Protests

On Sunday there was a rally/protest at the main government building here in Zaporozhye. Members of our church were there handing out Gospels of John and other literature to the protesters but we went home after church to watch the Canada vs. Sweden Olympic hockey game. About halfway through the game we heard that all of the protesters were marching down Lenin street towards the Lenin statue (located in Lenin square...at the port which is named Lenin Port....I know)! There have been many other Lenin statues toppled in other Ukrainian cities and there have been rumblings here about ours suffering the same fate and we thought that maybe this was the time! Steve and our friend Meesha headed out there to see what was going to happen (I stayed safely at home with the boys) and Steve took some pictures and videos of the crowd. 

They met up with them not far from our apartment and walked down to the port on the opposite side of the street: 

The crowd:

... and a view of Lenin with a line of 100 or so police officers standing in front of him: 

 There was a crowd of people standing guard directly in front of Lenin, behind the police officers and once the protester crowd got there they didn't even cross the street to go up to Lenin. Their leader went alone to meet with the leader of the people protecting Lenin, and then everyone stood around and eventually dispersed. So Lenin lives to see another day.

He's so huge it would probably take a crane to dislodge him anyways!

Steve and I think he should stay up - he's cool-looking but mostly it's a good reminder of where these people came from and especially in times of revolution like this it's a good reminder for the people of what not to stand for. Being here through all of this unrest and revolution has made me realize just how free we are in Canada - when was the last time people actually gave their lives for something there? It will be interesting to see where things go from here and it's interesting to hear people's thoughts on everything that's happening as well. 

As for us - we feel safe here (even though we heard today that all US Peace Corps volunteers have been evacuated from the country....did we miss something?!) and will continue with the things we have going on and continue to reach out to as many as possible. 

Apartment Movie

Here's a video Steve made yesterday giving you a tour of our apartment. Enjoy!

Back in Action

We are back in Ukraine!

We had a wonderful six weeks at home and as we were waiting for the train in Kiev on Friday I remarked to Steve how it felt like we had been gone for six months, not just six weeks. While we were home we had the opportunity to speak in some churches (Zion Lutheran Church in Morden and Schoenfelder Mennonite Church) and we were able to meet with the missions Pastor at Church of the Rock once again which was really great to be able to give everyone an update on what's happening here in Ukraine.

Our flights back were all fairly good other than a few little hiccups and annoyances but some of the problems were welcome - like sitting in the plane on the ground for an extra two hours in Paris while they fixed a technical problem was actually a great thing - the boys got an extra two hours of sleep and there were two less hours to kill in Kiev! As it was, we still had a fair amount of time in Kiev but we took a bus straight from the airport to the train station and sat in KFC with a friend who met us there to visit. I have to say that I'm glad that I don't normally have to spend four hours in KFC!

Views from KFC in Kiev where we spent 4 hours waiting for the train:

 The back of the train station:

As far as the protesting that has been happening in Kiev goes, it was really strange - where we were it was just another day and you'd never be able to tell that there was any unrest at all unless you were to go specifically to the area where it is happening. Also here in Zaporozhye - Steve went by the government building here yesterday and all of the entrances were guarded by riot police but they were sitting around smoking and hanging out because there were NO people around at all!

We caught the train back to Zaporozhye on Friday night and it was pleasantly uneventful and arrived here Saturday to a crisp -20 degree morning....NOT the balmy weather I was hoping for!! And there's snow which is a big bummer but apparently it's only been in the past few days that it's been like this so hopefully it will go away soon! It has since warmed up to around 0 degrees which is more my preference!

We were met at the door of our new apartment by our new land-couple, who are very kind and helpful which is a really nice change! The apartment looks great (comparatively to other old Ukrainian apartments) and we're starting to settle in and get comfortable.

We had our first Monday night supper club at New Hope yesterday evening which had a great turn-out and we'll have some meetings this week to make plans for up and coming things that we want to do. It's nice getting back into a routine and a schedule again!

Thanks for reading!

To John

Our friend and mentor John Wiens passed away January 14th. We first met John and Evelyn when we were sent to serve them here in Ukraine in 2009, on MB Mission's Trek Program. Without them being here, Steve and I would never have felt God's heart for these people and therefore, would not have ended up serving here now. We were privileged to be friends with John - God's love emanated through him to absolutely everyone he was with. We rejoice that John has gone on to be with Jesus yet I can't help but feel the deepness of the hole he has left behind. Ukraine won't be the same without you John, but with God's grace and provision we can continue on to share His love with those you touched.