Friday (St. Petersburg by bus)
This morning we ate breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast consists of stopping by the front desk and grabbing a tiny container of yogurt and coffee (if you’re so inclined). Needless to say, the meal was not substantial but fortunately we had an early lunch at 1 PM after only walking 2 or 3 miles. We ate at a very nice restaurant and the food was excellent. The meal consisted of bread, salad, vegetable soup, fried potatoes (nicely seasoned) and crepes with a very tasty berry sauce for dessert. This tasty repast would prove to be the only real meal of the day.
The schedule for this morning was the Russian Hermitage which is an excellent museum much like the Louvre in France. However, we did not go the Hermitage but instead visited the summer palace of Catherine the Great. This trip was not in our budget so we each needed to donate $25 to the cause. The palace was very impressive and contains the world-famous Amber room that was captured by the Nazis and has never been seen since. We saw a re-creation of the room based on black and white photos of the original. I had previously read a book about the Amber room and was excited to see it in person. The good news is that we were allowed to take pictures throughout the palace except one room. The bad news is that room was, of course, the Amber Room. So I did the next best thing, I bought a post card of the room and photographed it.
Our English speaking guide on this trip is excellent. By now you should know her name. As with all the English-speaking women of Ukraine and Russia with whom I have conversed her name was Natasha. She really knows here stuff and her English is quite good.
After the palace, we went to see the Church of the Spilled Blood. I gather it was named after a Czar who was killed on the site. The church is incredible and rivals St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. Roland and I took a quick peek inside and the murals were impressive. We didn’t have time to do the full tour.
At this same spot we also did some shopping at the nearby Tourist Trap, I mean Mart. I found some key chains for my sons and that was all I bought. I’m quite proud of myself.
This morning my roommate, Roland, complained to the hotel management about the lack of hot water in our shower. We had no problem getting hot water from the sink but the shower was always only freezing cold. They promised to send someone to fix it while we were gone which apparently they did because now there is no hot water at all. Problem solved.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Thursday (St. Petersburg here we come)
Today the only thing on our agenda is travel to St. Petersburg. We are going by train and have almost an entire car to ourselves. We have so much luggage, however, that it is pretty crowded. I’m sitting at a bulkhead seat and in front of me are two huge red suitcases. Beside them is another large black suitcase and there’s a small suitcase on the seat beside me and my bag is under the seat. All the overhead luggage areas are crammed with suitcases and most of the under-seat spaces are also filled up. The trip is supposed to take 8 or 9 hours so I bought a small Sudoku book at the train station.
Before we left, I walked down the block from our hotel and found a bank that was open and exchanged some US to Rubles. The exchange rate is 25 to 1 so for $26 I got over 600 Rubles. I also got some nice coins for my collection as well.
We arrived without incident in St. Petersburg at 7 PM and made it safely to our hotel. The hotel is interesting to say the least. After walking through a dark alley you enter a plain metal door that leads to several flights of stairs. Part way up the stairs there is a small room with a desk that is the hotel lobby. The elevator did not work so you can imagine 22 people with all our luggage hauling it up the stairs to the lobby and then further up to our respective rooms. As always, my room was on the top floor. The room has wireless Internet access (after you pay for it) which is a plus although I had very poor success staying connected.
Today the only thing on our agenda is travel to St. Petersburg. We are going by train and have almost an entire car to ourselves. We have so much luggage, however, that it is pretty crowded. I’m sitting at a bulkhead seat and in front of me are two huge red suitcases. Beside them is another large black suitcase and there’s a small suitcase on the seat beside me and my bag is under the seat. All the overhead luggage areas are crammed with suitcases and most of the under-seat spaces are also filled up. The trip is supposed to take 8 or 9 hours so I bought a small Sudoku book at the train station.
Before we left, I walked down the block from our hotel and found a bank that was open and exchanged some US to Rubles. The exchange rate is 25 to 1 so for $26 I got over 600 Rubles. I also got some nice coins for my collection as well.
We arrived without incident in St. Petersburg at 7 PM and made it safely to our hotel. The hotel is interesting to say the least. After walking through a dark alley you enter a plain metal door that leads to several flights of stairs. Part way up the stairs there is a small room with a desk that is the hotel lobby. The elevator did not work so you can imagine 22 people with all our luggage hauling it up the stairs to the lobby and then further up to our respective rooms. As always, my room was on the top floor. The room has wireless Internet access (after you pay for it) which is a plus although I had very poor success staying connected.
Wednesday (Of universities and circuses)
Today we went by bus several hours outside of Moscow to visit Zaoksky Adventist University. This school, of over three hundred students is the only Seventh-day Adventist university in Russia and was built shortly after the fall of communism. The university actually has over 1,200 students if you include its affiliates all over eastern Europe. The campus consists of a large main building that houses the Seminary, a computer lab, library, and administrative offices, another very large building that contains the dormitories/cafeteria/classrooms, and the main church auditorium, a gymnasium, a faculty apartment building, and a farm. The farm grows produce for the university and there are also greenhouses for growing flowers for sale.
Nearby, we toured the publishing house with its impressive million-dollar web press. Both the university and the publishing house came into being through a series of small (and not so small) miracles and they are a great blessing to the work in Russia.
Several hours and many more traffic jams later we were back in Moscow parked beside the famous Moscow circus. We had mid-tier seats for the evening performance and were all very excited. The circus was quite impressive and very diverse. It had clown acts, animals (lions, seals, camels, horses, and birds), high-wire performances, ice skating, acrobatics and even some synchronized swimming. The floor of the circus ring was actually a large hole in the floor and between acts various plug-in modules were inserted from a cavernous basement and lifted up into the hole. In this way they could change the rink from the standard surface, to an acrobatic mat surface, to an ice-skating rink, to a huge swimming pool as needed. The swimming pool came up empty but we could see it being filled while they did a performance from the upper tiers of the auditorium. The whole two and a half hour experience was quite impressive.
It appears that we are over budget already and have been asked for an additional $420 dollars. Originally the budget called for only $270 dollars but I gather that costs are constantly changes and they’re not going down.
Today we went by bus several hours outside of Moscow to visit Zaoksky Adventist University. This school, of over three hundred students is the only Seventh-day Adventist university in Russia and was built shortly after the fall of communism. The university actually has over 1,200 students if you include its affiliates all over eastern Europe. The campus consists of a large main building that houses the Seminary, a computer lab, library, and administrative offices, another very large building that contains the dormitories/cafeteria/classrooms, and the main church auditorium, a gymnasium, a faculty apartment building, and a farm. The farm grows produce for the university and there are also greenhouses for growing flowers for sale.
Nearby, we toured the publishing house with its impressive million-dollar web press. Both the university and the publishing house came into being through a series of small (and not so small) miracles and they are a great blessing to the work in Russia.
Several hours and many more traffic jams later we were back in Moscow parked beside the famous Moscow circus. We had mid-tier seats for the evening performance and were all very excited. The circus was quite impressive and very diverse. It had clown acts, animals (lions, seals, camels, horses, and birds), high-wire performances, ice skating, acrobatics and even some synchronized swimming. The floor of the circus ring was actually a large hole in the floor and between acts various plug-in modules were inserted from a cavernous basement and lifted up into the hole. In this way they could change the rink from the standard surface, to an acrobatic mat surface, to an ice-skating rink, to a huge swimming pool as needed. The swimming pool came up empty but we could see it being filled while they did a performance from the upper tiers of the auditorium. The whole two and a half hour experience was quite impressive.
It appears that we are over budget already and have been asked for an additional $420 dollars. Originally the budget called for only $270 dollars but I gather that costs are constantly changes and they’re not going down.
Tuesday (Moscow)
From the train we went directly to our hotel. The hotel is quite a ways from the center of Moscow and I would rate it two stars. It’s nothing special but it is clean and it has hot water for showers and a nice restaurant.
I had a cookie for breakfast on the train. For lunch I ate a piece of bread and half a slice of cheese at 2pm. After that we went touring the Kremlin and Red Square (over 8 miles of walking according to my pedometer-equipped roommate) and now I’m waiting for supper and I’m hungry--to put it mildly.
The word “Kremlin” in old Russian means “fortress.” Every city had a Kremlin and Moscow was no exception. Several hundred years ago Moscow became the religious and cultural center of Russia and eventually became its capital. The Kremlin started out built of wood but is now all brick and stone. Inside the Kremlin are several churches (we visited the church of the Assumption), the president’s office, a cultural arts center (where Mark Finley preached in 1993) and an armory. We also saw a canon that is supposed to be the largest in the world but it was never fired and a huge bell that weighs over 200 tons but was never rung. The story goes that the bell was involved in a fire and when they were extinguishing the flames, the bell cracked apart. The piece that came off weighs 11 tons.
We toured the armory museum which contains very few arms but lots and lots of jewelry, clothes, carriages, thrones, and gold dinner ware. It was quite interesting but we didn’t spend a lot of time there because we wanted to be sure we had time to see Red Square; which we did, and I got the picture to prove it.
Today has been a very event-full day and after supper I think I’m going to sleep well. My roommate is Roland Smith, he’s a retired financial advisor from Maryland. He’s a nice guy and I expect the room situation to go smoothly. He mentioned, however, that he snores, so we’ll have to see how that goes.
From the train we went directly to our hotel. The hotel is quite a ways from the center of Moscow and I would rate it two stars. It’s nothing special but it is clean and it has hot water for showers and a nice restaurant.
I had a cookie for breakfast on the train. For lunch I ate a piece of bread and half a slice of cheese at 2pm. After that we went touring the Kremlin and Red Square (over 8 miles of walking according to my pedometer-equipped roommate) and now I’m waiting for supper and I’m hungry--to put it mildly.
