Kiev, Ukraine, July 2016
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support. Serving in a refugee center for Ukrainian’s was rewarding and eye opening. It is amazing how little we actually need to be happy. Everything I had during that time fit in a medium sized carryon case and a small suitcase. I kept a journal each day and I hope you find this encouraging.
Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support. Serving in a refugee center for Ukrainian’s was rewarding and eye opening. It is amazing how little we actually need to be happy. Everything I had during that time fit in a medium sized carryon case and a small suitcase. I kept a journal each day and I hope you find this encouraging.
Day 1
What a day. The flight from lax was delayed almost two hours and we missed the connecting flight to Frankfurt. We are stuck in Toronto. Our checked bags are nowhere to be seen and we are all glad to have a change of clothes in our carryon luggage. After much negotiation the airline has provided food and lodging. We arrived to the hotel at 11pm and finally got to our rooms and had shower after midnight.
What a day. The flight from lax was delayed almost two hours and we missed the connecting flight to Frankfurt. We are stuck in Toronto. Our checked bags are nowhere to be seen and we are all glad to have a change of clothes in our carryon luggage. After much negotiation the airline has provided food and lodging. We arrived to the hotel at 11pm and finally got to our rooms and had shower after midnight.
Day 2
Great breakfast at the hotel then took the shuttle back the airport. We stored our extra bags at the airport and took the train downtown. Our connecting flight did not leave until 6pm so we decided to stick together and spend some bonding time walking around Toronto. Did a lot of walking even though it was warm. Enjoyed lunch next to the water and took the train back to the airport. It took 2 hours to locate and retrieve out checked baggage! This made us late for check in, late through security, and late as we fast walked the half-mile to our gate. The British Airways crew held the plane and all 13 of us made it. Our team of 17 had to be split since there was no way to get a group our size all the way to Kiev easily. The flight had many empty seats and we wondered why the other four could not have been with us. Empty seats meant we could stretch out and sleep, what a luxury! The next day we discovered why we had to split the group. We found out the next day why there were only 13 of us together.
Great breakfast at the hotel then took the shuttle back the airport. We stored our extra bags at the airport and took the train downtown. Our connecting flight did not leave until 6pm so we decided to stick together and spend some bonding time walking around Toronto. Did a lot of walking even though it was warm. Enjoyed lunch next to the water and took the train back to the airport. It took 2 hours to locate and retrieve out checked baggage! This made us late for check in, late through security, and late as we fast walked the half-mile to our gate. The British Airways crew held the plane and all 13 of us made it. Our team of 17 had to be split since there was no way to get a group our size all the way to Kiev easily. The flight had many empty seats and we wondered why the other four could not have been with us. Empty seats meant we could stretch out and sleep, what a luxury! The next day we discovered why we had to split the group. We found out the next day why there were only 13 of us together.
Day 3
The sun was rising as we began our decent into London. We arrived in London at 6:30 am. We had to find out where our Kiev flight departed and Lynette and Jason needed boarding passes for the next flight. We were concerned that part of our team would be stranded in London. They went ahead and Jerry went with them. We had to take a bus from terminal one to terminal 5 in order to go through security. It took about 45 minutes to do this; we knew we only had two hours to make our flight to Kiev. After we arrived we went through British customs check and later security. We had lots of problems with liquids. Both my bags were flagged and were searched for explosives, really? After a long delay at security we ran down stairs, took an elevator to the bottom floor and caught the last bus over to the plane. Jerry, Jason and Becky had convinced the staff to hold that bus. We were the last ones on the shuttle bus! We rode over to the plane outside terminal 2 and were the last ones to board. The backup power unit for the plane was not working. This meant that the air-conditioning and ventilation system on the plane were not working so it was hot and humid when we boarded. We were sweating. The flight to Kiev was 3 hours.
When we arrived in Kiev not all our bags did. Surprise, surprise! We searched for a long time but finally filled out paperwork with the airline to locate those bags. This took an hour. When we exited the area Pam wondered what had happened. Some of the bags contained supplies for our lessons and activities with the children.
