April 13, 2012

• Arrival in Kiev…

  Monday and Tuesday (April 9-10) were our travel days from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Kiev, Ukraine. Thank you so very much for your prayers. You prayed and God answered!!!

  We had been told that the best way to make a life transition from the US to Ukraine is to take things with you when you fly. In other words, we are NOT having a shipment come. Rather, we sold our things in the US and brought only what we absolutely needed. Well, what we “absolutely needed” ended up being in 13 foot lockers, 2 large suitcases, 2 booster seats, 7 carry ons, 2 guitars, and two young girls. Picture Jenni and me trying to maneuver all of that through the airports. Yuck! One of our prayer partners commented that he would be praying for “an angel” to help us when needed throughout our journey. God answered that prayer at least 6 times…

  When we arrived at the Fort Wayne Airport (3 hours before our flight left), I went to the first official person I could find and asked for a large cart to move luggage. They had one! It held half of our stuff. I went back and asked for another. The attendant smiled and said, “I am not sure if we have another you can use.” A minute later she emerged from behind the door with a second cart! She was our “angel #1”.

  We checked in at the desk and the man helping us (“angel #2”) looked at us as if we were crazy. “You want to check 17 pieces of luggage?” LOL. “Yes, sir,” I said. We laughed and kept it light. He was very nice and helpful. One by one we sent each piece of luggage through. LOT Polish Airlines has a policy that economy class international only allows for one free bag per person (that would be 4!). As he checked our bags, he said, “Good news, they are going to give you 8 free bags. And the booster seats are free.” Bottom line is that we had to pay for 7 extra bags at $180/bag (total of $1260). That was amazingly less than I had thought. With the good ticket prices we found online (only $800/ticket on LOT Airlines), our tickets and extra luggage fee was still a little less than then next best price for an airline. We were on our way!

  After the layover in Chicago, we boarded our plane headed for Warsaw, Poland. The flight was comfortable and everyone was very kind and helpful to us. Jenni and Sarah sat in the middle seats on this flight (there were 3 middle seats). Next to them was a lady (the age of a young grandmother) and our angel #3. She had lived in Chicago for 20 years… an immigrant from Poland. She was supper nice and loved on Sarah. She showed me a picture of her own granddaughter (age 3) that she had just left. So, she and Sarah loved their time together.

  Probably the most challenging area on the trip was in Warsaw. We had one hour and 10 minutes for the transition. We were last off the plane. We had to go through another checkpoint (remove shoes, computers, money belts, computers, etc.). Sarah had a meltdown at one point and was very spacey due to lack of sleep. At one point she almost walked into the closing doors of an elevator waking us ALL up!!! We had to take a bus and were trying to manage all of our carry ons, guitars, and kids, and a man kindly helped us with our baggage (angel #4).

  When we arrived in Kiev, we were waiting in line at the Passport control and I could see our foot lockers coming around the luggage carousel. There was a man in a uniform (angel #5) who began to take our 13 foot lockers off the carousel. By the time we got there, he had retrieved 11 of them for us! After collecting our final bags (all of them were there!), I showed the man a picture of the larger cart we used in Fort Wayne, and I asked him in the best Russian I could muster, “Ya khochu eta,” or “I want this…” He smiled and said “Nyet” or “no”. We had the regular sized cards and just loaded them up the best we could.

  In the end, we needed 5 carts. Jenni and I pushed one and pulled one, and Bekah pushed one. When we got the carts to the men at the customs area (angel #6), he said in English, “One family?” I said, “Yes,” and he said, “Just go through that door over there.” “That door” was the exit where I could see Bob Skinner (missionary
  here in Kiev)! The customs agent didn’t even ask to see our stuff or our list of goods. We had made it!

  We have experienced some jet lag since being here. Jenni and I have experienced this before and as adults, you can get over it within a couple of days. But Bekah and Sarah may prove to take a little longer. Last night (Thursday night) was our first uninterrupted night since arriving. Praise God!!!

  We have had McDonald’s for lunch for two straight days. That hasn’t happened in our lives since we were kids. And I have already eaten something from one of the street venders! LOL

  Two fun stories of our first 48 hours here…

  Yesterday afternoon after a full day of learning how to use public transportation here in Kiev, we stopped with the girls at a playground. There was a young, Ukrainian girl playing who was probably Bekah’s age. I could tell that Bekah wanted to play with her, but she didn’t even know how to talk with her. Bekah asked me, “How do I ask her what her name is?” I shared with her the Russian to ask that, “Kak tebya zovut?” For the next 5 minutes Bekah slowly, cautiously, and nervously inched closer to this girl. All the while, I could see her mouthing these Russian words in practice of her first encounter. It was so precious. I was silently praying for her the whole way to her first friend. The mother of the Ukrainian girl called for her daughter to leave and the encounter never happened. But, I felt like it was a victory to see Bekah making her first move to meet someone in another language. I am proud of her!

  Jenni took the girls into the public restroom at a store yesterday as well. As you may be aware, public restrooms do not have toilets in Eastern Europe. Rather, it is basically a “floor unit”… a hole in the ground. When Jenni opened the stall, Sarah blurted out, “WHAT’S THAT?” I was an unsuccessful first attempt for Sarah using this form of bathroom.

  One of the blessings of the timing of our trip to Kiev is that we have two Easters this year. US Easter Sunday was April 8 and the Orthodox calendar has Easter this year on April 15. So, we have the wonderful blessing of experiencing two Easters this year. Last night, I was able to go to Kiev First Church for their Maunday
  Thursday Service. Pastor Vladimir Masyuk did an outstanding job of leading his church through a Seder meal.

  Services tonight (Orthodox Good Friday), and three services on Sunday. Thanks for your continued prayers! We love and appreciate each of you!!!

  • 6:41 am
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