The word “Kremlin” in old Russian means “fortress.” Every city had a Kremlin and Moscow was no exception. Several hundred years ago Moscow became the religious and cultural center of Russia and eventually became its capital. The Kremlin started out built of wood but is now all brick and stone. Inside the Kremlin are several churches (we visited the church of the Assumption), the president’s office, a cultural arts center (where Mark Finley preached in 1993) and an armory. We also saw a canon that is supposed to be the largest in the world but it was never fired and a huge bell that weighs over 200 tons but was never rung. The story goes that the bell was involved in a fire and when they were extinguishing the flames, the bell cracked apart. The piece that came off weighs 11 tons.
We toured the armory museum which contains very few arms but lots and lots of jewelry, clothes, carriages, thrones, and gold dinner ware. It was quite interesting but we didn’t spend a lot of time there because we wanted to be sure we had time to see Red Square; which we did, and I got the picture to prove it.
Today has been a very event-full day and after supper I think I’m going to sleep well. My roommate is Roland Smith, he’s a retired financial advisor from Maryland. He’s a nice guy and I expect the room situation to go smoothly. He mentioned, however, that he snores, so we’ll have to see how that goes.
Monday (Russia bound)
It’s Tuesday morning and I have just spent a very comfortable and enjoyable night traveling by train from Kiev to Moscow. We arrive in about an hour. Twice during the night we were stopped and boarded by Ukranian and Russian customs officials, The Ukranians came on board at midnight and the Russians four hours later. The stops were fairly painless and we didn’t even need to get out of bed. The Russian stop was longer, however, and they took our passports for about an hour before we got them back. I had no trouble getting back to sleep after the stops and slept soundly until 8:30 in the morning feeling very rested.
Our trip yesterday from Dubno to Kiev went very smoothly. The pastor and his wife took Natasha and I to Rivne where we met the van going east with my fellow compatriots. It was an interesting experience to be in a van where almost everyone spoke English. You may have a hard time understanding this unless you’ve lived for over two weeks with almost everyone around you speaking an unintelligible language. When we arrived in Kiev I almost went into culture shock because then we had a whole room full of English speakers jabbering away and I could understand everyone!
In Kiev we spent the day at the East-bank Seventh-day Adventist Christian Center which is a large church and administration center where the conference offices are located. Natasha lives 300 meters from the center so a group of us went over to see how she lives in the real world. Her apartment is incredibly small and consists of a tiny kitchen, living room, and one bedroom/office. Two of my friends (the Garvers) from South Carolina stayed the night with them and (I hope) successfully arrived at the airport this morning.
Since we had a lot of time before our train left, Natasha, the Garvers, Ursula (a lady from California who had lost her SD card and needed our help to buy another one) and I spent about four hours shopping. We took a bus from the Center to central Kiev and toured the souvenir shops and then had some tea and snacks at a local restaurant.
At 7 PM we loaded the vans with our luggage and were off to the train station. I was able to borrow a friend’s phone for a few minutes and contact Julie to let her know that I was safe and happy. I’m hoping to have access to e-mail in Russia so that we can keep in contact this week.
It’s Tuesday morning and I have just spent a very comfortable and enjoyable night traveling by train from Kiev to Moscow. We arrive in about an hour. Twice during the night we were stopped and boarded by Ukranian and Russian customs officials, The Ukranians came on board at midnight and the Russians four hours later. The stops were fairly painless and we didn’t even need to get out of bed. The Russian stop was longer, however, and they took our passports for about an hour before we got them back. I had no trouble getting back to sleep after the stops and slept soundly until 8:30 in the morning feeling very rested.
Our trip yesterday from Dubno to Kiev went very smoothly. The pastor and his wife took Natasha and I to Rivne where we met the van going east with my fellow compatriots. It was an interesting experience to be in a van where almost everyone spoke English. You may have a hard time understanding this unless you’ve lived for over two weeks with almost everyone around you speaking an unintelligible language. When we arrived in Kiev I almost went into culture shock because then we had a whole room full of English speakers jabbering away and I could understand everyone!
In Kiev we spent the day at the East-bank Seventh-day Adventist Christian Center which is a large church and administration center where the conference offices are located. Natasha lives 300 meters from the center so a group of us went over to see how she lives in the real world. Her apartment is incredibly small and consists of a tiny kitchen, living room, and one bedroom/office. Two of my friends (the Garvers) from South Carolina stayed the night with them and (I hope) successfully arrived at the airport this morning.
Since we had a lot of time before our train left, Natasha, the Garvers, Ursula (a lady from California who had lost her SD card and needed our help to buy another one) and I spent about four hours shopping. We took a bus from the Center to central Kiev and toured the souvenir shops and then had some tea and snacks at a local restaurant.
At 7 PM we loaded the vans with our luggage and were off to the train station. I was able to borrow a friend’s phone for a few minutes and contact Julie to let her know that I was safe and happy. I’m hoping to have access to e-mail in Russia so that we can keep in contact this week.
Sunday (Lvev or Bust)
Bust. Today the plan was to tour Lvev which is the city where the pastor lived before coming to Dubno. The van, however, had different ideas and our plans had to be cancelled. This is the same van that is supposed to take us to Kiev early tomorrow morning so I’m not sure what will be done. I’m glad that we found out about the van now and not tomorrow.
We ended up having a very relaxing day, took long walks, and ate great food. Maybe this is what we needed anyway.
Bust. Today the plan was to tour Lvev which is the city where the pastor lived before coming to Dubno. The van, however, had different ideas and our plans had to be cancelled. This is the same van that is supposed to take us to Kiev early tomorrow morning so I’m not sure what will be done. I’m glad that we found out about the van now and not tomorrow.
We ended up having a very relaxing day, took long walks, and ate great food. Maybe this is what we needed anyway.
Sabbath (The End)
Today was a great day. It started off with a little sleeping-in and ended with a baptism. In between was a day of rest and fellowship. We had a very enjoyable Sabbath School and church service and afterwards a “dusia smachno” (very tasty) lunch. The weather was cold, rainy, and windy but after such a big lunch, Natasha and I just had to get out and take a walk. We walked for almost two hours through the woods and over the fields. When we got back all I wanted was a warm bath. Unfortunately, all the warm water had gone to fill the baptismal tank so I had to be satisfied with some hot tea and a warm bed.
In the afternoon, we practiced the evening presentation which was on the reality of heaven. Yesterday was my last presentation preparation and today was our last practice and this evening was our last meeting. It is hard to believe that two weeks of meetings have gone by. After the baptism the church presented us with flowers and gifts and the pastor said very nice things about us and now it is finished. It is a great feeling to rest, knowing that God has wonderfully blessed and that the meetings have ended triumphantly. Now I can relax and enjoy some sight-seeing and know that in only a couple of weeks I’ll see my friends and family again.
Vladimir was here for the last service and I was very glad. I presented him with a gift that I had brought from the states. I had thought about giving the gift to the pastor but realized that Vladimir needed it more. It was a pen that attached to its base by magnetism. The base said “Called by the Lord.” (or something close to that) and I told Vladimir that I would pray that he will always remember that God has called him and is calling him and that no matter how sinful or addicted he might be, God still calls.
Today was a great day. It started off with a little sleeping-in and ended with a baptism. In between was a day of rest and fellowship. We had a very enjoyable Sabbath School and church service and afterwards a “dusia smachno” (very tasty) lunch. The weather was cold, rainy, and windy but after such a big lunch, Natasha and I just had to get out and take a walk. We walked for almost two hours through the woods and over the fields. When we got back all I wanted was a warm bath. Unfortunately, all the warm water had gone to fill the baptismal tank so I had to be satisfied with some hot tea and a warm bed.
In the afternoon, we practiced the evening presentation which was on the reality of heaven. Yesterday was my last presentation preparation and today was our last practice and this evening was our last meeting. It is hard to believe that two weeks of meetings have gone by. After the baptism the church presented us with flowers and gifts and the pastor said very nice things about us and now it is finished. It is a great feeling to rest, knowing that God has wonderfully blessed and that the meetings have ended triumphantly. Now I can relax and enjoy some sight-seeing and know that in only a couple of weeks I’ll see my friends and family again.
Vladimir was here for the last service and I was very glad. I presented him with a gift that I had brought from the states. I had thought about giving the gift to the pastor but realized that Vladimir needed it more. It was a pen that attached to its base by magnetism. The base said “Called by the Lord.” (or something close to that) and I told Vladimir that I would pray that he will always remember that God has called him and is calling him and that no matter how sinful or addicted he might be, God still calls.
Friday (Light at the end of the tunnel)
Tomorrow night is my last presentation here in Dubno and the thought is bittersweet. It’s been hard work but it’s also been very rewarding. I’ve made new friends but I’m missing my family and friends back home and am looking forward to seeing them. Although it’s not like I’m going to be going home anytime soon because Monday I’m off for a week in Russia doing the tourist thing in Moscow and St. Petersburg. After that I will be spending a week in France on business. Fortunately I will make it home for my youngest son’s birthday…but just barely.
This evening I tried to impress the congregation with my Ukranian. First I said “Good evening (Dobre Ve’cheer) and then I said, “welcome” (Vee tah’ yu vas) and then I asked them how they were (Yahk Spra’vay), good? (Dobre?), very good? (Dusia dobre?) and then to finish off I said “Praise the Lord (Slava Bo’goo). I’m hoping that the appreciative chuckle that I got from the crowd was a good sign and that I didn’t unintentionally tell them that I ate dirt for breakfast or something like that.
Vladimir came back tonight after a couple nights absence. He was perfectly sober and it was really good to see him. After the meeting, he waved at me and said “Do zaftra.” Which means “see you tomorrow” so it looks like he’ll be here for the last meeting as well. Slava Bo’goo!
Tomorrow night is my last presentation here in Dubno and the thought is bittersweet. It’s been hard work but it’s also been very rewarding. I’ve made new friends but I’m missing my family and friends back home and am looking forward to seeing them. Although it’s not like I’m going to be going home anytime soon because Monday I’m off for a week in Russia doing the tourist thing in Moscow and St. Petersburg. After that I will be spending a week in France on business. Fortunately I will make it home for my youngest son’s birthday…but just barely.
