Nov. 21, 2007

Dave and I are settling into a good routine these days, now that Shelter is back into full swing. Dave continues to work daily (minus our weekly rest day!) on studio construction and it's amazing to see how far they've come in there. He has hopes to be completed the construction by the time we leave for England on Dec. 8. (For those of you don't know, we're heading to England to spend Christmas with my brother Keith and his wife Tannis...we're really looking forward to it!) Another thing that keeps Dave busy is practicing with the band "Smak Soli" ("Taste of Salt", comprised of Shelter leaders) and also practicing for a monthly worship evening that Shelter will begin hosting in a couple of weeks. In both these groups Dave is playing electric guitar. He is especially excited about the worship event that is coming up soon and together with Sasha they are dreaming of how they can encourage the churches all over the city to come together to worship God together. As we have read and understand: "Worship...is the fuel and goal of missions...The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. "The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!" (Psalm 97:1) "Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!" (Psalm 67:3-4). (Let the Nations Be Glad, John Piper, p. 17)

At Children's Shelter this year every week we have a short skit with characters from "Flower City". This theme has given me the opportunity to further develop my "gifts" in foam manipulation. My most recent assignment was to make props out of foam that would give our stage the appearance of a real Flower City, where the flowers are taller than the people living there. Again, with a lot of help with painting and with hanging the flowers on the stage, this goal has been achieved. I know that these props will continue to be used every week this year, and will probably find uses elsewhere also. It's just another neat way that I've been able to use my creative side here.

I mentioned in the last blog that we weren't sure how many kids would come for our first day of Children's Shelter after the big Ella's Backyard festival. Well, God knew exactly how many kids we could handle and sent just that many to us. We are grateful that we continue to have the resources we need to work with these many children from the neighborhood. I think about 60 come on a regular basis. This is great because we get to know these kids by name and build real friendships with them...right now "secret handshakes" are really big!

Flower City in action

One thing that has been really exciting for Dave and I to see is how two girls who last year only came to Shelter for English Club are now becoming very involved in other Shelter activities. They both grew in their understanding of the gospel and what we believe as Christians during their time in Crimea with the Shelter team. Now they are attending Shelter's weekly Bible studies and are getting involved in volunteering. One of them translates for me when I am teaching art and English to the 12-14 year olds on Tuesdays and Fridays. The other one is teaching English to the children who come on Saturdays to Children's Shelter. It is very rewarding for us to see how something like an interest in learning English has opened doors to their interest in learning about God. We eagerly anticipate seeing this continue to happen in other's lives as well. As these girls both have a good grasp on English I hope to be able to encourage them in this as well.English Club

On a completely different topic, just in case any of you are wondering about the status of our hot water and heat in our apartment: Both are on! We have already had heat in our apartment for a little over a month, and the hot water has been on for about two weeks. Hurrah! This was great news because some people were saying that we shouldn't expect hot water until January even. The weather has cooled down a lot in the last 4 weeks, but is still well above what we're used to in Winnipeg at this time of year. We've had a few days of snow about a week ago, but it's already melted away. I'm enjoying the fact that we don't have car windows to scrape or a sidewalk to shovel! (Sorry, not to rub it in or anything!)

Riding a "scary" contraption above the trees a couple months ago.

Well, it's probably time for me to make supper. Lots of love to each of you, and may God bless you as you enter the Advent Season in anticipation of the celebration of Christ's birth!

Bethany, for both

It's a long one.....

October 5, 2007

Before starting to write this blog, my mind was bouncing between thinking there was so much to write about and feeling like I had absolutely nothing to say...well, I've jogged my memory as I've re-read some things I've written in my journal this past month. We've had more adventures like making pizza from scratch only to find that our gas had been turned off for an indeterminate amount of time. Fortunately the gas at Shelter was on so we walked over there with our pans and cooked them there!

Shortly after arriving home from the Black Sea, Dave and I both came down with colds. Aches, pains, sore throats, coughing, runny noses, etc... I even lost my voice for a few days at one point. Dave started calling me Marge. Overall I'd say we were feeling weak in every way. Somehow when I'm feeling weak physically, it seems that any emotional or spiritual strength is sapped as well and I become very introspective and irritable. In the end we were both sick for about two weeks and Dave is still struggling with a couple of symptoms (mostly phlegm related). I am very thankful that we were both feeling well by the time my parents arrived in Ukraine on Sept. 25 (more about that in a bit!).

Despite the two of us being sick for such a long time at the beginning of September, it really has been a very productive and encouraging month for us. I have spent a fair bit of time working on a number of sketches for a mural in the theatre at Shelter. Just today I put the finishing touches on painting the pictures and now just have to complete painting the quotes on the walls. I really feel so fortunate to be able to be here, doing art again, and having such a flexible schedule. Sometimes as I am painting I remember all of a sudden what I was doing last year (working shift work) and how I felt I just didn't have time to do other things that were important to me. The way I understand my "job" now, is that loving people and using the gifts God has given me is my job. So, if someone needs something drawn or painted, I am happy to do it. If someone wants to talk to me (whether on the street, the ladies in front of the apartment, people at the train station or in the grocery store) I am happy to try to talk to them. Sometimes on my way home from Shelter I'll walk by a group of older ladies in front of our apartment. One lady in particular has taken an interest in me and a few weeks ago said that she would be my Grandma. I treasure the times I get to sit with her and put my arm around her.

October 16, 2007

Busy is what we've been these last few weeks...busy but good. I'll try to summarize some of the adventures we've been on...

