I was exercising this morning in Kiev and studying Russian flashcards as I walked. I pulled out my phone and used google translate to clarify something I was studying. Here is what I discovered…

To wash (like dishes or a car) is the Russian word “Мыть”.

So I google translated the past tense for “I washed the dishes”. The translation that I was given was “Я мыла посуду”.

I then proceeded to google translate the past tense for “I washed the car”. The translation that I was given was “Я мыл машину”.

Notice that there is an “a” added to the end of “мыл” when it is dealing with the dishes and the “a” is missing when it is dealing with the car.

The “a” is added to make it clear that a woman is doing the action.

Therefore, google translate has made it clear for all ages… “Women wash the dishes and men wash the cars!”

Just sayin…

As I start this week’s blog, I was thinking about the many things that Jenni is now making in the kitchen rather than buying in a store. Some of the things we have not been able to find in Kiev. Other things are priced so high because they are not made in Ukraine that we simply don’t want to buy them. Just to give you an idea… Jenni is now making breadcrumbs (drying the bread in the oven and grind them up), ice cream, cream of chicken soup, miracle whip, maple syrup, chocolate chips, and tortillas. She is amazingly creative. I think that she should earn a minor in culinary arts for making this transition! She really enjoys looking on the internet for “substitute” ingredients when we can’t find something here.

Well, we completed our 45 day visa process in Krakow, Poland, a couple of weeks ago. The next (and hopefully last) step in the process is to apply for a 1 year residency permit. The process involves multiple trips to government offices, translation of passports, background checks, registering our living arrangements for the apartment, securing “acceptable” health insurance, a trip to the US Embassy in Kiev, etc. Last week was very full with such activities and the coming week will be more of the same. Thanks for your prayers. We have been working through the details and are surviving (barely) the paperwork involved.

One week ago today, I went to Gidro Park in the late afternoon to play basketball with a new friend of mine named Aiden. Aiden is my new barber in Kiev. He is in his mid twenties and is from Azerbaijan. He speaks a little English… about as much as I speak Russian. So, conversations can be “interesting”. He loves basketball and invited me to play. We had a great time. It was basically pickup basketball like you would find in any park in America. You don’t need to speak much Russian to play basketball because the rules are the same. So, I felt right at home… until the next morning when I woke up to an aching body… oh, to be in my 20s again!

Yesterday, Jenni, Bekah, Sarah, Lonnie/Connie Norris, and I traveled to Zhytomyr, Ukraine. We visited a children’s camp for disabled kids that was being conducted by Mission to Ukraine. We met Dr. Ken Ney, a physician from Indianapolis who has a Nazarene heritage. We are longtime friends with Dr. Ney’s parents, Mel and Lunda Ney. Ken is one of the founding board members of Mission to Ukraine (www.missiontoukraine.net). It is designed to minister in two primary areas: Crisis Pregnancies and handicapped children. We met many workers in this excellent organization and we blessed to see all of the smiling faces of the children who were being loved on during the camp. We were very impressed and blessed to spend the day with everyone. Partnerships in ministry are vital to successful mission work so we are excited to serve alongside such quality people in the days ahead!

I am preaching this Sunday evening at Poznyaki church plant. Some have asked me if I miss preaching every week. I certainly do. I am always excited to preach here in the CIS whenever the opportunity arises. At the same time, I must admit that I don’t miss that burden of the “Sunday is coming” feeling that I had every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

On Friday of this coming week, we will pick up my mom, Jan Rainey, from the Kiev airport. She is our first visitor to the field. We are so excited to have her come to our new home. We have a ton to show her. We already have more on our “to do” list than we can get done in the 10 days she is with us.

On June 24, we left Kiev, Ukraine, for an 8 day “adventure” in Krakow, Poland. The purpose of the trip was to obtain our “45 day visas” to re-enter Ukraine. We were required to leave the country to obtain these visas. The closest Ukrainian consulate outside of Ukraine is in Krakow. So, off we went…

The process for obtaining our visas was more stressful than I had anticipated!

The long and short of it was that we came prepared with everything we needed to obtain our visas… we thought! The Ukrainian Embassy is open in Krakow from 9 AM – noon for inquiries. Then, you come back from 2-3 PM to get your documents. Our hope and plan was to go in on Monday morning, deliver our pre-prepared documents, return at 2 PM, get our visas, and enjoy the rest of the week in Krakow. We planned to be in Krakow the whole week… just in case.