This evening I tried to impress the congregation with my Ukranian. First I said “Good evening (Dobre Ve’cheer) and then I said, “welcome” (Vee tah’ yu vas) and then I asked them how they were (Yahk Spra’vay), good? (Dobre?), very good? (Dusia dobre?) and then to finish off I said “Praise the Lord (Slava Bo’goo). I’m hoping that the appreciative chuckle that I got from the crowd was a good sign and that I didn’t unintentionally tell them that I ate dirt for breakfast or something like that.
Vladimir came back tonight after a couple nights absence. He was perfectly sober and it was really good to see him. After the meeting, he waved at me and said “Do zaftra.” Which means “see you tomorrow” so it looks like he’ll be here for the last meeting as well. Slava Bo’goo!
Wednesday (Business as usual)
Today was filled with preparation, practice, and a visit to a man who lives nearby. The man is almost seventy, has never been married and lives with his brother and sister in a very nice home. I gather that he was a hydrostatic engineer (whatever that is) and was born in Dubno. He told us that his brother works very closely with cosmonauts and that he would like to give him a signed copy of a Bible. We told him that we would be happy to help him out.
Today was filled with preparation, practice, and a visit to a man who lives nearby. The man is almost seventy, has never been married and lives with his brother and sister in a very nice home. I gather that he was a hydrostatic engineer (whatever that is) and was born in Dubno. He told us that his brother works very closely with cosmonauts and that he would like to give him a signed copy of a Bible. We told him that we would be happy to help him out.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Tuesday (Potato patties)
Today I got a cooking lesson from Luda. She makes these tasty stuffed potato patties and I determined that I would learn how to make them so that I could continue to enjoy them when I got back to the US. The patties are really easy to make and I think that even I can handle them. They are essentially mashed potatoes mixed with flour, wrapped around stuffing and then fried. In some ways they resemble perogies (which we also have quite often) except instead of using dough you use mashed potatoes.
This evening after the meeting we visited a family within walking distance of the church. The wife is baptized but the husband is not and we spent some time talking with him about baptism and answering his questions. The visit went well and as we were leaving we were presented with gifts. Natasha and I each got a very nicely done wooden wall plaque. I don’t know if I have room in my suitcase for too many more visits.
Today I got a cooking lesson from Luda. She makes these tasty stuffed potato patties and I determined that I would learn how to make them so that I could continue to enjoy them when I got back to the US. The patties are really easy to make and I think that even I can handle them. They are essentially mashed potatoes mixed with flour, wrapped around stuffing and then fried. In some ways they resemble perogies (which we also have quite often) except instead of using dough you use mashed potatoes.
This evening after the meeting we visited a family within walking distance of the church. The wife is baptized but the husband is not and we spent some time talking with him about baptism and answering his questions. The visit went well and as we were leaving we were presented with gifts. Natasha and I each got a very nicely done wooden wall plaque. I don’t know if I have room in my suitcase for too many more visits.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Bucha Seventh-Day Adventist Univeristy (Kiev)
The western-Ukraine group (back row: Me (Dubno), Valentine (sponsor), Pastor Garver (Lutsk), front row from left: Charles (Rivne), Natasha (Dubno), Nora (Lutsk), Mrs. Garver (Lutsk), Andre (Vladimir-Volinsky)
Dubno church building
Natasha and I
Inside Dubno church
Monday (Mushrooms again)
Since Natasha’s husband, Vladimir, was here we celebrated by going back to the forest to pick mushrooms. I’m afraid that I was not very helpful. In fact, I talked Vladimir into a long walk and we had a great time while the others slaved away looking under every leaf for the elusive mushroom. We met a man with a horse and cart who was also mushrooming and I got some good pictures of him and his haul of mushrooms. Amazingly, enough, we didn’t even get lost on our walk.
Vladimir stayed for tonight’s meeting and then took the night train back to Kiev. He called this morning saying that he had arrived safely about 7 AM.
Since Natasha’s husband, Vladimir, was here we celebrated by going back to the forest to pick mushrooms. I’m afraid that I was not very helpful. In fact, I talked Vladimir into a long walk and we had a great time while the others slaved away looking under every leaf for the elusive mushroom. We met a man with a horse and cart who was also mushrooming and I got some good pictures of him and his haul of mushrooms. Amazingly, enough, we didn’t even get lost on our walk.
Vladimir stayed for tonight’s meeting and then took the night train back to Kiev. He called this morning saying that he had arrived safely about 7 AM.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Sunday (Dubno)
This afternoon we took a quick tour of Dubno. Our first stop was an ancient castle and palace. It has very large walls and a mote around it. At various points we could go underground and in the walls to see where the troops defended the castle. From there we drove to the market and stopped on the way to take a picture of a beautiful white and gold cathedral. The marketplace was very large and consisted of a myriad stalls all with their own specialties. There were stalls for almost every conceivable need from furniture, to sweets, to flour and grain, to cheese and books.
Vladimir, Natasha’s husband, joined us this afternoon at lunch. He is in charge of the literature evangelists in Ukraine and was meeting with them in Lutsk which is very close to Dubno. On his way home he has stopped by to visit for a couple of days. Needless to say, Natasha, is on cloud nine. She is the kind of person who wears her emotions on her sleeve and you don’t doubt when she’s happy. He came to our meeting last night to see Natasha in action and was very impressed.
Tonight’s meeting was especially difficult because it was very long. It is not easy to explain the prophecies of Daniel 7 in one night. But it went well and those who heard it say that it was clear. After the program Natasha and I stood by the gate greeting people on their way out. It’s amazing how much friendlier everyone is than when we first arrived. Smiles and greetings have replaced the suspicion in their faces and it seems like everyone is anxious to shake our hands and for this we are thankful to God.
After the meeting (and two beautiful songs) Natasha left by train to go back to Lviev. We hope that she will come again next weekend and sing for us. Maybe Natasha can sing a duet.
This afternoon we took a quick tour of Dubno. Our first stop was an ancient castle and palace. It has very large walls and a mote around it. At various points we could go underground and in the walls to see where the troops defended the castle. From there we drove to the market and stopped on the way to take a picture of a beautiful white and gold cathedral. The marketplace was very large and consisted of a myriad stalls all with their own specialties. There were stalls for almost every conceivable need from furniture, to sweets, to flour and grain, to cheese and books.
Vladimir, Natasha’s husband, joined us this afternoon at lunch. He is in charge of the literature evangelists in Ukraine and was meeting with them in Lutsk which is very close to Dubno. On his way home he has stopped by to visit for a couple of days. Needless to say, Natasha, is on cloud nine. She is the kind of person who wears her emotions on her sleeve and you don’t doubt when she’s happy. He came to our meeting last night to see Natasha in action and was very impressed.
Tonight’s meeting was especially difficult because it was very long. It is not easy to explain the prophecies of Daniel 7 in one night. But it went well and those who heard it say that it was clear. After the program Natasha and I stood by the gate greeting people on their way out. It’s amazing how much friendlier everyone is than when we first arrived. Smiles and greetings have replaced the suspicion in their faces and it seems like everyone is anxious to shake our hands and for this we are thankful to God.
After the meeting (and two beautiful songs) Natasha left by train to go back to Lviev. We hope that she will come again next weekend and sing for us. Maybe Natasha can sing a duet.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Sabbath (Blessed rest)
Our days are usually filled with preparation for the evening meetings and even though this is a very spiritual work it can be tiring. Yesterday we worked extra hard and prepared two days worth of presentations so that today we could truly have a day of rest. And it has been a wonderfully relaxing and restful day. I can see that the Lord really knew what He was doing when He gave us the Sabbath.
For the past week it seems like I speak only with Natasha. She is my channel to the other people in my world. But today my horizons expanded somewhat and I was able to talk to Natasha also. She is an English-speaking friend of the pastor and his wife and lives about 4 hours by train due west of us. She came last night to visit and will being staying until tomorrow. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t enjoy talking to Natasha. It’s just that from time to time it is nice to have some variety and so it was a real pleasure to speak to Natasha as well. She, of course, has some different perspectives from Natasha because of her vastly different background. Natasha was born in Russia, whereas Natasha was born in western Ukraine. Natasha is unmarried while Natasha has been married for several years. Natasha is an economist and Natasha is a pastor’s wife. Both Natasha and Natasha sing semi-professionally and that is what brought Natasha here to visit. She sang two songs for us at last night’s meeting. Natasha, on the other hand, hasn’t sung for the meetings yet because her voice is just coming back after her cold but she will sing at the baptism during our last meeting next Sabbath. It really is a great blessing to have Natasha here.
Tonight’s meeting was one of the best so far. Everything went very smoothly, we had beautiful music, the tone of the meeting was solemn, and I felt good about the presentation. The topic was baptism and afterwards we gave out response cards so that visitors could indicate their desire to be baptized. Seven people responded and we are praising God. We had over 150 people attending last night, many of whom are visitors, and we will continue to offer them the opportunity to be baptized as the meetings progress. Keep praying!
Our days are usually filled with preparation for the evening meetings and even though this is a very spiritual work it can be tiring. Yesterday we worked extra hard and prepared two days worth of presentations so that today we could truly have a day of rest. And it has been a wonderfully relaxing and restful day. I can see that the Lord really knew what He was doing when He gave us the Sabbath.
For the past week it seems like I speak only with Natasha. She is my channel to the other people in my world. But today my horizons expanded somewhat and I was able to talk to Natasha also. She is an English-speaking friend of the pastor and his wife and lives about 4 hours by train due west of us. She came last night to visit and will being staying until tomorrow. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t enjoy talking to Natasha. It’s just that from time to time it is nice to have some variety and so it was a real pleasure to speak to Natasha as well. She, of course, has some different perspectives from Natasha because of her vastly different background. Natasha was born in Russia, whereas Natasha was born in western Ukraine. Natasha is unmarried while Natasha has been married for several years. Natasha is an economist and Natasha is a pastor’s wife. Both Natasha and Natasha sing semi-professionally and that is what brought Natasha here to visit. She sang two songs for us at last night’s meeting. Natasha, on the other hand, hasn’t sung for the meetings yet because her voice is just coming back after her cold but she will sing at the baptism during our last meeting next Sabbath. It really is a great blessing to have Natasha here.