The band that Dave has been playing in, "Smak Soli" ("Taste of Salt"), played at a youth outreach event in a city in Eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The outreach was held in a central park in the city and many Christian bands and a Christian Skateboarding team were there, performing and sharing their testimonies. As with most events we've been part of here, it was a bitter sweet experience. On one hand we got to see local Christians trying to reach their city with the hope of Christ and we got to meet individuals whose lives had been changed through their faith in Christ. We got to see people having good conversations and we got to meet people and encourage them in their work. On the other hand it was clear that many of the youth in this city are living in darkness and are loving the darkness. As one of the skaters was sharing his testimony about his past and his struggles with drugs and alcohol, the teens cheered each time he referred to the things that his life used to be controlled by. It was sad to see Isaiah 5:20 and John 3:19 being lived out in such an obvious way, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter...And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." However Jesus holds out hope to everyone in John 12:46 where he says, "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness."

After the concert was over we drove through the night (about 7 hours, I think) back to Krivoy Rog, where we got to sleep for a few hours before starting on another adventure. Later that afternoon Dave and I boarded a train to meet my parents in Lviv (20 hours away by train, on the western side of Ukraine). We did a bit of sightseeing with my parents after meeting them at the airport and then headed back to Krivoy Rog by train. My parents were kept very busy during their time here, from boiling their own water for showers and washing the dishes, to meeting our neighbours and co-workers at Shelter, and getting a tour of Shelter and experiencing incredible Ukrainian help and hospitality. On one day we took a drive to go find my Mom's "Motherland" in the Zaporozhyia Region, where her Mom's side of the family is from. We even found the famous old Oak tree that the Mennonites first set up camp under when they first settled in Ukraine. We had a very special time together, and it went by way too fast, but we treasure the time and the memories and the visits we had together. Together we all rode the train back to Lviv where we were able to do some more sight seeing and souvenir buying. God has provided us with some very good and generous contacts in Lviv who made themselves available to help us and to show us around the city each time we were there. (Thanks Andriy and Christina!!! You two are something else!)

Immediately following our time with my parents we got back into the swing of things at Shelter. Dave and Sasha were very busy this past week beginning studio construction, cutting wood and beginning to build some of the sound-treatments for the rooms. They have already purchased most of the materials they will need to build the studio and tonight are on their way back from Kiev where they were picking up a lot of the studio equipment. This is a very exciting time for them and for all of us as we begin to see this dream take shape. Dave also had an opportunity last week to lead a seminar for sound engineers in a nearby city. After speaking for two hours with a translator the audience was very disappointed to be told that they had to move on to another seminar. Dave really left them wanting more, and there are already plans for a longer seminar this winter at Shelter once the studio is completed. I am so proud of him, and thankful for the opportunities he is getting to use the gifts and knowledge he has to bless others.

While Dave was busy doing construction I was busy with a construction project of my own. My assignment was to reconstruct a prop from a puppet tv show produced in Moscow. This tv show is called "Ella's Backyard" and introduces children to Jesus through the use of puppets who tell Bible stories applying them to daily life situations. This prop was going to be used at the first "Ella's Backyard Children's Festival", held here in Krivoy Rog. My job was to reproduce a life-size version of Ella's house, and to do it in such a way that this prop could travel by train and be used for more festivals all over Russia and Ukraine where this show is seen on tv. What a wonderful assignment! I really had so much pleasure as I worked to figure out how to make the shingled roof out of foam. I also got a lot of help with the painting of the house from some of the youth from Shelter who have recently begun to volunteer with us. It was a big job and I was still putting on some of the finishing touches on the roof the day before the festival. Even some of the paint was still wet. It was so rewarding this past Sunday afternoon to see more than 350 kids and their parents come to this festival. They have all been invited to come to Shelter every Saturday where we will be hosting Children's Shelter every week and showing more episodes of "Ella's Backyard." Right now we're working on figuring out what we will do if all of these kids do show up for our opening day. Yikes!

Things are really gearing up for the fall. It looks like Dave will continue to be very busy with studio construction. I am preparing to be involved again this year in teaching English and will also be teaching a class on drawing and painting. There are many things that have encouraged us and blessed us lately and we are really looking forward to this next season with anticipation of what God will do here. "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Thanks for reading this. We love you and are thankful for you.

6 Months In

Today marks the 6th month since arriving in Ukraine. It is surprising how quickly the time has passed...

This past week Dave and I have been on quite an adventure. Just this morning around 6:00 am we returned from a week-long trip to the Crimean Mountains and the Black Sea. This trip held a lot of Ukraine "firsts" for us-- swimming in the Black Sea, buying delicious meat and vegetable wraps called "Shawrma" from friendly people in road-side stands (no, we didn't get food poisoning!), seeing two castles in one day, using a "squatty toilet" in the wilderness, seeing dolphins swimming in the sea, and traveling by ourselves by train without a translator. By the end of the week, we were starting to dream of cold drinking water, a shower (even if that would be cold too!), a normal toilet, our bed, etc... It is rather poetic that when we arrived back at our home here we quickly discovered that we have no water at all, and have no idea when we will. Apparently while we were away, a water main broke in our neighborhood, and we will have to wait until it is repaired before we have cold water again. We haven't had hot water for almost two months.


