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.