Tonight’s meeting was one of the best so far. Everything went very smoothly, we had beautiful music, the tone of the meeting was solemn, and I felt good about the presentation. The topic was baptism and afterwards we gave out response cards so that visitors could indicate their desire to be baptized. Seven people responded and we are praising God. We had over 150 people attending last night, many of whom are visitors, and we will continue to offer them the opportunity to be baptized as the meetings progress. Keep praying!
Friday (Milestones)
Tonight, after the meeting we will have been here one week and the series will be half over. The time has gone by fast but the days have been full of hard work with some fun mixed in. Natasha’s husband is coming on Sunday to stay with us for a day and we hope to do some sight-seeing with him. I understand that Dubno has some interesting places of historical significance including a castle and I really don’t want to come all the way here and not see them.
Today, as I was working on tomorrow’s presentation, which is on baptism, I found a place where I could use some pictures that I took while touring in Kiev (pronounced Keeve). The pictures were of Vladimir’s Cathedral and his baptism. Vladimir was a great Russian prince who became a Christian and inside the cathedral there are beautiful murals on almost every flat surface. Beside the door was one of his baptism which took place in 1088 AD in Kiev and was significant to me because he was being baptized by immersion. A couple of hundred years after this the church of that time decided that they would also allow sprinkling and infant baptism as well although these practices are not biblical. I’m really glad I took these pictures because they fit very well into the presentation and they add a strong local flavor.
Tonight, after the meeting we will have been here one week and the series will be half over. The time has gone by fast but the days have been full of hard work with some fun mixed in. Natasha’s husband is coming on Sunday to stay with us for a day and we hope to do some sight-seeing with him. I understand that Dubno has some interesting places of historical significance including a castle and I really don’t want to come all the way here and not see them.
Today, as I was working on tomorrow’s presentation, which is on baptism, I found a place where I could use some pictures that I took while touring in Kiev (pronounced Keeve). The pictures were of Vladimir’s Cathedral and his baptism. Vladimir was a great Russian prince who became a Christian and inside the cathedral there are beautiful murals on almost every flat surface. Beside the door was one of his baptism which took place in 1088 AD in Kiev and was significant to me because he was being baptized by immersion. A couple of hundred years after this the church of that time decided that they would also allow sprinkling and infant baptism as well although these practices are not biblical. I’m really glad I took these pictures because they fit very well into the presentation and they add a strong local flavor.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Thursday (Ukranian mushrooms)
Natasha and I are getting pretty efficient at preparing and practicing our evening presentations and so are having more time to do some other fun things. Today Gennady and Looda took us mushroom picking in a nearby forest. It was a beautiful day and the thrill of the hunt was upon us. At first, Natasha and I picked only the easy ones (that don’t taste as good) while Gennady and Looda worked on the hard-to-find but tasty varieties. After a while we switched over to the harder ones and did respectably. The good ones are small and are usually found peeking through leaves or at the base of trees. I found one tree that was completely surrounded by them. It was the mother lode of mushrooms and it took us a while to pick them all. That tree was rare, however, and most of the time we found only small clumps here and there.
Before the meeting started this evening Vladimir came down and talked to Natasha and I. He was pretty drunk but he invited us to visit him in his home and we said yes. After the meeting, the pastor, his wife, Natasha, and I walked home with him. He is a retired physics teacher, his wife is dead, and it seems that he does not see much of his children. Vladimir doesn’t feel that he has much to live for any more. He lives in a small, one-room apartment, has little money, and is very lonely. I told him how we wanted to be his family. Just a short walk from his apartment is our church, a large home filled with brothers and sisters of God’s family. We invited him to keep coming and to make friends with us and then we prayed for him. We will continue to pray for Him and I hope you will also.
Natasha and I are getting pretty efficient at preparing and practicing our evening presentations and so are having more time to do some other fun things. Today Gennady and Looda took us mushroom picking in a nearby forest. It was a beautiful day and the thrill of the hunt was upon us. At first, Natasha and I picked only the easy ones (that don’t taste as good) while Gennady and Looda worked on the hard-to-find but tasty varieties. After a while we switched over to the harder ones and did respectably. The good ones are small and are usually found peeking through leaves or at the base of trees. I found one tree that was completely surrounded by them. It was the mother lode of mushrooms and it took us a while to pick them all. That tree was rare, however, and most of the time we found only small clumps here and there.
Before the meeting started this evening Vladimir came down and talked to Natasha and I. He was pretty drunk but he invited us to visit him in his home and we said yes. After the meeting, the pastor, his wife, Natasha, and I walked home with him. He is a retired physics teacher, his wife is dead, and it seems that he does not see much of his children. Vladimir doesn’t feel that he has much to live for any more. He lives in a small, one-room apartment, has little money, and is very lonely. I told him how we wanted to be his family. Just a short walk from his apartment is our church, a large home filled with brothers and sisters of God’s family. We invited him to keep coming and to make friends with us and then we prayed for him. We will continue to pray for Him and I hope you will also.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Wednesday (A trip to Lutsk)
Yesterday we prepared two presentations so that we could take a trip today to a nearby town named Lutsk. Here we met with five fellow speakers, their translators, and their pastors. It was good to see the team again and to talk about the trials and triumphs of our respective meetings. We were also able to give and take some good ideas about how we can improve. It was a very cold and rainy day today so this was a good day to do this. Otherwise the weather has been fantastic.
Before the meetings each evening we have a health expo and one of the features is free massages. Tonight I wanted to see how the massages worked and ended up getting one for myself. Thank you Vladimir!
My cold is feeling much better these days. So far this cold has been the shortest, least severe cold that I have ever had. It’s either the do-it-yourself treatments or the Lord’s blessing or both. Either way, I’m so glad that is past.
Yesterday we prepared two presentations so that we could take a trip today to a nearby town named Lutsk. Here we met with five fellow speakers, their translators, and their pastors. It was good to see the team again and to talk about the trials and triumphs of our respective meetings. We were also able to give and take some good ideas about how we can improve. It was a very cold and rainy day today so this was a good day to do this. Otherwise the weather has been fantastic.
Before the meetings each evening we have a health expo and one of the features is free massages. Tonight I wanted to see how the massages worked and ended up getting one for myself. Thank you Vladimir!
My cold is feeling much better these days. So far this cold has been the shortest, least severe cold that I have ever had. It’s either the do-it-yourself treatments or the Lord’s blessing or both. Either way, I’m so glad that is past.
Tuesday (Progress)
Valdimir has come back both Monday and tonight even though he had told us that he had to be in Kiev Monday night. He came down afterward and sat with us and we talked. We continue to pray for him.
About 80 people are coming to the meetings each evening. Of these, 50 are not members of the church. The meetings are going very well and we are all very pleased.
First it was eating garlic plain, then it was drinking garlic straight up with hot water and now I’m sniffing garlic smoke. But don’t laugh, this really works. You burn the garlic stalk and sniff deeply of the smoke in each nostril several times and it stops up a runny nose and keeps your head clear. I was having a terrible time with a runny nose and even had to buy more tissue paper. Before my evening presentation I stuffed almost every pocket on my person with tissue paper but I never needed any of it because I had a quick garlic stalk just before I went to the church and I felt great all the way through.
Valdimir has come back both Monday and tonight even though he had told us that he had to be in Kiev Monday night. He came down afterward and sat with us and we talked. We continue to pray for him.
About 80 people are coming to the meetings each evening. Of these, 50 are not members of the church. The meetings are going very well and we are all very pleased.
First it was eating garlic plain, then it was drinking garlic straight up with hot water and now I’m sniffing garlic smoke. But don’t laugh, this really works. You burn the garlic stalk and sniff deeply of the smoke in each nostril several times and it stops up a runny nose and keeps your head clear. I was having a terrible time with a runny nose and even had to buy more tissue paper. Before my evening presentation I stuffed almost every pocket on my person with tissue paper but I never needed any of it because I had a quick garlic stalk just before I went to the church and I felt great all the way through.
Monday (The routine)
What can I say: pray, prepare, pray, practice, pray, preach, pray.
This is probably a good point to tell you more about my hosts in Dubno. I am staying with the pastor of the Dubno church, Gennady, and his wife Looda. They have two grown children who have left home and I think they are enjoying having a son and daughter to take care of again. They are taking excellent care of both Natasha and I and we are very blessed. Gennady worked for many years in business as a manager in a large corporation before he was called to the ministry. He has been a pastor for five years but has only been at Dubno for one month! Looda worked for over 20 years at a hotel and she is an excellent cook! They are both extremely dedicated people and the Lord is working through them.
I’ve also been learning more about Natasha. She was born in Russia although she has Asian heritage and knows English, Ukranian, Russian, and an Arabic dialect that I will not even try to name. She works part-time cleaning homes in Kiev and is also going to university part-time working on philology (the study of languages, English, and Ukranian literature). Before becoming an Adventist and meeting her husband, Vladimir, she lived in Russia where she had completed a five-year degree in chemical engineering and worked at a large oil-processing facility. She and her husband have been married for six years and do not have any children, yet. In her youth she lived close to the Chechnya border and her town was once raided by terrorists who took over the local hospital and shot up the center of town with automatic weapons. Within a short time tanks and soldiers rolled in and the sky was dark with Russian aircraft responding to the attack and they could not leave their homes for three days.
What can I say: pray, prepare, pray, practice, pray, preach, pray.
This is probably a good point to tell you more about my hosts in Dubno. I am staying with the pastor of the Dubno church, Gennady, and his wife Looda. They have two grown children who have left home and I think they are enjoying having a son and daughter to take care of again. They are taking excellent care of both Natasha and I and we are very blessed. Gennady worked for many years in business as a manager in a large corporation before he was called to the ministry. He has been a pastor for five years but has only been at Dubno for one month! Looda worked for over 20 years at a hotel and she is an excellent cook! They are both extremely dedicated people and the Lord is working through them.