Our trip to Crimea was part of a larger event that Shelter has organized for the past two summers. They go on two week-long extreme hiking trips with the youth, each week with a different age group. Each person on the hike carries about 25 kg and walks for about 25 km each day for 4 days through very rough terrain, literally up and down mountains. They tell us that at one point during the first hike as they climbed fog settled around them, and when they got to the peak, they could see it was raining below them and were actually above a rainbow. After their four day hike, they make it to the Black Sea where they camp, swim and rest for two and a half days. The Shelter team sees this as a great opportunity to go deeper in their relationships with the youth and to share the gospel with them, and for the youth to see the beauty of their country and especially of God's creation.

When Dave and I first arrived in Ukraine we had every intention of participating in this event. We even started running three times a week and working out in the gym so that we would be physically ready for the challenge. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the summer while I was participating in the Social March through the city, an old knee injury from my childhood came back. Dave and I were concerned that if walking on concrete, carrying nothing, for only 2 days could do that to my knees, there was no way I would make it through the mountains. The Shelter team kindly welcomed us to join them by train and meet them at the Sea for the second half of their trip. We gladly accepted this invitation and decided to come a day earlier with two other volunteers from the team. This way we were able to do a little bit of sightseeing in Crimea before joining the group. We toured a castle near the southern tip of Crimea and took a 3 hour boat ride along the coast where we were able to see another castle and many other interesting sights. After a very hot and tiring day in the sun, the sea air was very refreshing.

When the team arrived at the sea, Dave and I were very happy to get to talk to many of the youth who we had started getting to know earlier in the year. Some of these people we haven't seen since the summer started, so it was great to get to see them again. Others, who we hadn't met before, or hadn't talked to because of the language barrier, we got to know and practice our Russian on too. It is wonderful that many of the youth want to practice their English with us, and are patient with us as we practice our Russian. It was great to get to ask them about their experiences in the mountains, what was the best part, what was most difficult, etc... It was really meaningful for me to have some deeper discussions with a few of the youth, besides just about the weather and other more surface things. I look forward to this continuing as I spend more time with them at Shelter this coming year. One night around the fire Dave and I got to share with the whole team more about how we ended up in Ukraine and how God provided for all of our needs in coming here.

Dave and I were so amazed at everyone's strength, endurance and depth of character on this trip. Our respect for the people here continues to grow and they continue to amaze us. We are very humbled by them and hope to learn from their example. It is very clear to us that the leaders here have a sincere love for God, for their country and are burdened for the youth here. They truly desire to be salt and light here, and to share Christ's love and hope with those around them. We feel very privileged and are so thankful that we get to be here working with this group.

Our train ride home was great. We were a little worried about who we might have to share our cabin with (ie. would they be patient with our lack of Russian? would they be nice/mean? would they keep us up late talking or drinking? etc...). Well, God provided two very kind people. One was very quiet and kept to himself, and the other was a very friendly, talkative, inquisitive professor of music at the local music college. She had many questions for us, and was especially interested to know why we would leave behind our country, family, friends, language, to come to Ukraine, while many in Ukraine are trying to leave the country to get the things that we left behind. I am glad that we know at least enough Russian to be able to tell her that we are Christians and that we love God, and that He is enough for us even without all of those things. A verse I have been thinking about a lot lately is Psalm 16:11 which says, "In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore." We exchanged phone numbers with her and she promised to phone us to invite us to concerts at her college and to the mime theater.

A few other exciting things that we are looking forward to:
-my parents (Bethany's) are coming to visit us at the end of September for just over a week. We look forward to touring the city of Lviv a bit with them, spending time showing them around Krivoy Rog, and trying to find some of the Mennonite villages where my mom's side has a lot of history. It will be a lot of fun to host them and introduce them to our new surroundings and friends.
-in the next week or so we expect studio construction to get underway. Dave plans to be doing construction daily with the guys, and is excited to start seeing things taking shape.
-Dave and I are really looking forward to when the Shelter drop-in will re-open and Children's Shelter starting up again. We have missed the youth and children a lot over the summer, and really look forward to seeing them and talking to them again more regularly.
-We will be spending Canadian Christmas with my brother and his wife in Oxford, England! When we found out they wouldn't be flying to Canada for Christmas this year, we decided that this would be great timing for us to go visit them, which we had planned to do sometime while we were in Ukraine. Well, we found some pretty good flights out of Kiev and will be able to return to Ukraine in time for New Year's and Ukrainian Christmas, so our plans are set.

Thanks to each of you who read our blog, think about us, pray for us, support us,etc... We love you all, miss you all, and think of you often.

Bethany

Recent Adventures...

July 19, 2007

Some of you may be wondering what we've been doing lately? what keeps us busy?

There are many things that we've been doing...Even though Shelter closes for the summer, there never ceases to be Shelter-related things to do. At the beginning of the summer, Shelter partnered with 5 other local non-profit groups in the city to put together a 5-day march through the city. The main purpose of the march was to drive awareness and concern in the city about many of the huge problems here (addictions to drugs, alcohol, and gambling, family dysfunction and disintegration, STDs, etc...). I was in charge of painting the signs that were used for the march, and Dave helped every day with setting up the stage and with sound at the concerts that were held daily in different parks throughout the city. Through this experience we gained a greater understanding of the problems that are so prevalent here, met some recovering addicts (as one was telling us his testimony, his friend came by and presented him with his very first Bible, which he received with tears in his eyes), and saw more of this very long, and very troubled city.

