Moving Around in Kyiv

We settled in for a few days in Kyiv and moved today (Sunday) to the hotel for my (Tim’s) conference. Here are some of the highlights from the last few days…

We had lunch with Pastor Jake, his wife Anya and their daughter Maya. It was nice to get the know them better and start to discuss a vision for how to best help Katya’s sister and perhaps set up something to help other orphans who are aging out of the orphanage in Gorodnya.

We also had the pleasure of sharing breakfast with Nancy and Laura as they passed through Kyiv. We had a great time sharing funny stories, but more importantly hearing how the Lord was leading on their trip for Heart For Orphans. BTW they both looked “bright eyed and busy tailed” even after their all-night train trip to Kyiv.

Today is International Women’s day. I (Tim) made sure my bride and daughter had fresh flowers. There are fresh flowers everywhere and they are a great contrast to all the grey. The past few days it was not at all uncommon to see scowling men carrying large bunches of flowers.

We included a few more pictures this time for your viewing pleasure.

The first is of Charlene and Katya walking down Shevshenko Blvd today. They have a large center sidewalk lined with trees that give a little break from the traffic on the sidewalks.

This picture was taken last night on Independence Square. It was misty out and it was an interesting contrast between the lights and grandeur of the architecture and the little shacks that house the ever-present protesters.

I was struck by the McLennin shirt, but Charlene noticed the lady with her finger to her lips. We say a similar poster at the Chernobyl museum yesterday reminding people to keep quiet about the accident.

Speaking of the accident, the Chernobyl museum was interesting. Someone had reviewed it on a Kyiv website as more of a tribute to those that died in the accident – that was pretty accurate. I never realized how far the radioactivity spread – as far as Ireland at one point during the week after the accident. We had an interesting incident in the museum. They had a series of DVD players highlighting difference aspects of the accident. As we walked along, I would press the “play” button at each station (we only saw two other visitors the whole time). On about our third machine I was scolded and told it was 10 grivna to watch each one – not sure what that was for, maybe for the electricity. I gave the “army salute” (sorry Paul & Greg) and didn’t pay. This picture shows a map with the distribution of the worse of the radiation. Katya is pointing to the town Sophie is from.

Three more pictures… Katya in front a statue of a famous Cossack.

A picture taken along the street leading to Podil. The Church at the top of the hill in the fog is St. Andrews – the one next to the SDA office for those who have been here.

Finally, St. Michael’s cathedral in the fog yesterday.

Our plan for the future is to be here at the hotel until Friday. I (Tim) will fly out and Charlene, Katya and Oles will head to Gorodnya for the final court decree and then the passport, medical checks, etc. We are both hopeful that things will go smoothly and quickly and it will be a chance for Charlene to spend some time with our new friends in Chernigov and help set up support for Tanya.

Thank you for your prayers and comments on the blog – they are very encouraging and remind us that we have support back home.

SDG Tim & Charlene