I’ve also been learning more about Natasha. She was born in Russia although she has Asian heritage and knows English, Ukranian, Russian, and an Arabic dialect that I will not even try to name. She works part-time cleaning homes in Kiev and is also going to university part-time working on philology (the study of languages, English, and Ukranian literature). Before becoming an Adventist and meeting her husband, Vladimir, she lived in Russia where she had completed a five-year degree in chemical engineering and worked at a large oil-processing facility. She and her husband have been married for six years and do not have any children, yet. In her youth she lived close to the Chechnya border and her town was once raided by terrorists who took over the local hospital and shot up the center of town with automatic weapons. Within a short time tanks and soldiers rolled in and the sky was dark with Russian aircraft responding to the attack and they could not leave their homes for three days.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Sunday (Is it true?)
Tonight after the meeting I met Vladimir. He told me (through Natasha, of course) that he had come both nights. Then he asked bluntly, “Is it true?” It turns out that he is a scientist and teaches science at a nearby university. “Is it true?” he asked again. “If so, then I have been teaching a lie to my students all these years.” He went on to say that he has read the bible many times and has read many books about the Bible but he has never understood it. And then he said, “What should I do? I feel guilty. I don’t understand or believe the Bible. What should I do?” We shared with him that we believe in a God who is the God of science and the God of the Bible and that the two can agree. We encouraged him to keep coming and promised that we would pray for him. Please help us pray for him. I hope to have good news about Vladimir in the coming days.
Things were going well and we were in full swing this evening when it suddenly screeched to a grinding halt. I had just read a Bible verse and was waiting for Natasha to interpret when she called my attention to the screen. The verse wasn’t there! Somehow, in the middle of the presentation, the slides had become un-synchronized. I quickly reset the presentation but it didn’t help so for the next several minutes I had to compensate manually any time there was a Bible verse. On a verse slide, I would say my part and then I would back up to the previous slide where verse was displayed. After a while I got pretty good at it. Eventually the slides became synchronized again. I can guarantee that I’m not going to let that happen again! I’m going to personally recheck all slides after all our editing is done to make sure they all make sense together.
After the meeting, I was sitting in my room minding my own business when in walks Natasha and the church doctor. Earlier, I had made the mistake of telling Natasha that my throat was starting to feel scratchy. A word of advice…never tell Natasha you think you might be getting sick. Twenty minutes later the doctor left but not before twisting my body in ways that it was not meant to be twisted, cracking my joints including spine, knuckles and wrists, and rubbing my ears (circulation, I gather), After he left, I was subjected to a do-it-yourself program of disease prevention (or die trying). The first course of treatment consisted of tea. First a cup of chamomile, then lemon (with no sugar), and last (gasp) crushed garlic and hot water straight up. After three slices of raw lemon we moved on to the next step. The plan was to do some hot and cold fomentations on my feet, but, just then, the power went out and I was spared (which just goes to prove that there still is some good in this world). By laptop light, we moved on to the last course which consisted of a foul-smelling compound that I rubbed on my back (the pastor helped with that), chest, neck, and feet. With a vitamin pill for good measure I finally made it into bed. I think the treatments may have worked. Knowing that the treatment is worse then the sickness I have decided that I will just simply not get sick. After all, it’s all mind over matter, right? But seriously, we’re praying hard about this and continue to appreciate your prayers.
Tonight after the meeting I met Vladimir. He told me (through Natasha, of course) that he had come both nights. Then he asked bluntly, “Is it true?” It turns out that he is a scientist and teaches science at a nearby university. “Is it true?” he asked again. “If so, then I have been teaching a lie to my students all these years.” He went on to say that he has read the bible many times and has read many books about the Bible but he has never understood it. And then he said, “What should I do? I feel guilty. I don’t understand or believe the Bible. What should I do?” We shared with him that we believe in a God who is the God of science and the God of the Bible and that the two can agree. We encouraged him to keep coming and promised that we would pray for him. Please help us pray for him. I hope to have good news about Vladimir in the coming days.
Things were going well and we were in full swing this evening when it suddenly screeched to a grinding halt. I had just read a Bible verse and was waiting for Natasha to interpret when she called my attention to the screen. The verse wasn’t there! Somehow, in the middle of the presentation, the slides had become un-synchronized. I quickly reset the presentation but it didn’t help so for the next several minutes I had to compensate manually any time there was a Bible verse. On a verse slide, I would say my part and then I would back up to the previous slide where verse was displayed. After a while I got pretty good at it. Eventually the slides became synchronized again. I can guarantee that I’m not going to let that happen again! I’m going to personally recheck all slides after all our editing is done to make sure they all make sense together.
After the meeting, I was sitting in my room minding my own business when in walks Natasha and the church doctor. Earlier, I had made the mistake of telling Natasha that my throat was starting to feel scratchy. A word of advice…never tell Natasha you think you might be getting sick. Twenty minutes later the doctor left but not before twisting my body in ways that it was not meant to be twisted, cracking my joints including spine, knuckles and wrists, and rubbing my ears (circulation, I gather), After he left, I was subjected to a do-it-yourself program of disease prevention (or die trying). The first course of treatment consisted of tea. First a cup of chamomile, then lemon (with no sugar), and last (gasp) crushed garlic and hot water straight up. After three slices of raw lemon we moved on to the next step. The plan was to do some hot and cold fomentations on my feet, but, just then, the power went out and I was spared (which just goes to prove that there still is some good in this world). By laptop light, we moved on to the last course which consisted of a foul-smelling compound that I rubbed on my back (the pastor helped with that), chest, neck, and feet. With a vitamin pill for good measure I finally made it into bed. I think the treatments may have worked. Knowing that the treatment is worse then the sickness I have decided that I will just simply not get sick. After all, it’s all mind over matter, right? But seriously, we’re praying hard about this and continue to appreciate your prayers.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sabbath (D-Day plus one)
As I lay here in my bed this evening I can say without hesitation that today we have been extremely blessed and that I am really tired. Both presentations went very well. Natasha’s voice has held up nicely. We had a good group of people at both meetings. There were no major malfunctions or interruptions. And did I mention that I’m tired?
The day started early with a practice of my morning presentation. During this session Natasha and I haggled over wording. She would ask me what one of my complicated words meant and I would explain it to her. She would then say, “OK, I can translate that,” or else she would say, “How about using ______ instead.” Then I would say either “that’s fine,” or “But…” and suggest another word and the process would begin again. She is very good for me because she forces me to simplify my sermon so that it will be easy to understand.
After a huge breakfast that kept me plenty full until our 2 o’clock lunch we returned to our work and did not finish until about 10:30. Church, here, starts at 11:30 and I was worried that my hour-long talk (30 minutes of talk and 30 minutes of interpretation) would make the service too long. I was hoping to be finished by 1 o’clock in the afternoon, at the most. I did not succeed. In fact I didn’t even start until almost 1 o’clock. At one point during the service I felt like I had come to a concert instead of a church service. There was special music after special music after special music. We had a choir, a children’s bell choir, a young children’s choir, a couple of solos and several more duets and quartets. Between most of these performances we had readings and poems. I asked Natasha if this was a typical Sabbath church services and she said, “Yes.”
At some point during this process I also presented to the children of the Dubno church the gift that I had brought with me from the church members in Cedar Rapids. Several of the women in Cedar Rapids had spent hours and hours cutting and organizing a felt set for the children’s Sabbath School classes and now it was my privilege to present it to the church. After the presentation, some of the children came up and did a short story using the new felts. It all worked out really well. Thank you Donna and team!
I am also happy to report that we successfully pulled off my not-so-silent prayer. At times like this I’m really glad that Natasha has good hearing.
Anyway, by the time we were all finished playing our various roles in the church service it was almost 2 o’clock in the afternoon. After lunch it was only a few hours until the evening meeting and we still needed to practice that presentation.
The evening meeting was the climax of the 3-presentation marathon and I am so glad it is finished. Now I can relax and get into a one-presentation-per-day-schedule. This was also the first meeting where non-member guests would join us. Needless to say I was a little nervous and to make matters worse, part way through my presentation I noticed that some other guests had arrived. Mauri Bascom from The Quiet Hour was sitting in my audience. The Quiet Hour is the American organization that is sponsoring these evangelistic series in Ukraine. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, he had brought with him five leaders of the Ukranian Seventh-day Adventist Conference including the president. Gulp.
But the Lord blessed exceedingly and we could feel His presence with us. It is such an incredible experience to be a part of meetings like this and I am so glad that I came.
As I lay here in my bed this evening I can say without hesitation that today we have been extremely blessed and that I am really tired. Both presentations went very well. Natasha’s voice has held up nicely. We had a good group of people at both meetings. There were no major malfunctions or interruptions. And did I mention that I’m tired?
The day started early with a practice of my morning presentation. During this session Natasha and I haggled over wording. She would ask me what one of my complicated words meant and I would explain it to her. She would then say, “OK, I can translate that,” or else she would say, “How about using ______ instead.” Then I would say either “that’s fine,” or “But…” and suggest another word and the process would begin again. She is very good for me because she forces me to simplify my sermon so that it will be easy to understand.
After a huge breakfast that kept me plenty full until our 2 o’clock lunch we returned to our work and did not finish until about 10:30. Church, here, starts at 11:30 and I was worried that my hour-long talk (30 minutes of talk and 30 minutes of interpretation) would make the service too long. I was hoping to be finished by 1 o’clock in the afternoon, at the most. I did not succeed. In fact I didn’t even start until almost 1 o’clock. At one point during the service I felt like I had come to a concert instead of a church service. There was special music after special music after special music. We had a choir, a children’s bell choir, a young children’s choir, a couple of solos and several more duets and quartets. Between most of these performances we had readings and poems. I asked Natasha if this was a typical Sabbath church services and she said, “Yes.”