Another thing that has been happening at Shelter throughout the summer is "cybotnik" (pronounced, "sue-boat-nik), 2 days a week, which basically is a day of chores. Because of the plans to build the studio on the 2nd floor of Shelter, a lot of work needs to be done to prepare the space. Right now the focus is on cleaning out and fixing the basement, so that it can become a storage area for the things that are presently being kept in the rooms that will one day hold the studio. This has been a lot of work, and there is a lot of asbestos involved, but people have been faithfully coming and it has been a good time for us to continue to build relationships and feel useful.

Here is some stuff that was removed from the basement

Dave and I were really excited last week, to express our thanks and appreciation for all the work that's been done by taking the team for a pizza party, using some of the money we had left-over from previous months. It's truly amazing how far money can go at the local pizza place! Thanks to those of you who have partnered with us financially, and enabled us to encourage the team this way!
Other things that have been occupying our time are: planning meetings for when Shelter opens next fall, taking Russian lessons and doing lots of homework (it makes our head spin!), having people over for a meal or games or coffee and dessert (or all of the above!), reading and praying together, and trying to discern how to make the most of our time here in a way that others will see that Christ is our greatest treasure and hope...I've also been continuing to work on some art projects for different people, making plans for teaching fine arts at the drop-in starting this fall, and researching different grant foundations for Shelter. Dave continues to be busy finalizing plans, blue-prints, equipment, budget, etc...for the studio, and is really excited to be seeing things coming together.

Our house-mate Anya's family came over for lunch.

Last week I had a sort of funny experience. Dave and I were craving cinnamon buns, so I made some, not realizing how big a batch I was making. Very quickly I realized there was no way we could eat these all by ourselves! I decided that I would package some up and bring them down to the elderly ladies who sit in front of our apartment, and that I could just sit with them, and try to talk with them a bit. Well, the funny part was when I tried to give the cinnamon buns away. No one wanted them! One lady took the bag, saying she didn't want any, and proceeded to try to force them on her neighbors as they walked by. They didn't want them either. It was really rather funny to see how they reacted, and how they fought, resisting taking a cinnamon bun. I think only one bun was taken willingly! Anyways, all this didn't really matter to me very much. After the bun incident was over, I did get to sit down with one of the ladies, who I've talked with a bit before. She told me a lot about her family, her kids and grandkids, her first husband who died when they had very young children and her second husband who was an alcoholic. When I asked her if she had any pictures of her family, she invited me into her apartment. I sat with her and looked through her family scrapbook. It was really special for me to get to have this conversation with her, and I look forward to continuing to get to know her in the future. I hope that I will get to do more things like this the longer we're here.

Two days ago, Dave and I returned from a four-day camping trip with the leaders and volunteers of Shelter. The main purpose of the camping trip was team-building. We really love and appreciate the team, and have gained so much respect for them these past few months. They have a lot of depth, character, grace and understanding...We are blessed to be able to work with them. Most of our time camping was spent playing games, swimming, having team devotions, and resting. The location where we were camping was both fascinating and sad at the same time. The campsite was an old soviet-run camp that was used during communist times as children's camps (where we imagine a lot of brain-washing was done). After 1991, when communism fell here in Ukraine, this camp started to be used as a Christian children and youth camp which was run by our co-workers until 4 summers ago. It was fascinating to see the old statues and murals that were very soviet, and sad to see how quickly the place has fallen apart in recent years. Everywhere we looked things were broken, crumbling and overgrown. Apparently the current owners of the camp are slowly dismantling the camp, selling the steel.



Some pictures from around camp: happy kids with guns, Lenin, old toilets, etc...

So, that's some of what we've been doing, and seeing lately. We love you all and miss you and are glad you take the time to read our blog!

Bethany

Question & Answer

June 16, 2003

The following are excerpts from an email we sent about a month ago to a family back home. They had written us with questions the kids had for us about living in Ukraine. I hope you will find my responses to their questions interesting too! If you have other questions, that aren't addressed here, please write, and I would be happy to answer them for you!

Q. What is the weather like where you are?
A. The weather is a lot like what we're used to in Winnipeg, except not as cold. Spring comes a bit earlier here, so there have been many flowers growing and blooming everywhere, in gardens and on a lot of trees. About a month ago tulips were blooming wherever we looked. Today (May 15) the temperature was 28 C. So far we have not had any thunderstorms, but I am really looking forward to when we do. Even though it is very hot outside, many people are still wearing warm hats, and many old ladies are wearing babooshkas (sorry for the spelling!). I think they must be very warm! We have been told that it will be very, very hot in August. When we arrived in Ukraine, there was no snow on the ground, even though it was February. Many of the kids have never gone ice-skating or tobogganing, but they definitely know what snow is!

Q. What is church like?
A. So far, we have only been to three different churches. In some ways some churches are a lot like churches in Canada. They sing songs together at the beginning of the service, sometimes with a band, and sometimes just with piano. At most churches, every time they pray and talk to God, they stand. I think this is to help them remember that they are talking to someone important and to pay attention. At one church we went to, all of the kids in the church, who were older than 5 got to sit on benches on the stage at the front of the church. They were facing the rest of us. I couldn't tell if they liked being there or not! All of the adults could watch them to make sure they were listening to the sermon and singing the songs. Most churches here are very happy when someone from another country comes to visit, so we sometimes get special treatment, and get to be part of the service. We have been asked to speak to the church about why we're in Ukraine, and have also had to sing songs for them. Dave plays guitar and we both sing. I'm not a very good singer but they don't seem to mind. The churches also sometimes have a special meal after their service that we get to stay for. One big difference from churches in Canada is that two people give a sermon, so the services can be very long (Sometimes 2.5-3.5 hours!). Also, many churches don't have special sunday school for the kids, so the kids have to stay with the adults for the whole service.

