe Stalin gave them, the entire people group, TWO HOURS to leave the country.  He believed they were plotting with the Germans against him, so he exiled them.  They have returned to the villages they'd abandoned.  Russians/Ukrainians have issues with them being back, and you can sense tension in this area actually.  Old mindsets are hard to break!  That's a lot of history for our first day! 
       Ok, i think this needs to go in parts.  How's that for an intro? :D
more to come,
Darcie.