At some point during this process I also presented to the children of the Dubno church the gift that I had brought with me from the church members in Cedar Rapids. Several of the women in Cedar Rapids had spent hours and hours cutting and organizing a felt set for the children’s Sabbath School classes and now it was my privilege to present it to the church. After the presentation, some of the children came up and did a short story using the new felts. It all worked out really well. Thank you Donna and team!
I am also happy to report that we successfully pulled off my not-so-silent prayer. At times like this I’m really glad that Natasha has good hearing.
Anyway, by the time we were all finished playing our various roles in the church service it was almost 2 o’clock in the afternoon. After lunch it was only a few hours until the evening meeting and we still needed to practice that presentation.
The evening meeting was the climax of the 3-presentation marathon and I am so glad it is finished. Now I can relax and get into a one-presentation-per-day-schedule. This was also the first meeting where non-member guests would join us. Needless to say I was a little nervous and to make matters worse, part way through my presentation I noticed that some other guests had arrived. Mauri Bascom from The Quiet Hour was sitting in my audience. The Quiet Hour is the American organization that is sponsoring these evangelistic series in Ukraine. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, he had brought with him five leaders of the Ukranian Seventh-day Adventist Conference including the president. Gulp.
But the Lord blessed exceedingly and we could feel His presence with us. It is such an incredible experience to be a part of meetings like this and I am so glad that I came.
Friday (D-Day)
Today began a marathon that does not end until tomorrow night. Within 24 hours I will give 3 one-hour presentations: Friday evening vespers, Sabbath morning church service and the Sabbath evening evangelistic meeting. The bad news is that due to a last-minute schedule change I had only prepared for one of these presentations, in advance, before coming to the Ukraine. Yesterday in the van I condensed three chapters from a book that I’m working on to create a new sermon for the Sabbath morning church service and I’m using my “Sword of Damocles” sermon for Friday evening. Then I formatted, edited for time and printed the two new sermons and my interpreter and I spent most of the rest of the day practicing them.
Between practicing we did take a short break to go to the internet café in Dubno and catch up on e-mails. I also finally succeeded in getting the blog to work. It really helps when one has an interpreter to help guide one through the Russian web sites. We also bought a phone card so that I can call the United States for 20 cents per minute.
The evening service went very well and we are all pleased. There was pretty good attendance for Friday evening and all our practice paid off well. I thank the Lord for His goodness. There was a time Thursday night when I began to wonder if we could pull it off but things really fell into place today and, in our weakness, God showed His strength.
After the evening service, Natasha, the pastor, his wife, and I were having tea in the kitchen when the pastor informed me of a mistake that I had made during the service. There is a point in the program where we kneel and have silent prayer. It turns out that during this time, it is expected that the speaker will whisper a prayer loud enough for the platform team to hear but not the congregation. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I thought that silent prayer was silent! Anyway, tomorrow I get another chance. The question is how hard does one have to whisper so that Natasha can hear and translate and yet the congregation can not hear?
Before I close I should also say a quick word about my lodgings. I am really blessed. I have an excellent room in the pastor’s home and the pastor’s wife is a really good cook. I have been enjoying most Ukranian food although there are some things that take a little getting used to. We have a lot of fruits and vegetables and nuts at each meal. She also makes these really good dumpling-like things that are stuffed with cabbage and her soups are excellent. I’m afraid that I have given up on all thoughts of losing any weight on this trip.
Today began a marathon that does not end until tomorrow night. Within 24 hours I will give 3 one-hour presentations: Friday evening vespers, Sabbath morning church service and the Sabbath evening evangelistic meeting. The bad news is that due to a last-minute schedule change I had only prepared for one of these presentations, in advance, before coming to the Ukraine. Yesterday in the van I condensed three chapters from a book that I’m working on to create a new sermon for the Sabbath morning church service and I’m using my “Sword of Damocles” sermon for Friday evening. Then I formatted, edited for time and printed the two new sermons and my interpreter and I spent most of the rest of the day practicing them.
Between practicing we did take a short break to go to the internet café in Dubno and catch up on e-mails. I also finally succeeded in getting the blog to work. It really helps when one has an interpreter to help guide one through the Russian web sites. We also bought a phone card so that I can call the United States for 20 cents per minute.
The evening service went very well and we are all pleased. There was pretty good attendance for Friday evening and all our practice paid off well. I thank the Lord for His goodness. There was a time Thursday night when I began to wonder if we could pull it off but things really fell into place today and, in our weakness, God showed His strength.
After the evening service, Natasha, the pastor, his wife, and I were having tea in the kitchen when the pastor informed me of a mistake that I had made during the service. There is a point in the program where we kneel and have silent prayer. It turns out that during this time, it is expected that the speaker will whisper a prayer loud enough for the platform team to hear but not the congregation. I’ve never heard of such a thing. I thought that silent prayer was silent! Anyway, tomorrow I get another chance. The question is how hard does one have to whisper so that Natasha can hear and translate and yet the congregation can not hear?
Before I close I should also say a quick word about my lodgings. I am really blessed. I have an excellent room in the pastor’s home and the pastor’s wife is a really good cook. I have been enjoying most Ukranian food although there are some things that take a little getting used to. We have a lot of fruits and vegetables and nuts at each meal. She also makes these really good dumpling-like things that are stuffed with cabbage and her soups are excellent. I’m afraid that I have given up on all thoughts of losing any weight on this trip.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday (An introduction to Dubno)
It is no longer just a point on the map or an entry in Wikipedia. It is Dubno, the city where I have taken up temporary residence. For the next 16 days this small city of approximately 60,000 citizens will be my temporary home and it will be my inestimable privilege to share the good news of Salvation with its people. The thought of my responsibility here in Dubno scares me and yet I can’t help but feel excited about the outcome because it is obvious that the Lord has led me here and he has a great work to do. I believe that, in spite of me and my failings, He will accomplish what He has set out to accomplish here. I continue to covet your prayers!
It takes about 6 hours to travel almost due west from Kiev to Dubno. Our plan was to start out this morning on our journey immediately after breakfast. Since breakfast was at 7:30 and it takes about a half hour to eat, we left around 10 o’clock. Don’t worry about the math, we’re in a parallel universe where the regular laws of physics don’t always apply.
We were only stopped by police twice during the trip. The first time was so that the driver could argue with the police about the quality of his license and the second time was to donate to the local speed trap fund. It’s amazing how efficiently speeding tickets are handled here. The police stop you, you get out and hand over cash, and you’re on your way again. You really have to admire Ukranian efficiency.
There were seven of us foreigners traveling in the van this morning and the driver dropped us each off at our respective sites as we traveled from east to west. Our first stop was in a large city called Rivne. Here we stopped at a local member’s home and ate an incredible meal. The table was so beautifully laden with food and drink that I felt compelled to take several pictures. Actually, I wasn’t the only one taking pictures. That poor family has probably never had so many pictures taken of their house, yard and dog in their entire life. During the meal, the man of the house asked permission to take our picture. We, of course, said , “no.” After everyone stopped laughing, he took our picture.
After Rivne, my translator (Natasha) and I were dropped off in Dubno. Although Dubno is a small city, it has one of the most modern and beautiful Seventh-day Adventist churches in the entire country of Ukraine. As I walked through the auditorium-style sanctuary and toured the children’s classroom and other facilities, I had to remind myself that I was in Ukraine and not in the States. This church could be plunked down in any city in the United States and still be complimented for its architecture, furnishings, and workmanship. The entire structure was designed and built by the church members themselves and they are justifiably proud of their work. There are currently around 210 members in the Dubno church but the sanctuary can hold around 400. I believe that it is God’s plan that we reduce the gap between those two numbers.
Natasha is fighting sickness and we are all praying hard for her. It’s amazing how helpless I would be here in Ukraine if I did not have a translator. Hardly anyone knows the least amount of English and whenever I try talking to someone when she isn’t around we end up frustrated and unenlightened. The pastor and I were sitting in his car waiting for Natasha to return with some medicine that she was buying at the pharmacy. Being a friendly guy he tried valiantly to carry on a conversation. He asked a question and all I heard was “life” and “shtadt.” Since one of our errands on this trip was to purchase a cell phone card from a company called “Life” I thought he was talking about my cell phone. Eventually, however, I understood that he was asking me which state I lived in. I think that the only reason we succeeded in even remotely understanding each other was that he new the word “California” and this helped his question finally sink in. After that we apparently both felt that the better part of valor was to wait until Natasha came back before speaking.
After our errands we set up the laptop and projector in the sanctuary and practiced my Friday evening talk. Speaking with a translator is a very different dynamic than I am used to. It is hard to get a rhythm going. After a while we got a little better at it and I’m hoping we’ll get even more efficient. To speed things up a little we tried overlapping our speaking. While she is still translating my last sentence I start my next sentence. Before I finish with that sentence, she starts translating it. It’s a little complicated but we partially succeeded and it really helps a lot. Tomorrow we will be doing a lot more translating.
I have still not succeeded in uploading this journal to my blog site and have high hopes that I can accomplish this tomorrow. There is an Internet Café in Dubno and it’s high on my priority list of things to do.
It is no longer just a point on the map or an entry in Wikipedia. It is Dubno, the city where I have taken up temporary residence. For the next 16 days this small city of approximately 60,000 citizens will be my temporary home and it will be my inestimable privilege to share the good news of Salvation with its people. The thought of my responsibility here in Dubno scares me and yet I can’t help but feel excited about the outcome because it is obvious that the Lord has led me here and he has a great work to do. I believe that, in spite of me and my failings, He will accomplish what He has set out to accomplish here. I continue to covet your prayers!
It takes about 6 hours to travel almost due west from Kiev to Dubno. Our plan was to start out this morning on our journey immediately after breakfast. Since breakfast was at 7:30 and it takes about a half hour to eat, we left around 10 o’clock. Don’t worry about the math, we’re in a parallel universe where the regular laws of physics don’t always apply.
We were only stopped by police twice during the trip. The first time was so that the driver could argue with the police about the quality of his license and the second time was to donate to the local speed trap fund. It’s amazing how efficiently speeding tickets are handled here. The police stop you, you get out and hand over cash, and you’re on your way again. You really have to admire Ukranian efficiency.