We rode to the Logos Center in a minibus. It was one of the fastest, roughest rides of my life. I grew up in south East Asia, and I have taken many hair-raising rides in my life. This was right up there with the best of them. On one very large bump in the road, I was lifted off my seat and my head hit the ceiling. This happened several times because the others and I were airborne.
We arrived at Logos, Pam showed us our rooms and we shared a meal and worship time with many of the residents. Amazing worshiping in two languages simultaneously. We sang worship song that both Americans and Ukrainians know, so amazing to sing together. One of the songs was “Come, Now is the Time to Worship”. The chorus goes like this:
One day every
Tongue will confess
You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still the greatest treasure
Remains for those
Who gladly choose You now
How amazing to sing that in English and Ukrainian at the same time.
What amazing God who loves us no matter. He was there working long before we arrived. Our four remaining team members arrived about 3am. They had traveled through Frankfurt with a 12 hour layover. The flight from London to Kiev had been full and there were no seats from London to Kiev for three days, which was why we had to split up.
The sun was rising as we began our decent into London. We arrived in London at 6:30 am. We had to find out where our Kiev flight departed and Lynette and Jason needed boarding passes for the next flight. We were concerned that part of our team would be stranded in London. They went ahead and Jerry went with them. We had to take a bus from terminal one to terminal 5 in order to go through security. It took about 45 minutes to do this; we knew we only had two hours to make our flight to Kiev. After we arrived we went through British customs check and later security. We had lots of problems with liquids. Both my bags were flagged and were searched for explosives, really? After a long delay at security we ran down stairs, took an elevator to the bottom floor and caught the last bus over to the plane. Jerry, Jason and Becky had convinced the staff to hold that bus. We were the last ones on the shuttle bus! We rode over to the plane outside terminal 2 and were the last ones to board. The backup power unit for the plane was not working. This meant that the air-conditioning and ventilation system on the plane were not working so it was hot and humid when we boarded. We were sweating. The flight to Kiev was 3 hours.
When we arrived in Kiev not all our bags did. Surprise, surprise! We searched for a long time but finally filled out paperwork with the airline to locate those bags. This took an hour. When we exited the area Pam wondered what had happened. Some of the bags contained supplies for our lessons and activities with the children.
We rode to the Logos Center in a minibus. It was one of the fastest, roughest rides of my life. I grew up in south East Asia, and I have taken many hair-raising rides in my life. This was right up there with the best of them. On one very large bump in the road, I was lifted off my seat and my head hit the ceiling. This happened several times because the others and I were airborne.
We arrived at Logos, Pam showed us our rooms and we shared a meal and worship time with many of the residents. Amazing worshiping in two languages simultaneously. We sang worship song that both Americans and Ukrainians know, so amazing to sing together. One of the songs was “Come, Now is the Time to Worship”. The chorus goes like this:
One day every
Tongue will confess
You are God
One day every knee will bow
Still the greatest treasure
Remains for those
Who gladly choose You now
How amazing to sing that in English and Ukrainian at the same time.
What amazing God who loves us no matter. He was there working long before we arrived. Our four remaining team members arrived about 3am. They had traveled through Frankfurt with a 12 hour layover. The flight from London to Kiev had been full and there were no seats from London to Kiev for three days, which was why we had to split up.
Day 4 Monday.
Busy day. First day of VBS went well but we are all tired. Breakfast of oatmeal and dried fruit was delicious. Lunch was amazing and in the afternoon we played games with the children.
We met our translators. Daniel and Roma were the ones I got to know, that's them standing on the left.
They are university students who have been friends since childhood. Daniel is studying computer technology so we had many conversations about code and networks. The nerd in me came out in our conversation. Not much else to say, dinner was delicious and we all went off to bed early.
Busy day. First day of VBS went well but we are all tired. Breakfast of oatmeal and dried fruit was delicious. Lunch was amazing and in the afternoon we played games with the children.