Q. What kind of food do you eat? What kind of food from Winnipeg do you miss?
A. Now that we are living in our own apartment, and making our own meals, I am trying a lot of new recipes. I have made a tomato-lentil-and vegetable soup a couple of times and really like it. We really like the cheese here, so we have been eating a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches too. For breakfast we usually eat toast and yogurt. Just yesterday Dave found some peanut butter at a grocery store, so that was very exciting for us. For lunch we sometimes have something made with eggs (like omelett) or leftovers from the night before. Suppertime is usually around 8:30pm or 9:00pm, because we're at Shelter until 8:00 at least most nights. For supper we have had scalloped potatoes and ham, lentil burgers, chicken and pasta etc... We can eat many of the same things that we ate in Winnipeg. We are very excited when we find a good head of broccoli at the store, or fresh grapes. I think the food that we have been eating is a lot healthier than the food we were eating in Winnipeg. The food that we miss is convenience food, fresh vegetables (like lettuce, I've only seen it once, and it looked like it was ready to be thrown out), chocolate chips, and waffles. I think that as the summer gets going,there will be a lot more fresh produce available, so we are looking forward to that!

Q.What kind of house do you live in?
A.We live in an apartment, on the fourth floor (we have to go up about 80 stairs to get to our floor! We are getting very strong!!!). Most people who live in cities in Ukraine live in apartments. Our apartment has two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom, and a balcony where we hang our clothes to dry. We have a friend named Anya who lives with us. We are very glad that she speaks English! The rooms are decorated with flowery wall paper, even on the ceiling in the living room and the bathroom! There are very tall trees next to our apartment so our apartment doesn't get too hot from the sun (so far). At midnight every day, the hot water gets turned off, so we have to make sure to shower or wash the dishes before then. Sometimes the hot water gets turned off for a few days in a row, and for one whole month in the summer. I'm not sure what we'll do for showers and dishes then! There are some very friendly old ladies who sit in front of our apartment on benches and take care of the flowers. Sometimes they talk to us in Russian, and hug me, even though we don't understand very much of what they say. I hope that someday I will know enough Russian to be able to talk to them and get to know them.


Q.What do kids like to play?
A.Kids here like to play soccer a lot! They call soccer "football". They also like to play many running games. The kids we spend time with at Shelter really like to play card games too, like Uno and Dutch Blitz. The older kids also play soccer and basketball and are learning how to play baseball and football, and really like to throw frisbees too.

Q.What do you miss about home?
A.The main things we miss about home are our families and our church. We miss seeing the people that we love, and who we have good friendships with, who understand us (our language and the way we think). We miss going to our church where we can sing along to the songs and understand the words and learn about God. One other thing that we miss from Winnipeg is going to a cafe. There aren't any places near our home where we can go to talk, or have a date, and sometimes we get tired of just staying at home when we want to be together. Sometimes we miss being able to drive places. Mostly we walk everywhere, and sometimes we take a big van/bus called a "marshutka". When we are on one of these, we miss Winnipeg Transit. Sometimes I miss my oven in Winnipeg because my oven here is gas, and there is no temperature gauge telling me what temperature the oven is set at, so I have to look at the flame in the oven and guess what temperature it will make the oven.

Q.How do you like it there?
A. I would say that we like it quite a bit. We are very happy we are here. There are many things that we are thankful for, that we wouldn't be able to have or do if we were still in Winnipeg. For example, Dave and I get to work together and spend more time together. We are both doing things that we love to do. I am doing more art than I've done since high school (mostly drawing portraits of the youth who come to Shelter) and Dave is doing music, not for money, but because he loves it and loves to help others with it. Even though sometimes we miss driving places, having to walk almost everywhere has been really good for us and helps us to slow down, and not be in such a hurry all the time. We are very excited about what the Shelter does on Saturdays. It is a 3 hour program for young children (aged 6-10) where we teach English for two groups and then all the kids come together for a program about Jesus. They sing songs about Jesus, play games, see some clowns and watch a video of a puppet show where they see a story about Jesus. It's wonderful to work with these kids and to show them God's love for them in Jesus. In June we are taking them on a short, two-night camping trip, which should be a lot of fun. Many of these kids come from very sad homes and don't have very much, and I know that they love to come to Shelter on Saturdays. There are other, older teens, who come to Shelter who we teach English, and art and music. We are getting to know many of them. One young guy gave Dave a necklace that he always wore, just last week. When things like this happen we know, that somehow, we are building relationships even though we don't speak Russian very well.


Well, that's it for now! Have a great summer!

Happy belated Easter!

Christ is Risen! Xpictoc Bockpec!