There were seven of us foreigners traveling in the van this morning and the driver dropped us each off at our respective sites as we traveled from east to west. Our first stop was in a large city called Rivne. Here we stopped at a local member’s home and ate an incredible meal. The table was so beautifully laden with food and drink that I felt compelled to take several pictures. Actually, I wasn’t the only one taking pictures. That poor family has probably never had so many pictures taken of their house, yard and dog in their entire life. During the meal, the man of the house asked permission to take our picture. We, of course, said , “no.” After everyone stopped laughing, he took our picture.
After Rivne, my translator (Natasha) and I were dropped off in Dubno. Although Dubno is a small city, it has one of the most modern and beautiful Seventh-day Adventist churches in the entire country of Ukraine. As I walked through the auditorium-style sanctuary and toured the children’s classroom and other facilities, I had to remind myself that I was in Ukraine and not in the States. This church could be plunked down in any city in the United States and still be complimented for its architecture, furnishings, and workmanship. The entire structure was designed and built by the church members themselves and they are justifiably proud of their work. There are currently around 210 members in the Dubno church but the sanctuary can hold around 400. I believe that it is God’s plan that we reduce the gap between those two numbers.
Natasha is fighting sickness and we are all praying hard for her. It’s amazing how helpless I would be here in Ukraine if I did not have a translator. Hardly anyone knows the least amount of English and whenever I try talking to someone when she isn’t around we end up frustrated and unenlightened. The pastor and I were sitting in his car waiting for Natasha to return with some medicine that she was buying at the pharmacy. Being a friendly guy he tried valiantly to carry on a conversation. He asked a question and all I heard was “life” and “shtadt.” Since one of our errands on this trip was to purchase a cell phone card from a company called “Life” I thought he was talking about my cell phone. Eventually, however, I understood that he was asking me which state I lived in. I think that the only reason we succeeded in even remotely understanding each other was that he new the word “California” and this helped his question finally sink in. After that we apparently both felt that the better part of valor was to wait until Natasha came back before speaking.
After our errands we set up the laptop and projector in the sanctuary and practiced my Friday evening talk. Speaking with a translator is a very different dynamic than I am used to. It is hard to get a rhythm going. After a while we got a little better at it and I’m hoping we’ll get even more efficient. To speed things up a little we tried overlapping our speaking. While she is still translating my last sentence I start my next sentence. Before I finish with that sentence, she starts translating it. It’s a little complicated but we partially succeeded and it really helps a lot. Tomorrow we will be doing a lot more translating.
I have still not succeeded in uploading this journal to my blog site and have high hopes that I can accomplish this tomorrow. There is an Internet Café in Dubno and it’s high on my priority list of things to do.
Wednesday (Orientation)
I am happy to report that my Jet lag is lagging and I slept much better last night. This was very helpful considering that we sat all day in orientation meetings and I was not tempted even once to close my eyes for a quick cat nap. Since yesterday, I am wary of quick cat naps.
The orientation meetings were excellent. After introductions to, and short speeches from, the various Ukraine church leaders we were given a brief overview of the US organizations responsible for this series of evangelistic meetings: The Quiet Hour and ShareHim. There are approximately 90 people here from all over the US and Canada who are leading out in 50 evangelistic campaigns across the length and breadth of Ukraine. Many of us have never participated in such campaigns before and the orientation was chock full of practical tips and tricks for every aspect of the process from how to practice our sermons to how to handle speaking with a translator to security, cultural taboos, and visitation. The time flew by fairly fast and was well spent.
I found out this morning that my hub city, Rivne, is not my hub city. Since my campaign is in a small city about 40 km south of Rivne called Dubno (pronounced Doobno), the original plan was that I would stay in Rivne with the team responsible for that city and then would be driven to Dubno each evening before the meetings began. In this way we could meet together each day and pray together, share our experiences and encourage each other. However, the powers that be decided that it would be more convenient if I just stayed in Dubno.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that I met my translator today and she is top-notch. Her name is Natasha Gneeluke (spelled phonetically and you must pronounce the “G” at the beginning). She and her husband live in Kiev where he is pastor of the Congregational SDA church #20 and she works part time as the director of the child ministries department. In her church they always translate between Russian and English each Sabbath so she gets lots of good translating experience. She will be taking the next two weeks off and will be living in Dubno to support these meetings and I feel very blessed to have her.
I have also been told that I will be living in a room inside the actual Seventh-day Adventist church in Dubno where I will be speaking. So now instead of driving half an hour…each way…every day…to get to the church, I need only walk a few feet. You have to admit it is more efficient and the more I think about it the more I like the idea. I also gather that the church pastor’s wife will be helping out with meals so I might not lose as much weight as I had anticipated from shopping and cooking for myself.
Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we take off on our six hour trip from Kiev to our respective cities in the Western Ukraine Conference. There are four other sites besides mine in this conference and we will all be traveling together, by bus, for the trip. Most of the other speakers in the other conferences have already left for their respective sites so there are only two of us guys in our dorm room tonight. Needless to say, we both anticipate a blissfully quiet sleep experience.
I am happy to report that my Jet lag is lagging and I slept much better last night. This was very helpful considering that we sat all day in orientation meetings and I was not tempted even once to close my eyes for a quick cat nap. Since yesterday, I am wary of quick cat naps.
The orientation meetings were excellent. After introductions to, and short speeches from, the various Ukraine church leaders we were given a brief overview of the US organizations responsible for this series of evangelistic meetings: The Quiet Hour and ShareHim. There are approximately 90 people here from all over the US and Canada who are leading out in 50 evangelistic campaigns across the length and breadth of Ukraine. Many of us have never participated in such campaigns before and the orientation was chock full of practical tips and tricks for every aspect of the process from how to practice our sermons to how to handle speaking with a translator to security, cultural taboos, and visitation. The time flew by fairly fast and was well spent.
I found out this morning that my hub city, Rivne, is not my hub city. Since my campaign is in a small city about 40 km south of Rivne called Dubno (pronounced Doobno), the original plan was that I would stay in Rivne with the team responsible for that city and then would be driven to Dubno each evening before the meetings began. In this way we could meet together each day and pray together, share our experiences and encourage each other. However, the powers that be decided that it would be more convenient if I just stayed in Dubno.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that I met my translator today and she is top-notch. Her name is Natasha Gneeluke (spelled phonetically and you must pronounce the “G” at the beginning). She and her husband live in Kiev where he is pastor of the Congregational SDA church #20 and she works part time as the director of the child ministries department. In her church they always translate between Russian and English each Sabbath so she gets lots of good translating experience. She will be taking the next two weeks off and will be living in Dubno to support these meetings and I feel very blessed to have her.
I have also been told that I will be living in a room inside the actual Seventh-day Adventist church in Dubno where I will be speaking. So now instead of driving half an hour…each way…every day…to get to the church, I need only walk a few feet. You have to admit it is more efficient and the more I think about it the more I like the idea. I also gather that the church pastor’s wife will be helping out with meals so I might not lose as much weight as I had anticipated from shopping and cooking for myself.
Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we take off on our six hour trip from Kiev to our respective cities in the Western Ukraine Conference. There are four other sites besides mine in this conference and we will all be traveling together, by bus, for the trip. Most of the other speakers in the other conferences have already left for their respective sites so there are only two of us guys in our dorm room tonight. Needless to say, we both anticipate a blissfully quiet sleep experience.
Tuesday (Kiev)
Today, being Tuesday, is orientation day. Which does nothing to explain why we spent it touring Kiev. I don’t know why I even bother reading schedules. But I’m not complaining, I’m always up for the tourist thing.
Breakfast consisted of sdflkjdf (read “another unpronounceable Ukrainian food that tasted like it might have been made of rice”) with a side of an egg quiche-like thing and red bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, bread, cheese and tea. It really wasn’t bad if you added a little salt.
After breakfast, with lunch bag in hand, we boarded a bus that is propane powered (I have the pictures to prove it). It has a row of propane tanks bolted to the roof. Everything is an adventure in the Ukraine! An hour and a half later we were in downtown Kiev where we visited a couple of the iconic Russian Orthodox churches. Quite impressive structures inside and out. After lunch we did the market souvenir thing and then headed back to the bus. Somewhere during this process we lost three people and while awaiting their return I nodded off for a cat nap. When I awoke the bus was completely empty except for a guy sleeping in the seat behind me. Now that’s an interesting experience. How did a whole bus-load of rowdy people get off the bus without waking me up? I think it’s the long days and short nights catching up with me. Fortunately for me, I found one of our group (awake) and meandering outside the bus. He told me that the rest of the group had gone for a walk down-town and had left about twenty minutes before. I had no idea where down-town was but there was no way that I was going to sit on the bus for the next hour waiting for them to get back especially since I really wanted to send out some e-mail and was hoping to find an Internet café. I meandered through several side streets until I found one that looked promising and followed it down to a large plaza (with its very own two-story McDonalds). Within a couple of minutes I spotted one of the group and got re-connected. Shortly after that I happened upon an Internet café and succeeded in accessing e-mail. Altogether the experience turned out quite satisfactory when you consider that I could just as easily have gotten lost on twisty, little side streets with very few available English speaking guides.
In a couple of days I’m going to be shipped off to my hub city in the middle of nowhere and expect that there will be even fewer English speakers around. I think that it would be a good idea to learn some more Ukrainian. Following is a list of my current repertoire of phrases:
Dobre Danya (good day – welcoming)
Dobre ve’cheer (good evening – welcoming)
Dobre neech (good night)
Dya ku u (thank you)
Proshu (please and your welcome)
Pera proshu u (sorry, excuse me)
Nechi Boch bobla ho slo vit’ vas (May God bless you)
Tak, or Da (Yes)
Nyee (No)
Dusia dobre poyeve (I have eaten well)
Please note that all the preceding Ukrainian words were spelled phonetically. I did this for several good reasons…not the least of which is that I can’t spell them any other way. As you can see by this impressive list of phrases, I am quickly picking up the native tongue and, at this rate, expect to be fluent well within the next hundred years.
