First Week in UKRAINE

Where do I begin? I AM here in Kiev and settling in pretty well, but it still feels kind of surreal. It's been a whirlwind of activity for the past 5 days and I am having a WONDERFUL time! Let me share a few of these exciting adventures with you...

I forgot to bring my camera cable, so you'll have to wait a little for pictures...

     On Wednesday, a new friend took me around Kiev to get acquainted with the bus (marshrutka) and Metro systems, to do some shopping and to get familiar with how things are done here. I love walking, but it was so much more than I've been used to lately, and EVERYTHING is concrete or stone, so I had a case of shin splints as a result. Ouch! A couple doses of Acetaminophen, some Deep Cold muscle treatment and almost a full day's rest...and I'm good as new.

     There are large supermarkets here just like in N. America, and similar types of items, but sometimes less selection than I'm used to. But in the first few days of being here, it is information overload, BIG-TIME! Some of the labels make sense when I read them in Russian/Ukrainian, but others I don't know because my vocabulary is still really small. Then there's the currency exchange -- I want to try to figure out if it is a reasonable price or not, but everything here has to be divided by 8 (that's the exchange rate of a Canadian dollar to a Ukrainian grivna), so that takes some time. And then, of course, things aren't always where I think they should be, so I wandered around looking for things -- which, on the positive side, is a good way to acquaint myself with the store.

     So, within my first day here, I had bought myself a few grocery items - bananas, milk, butter, bread, cheese, yogurt, water - as well as several miscellaneous items - towels, basket, garbage can, hangers, butter knives, mug, kleenex, a map of Kiev, notebooks, and a wallet. I also was treated to lunch at a Ukrainian buffet and I enjoyed a bowl of salad, meat-filled pancakes called "bleeniy" and cherry-filled pastry called "verenekiy." I also learned how to purchase tokens for the metro and pay for riding the bus.

     On Thursday, some more new friends took me downtown and we did a little shopping at the sidewalk vendor stalls -- I bought a few mementos and trinkets and a purse. Today (Friday), I experienced the largest open-air market I have ever seen!! It's like 200x bigger than the Thunder Bay Farmer's Market -- a whole city street is blocked off for the day and it's just a mass of people buying and selling everything from garden produce to fresh fish to clothing!
     Just about everything is less expensive than at the stores, and you can walk from one stall to another until you see what you like -- I bought 1 kg of potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, plums, apples, a container of raspberries, some oranges, and a couple of peppers all for less than 100 grieven, which is like $12.50 CDN. Then we ate "soshli," which is meat and potatoes barbecued Ukrainian-style, and BOY, did that taste yummy!!

     I have had some contact and communication with the other tenant in my apartment -- my landlady gets home this coming Thursday -- and she's really nice. I think we're going to get along just fine, especially when I can communicate more in Russian!! I am figuring out the trick with the toilet and bathroom doors (yes, the bathtub and sink are in a separate room from the toilet) and am working on arranging my food items in the kitchen. I enjoy sleeping on the sofa, my room is pretty well organized now -- YAY -- and the only drawback is that I have to go to a friend's place or take my laptop to the language school to use Internet. Hopefully it's just for a time...

     I also saw some tourist-y sites yesterday...including a walk all the way up to the top of the bell tower at St. Sophia's Cathedral - WOW! I got some awesome shots of the huge city of Kiev, Ukraine! We ate lunch at Celentano's Pizza (you pronounce it "Chelentano"), and enjoyed a few treats from "Lviv Handmade Chocolate" -- delicious!!

     Well, that's about all I can put into words at this point -- I have really been welcomed by the family of the SEND missionaries here in Kiev, which is awesome! I am SUPER excited about attending church here tomorrow and about starting language school on Monday!! Jet lag is not a problem, and I am feeling quite settled, which is a miracle and something for which I'm really thankful for!!

God is SO good ~ ALL the time!!

Miraculous, Mysterious, Wonderful Ways

"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways;

He does great things beyond our understanding." ~ Job 37:5 ~

          The other night, a couple of weeks ago, I was having trouble getting to sleep. My mind would not be stilled, and so I got up and began writing down my thoughts. This has been happening quite a bit lately, and I was beginning to wish that I could just go to bed and sleep like I used to.

          I started praying too, because I needed to finish preparations for speaking at soccer camp on Aug 20 - 24, and I was struggling to put together one of the lessons I would be sharing. Well, that night I was able to complete the lesson - even though I didn't get to sleep until after 1 am - and I realized the following day that God had kept me awake so that in the quietness of the night, with no distractions, that I would be able to hear His voice and accomplish the work He wanted me to do. Now I could give Him thanks for the sleeplessness!!

"I will meditate on all Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds.

Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; You display Your power among the peoples." ~ Psalm 77:12-14 ~

          My visa application was sent to the Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto on July 23 and they received it 2 days later -- along with my passport -- and I made all the appropriate preparations, hoping that the visa and my passport would be returned to me in time for my travel at the end of August. I knew that it would take some time, so I was waiting and trusting, believing that if it was the right timing that God would make it possible.

          Last week, only about 9 days from the time I was supposed to fly out of Canada, I still had not received the paperwork and the tracking number for the package was not yet registered in the postal system. Every time I was tempted to worry, I prayed and surrendered my concern to the Lord, affirming again that I knew I could trust Him to work it out for my good and His purposes. I sent out an email to all my contacts, requesting them to pray for the situation, knowing that I needed to have the passport in my hands by Friday, August 24th.

          Well, on Monday after soccer camp, I checked online with the tracking number, and the package had been DELIVERED to Ashcroft, affirming that God was opening the way for me to go! It was a miracle -- because usually it takes a long time for visas to be approved -- and we all rejoiced because we had been trusting God and He proved His faithfulness once again!!

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." ~ Isaiah 55:8-9 ~

These are just a couple of current experiences in which my faith has been tested, and it is a privilege to know that not only has my faith and relationship with the Lord been strengthened, but others have been encouraged through this as well! Indeed, our God is a mighty and awesome God!!

PACKING & PREPARATIONS

Well, almost a month since my last post -- I intend to make my postings more frequent once I am in Ukraine and having lots of new experiences!

What a journey I have been on these past few months, preparing to leave for my first 2-year-term overseas! I'm thankful for the experiences I had in travelling to Lithuania in 2008, and then to Ukraine last June, because they have prepared me somewhat for the process of packing...but it's still challenging!

I'm taking mostly just the basics as far as clothing, a few books, my laptop (of course!) and a few personal items. One suitcase is fully packed (after 4 times of unpacking and re-packing), and the second one is almost finished -- I'm finally starting to feel the excitement and the reality of my impending journey!!

I am so thankful for Esther Lang, a special friend in my church here in Ashcroft, BC -- she has made several trips to Ukraine, and her experiences and knowledge are a huge blessing to me! God knows exactly what we need and He is so good to put people into our lives who can help us along.

Emotionally and mentally, I think I'm as prepared as I can be at this time...there's so much that I just don't know -- and won't know until I get there -- and I realize I just have to keep taking my concerns and fears and thoughts to the Lord in prayer and leave them in His hands. I'm also very thankful for my good physical health and strength.

Financially, I have almost 100% of my support -- praise the Lord, my Jehovah Jireh, for His marvelous provision -- and I have a huge prayer support base, which I am so very thankful for!!

Spiritually, my times of reading/studying God's Word and prayer have become so meaningful as God meets me and reveals Himself to me, and I hope that I never lose sight of that.

Isaiah 48:17

This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.