I hope that each of you have enjoyed a wonderful Easter. Dave and I have had a great day today, even though it was quite "un-traditional" compared to any Easters either of us can remember. Our day started in a very relaxed way. We slept in and took it easy for the morning. Around 10:30 am we headed over to meet a friend of ours who had invited us over for breakfast. We made sure to bring our Russian-English dictionary as we knew communication would probably be challenging. I think that if it weren't for the language barrier I could quickly build a good friendship with his wife--maybe our respect for each other is growing just from observation...? At their apartment we were introduced to a fun Ukrainian Easter tradition. We each took a dyed, hard-boiled egg, and smashed them against each other. Whoever's egg didn't crack was crowned champion. Dave won, twice. After our breakfast of hardboiled eggs, mashed potatoes, beet salad, bread and tea we all met the group from Shelter at a nearby bus stop. From there we walked for about 15 or 20 minutes to a nearby Sauna. On our walk we passed a cow and a goat who were chained to the ground, I think, as live lawn-mowers. We also walked by what appeared to be an unofficial garbage dump. Sadly, almost the whole city is an unofficial garbage dump, but this was one of the worst areas we've seen yet.
Anyhow, we had our church service at the Sauna. It started with some prayer and singing. Also one of the leaders read some Scripture and shared a bit. Of course this was all done in Russian, so Dave and I tried to participate in our hearts. Next there were 5 youth who shared their testimonies of how through the ministry at the Shelter they had become Christians. Then they were baptized in the small pool in our meeting room. It was moving for both myself and Dave to see these young people publicly declaring their faith in Christ, and demonstrating their new life in him through baptism. With it being Easter, the symbolism of dying with Christ and rising into a new life, was even more real and on our minds as we watched each of them get baptized. Following the baptisms we all shared in communion together. We remembered Christ's body which was broken for us, and Christ's blood which was shed for us. As unorthodox as having church at a sauna is, I'm sure I will remember this Easter for a very long time.
Following the service, I had my first Ukrainian sauna experience. Dave had already been once before with a group of guys from the Shelter. I think the Saunas here are a lot hotter than the one I went in as a kid at Concordia pool in Winnipeg. Anyhow the tradition is to stay in the sauna as long as you can, and then when you're too hot to stay, get out and jump in a small pool of cold water (where the baptisms had taken place). I did this twice, and it was quite refreshing. Traditionally, I think you're supposed to do it 7 times...maybe another day!
After our Church/Sauna experience was over, we caught a marshutka (small bus/13 passenger van) and rode to our "grandparents" apartment for the Morozov family Easter dinner. We've sort of been "adopted" by the Morozov family for while we are here, and have been invited to participate in family events with them...family dinners, and now special holidays. Before we came to Krivoy Rog, people who knew the Morozov's told us they were the healthiest and most hospitable family in Ukraine. This has definitely been our experience. The whole family works together in ministry here. Even though we understood little of what was said at the table we felt very loved and welcomed and blessed to see a family in action here. The Grandfather sang a song for all of us while his son sang the harmony. Then he played some violin for us also. This reminded both Dave and I of our Grandpa's who also played violin. I was a little surprised when we were told that as guests we were expected to do a number also. For those of you who know me well, you know that I do not like singing in public. Well, I swallowed my pride and God helped us to get through one verse of "In Christ Alone". It made me think of the family gathering we would be missing today in Winnipeg, or at the cabin with the Millers. Of course, this family could never replace our families at home, but it has been nice to know there are people here who are taking us under their wing and looking out for us.

Some other tidbits since I last wrote:
-We've had leads on 3 apartments, but all of them have fallen through before we even got to look at any of them.
-We're becoming a bit more independent...Dave actually did shopping by himself at three different places all in one day! One of these places was the market, which can be quite overwhelming. I'm so proud of him!
-There are 2 girls who have approached me to teach them art. I don't think they normally come to Shelter, but had heard from their mom, who works in the kitchen at Shelter, that I do art, so they came and met me last week.
-Yesterday, Dave had a major dramatic role in a skit for the kids at Children's Shelter. He was an angel! Wings, halo, and all!
-On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be doing some English tutoring for one of the girls who comes regularly to Shelter. These are the same days that I hope to be doing some art classes also.
-Dave is still working with the orphan kids on Saturdays, teaching them some music lessons and helping them learn to play together. He also continues to work with studio construction plans, bands, and is teaching some guitar lessons at the Shelter.
-Next Sunday we've been invited to go out to a small village church. Apparently Dave will get to share for about 5 minutes (with translation) and we will be expected to sing. I think that Lesya and Petrovich (her dad) will sing with us.
-Most nights we fall asleep to the sound of cats fighting...there are strays everywhere! However, they seem to fight only at night, and to get along very well with all the stray dogs.
-Most mornings we wake up to the sound of beer bottles clanging in people's bags. Poor people collect the bottles that haven't been broken and bring them to the basement of our building where they get some money for the bottles.
- Many signs of Spring are coming up all around us. There are beautiful white blossoms on many of the trees--apricots I think, and other trees are going to grow chestnuts!
-This past week I helped out at Shelter in the afternoons serving food, clearing tables, and peeling potatoes for a group who was using the building for a seminar put on by two ladies from North America. It was a group of social workers who work with Foster Parents in the city. I peeled so many potatoes my arm actually got cramped!
-We have to be very alert when we are walking, especially at night. About 50% of the man-hole covers I've seen are missing and are replaced with pieces of wood, broken doors, branches, or nothing. Often, the man-hole covers that are there are large cement ones, that are a big tripping hazard, as they stick up an extra few inches above the ground. Besides this potential hazard there is also the broken glass everywhere, and the potholes.
-There don't seem to be fire hazard laws/concerns here. People seem to light just about everything on fire...garbage, dead branches, leaves etc...If the garbage piles get too big, someone just lights it on fire. In the park near our apartment there is often a fire burning. Usually there doesn't seem to be anyone watching the fire. Somehow, though I have never seen a fire engine or a child playing with the fire. After some thought about this, Dave and I have come to the conclusion that nothing could catch on fire very easily, as everything is made out of concrete.
Well, I hope you've found this interesting! Let us know if you have any questions!

Bethany

Our First 3 Weeks in Ukraine...