Today, being Tuesday, is orientation day. Which does nothing to explain why we spent it touring Kiev. I don’t know why I even bother reading schedules. But I’m not complaining, I’m always up for the tourist thing.
Breakfast consisted of sdflkjdf (read “another unpronounceable Ukrainian food that tasted like it might have been made of rice”) with a side of an egg quiche-like thing and red bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, bread, cheese and tea. It really wasn’t bad if you added a little salt.
After breakfast, with lunch bag in hand, we boarded a bus that is propane powered (I have the pictures to prove it). It has a row of propane tanks bolted to the roof. Everything is an adventure in the Ukraine! An hour and a half later we were in downtown Kiev where we visited a couple of the iconic Russian Orthodox churches. Quite impressive structures inside and out. After lunch we did the market souvenir thing and then headed back to the bus. Somewhere during this process we lost three people and while awaiting their return I nodded off for a cat nap. When I awoke the bus was completely empty except for a guy sleeping in the seat behind me. Now that’s an interesting experience. How did a whole bus-load of rowdy people get off the bus without waking me up? I think it’s the long days and short nights catching up with me. Fortunately for me, I found one of our group (awake) and meandering outside the bus. He told me that the rest of the group had gone for a walk down-town and had left about twenty minutes before. I had no idea where down-town was but there was no way that I was going to sit on the bus for the next hour waiting for them to get back especially since I really wanted to send out some e-mail and was hoping to find an Internet café. I meandered through several side streets until I found one that looked promising and followed it down to a large plaza (with its very own two-story McDonalds). Within a couple of minutes I spotted one of the group and got re-connected. Shortly after that I happened upon an Internet café and succeeded in accessing e-mail. Altogether the experience turned out quite satisfactory when you consider that I could just as easily have gotten lost on twisty, little side streets with very few available English speaking guides.
In a couple of days I’m going to be shipped off to my hub city in the middle of nowhere and expect that there will be even fewer English speakers around. I think that it would be a good idea to learn some more Ukrainian. Following is a list of my current repertoire of phrases:
Dobre Danya (good day – welcoming)
Dobre ve’cheer (good evening – welcoming)
Dobre neech (good night)
Dya ku u (thank you)
Proshu (please and your welcome)
Pera proshu u (sorry, excuse me)
Nechi Boch bobla ho slo vit’ vas (May God bless you)
Tak, or Da (Yes)
Nyee (No)
Dusia dobre poyeve (I have eaten well)
Please note that all the preceding Ukrainian words were spelled phonetically. I did this for several good reasons…not the least of which is that I can’t spell them any other way. As you can see by this impressive list of phrases, I am quickly picking up the native tongue and, at this rate, expect to be fluent well within the next hundred years.
Tuesday morning (2:30 am Kiev time, 7:30 pm body time)
I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready to face a new day in Ukraine. The light on my watch doesn’t work but I could see by the gray morning light in the window that it must be about time to get up. On my way to the bathroom I looked at my watch and discovered that it was actually only 1:30 in the morning. The light in the window must have been wishful thinking because when I get back to the room the sky through our window is pitch black. It really isn’t fair. I have gotten three hours sleep in the last 31 and I can’t sleep more than 4 hours before I’m wide awake.
We are staying in one of the girl’s dormitories on campus. The rooms have five bunk beds and one small, wooden closet. We guys have our very own bathroom on the top floor but the whole dorm shares a shower room on the bottom floor. When I discovered this, I immediately pondered the logistics of sharing a single shower room with a dorm full of college girls. It turns out that the procedure goes like this: First, knock loudly on the outside door of the shower room. Second, listen carefully. If you hear men responding, it is safe to enter. If, however, the room breaks out in a cacophony of screaming females voices you should probably come back later.
We have five guys staying in our room on the top floor of the dormitory, one of whom, it turns out, is sonorously endowed. I dreamt, at some point last night, that one of the other guys in our room had a fool-proof method of taking care of snoring problems. After that dream, whenever I was rudely pulled from oblivion by a room-rattling rendition of a rampaging rhino, I consoled myself with the thought that at least tomorrow we had a fail-safe way of dealing with the problem. This morning at 2 o’clock as I lay in my bed with a clear head and no more dream-induced delusions I engaged in a fruitless race to find sleep before he did. Having lost that race, I find myself sitting on the edge of the lower bunk, writing in my journal.
Besides the snoring we also have to deal with the late-comers. I don’t know when it happened (and I don’t want to know) but some time during the night the door to our room was rudely thrown open and the light was turned on. As I tried valiantly to shield my eyes from the blinding light a group of people stood in the doorway discussing room arrangements. After several minutes, one blessed, sane soul in the group said, “shouldn’t we turn off the light so we don’t disturb those who are trying to sleep?” Being in a patient and kind mood, my unspoken response was, “Duh!” But it’s OK because I’m in the Ukraine! I did mention that already didn’t I?
I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready to face a new day in Ukraine. The light on my watch doesn’t work but I could see by the gray morning light in the window that it must be about time to get up. On my way to the bathroom I looked at my watch and discovered that it was actually only 1:30 in the morning. The light in the window must have been wishful thinking because when I get back to the room the sky through our window is pitch black. It really isn’t fair. I have gotten three hours sleep in the last 31 and I can’t sleep more than 4 hours before I’m wide awake.
We are staying in one of the girl’s dormitories on campus. The rooms have five bunk beds and one small, wooden closet. We guys have our very own bathroom on the top floor but the whole dorm shares a shower room on the bottom floor. When I discovered this, I immediately pondered the logistics of sharing a single shower room with a dorm full of college girls. It turns out that the procedure goes like this: First, knock loudly on the outside door of the shower room. Second, listen carefully. If you hear men responding, it is safe to enter. If, however, the room breaks out in a cacophony of screaming females voices you should probably come back later.
We have five guys staying in our room on the top floor of the dormitory, one of whom, it turns out, is sonorously endowed. I dreamt, at some point last night, that one of the other guys in our room had a fool-proof method of taking care of snoring problems. After that dream, whenever I was rudely pulled from oblivion by a room-rattling rendition of a rampaging rhino, I consoled myself with the thought that at least tomorrow we had a fail-safe way of dealing with the problem. This morning at 2 o’clock as I lay in my bed with a clear head and no more dream-induced delusions I engaged in a fruitless race to find sleep before he did. Having lost that race, I find myself sitting on the edge of the lower bunk, writing in my journal.
Besides the snoring we also have to deal with the late-comers. I don’t know when it happened (and I don’t want to know) but some time during the night the door to our room was rudely thrown open and the light was turned on. As I tried valiantly to shield my eyes from the blinding light a group of people stood in the doorway discussing room arrangements. After several minutes, one blessed, sane soul in the group said, “shouldn’t we turn off the light so we don’t disturb those who are trying to sleep?” Being in a patient and kind mood, my unspoken response was, “Duh!” But it’s OK because I’m in the Ukraine! I did mention that already didn’t I?
Sunday and Monday (The journey)
I am in the Ukraine! As I take another bite of my potato patty that has an unpronounceable official name, I look around the room and ponder my circumstances. Here I am with a small group of strangers digging into a meal of potato patties, macaroni and cheese, shredded beets and strong-tasting tea. And although we barely know each other, the atmosphere is festive and the conversation is warm. We are joined together by a common purpose and a common mission and it doesn’t take long before we feel like old friends. There are only 12 of us now but when everyone arrives there will be 80 people from all over the US who will go out and give 50 evangelistic programs across the country.
By the way, did I mention that I’m in the Ukraine! Kiev to be more specific. The journey here started Sunday morning (my time) and now it’s Monday evening (Kiev time) as we dine together in the cafeteria of the 600-student Seventh-day Adventist College and Seminary outside of Kiev. All the flights on my journey here went off without a hitch. No delays, cancellations, missed flights or even mad dashes. If one didn’t count the permanently petrified posterior one could say that the 21-hour trip from Chicago to Frankfurt and then on to Kiev was fairly painless. On the flight from Chicago to Frankfurt I had a personal visit from the purser. He told me that as a United Airlines gold-card member he had taken the time to personally look me up (in the bowls of “cattle-car” class) to welcome me on board and to let me know that if there was anything I needed that I should be sure to let him know. What I really wanted was a seat in business class where leg room was more than just a euphemism, but I smiled and told him that he would be the first to know if I had any difficulties. But I didn’t have any difficulties…because I was on my way to Ukraine!
I am in the Ukraine! As I take another bite of my potato patty that has an unpronounceable official name, I look around the room and ponder my circumstances. Here I am with a small group of strangers digging into a meal of potato patties, macaroni and cheese, shredded beets and strong-tasting tea. And although we barely know each other, the atmosphere is festive and the conversation is warm. We are joined together by a common purpose and a common mission and it doesn’t take long before we feel like old friends. There are only 12 of us now but when everyone arrives there will be 80 people from all over the US who will go out and give 50 evangelistic programs across the country.
By the way, did I mention that I’m in the Ukraine! Kiev to be more specific. The journey here started Sunday morning (my time) and now it’s Monday evening (Kiev time) as we dine together in the cafeteria of the 600-student Seventh-day Adventist College and Seminary outside of Kiev. All the flights on my journey here went off without a hitch. No delays, cancellations, missed flights or even mad dashes. If one didn’t count the permanently petrified posterior one could say that the 21-hour trip from Chicago to Frankfurt and then on to Kiev was fairly painless. On the flight from Chicago to Frankfurt I had a personal visit from the purser. He told me that as a United Airlines gold-card member he had taken the time to personally look me up (in the bowls of “cattle-car” class) to welcome me on board and to let me know that if there was anything I needed that I should be sure to let him know. What I really wanted was a seat in business class where leg room was more than just a euphemism, but I smiled and told him that he would be the first to know if I had any difficulties. But I didn’t have any difficulties…because I was on my way to Ukraine!
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