Mines and Tigers and a Year goes by

March 18, 2008

It's hard to believe this may be the last blog entry we'll write from Ukraine. My flights are booked for April 1st and I should be arriving in Winnipeg on April 2nd (Dave on May 4th). We are filled with mixed emotions as we realize that our time left here is so very short. On one hand we can't wait to see family and friends, to attend our home church, and to eat some of the foods that we haven't had access to for over a year. (Why is it that when we're away from home food is one of the things we miss most? Maybe it's a comfort thing.) However, on the other hand, in many ways we feel like right now we are just turning a corner in our ministry involvement and have had a really rewarding last couple of months through getting to know the English students better and teaching weekly Bible studies to those who are interested. It will be hard to say good-bye.

As you can tell, Dave and I have come to some conclusions about the future. One major thing that has helped with this is how quickly the studio project has come together. This was our main objective in coming here, and one that we thought would take about two years to complete. Well, God knew that we'd need to come home early for the birth of our baby and He has seen to it that the studio has been completed much earlier than we anticipated. This has allowed for Dave and Sasha to already spend countless hours together as Dave shows Sasha everything he knows about being a studio engineer. Together they have already recorded a number of bands and Sasha is already able to run sessions on his own. In order to make sure that both Sasha and the studio will be fine without Dave's presence, Dave has decided to stay on here for one more month after I return to Winnipeg. Sasha and Lesya are kindly welcoming Dave back into their home for his final weeks in Ukraine. This is the very hospitable couple who let us live with them when we first arrived here, and I know that Dave will be well looked-after.

Another conclusion that Dave and I have come to is that we love doing full-time ministry together. We truly cannot imagine a more fulfilling way for us to use our gifts or spend our time. Because of this desire to continue doing vocational ministry in the future, we feel it would be best to further our education at a Bible School in the years to come. Hopefully through this our passions and gifts will be nurtured and shaped and we will gain a clearer understanding of how and what and where we can continue to serve God. Dave has been accepted to Peace River Bible School for this Fall (this is where I have already completed one year, many years ago), however so far we do not have any housing accommodations confirmed. So...for now we don't know where we will be living or what we will be doing this next year. However, we do take heart as we look back on how God has led and provided for us and given us direction in the past. (If you know of anyone who needs a house-sitter this next summer/year, let us know!) We are very eager to get started on our education (well, I'll take this next year off to learn about being a Mom, but hope to finish my degree over the next few years as well!) and are excited to see how God will continue to direct our steps.Besides all the decision-making these past months, we've also been kept very busy with other activities and projects:
-like I mentioned earlier, the English Bible study has started and we regularly meet on Sundays. I can definitely say that this has been the most rewarding thing that Dave and I have done here. It has been amazing to have great discussions with those who come, and to see the wheels turn and the lights go on in their minds as they begin to understand the free gift that Christ purchased for us who believe in Him for our righteousness. Dave will continue meeting with this group once I'm gone, and after that they will be welcome to attend the weekly Bible Study that Shelter holds. One of the girls has shown a real interest in getting more involved at Shelter, and I hope and plan to stay in touch with each of these people (as well as my other English students) in hopes to continue to plant seeds and grow in our friendship.
-renovations have started in the Craft room at Shelter, and this has given me the opportunity to collaborate creatively with Inna, who runs the Craft sectors at Shelter, as we dream and design what to paint on the walls. Fortunately Inna has time right now to do all the painting (I don't think it would be a good idea for me to be painting in there with all the fumes) and I've just been in charge of doing the sketches in pencil.
-I continue to be involved in teaching art and English to the 12-14 year olds and am also helping with teaching English to the younger kids who attend Children's Shelter on Saturdays. Sometimes it's hard to be creative and think of different ideas from week to week, but the kids are forgiving and keep coming back. It's been such a wonderful experience for me to explore my abilities as a teacher, and I've come to discover that I really enjoy it.
-A couple of weeks ago, Anya and I put on a big dinner, hosting a group from Shelter. Some of these people had never been to our home before, and I'm pretty sure none of them had ever had chicken fajitas before. Anya and I had to make all 24 tortillas by hand! We also served another "Bethany and Dave favorite": coffee milkshakes...and experienced a small miracle that there was enough to go around (we were convinced there wouldn't be enough for everyone...oh, the fish and the loaves!). Even the young boys who were there with their Mom and Dad had some.
-A week ago, Anya's Aunt cooked a meal for us and had us over to her home, which she shares with her Mother and Anya's brother. We were given a tour of the backyard, where they keep their goats for milk and cottage cheese, and where they also have a number of chickens. At the meal we were told that the chicken in one of the dishes we were eating had been running around the day before! Slaughtered, cleaned, and gutted by Anya's Grandma herself! It was a wonderful evening of generous Ukrainian hospitality, and we are so thankful for the opportunities we've had to get to know Anya's family a little better.- Last Friday was my 27th birthday, and I got to celebrate in a way I had never imagined. Dave and I and Anya were invited to go on a walking tour at one of the nearby mines with a man (Igor) who we've gotten to know a bit at Shelter. He is an electrician for the trains that carry the Iron Ore. Although we weren't actually allowed to go into the mine, we did get a lot closer than we'd ever been so far. We were amazed by how red the puddles were on the roads leading up to the mine. I don't think our camera did the color justice. Igor showed us where he works, and his garden which is on the mine property (many workers have their kitchen gardens right there...they can just take any unclaimed land). We also walked to an area where we could see what happens once a mine collapses. This mine had collapsed about 40 or more years ago and is now just a big hole in the ground. Mining is such a huge part of this city's history, and is even a big contributor to many of the social problems here. We are very thankful for this opportunity to get to see more of a "behind the scenes" look at this industry which drives this city.
-The next day my birthday celebrations continued as the three of us met up with some of our North American friends at the Circus. Ever since arriving in Ukraine, Dave and I have been determined to go to the Circus at least once. Every couple months or so, a new circus comes to town, and each one is different. What better time to go than to celebrate my birthday? We went with very high expectations because of everything we'd been told about circuses here, and we were not disappointed. I don't think I could even list all the different animals that were involved. They even had trained porcupines! And giant rats called "nu-tree" (seriously, they're as big as cats, and in some villages people still raise them for food). The main attraction was the trained Tigers. We enjoyed it so much and tried to get as much of it as we could on our little digital camera. Definitely a memorable birthday for me. We're hoping that Dave will have another opportunity to go to the circus before he heads home.Thanks to all you faithful readers and encouragers over this past year! Please stay tuned for the next update from Canada! For those of you that are on our email/mailing list, we hope to send out a letter with some more information soon.