We met our translators. Daniel and Roma were the ones I got to know, that's them standing on the left.
They are university students who have been friends since childhood. Daniel is studying computer technology so we had many conversations about code and networks. The nerd in me came out in our conversation. Not much else to say, dinner was delicious and we all went off to bed early.
Day 5 Tuesday
We conducted VBS in the morning with continuing technology conversations with Daniel. During VBS there were lots of songs, activities and Bible stories of the small children. In the afternoon we visited the Monastery of the Caves, a particularly holy site in the Orthodox Church. What an amazing place! The honor and respect over the centuries for God is show by the appropriate dress require to enter Orthodox Churches. Men were required to wear long pants and women were to wear long skirts and cover their heads. The monks, who began there in 1051AD, choose to live underground because so many people already lived in Kiev. They choose to live a life devoted to God by secluding themselves to read their Bibles and pray. What devotion! Some of us walked down the a very long series of stairs to the holy water where I filled up my water bottle and drank along the way. The setting was quiet and contemplative. Later we visited the churches on top of the hill and climbed the bell tower. What a view! We went over to Mydan Square, the center of the recent Ukrainian demonstrations against a corrupt, Russian-friendly government. Here we learned about the prayer that was happening there 24 hours a day during the demonstrations, and saw where the snipers killed about 40 people before it was stopped. Small memorials were made for each of the dead like the one on the right. We had a delicious dinner in a Ukrainian cafeteria and dinner for 25 of us was only $91!
We rode the metro and bus home. On the metro Ron dislocated his right shoulder and Jerry had been feeling a kidney stone for 5 hours. Ron had to be hospitalized to relocate his joint but the bumpy ride home dislodged Jerry's kidney stone. Ron spent the night in the hospital and retuned in the morning exhausted.
Oh, and the food which the ladies have been cooking is amazingly delicious!
We conducted VBS in the morning with continuing technology conversations with Daniel. During VBS there were lots of songs, activities and Bible stories of the small children. In the afternoon we visited the Monastery of the Caves, a particularly holy site in the Orthodox Church. What an amazing place! The honor and respect over the centuries for God is show by the appropriate dress require to enter Orthodox Churches. Men were required to wear long pants and women were to wear long skirts and cover their heads. The monks, who began there in 1051AD, choose to live underground because so many people already lived in Kiev. They choose to live a life devoted to God by secluding themselves to read their Bibles and pray. What devotion! Some of us walked down the a very long series of stairs to the holy water where I filled up my water bottle and drank along the way. The setting was quiet and contemplative. Later we visited the churches on top of the hill and climbed the bell tower. What a view! We went over to Mydan Square, the center of the recent Ukrainian demonstrations against a corrupt, Russian-friendly government. Here we learned about the prayer that was happening there 24 hours a day during the demonstrations, and saw where the snipers killed about 40 people before it was stopped. Small memorials were made for each of the dead like the one on the right. We had a delicious dinner in a Ukrainian cafeteria and dinner for 25 of us was only $91!
We rode the metro and bus home. On the metro Ron dislocated his right shoulder and Jerry had been feeling a kidney stone for 5 hours. Ron had to be hospitalized to relocate his joint but the bumpy ride home dislodged Jerry's kidney stone. Ron spent the night in the hospital and retuned in the morning exhausted.
Oh, and the food which the ladies have been cooking is amazingly delicious!
Monastery of the Caves
Logos Center Warehouse |
Day 6 Wednesday
VBS in the morning was David and Goliath. We planed some games with rocks but though better, deciding that small boys and rocks usually don’t mix well. The children created bright lions to remind them that God had protected David from the lions. Lunch was again delicious! I spent the afternoon helping in the warehouse while other at the Logos Center played with the parachute with he kids. Several organizations have donated medical supplies to Logos Center for their medical work. All the labels were in English and we were tasked with sorting a literal mountain of supplies. Later some were delivered to local Ukrainian hospitals and some were kept for Logo Center’s medical work. The area around the warehouse is run down, though the buildings were built in the 1980’s. I got some excellent photos of the area and some video of the piles of boxes and bags of medical supplies and clothes. In the evening after a delicious dinner we watched a TED video about David and Goliath and had an amazing time answering questions for Matt. This lasted about 3 hours! Going to bed was great since I was very tired after the heavy physical work in the warehouse. |
Day 7 Thursday.
