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.