Bethany and Dave

We're having a baby!...and other news

Jan. 29, 2008

Let me start off this blog with some exciting news: Dave and I are expecting our first baby, due this July!!! I apologize for keeping all of you in the dark for so long about this, but we wanted to wait until the ultrasound we had last week which confirmed that the baby is doing great. It has been quite an adventure for us trying to figure out pregnancy in a foreign country and seeing a doctor with the help of a translator, but everything is going very well. Of course this news has brought many questions to our minds (and probably yours as well!) and we will be sure to update you as things become clear to us about the future. As of right now, I am planning to be home around the 6-month mark, which really eases flight restrictions and allows me to stay out of the public health system (so far I've been seeing a Doctor at a private clinic, which is apparently a very different experience compared to going to a public hospital). Dave is working hard to train Sasha to run the studio and will come home in time for the birth as soon as he feels Sasha is able to operate the studio on his own. We are currently praying about what to do once the baby is born and would welcome you to pray for us to be sensitive to God's leading and direction as we make more decisions. Thanks.

In other "overdue" news...

Dec. 30, 2007

Happy Happy New Year!

Dave and I have just returned from our English Adventure in Oxford, England. My brother Keith and his wife Tannis are currently living there and they very kindly put us up for Christmas. What a wonderful, restful, fun, filling, time we had!
Where to begin? I didn't really know what to expect, culturally--would the affluence of English society be shocking to us after being in Ukraine for nearly 10 months? There certainly were differences that we noticed. Even as we walked through the airport after arriving in England, Dave couldn't stop reading all the signs out loud. "Bethany! EVERYTHING is in English!" The other main shock for me was when Tannis and I went to the local grocery store to buy ingredients for some Christmas baking we wanted to do. It was overwhelming for me to browse through a produce section the size of the grocery store we do our shopping at here in Krivoy Rog. So much variety! Such high quality! Needless to say, we ate well. Tannis made many dishes that Dave and I have only dreamt about...taco salad, fajitas, turkey sandwiches...and we also took a couple trips to Burger King and Starbucks. What a treat!
We felt God's hand in many small details of this trip. Once again he provided an "angel" who helped us at the airport. Dave and I weren't sure quite how we'd find our bus to Oxford once we landed in England. However, as our plane was boarding in Kiev, we saw a young woman wearing an Oxford sweatshirt. I whispered to Dave that we should keep our eye on her and ask her for help after landing. This became very simple for us, as she happened to be in the very seat next to us. It turned out that not only was she heading to Oxford, but would be getting off at the same stop as us (and is also in the same College Keith is studying at...small world!). When the 3 of us missed our bus she helped us find our way through the airport to a nice cafe where we all enjoyed a light lunch together. Over and over again strangers and people who hardly know us have helped us. These people have been such a blessing to us, and we can't help but thank God for His kindness to us.Another day that stands out in my memory where we sensed God's hand in particular was the day we went to London with Keith, Tannis, and my Uncle Jacq's family (Uncle Jacq, Aunt Lyn and their son Sterrett were also in England visiting their other son Jim). First of all, we had been given some money that really helped this excursion to be affordable for the four us. When our bus arrived in London we walked to Buckingham Palace. The timing couldn't have been better. We got there just when the changing of the guard was happening, and were treated to some beautiful Carols played by the palace orchestra. As we were walking from the palace, heading over to Westminster Abbey, we had to stop to let a small parade of guards and mounted police go by. There couldn't have been a better view than the one we had. One of Dave's main goals in London was to make a visit to Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles had recorded and to see the crosswalk where the Beatles' famous album cover was taken. Dave got both his wishes. In another beautifully timed moment, he even got to enter the studio and talk to the man at the front desk. Normally the front door would have been locked and Dave would have needed to pass security to get in...but the doors were wide open because the studio was receiving a number of deliveries at that moment. Dave and cousin Jim insisted that Tannis and I make several trips across the famous crosswalk to pose for a similar shot to the Beatles picture. I'm glad we did it, but at the time I think Tannis and I both felt pretty silly and tourist-y.

