Ukraine

Okay, I know this is late, but I have to post about it...

Our train ride from Istanbul to Bucharest was supposed to be 19 hours long, but that turned into about 22 hours after delays at the borders...immigration always causes delays, but no one seems to have decided to account for those delays in the arrival times. Anyway, upon arrival in Bucharest, we booked our train out for early the following morning and walked to our hostel. By the time we got to sleep that night we had only a few hours before we had to get up again and head out. The lady at reception was really nice and got breakfast ready for us early! Our train ride to Kiev (capital of Ukraine) was supposed to be 27 hours, and guess what? It was 27 hours!!! They left on time and arrived on time, accounting for the time at the border. The border took about 2 hours because (and we didn’t find this out until later) the rails are different in Ukraine than in the rest of Europe. So, they have to change the trains over.

We arrived in Kiev at about 9:15 in the morning and proceeded to take care of three errands...1) We needed to get money out of an ATM, 2) We needed to buy our tickets to Kharkov and make reservations for our train back to Bucharest, and 3) We needed to get a phone card and call John Lynch to let him know what time we would be arriving in Kharkov. We began with #2. I attempted to ask at the information counter, but unfortunately was unable to get any help. Almost no one speaks English there and the lady refused to even point to where I could buy a ticket (I showed her our passes and the name of the city we needed to get to). Joannie later said that I was just lucky she didn’t scowl at me. After standing in one line, I got a lady to write down the number of the ticket window I needed to go to. When we found that window, there was a woman buying a ticket there who spoke English and she was kind enough to help us communicate!!! Rebecca hurried to withdraw money as they don’t really accept credit cards. Once the tickets were purchased, we had one more hurdle. I asked about a phone card at a magazine stand and they directed me to the post office where it was easily purchased and I called John with our arrival details. –sigh of relief-

In Kharkov, we didn’t see John right away and eventually started wandering around the outside of the station before Joannie came up and asked if we were Elizabeth and Rebecca. Apparently, Tanya (John’s wife) had gone into labor earlier in the evening and things were a bit crazy. Yay, us...we just have the best timing! At the house, Joannie showed us our room, which was the attic. We climbed the stairs to the second floor, then ascended the ladder, and lifted the hatch. It was great! We didn’t get to sleep until late that first night so we slept in a bit the next morning. The kids were wonderful. Ariel is John and Tanya’s first...she’s 4, soon to be 5 in January. Arlen just turned 3 a few days before we arrived, and no one knew what the third was going to be except for John and Tanya, who had chosen to keep the gender of their new baby a secret until his/her birth. When John arrived home that morning we found out that Tanya had given birth to another son...Aaron.

We headed out into town with Joannie that day to buy a turkey at the open market. I don’t think I can really describe it, but that was an interesting experience! We were fortunate to be able to spend Thanksgiving with the Lynch’s. I didn’t think I would care much if I missed Thanksgiving, but I must admit, it was really nice to celebrate it.

There’s so much I could say about Ukraine, and I could probably go on and on with a detailed description of each day, but I think I’ll just share some of the things we saw and did, and the amazing people we met! John arranged for a girl from the church to help us navigate the city. Her name was Olya and she just couldn’t have been more wonderful! She was very friendly and talkative and we really enjoyed hanging out with her.

Olya is a member of a Jewish dance team, so the evening we first met her, she picked us up at the house and took us to watch their practice. About a week later we also had the opportunity to watch the drama team practice (Faceless People). They have some incredible choreography as well incorporated into their dramas. John took us with him to the youth group he leads and we enjoyed meeting the other youth leaders and some of the kids. They had a lot of questions about us so we chatted for awhile, with John interpreting. One night we went to an orphanage where a couple of ladies go every week and teach various grades. The week we went the topic was on love. These were 7th grade, 9th grade, and 10th grade students. We were unable to participate in a lot of the activities we attended for obvious reasons, but it was really interesting to see what was going on and talk with the leaders of these groups to hear about what God is doing.

One of the ministries that impacted me (and that we were able to participate in) was a hospital ministry. When expecting mothers go to the hospital to give birth, sometimes they choose not to keep their babies. There is a process that includes signing papers giving the child up for adoption. The problem is, sometimes these women (or girls) just leave without signing the necessary papers. The baby is then left in the hospital with no home to go to, but also unable to be adopted (and therefore cannot be taken to an orphanage). If the women disappear and the lawyer is not able to find them, these babies can end up stuck in the hospital for up to a year, and sometimes longer. In these situations, the babies are rarely held, spoken to, or played with. The nurses feed them, but it’s a hospital with sick patients. It isn’t set up as a nursery. So these babies are confined to a crib for most of the day. A group of ladies from the church (6) go to four of these hospitals on a regular basis to hold and talk to the babies. In summer, they can sometimes take the babies outside as well. There are probably nineteen hospitals like this, but they are only able to go to four of them. The woman we spoke to would like someday to have a home where these babies can go until they can be put up for adoption. I’m not certain what she needs in order for that to happen, but it’s definitely a huge need!

In addition to the ministries we participated in, we also did some walking around the city and shopping while we were in Kharkov (including some trousers for Rebecca from the second hand store- all of her other trousers are falling to pieces). In between the activities going on during the week we tried to be as much help at the house as we could...from cleaning and doing dishes to playing with the kids or picking up something from the store.

We really enjoyed our time in Kharkov with the Lynch’s and were sad to leave. After leaving Ukraine we had only 5 ½ weeks left of the trip. I can’t believe it’s December!

Pics...

1. Thanksgiving with the Lynch's (from far left and going clockwise)...John, Sarah, Elizabeth, Joannie, Ariel

2. This is a picture of the university square in Kharkov. It is supposedly the largest or second largest square in Europe...we got different stories.

3. This is a picture of me and Olya, who helped us navigate the city. On this day, Rebecca stayed back so it was just the two of us.

4. This is me with Dima, who is one of the abandoned babies I held.

5. Elizabeth, Soombir (spelling?), and Ariel

6. Elizabeth, Soombir, and Arlen

7. Group shot of all of us...John, Tanya, Ariel, Elizabeth, Igor, Arlen, Rebecca, and Soombir

8. On the train from Kiev to Bucharest, we met a couple of girls (who shared our compartment). They were on their way to Bulgaria for a boxing competition!!! Rebecca, Elizabeth, Svetlana, and Julia