May 9, 2012

• Something Funny… Something Serious…

  Well, our past week has included some funnies and some challenges. First the funnies…

  You have probably seen the Russian souvenirs call matryoshka dolls? They are the “stacking dolls”… they get smaller and smaller as you open up the outer doll. Matryoshka is a challenging word for English speakers to say. Once you get it, you feel like a Russian. The problem I had this week is that the word for taxi in Kiev is marshrutka. Notice how close these words are to one another. Make a long story short, I accidently said that we wanted to take a matryoshka to the market. Everyone started laughing, and I didn’t know what I said. After Jenni told me, Jenni said, “The taxi just keeps getting smaller and smaller until the only person in it is the driver!” LOL

  Jenni, the girls, and I walk a lot on the streets. It is really a part of our learning right now. Bekah and Sarah hear us asking each other, “How do you say… in Russian?” The other day, we were walking down the street, and Sarah (our three year old) just blurts out, “How do you say fence in Russian?” You maybe had to be there, but we died laughing.

  One final funny… When you are leaving a group of people, one common word to say here is “poka”. It is pronounced “pawkaw”. Earlier this week, Sarah asked Jenni why everyone keeps saying “Bekah” when we are leaving. LOL

  This past week I tweaked my back on Wednesday afternoon while I was exercising in the park. It was pretty painful for three days. For those of you who have back problems you will completely understand. I basically didn’t leave the apartment Thursday through Saturday. I put a notice for prayer on facebook and many of you prayed. Thank you. I have improved greatly. It may take a couple of weeks before I am fully recovered, but I am able to function relatively normal now. To top off the back issues last week, I also developed, let’s just say, an intestinal issue at the same time. I tend to be a little adventurous in sampling the local street delicacies when I travel, and I usually “pay” for it. I am doing much better on that front. Please note that I did not ask for prayer for this on facebook. LOL

  About three times a week, Jenni and I walk through a park near our apartment. The park is called Babi Yar Park. It is a huge park with many walking paths and trees. There are always hundreds of people throughout the park having picnics and meeting with friends. We have noticed that there are many Jewish monuments in the park. This past week, I googled “Babi Yar” to see what I could find. Wow, was I in for a history lesson! Here, I had been walking in this park multiple times every week, and I had NO idea the significance of this area in Ukrainian history and world history, for that matter.

  Nazi forces occupied Kiev on September 19, 1941. Within the first ten days of occupation, the German military leader in Kiev made the decision to kill every Jew in Kiev. Pamphlets went out requiring the Jews of Kiev to gather together in Babi Yar ravine on September 29, 1941. On September 29-30, the Nazi army killed 33,771 Jewish in what is now this park that I walk in every other day. The “Babi Yar Massacre” was the largest single massacre in the history of the Holocaust! In the days that followed other massacres were conducted there with a total death toll reaching over 100,000.

  Today, May 9, in many countries of the former Soviet Union, is a holiday known as “Victory Day.” Late in the evening of May 8, 1945, Nazi German surrendered what it had conquered within the Soviet Union back to the Soviet Union. There will be great celebrations, parades, and fireworks throughout Kiev today.

  This Sunday will be my first time to preach since arriving in Kiev. I will be preaching at Poznyaki Community Church of the Nazarene… the newest church plant in Kiev. I am looking forward to sharing God’s amazing grace and love with His people here.

  • 1:46 am
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