VBS today was Daniel and the lion’s den. One of the translators is called Daniel and neither he nor Roma had heard the story before. They left thinking the story was interesting. The connection to Daniel’s name gave me an opportunity to ask questions about his spiritual beliefs. The craft was very complicated that day. We ended up making much of the craft for the children, still they enjoyed it. Jason and Matt invited Daniel and Roma to come back at 6pm to play soccer, which they did. I spent part of the afternoon helping finish the medical supplies in the warehouse.
Father Nicolai was questioned by the local prosecutor for two hours today. They want him to bribe them because they think he has money. We had the privilege of praying for him last night and two times today.
Devotion was Hebrews 11, the hall of faith. Great discussion. Tomorrow is the all day boat ride to the home of Shevchenko and hopefully the 24 hours of worship too.
VBS today was Daniel and the lion’s den. One of the translators is called Daniel and neither he nor Roma had heard the story before. They left thinking the story was interesting. The connection to Daniel’s name gave me an opportunity to ask questions about his spiritual beliefs. The craft was very complicated that day. We ended up making much of the craft for the children, still they enjoyed it. Jason and Matt invited Daniel and Roma to come back at 6pm to play soccer, which they did. I spent part of the afternoon helping finish the medical supplies in the warehouse.
Father Nicolai was questioned by the local prosecutor for two hours today. They want him to bribe them because they think he has money. We had the privilege of praying for him last night and two times today.
Devotion was Hebrews 11, the hall of faith. Great discussion. Tomorrow is the all day boat ride to the home of Shevchenko and hopefully the 24 hours of worship too.
Day 8 Friday.
We left the Logos Center at 7 am after praying together. The goal was to spend the day with residents from the Logos Center, to live out our Christianity before them. We rode in three large vans down to the docks at the river. After we found the drop off point we waited for our boat to arrive. We found out we were to take a hydrofoil 180 km down river to the home of Taras Shevchenko and take a walking tour of the town. The boat would not work correctly so our plan changed. We knew God had a different plan for us today. Instead we took the boat a short distance and spent the day picnicking and swimming in the vast waterways outside Kiev. The day allowed us to enjoy the water, food and weather but most importantly, created opportunities for spiritual conversation.
After that we were able to travel to a local church that was conducting 24 hours of praise music from all parts of Ukraine and for Ukraine. God was there in a strong way and reminded us that "every knee shall bow...and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Hearing praise and worship songs sung in Ukrainian helped us realize that. Video of part of the 24 hours is below.
One song was “The Stand” by Hillsong. The lyrics go like this
I stand with arms high and heart abandoned
To the one who gave it all
I stand with arms high and heart abandoned
To the one who gave it all
It was amazing and moving to sing together with them.
I was reminded that no matter where we are and what we are doing we are in His presence. He always wants all of our devotion, because it is the best way.
We left the Logos Center at 7 am after praying together. The goal was to spend the day with residents from the Logos Center, to live out our Christianity before them. We rode in three large vans down to the docks at the river. After we found the drop off point we waited for our boat to arrive. We found out we were to take a hydrofoil 180 km down river to the home of Taras Shevchenko and take a walking tour of the town. The boat would not work correctly so our plan changed. We knew God had a different plan for us today. Instead we took the boat a short distance and spent the day picnicking and swimming in the vast waterways outside Kiev. The day allowed us to enjoy the water, food and weather but most importantly, created opportunities for spiritual conversation.