March 19, 2007

Well, tomorrow marks the end of our third week here. In some ways, I can't believe how quickly it's gone by, and in others, I can't believe how much has happened. You may wonder, what have we been doing the last few weeks...well, here goes...

-We moved. Very quickly we realized that if we continued to live in the apartment we were first at we would be spending a lot of time and money on marshutka's (local transit, basically). All of the main leaders at the Shelter have recently moved to be in the same neighborhood as the Shelter, and live within a 10 minute walk from there. One of the couples, Sasha and Lesya, invited us to live with them until we find an apartment of our own. We've been living with them for the past week, and are having a great time getting to know them. Lesya has been studying English in University and Sasha has a pretty good vocabulary too, so communication isn't a major problem! Many of our conversations are helped with a Russian-English dictionary and charades, which leads to a lot of laughter. I honestly don't think I've ever laughed so much, trying to communicate. Dave and Sasha are having a lot of fun together, as they are both bass players and share a love of music. For the last week, they've been doing "show-and-tell" with each other, playing their favourite bands and music, and discussing plans for the Shelter studio. We are so thankful for their gracious hospitality and light hearted spirits. They've also been informally teaching us Russian at meals...we've learned important words like fork, spoon, knife, plate, cup, mug, kettle, pillow, etc...We know how to say that we want lemon in our tea, or milk in our coffee and that we're tired. Very handy words!

-We spoke at a University and a church: Last week Lesya invited us to come speak to her English class about Canada, and we happily did. Her professors were very happy to have an opportunity to speak with people whose first language is English. Yesterday was our first Ukrainian church experience. About half-way through the singing, someone from the church came and asked us if we would share with the church about how we came to be in Ukraine. We had about 10 minutes to prepare. I hope that in the future we will remember this experience, and be more prepared even before we get to church, just in case!
-We've been participating in Shelter activities and meetings (well, attending meetings, not really participating! Language is a very important part of communication!). We've met many of the youth who come to Shelter throughout the week and are having fun playing "Uno" and "Mennonite Madness" with them. They are very patient with our lack of language, and cheer us on any time we try to say something. Many of the girls give me hugs and kisses when they leave to go home, and have been very friendly to me. We've also been helping a bit with the English classes, and taught the kids at Children's Shelter (Saturdays) the song, "Head and shoulders, knees and toes...".
-Dave has had many musical opportunities already...he's joined a band "Smak soli" (Taste of Salt) with the guys at Shelter, and is playing electric guitar. They are excited to have his input and different sound. Last Thursday we drove to a city about 400km. away so the band could participate in a band competition. It was really good for us to see more of the country side. It's becoming more and more clear that most of the country, except for a few "pockets" of wealth is in poverty...from the potholes, to abandoned homes and construction sites, garbage everywhere, and people stumbling around and falling over from drunkenness, and picking through the garbage. It feels like everywhere we look we can see things falling apart, and that things that once were beautiful are now littered with garbage and broken glass, and crumbling cement. I often still feel like I'm experiencing our surroundings the same way I experience a movie--at arms length, watching from a distance but not really entering in. I hope and pray that I will not be hardened to these things but that my heart would be soft and that I would really be able to have empathy and compassion, and gain understanding for the people who have only known the hopelessness they feel here.
-Tomorrow Dave will begin helping a new band develop songs and grow as musicians. They are called "Dead Spirit". Dave is hoping that by the time he is done working with them they won't be called "Dead Spirit" anymore! This Saturday, if everything works out, Dave is going to begin helping develop an all-girls band and an all-boys band from one of the local orphanages that our friends the Halonen's are very involved at. The idea is to give these kids an opportunity to try something they wouldn't have had the chance to do otherwise, and to inspire their creativity. This is one of the many unique ministry ideas the Halonens have and we are very excited to help them out whenever we can.
-Together, Dave and I are planning to spend time every day on our Russian and praying together for the Shelter ministry, and then participating at the Shelter any way we can. We see these things as the most important things we can spend our time on right now.
Well, thanks for your time and friendship! Sorry no pictures yet! We hope to get some up soon!

Love,Bethany

We're here!