On Monday morning, we found the embassy and talked with the agent. He gave us information that enabled us to go a Citibank to pay for the four visas. We returned in the afternoon (thinking we would get our visas then). The man told us that we needed documentation to prove we had health insurance. Day one was over… No visas!

We also discovered that Thursday and Friday (June 28-29) was the Ukrainian holiday for signing their constitution and that the Ukrainian embassy would be closed those two days. Our five day week just became a three day week! Our return flight for Kiev was set for Monday morning, July 2. We knew that we could NOT go back to Ukraine without the visas, so we were left us with Tuesday and Wednesday to complete the job.

I contacted the Global Ministry Center for the Church of the Nazarene in Lenexa, KS. They were very helpful and quick to respond. They provided a notarized document, scanned and emailed to me, that said we had health insurance through United Health Care HMR. It gave the policy number and stated that the coverage was good for us in Ukraine. We returned to the embassy on Tuesday morning, with proof of insurance in hand. They received our documents and told us to return at 2 PM. When we returned at 2 PM, we fully expected to receive our visas without a problem. NOT!!! The gentleman said, “This does not constitute proof of insurance because it is on the letterhead of the church, not the insurance company.” Day two was over… and NO visas.

We returned to the apartment and I began the process of trying to get something from UHC UMR. I was on the phone (thank the Lord for MagicJack… allowing me to make US telephone calls for free) with United Health care for a few hours trying to get this accomplished. We had to get this documentation from a huge organization (UHC) in one working day (not an easy task). My first conversation was not promising. The man from UHC told me, “This normally takes 3 days. I can’t guarantee anything.”

I finally was transferred to a woman who was so helpful. She gave me her direct phone line and email address. She took all our needs as her own and helped us completely! I have already written a glowing email to her supervisor telling of her help to us. At the end of Tuesday, I had proof of insurance from UHC UMR in hand.

On Wednesday morning, we headed back to the embassy. We knew we needed to receive our documents on Wednesday, or we were going to have to make many adjustments to our plan. When we gave the embassy our documents showing proof of insurance from UHC UMR, the man said, “This does not state that you are covered with health insurance while you are in Ukraine.” I stood there speechless… I think. Thankfully, Glynda Wesley, a worker at our headquarters, I had sent me a 116 page policy description from UHC. I slid it under his window and said, “Please look at page 12 where it gives the details of our coverage for outside the US.” He took page 12 out of the package and said, “You can come back at 2 PM and we will make our decision.”

We returned to the office at 2 PM on Wednesday. The office was already full of people. It was warm, and we had just had lunch. I sat down on a comfortable chair next to a desk in the lobby. I put my elbow on the desk and my fist to my cheek, and can you believe it, I fell sound asleep! Who knows, I could have even been snoring… LOL

All of a sudden, I heard this man say, “Wake up!” I looked up and everyone in the office was looking at me! I stepped up to the window and the man gave us our four passports, stamped with our visas. At 2:30 PM on Wednesday… literally the “11^th hour”, we left the Ukrainian embassy with our visas in hand! Thank you, Jesus! He has delivered us, and we praise Him once again!!!

We spent the rest of the week in Krakow learning about the history of the city. We were also joined by Dave and Mary Beth Giles (and daughter, Makayla). They are missionaries in Poznan, Poland. It was great to see them and be with them for the weekend. Together, we visited Schindler’s factory and Auschwitz concentration camp. The stories of this region of the world and the atrocities done by the Nazi occupiers are just horrendous.

I saw two signs in Poland that I found very moving. One was on the gate as you entered the concentration camp in Auschwitz. It said (in translation), “Work Brings Freedom.” The Nazis wanted the Jews to believe that if they worked hard, it would produce freedom for them. The Jews came to understand that the work and living conditions within those gates would result in their death. Their understanding of the sign took a deeper meaning.

A second sign was just inside the gates of the camp. This sign was not up during the occupation but came later for the tourists. It states, “If we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it.”

We are back in Kiev this week and have started our Russian studies once again. God is helping us daily as we grow in our understanding our His plan for our lives here in the CIS. Thanks so much for your continued prayers. We love and miss you all!