After that we were able to travel to a local church that was conducting 24 hours of praise music from all parts of Ukraine and for Ukraine. God was there in a strong way and reminded us that "every knee shall bow...and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Hearing praise and worship songs sung in Ukrainian helped us realize that. Video of part of the 24 hours is below.
One song was “The Stand” by Hillsong. The lyrics go like this
I stand with arms high and heart abandoned
To the one who gave it all
I stand with arms high and heart abandoned
To the one who gave it all
It was amazing and moving to sing together with them.
I was reminded that no matter where we are and what we are doing we are in His presence. He always wants all of our devotion, because it is the best way.
Day 9 Saturday.
Last day of VBS. We shared Jesus miracles of healing the lame man lowered through the roof and the calming of the storm. The kids made a pinwheel and we showed the crucifixion and resurrection video from Super Book. We broke into small groups to reinforce the important concepts of salvation and asked kids to pray along with us if they wanted to. Then we passed out gift bags for the kids and had a water fight that lasted over an hour. It began with squirt guns and escalated to one-liter water bottles, then buckets and basins. My clothes were so wet I had to change everything except the socks. After lunch we traveled to the Mydan shopping area to look for souvenirs. We rode the bus from Logos Center to the first metro stop. That metro is the loudest I have ever ridden.
We found chocolates from Lviv and Roshen, a very small shop with many painted eggs and traditional clothing, and later two shops with lots of scarfs, t-shirts and toilet paper with Putin's face on it.
We stopped at the large MacDonald's again and had some desert. We got back on the metro and headed back to the end of the red line. We rode bus 393 toward the Logos center and got off at the cemetery. There father Nicolai and Pam are building a soup kitchen and rehab center. We cleaned up a pile of construction rubble and separated it into two piles, burnable and trash. There was a lot of trash. We found watermelon rind, mushrooms, old shoes and lots of left over building materials!
Some rode the two miles back to Logos with Pam and the rest of us walked. Later Pam came back to pick some of us up but four of us decided to walk all the way back. We shared a delicious dinner together and relaxed. Around 10 o'clock we met in the large hall with Pam and father Nikolai. We shared about our experiences and they shared about theirs. We have the opportunity to bless each other with the service that we have done. Finally we gave father Nikolai and Pam gifts and asked if they would call the wonderful head cook over to our meeting. We had discovered that her home in eastern Ukraine had been destroyed but she still had to pay off the loan that she had taken out to purchase it. She would periodically return to the war zone to work off her debt, since the funds had been borrowed from the bakery she worked for. When she returned to work, the owners would not pay her a reasonable wage and she feared she would never be able to pay off the debt. We had gathered enough money to pay the $1700 remaining on the mortgage. When we gave her the money she was in tears and hardly knew what to say. It was such a blessing to be able to help somebody in great need. She spent much of the next 30 minutes crying so much and hugging each of us. We also had the opportunity to pray with her and explain to her that her debt had been paid in full but also that Jesus Christ had paid another debt in full. We didn't go to sleep until nearly midnight after packing and taking showers so none of us got much sleep.
Last day of VBS. We shared Jesus miracles of healing the lame man lowered through the roof and the calming of the storm. The kids made a pinwheel and we showed the crucifixion and resurrection video from Super Book. We broke into small groups to reinforce the important concepts of salvation and asked kids to pray along with us if they wanted to. Then we passed out gift bags for the kids and had a water fight that lasted over an hour. It began with squirt guns and escalated to one-liter water bottles, then buckets and basins. My clothes were so wet I had to change everything except the socks. After lunch we traveled to the Mydan shopping area to look for souvenirs. We rode the bus from Logos Center to the first metro stop. That metro is the loudest I have ever ridden.
We found chocolates from Lviv and Roshen, a very small shop with many painted eggs and traditional clothing, and later two shops with lots of scarfs, t-shirts and toilet paper with Putin's face on it.
We stopped at the large MacDonald's again and had some desert. We got back on the metro and headed back to the end of the red line. We rode bus 393 toward the Logos center and got off at the cemetery. There father Nicolai and Pam are building a soup kitchen and rehab center. We cleaned up a pile of construction rubble and separated it into two piles, burnable and trash. There was a lot of trash. We found watermelon rind, mushrooms, old shoes and lots of left over building materials!