At the Toronto Airport. Feb 25th
It's been an interesting ride so far. Poor Bethany has a migraine today so she is lying down on the bench beside me. We had a little problem with our luggage getting ripped open between Winnipeg and Toronto. I made a bit of a stink and got the airline to buy us new luggage. So I spent a good couple hours sorting that out and packing the new luggage. Good thing we gave ourselves 6 hours in Toronto. The next 2 hours will be us waiting to board the Aerosvit plane and head towards Kiev. It looks like we'll have to go through customs in Kiev and then board a different plane to go to Dnipropetrovsk. I hope everything will work out well... Through all of this, I'm having a lot of fun! I really want to be strong for Bethany as she is really suffering right now. Hmmm... I just saw a girl with a jacket that is half pink fur and half pink leather with a matching belt. She also has sequins on her jeans... I'm pretty sure she is from Ukraine. :-)
dave
At our apartment, Krivoy Rog, Feb. 28th
Wow! Where do I begin? First I must thank everyone for all their prayers. Dave and I have really sensed that people must be praying for us over the past few days. Generally speaking, I'd say that there were many different things that we faced that normally would make us frustrated or grumpy or discouraged or scared, but with God's help through your prayers, our cheeks are hurting from all the smiling we've been doing.Let me explain...As I rested, sleeping on a bench in the airport, while Dave ran around the airport taking care of the luggage situation and buying us food, I started to feel a little better and regained some energy. As time passed we realized our flight must be delayed despite very little communication from the airline. Eventually they announced that our flight was cancelled and that we should pick up our luggage and contact them the next day (Monday) to find out about our flight. While we stood around to find out what was going on, we met a couple of young guys from Ukraine. One of them called himself Andrew (probably because we couldn't pronounce his real name!) and he ended up being our "angel" in Kiev (more on this in a bit!).As we gathered our luggage, we realized that no more over-size luggage was being unloaded and we still hadn't gotten Dave's guitars back. Dave found some airport staff, who were very helpful, and they eventually found both of Dave's guitars in an empty "can" (what they transport luggage in between the airport and the planes). Amazingly, Dave stayed very calm throughout this experience. In the meantime, I called our friend Melissa, in Winnipeg, whose parents live in Mississauga. Well, she arranged for us to stay with them until our flight was arranged! God is so good! They came to the airport and drove us back the next day. Incredibly hospitable people! The extra rest before our flight let me completely regain my energy from my migraine.Our flight to Kiev was very uneventful. We experienced our first taste (not literally) of Ukrainian culture when the flight attendants started passing out alcoholic beverages on the plane for free. We had Orange Juice and Coke! When we arrived in Ukraine our "angel", Andrew, took us under his wing and helped us through customs (he told us later that the lady in customs wanted to make Dave pay fees for his guitars, but the other customs officer called her a bad name, so she gave up. We're pretty sure we wouldn't have had to pay anyway, as the guitars are personal belongings and we're bringing them back with us...). He also "protected" us from a very aggressive man who really wanted to help us get to the other terminal where we would have to catch our next flight. We walked there instead. It was a very short distance. Andrew also helped us find out about our connecting flight to Dnepropetrovsk and helped Dave to make a very important phone call to the people who were supposed to meet us at the airport in Dnepro. We are also very thankful that he made sure we went to the washroom before boarding our flight, as there were no washrooms on board. Dave and I both wonder if we would have gotten here without his help! We were greeted in Krivoy Rog by an amazing group of people--our Canadian friend, Rainer Halonen, and some of our new Ukrainian friends from the Shelter +. One of these friends is an English teacher at the University, so she translated for us all the way to Krivoy Rog (about a 2hour drive). Her name is Anna and she is wonderful! They treated us to McDonalds for supper...I don't think either of us had expected to eat at McDonalds so soon! I had my first authentic Ukrainian bathroom experience at a gas station along the highway. I won't go into much detail, but I'll just say that my choices were either a hole in the floor of an outhouse with nothing to hold onto, or a field. Dave and I laughed all the way back to the van. It is true that many washrooms are not well stocked with toilet paper, so Dave and I plan to come prepared in the future!When we got to our apartment, Dave and I both almost started to cry to see how it had been prepared for us. Not only were the cupboards stocked with dishes and food and drink to last a few days, but the Shelter + team had also prepared a giant poster, decorated with balloons, and put a map of the city on the wall for us. Today was our first whole day in Krivoy Rog, and it was very productive, and very good. Rainer, who did all the apartment renovations for us (with the help of his family!), very kindly drove us everywhere we needed to go, and spent the entire day with us. He took us to get cell phones...we've finally joined the rest of the world...as this is the best way to communicate here (normal phone lines are very unreliable!). We also met the rest of his family and had coffee with them. Then we got some lunch at a traditional Ukrainian food restaurant. It was very fun, as all three of us could really only communicate by pointing and nodding our heads. We did some shopping next for some basic start-up things (like a toaster, pens, a rack to dry our clothes on...) and some food. Vegetables are very inexpensive! The store we did our shopping at is a wonderful place, where we will be able to find many, many things and ingredients...from chicken breast to 2-ply toilet paper for very affordable prices!The next stop was the Shelter. Here we were greeted by more of the volunteers and staff. Together with them we headed to a children's hospital where they did a presentation for the kids and then handed out gifts from Operation Christmas Child (Samaritan's Purse). It's amazing to have been on both ends of this ministry--to have personally packed shoe boxes this past Christmas, and then to see kids actually receive them...Wow! I am so glad that we have already been able to be involved in some ministry, even though we were mostly spectators. After the program at the hospital was over we were driven back to the Shelter, where we were given another incredible, "official" greeting...somewhat of a surprise party. At the front door we were greeted by two volunteers dressed in traditional Ukrainian outfits, holding a big, round loaf of bread in their hands, on a pretty white, embroidered cloth that they presented to us. The bread had a pile of salt on it, and we were told that as part of their tradition we were to take a piece of bread, dip it in the salt and eat it. We are still not entirely sure if we understand culturally what this represents, but we felt very honored and celebrated and loved through this action. Again, we were both almost moved to tears. Following this, we were fed a delicious meal of coleslaw, bread, and potato stew. All very tasty! Tea seems to be the hot drink of choice, which is great! Next, we were given a tour of the Shelter. To end the night, we participated in a sort of staff meeting, where we officially were welcomed to the team and introduced to everyone. We told them our story of how we came to be there, then they presented us with some welcome gifts (Shelter t-shirts, a mug, and "gold cards"...kind of like membership/identification cards, which we understand are quite an honor to be presented with). The night closed with prayer (translated for us!) and then a song..."Open the Eyes of My Heart", sung in Russian and English simultaneously! I can't believe how much has already happened in such a short period of time! Sorry for the long-windedness...I hope you've enjoyed all the detail! We don't have email access yet, so I wanted to make the most of this opportunity! Pictures to come soon!
With love, Bethany (for Dave too!)