Jan. 25th, 2008

Oh this month is going by way too quickly! There's so much more I could say and write about our time in England, but now there's so much more to add about what's been happening in Ukraine since we've been back. What to do? Maybe I'll make a list of the noteworthy stuff:
More Christmas highlights:
-playing some of our favourite games with Keith and Tannis
-walking down a footpath along the Thames into downtown Oxford...we had many opportunities to do this and many great chats along the way!
-visiting a variety of churches in Oxford...the architecture, singing worship songs in English, listening to a sermon in English, was a very nice and refreshing change for us
-Dave getting one of his favorite author's signatures on Christmas Eve after Midnight Mass
-great conversations with Keith and Tannis
-I'm sure I'm missing a lot of other details. sorry.

Jan 29, 2008

A whole month has passed already since we've been back in Ukraine, and it has been packed with many different events. I will try to summarize some of these events for you:
-We celebrated New Year's at Shelter. It was great to be back in the company of these people who we have come to love and appreciate so much this past year. They put on a great celebration, with many activities, games, and lots of food.
We participated in a gift exchange as well. The beginning of the evening was somewhat of a church service with worship music (Dave played on guitar), a sharing time, and a bit of a message. When the Shelter team was planning this event they really only expected the "core" leaders and volunteers to attend, however were very surprised and happy to discover that many of our new volunteers and those who have begun attending Bible study this year also wanted to participate in the spiritual part of the evening. Everyone was given an opportunity to share about the most significant thing that had happened for them in 2007 and one of these young ladies, (who last year only came to Shelter for English club) said that the biggest thing that happened for her this year was learning about God. Another one of the volunteers reflected on the day of her baptism as the most significant moment of her year. What a blessing it has been for us to be part of this ministry and to see the fruit of it also!
-As many of you know, in Ukraine Christmas is celebrated on Jan. 7th. We had the joy of celebrating Christmas at Shelter twice: once with the leaders and volunteers, and again the following weekend as we put on 4 Christmas celebrations for youth and children. That same week we were joined with some Family Life Network staff who were such an encouragement to us, and who got to see firsthand the lengths that Shelter goes to in order to reach out and be a light in this community. Each of these celebrations consisted of a tour of Shelter where each room had a theme from a different part of the Christmas story (the Wise Men, the Shepherds, the star of Bethlehem, etc...) and concluded with a meeting in the main hall where the children and youth very dramatically learned that Jesus is the best gift of Christmas. Following the program we also had the joy of distributing Samaritan's Purse gift boxes to each of the children and youth who attended. I wish you could have seen their faces! Priceless! Someone told me later that they overheard one child saying, "I'm the luckiest kid" over and over as they walked away with their present. My main contribution to this event was building the star costume and operating the bubble machine in the star theme room. : )
-That same weekend Shelter had a celebration in honour of the many volunteers who help in so many ways at Shelter (from those who work in the kitchen, to the older women who pray, and everyone in between). It was absolutely remarkable to see all the people together in one room who are contributing so much of their lives to the work God is doing here. We were also treated to a slideshow highlighting the main events of this past year, most of which Dave and I were here for and participated in. Somehow, at the time it hasn't always felt like that much, but to see it all displayed made me realize just how much has been accomplished and achieved this year, and how many lives have been touched, and has again made me realize the commitment and hardwork of all those involved at Shelter. Without the many volunteers, these events just would not have been possible.
- Dave got a great surprise when we returned from England. Despite the fact that it was 6am, and we had just gotten off of an over-night train from Kiev, he was urged up the stairs to see the studio as soon as we got to Shelter. Incredible! While we were away, Sasha (the future engineer and producer of the studio) had completely finished all the studio construction. Of course he had help, but we know that he was the one motivating and directing the completion of this project.
What a blessing for Dave! Because of this, Dave and Sasha have already begun their intensive training, often up to 6 days a week and this week they will be recording a 3-song demo for one of the bands that rehearses at Shelter. It's just amazing to us that the studio is already built and that they are already on to training.

-For the last few weeks I've been back to teaching my English and Art classes at Shelter. This can be a real challenge at times, teaching and handling a class through a translator, however there are some great moments of connecting with the youth and I know that being at Shelter, for them, is the highlight of their week. Two girls who attend my English and Art sectors give me hugs when they see me and tell me they love me. This is so precious to me. Another highlight for me is teaching English Club to University students. Most of these students have an excellent grasp of the English language so we are able to get into some great discussions during our classes. This coming weekend I will be starting to offer an English Bible study for these students as well, and I am very excited to be doing this.

Thanks for reading this. Hopefully next time you won't have to wait as long for the next update! My apologies!

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