Some rode the two miles back to Logos with Pam and the rest of us walked. Later Pam came back to pick some of us up but four of us decided to walk all the way back. We shared a delicious dinner together and relaxed. Around 10 o'clock we met in the large hall with Pam and father Nikolai. We shared about our experiences and they shared about theirs. We have the opportunity to bless each other with the service that we have done. Finally we gave father Nikolai and Pam gifts and asked if they would call the wonderful head cook over to our meeting. We had discovered that her home in eastern Ukraine had been destroyed but she still had to pay off the loan that she had taken out to purchase it. She would periodically return to the war zone to work off her debt, since the funds had been borrowed from the bakery she worked for. When she returned to work, the owners would not pay her a reasonable wage and she feared she would never be able to pay off the debt. We had gathered enough money to pay the $1700 remaining on the mortgage. When we gave her the money she was in tears and hardly knew what to say. It was such a blessing to be able to help somebody in great need. She spent much of the next 30 minutes crying so much and hugging each of us. We also had the opportunity to pray with her and explain to her that her debt had been paid in full but also that Jesus Christ had paid another debt in full. We didn't go to sleep until nearly midnight after packing and taking showers so none of us got much sleep.
Day 10 Sunday
Our alarms went off before three in the morning and we spent hour and a half getting to the airport. What a bumpy ride. Several times we found ourselves flying out of our seats as we raced across the bumpy roads of Kiev. We arrived at the airport and began to check in. That is when we discovered eight members of our team had reservations but did not have tickets! No one was quite sure what was going on. It seemed as though eight members of our team would be stranded in Kiev a little bit longer. As the team continue to work things began to change and 30 minutes before the flight left they were able to get seats. Everyone went running through security and though I am traveling to Glasgow by myself it seems as though everyone made the flight because no one was in the terminal when I came through security. I took a photo of the only Lufthansa flight leaving, the photo is on the above. I have my boarding passes all the way to Glasgow so I know I am safe and will be seeing mom and dad later on today how wonderful.
Uneventful flight to Amsterdam except that two children had a horrible time with pressure in their ears on the descent. Praise the Lord that Luke and Lilly did not seem to be affected on any of the flights.
The last time I was in Amsterdam was the summer of 1983. Mom and I were on our way to Scotland before we traveled on to Texas so I could start at LeTourneau University. It was a very stretching summer and though some of the memories are good it was difficult to be leaving home for such a long time and at such a distance at the age of eighteen. Very different this time and I wish that I had my whole family traveling together.
Our alarms went off before three in the morning and we spent hour and a half getting to the airport. What a bumpy ride. Several times we found ourselves flying out of our seats as we raced across the bumpy roads of Kiev. We arrived at the airport and began to check in. That is when we discovered eight members of our team had reservations but did not have tickets! No one was quite sure what was going on. It seemed as though eight members of our team would be stranded in Kiev a little bit longer. As the team continue to work things began to change and 30 minutes before the flight left they were able to get seats. Everyone went running through security and though I am traveling to Glasgow by myself it seems as though everyone made the flight because no one was in the terminal when I came through security. I took a photo of the only Lufthansa flight leaving, the photo is on the above. I have my boarding passes all the way to Glasgow so I know I am safe and will be seeing mom and dad later on today how wonderful.
Uneventful flight to Amsterdam except that two children had a horrible time with pressure in their ears on the descent. Praise the Lord that Luke and Lilly did not seem to be affected on any of the flights.
The last time I was in Amsterdam was the summer of 1983. Mom and I were on our way to Scotland before we traveled on to Texas so I could start at LeTourneau University. It was a very stretching summer and though some of the memories are good it was difficult to be leaving home for such a long time and at such a distance at the age of eighteen. Very different this time and I wish that I had my whole family traveling together.
