Q. Since you've been there this long and taken all that time to learn what you know... And you've put so much time into it all. Do you feel like coming back will cause you to forget it all again? If you choose to go back in the farther future, do you think it'll all come back easily?
A. I'm certain I will forget some, if not quite a lot after I go back to the States. It's like the math or chemistry you learned in school. If you don't keep up with it and practice every day, you'll forget it. Even with just studying, I can hear something in class and recognize the word when someone says it. But if I don't study and practice, I won't be able to translate it when I need it.
As for the other question, I think if/when I go back, the language will come back but not easily. Back in August, I met a lady who lived in Russia for six years. She's British and has been back in the UK for at least the last 15 years. While she was here, she spoke what sounded to me like good Russian. Now I'm not sure how exact her grammar or pronunciation was, but she translated a sermon, on-the-fly, for the rest of her group. I doubt my skills will be anywhere near that level after I'm done here. I'd like to think it would be decent. I'm just happy I understand as many words as I do. Last year, I was able to remember a few of the phrases that Kristen Clemmer taught us back in 2003 for my first trip here. So I'm sure a lot of it will stick in my head. I'm just not certain what parts will stay.
Q. How do you think the Lord has changed you during your time in Ukraine or how have you grown/changed during that time?
A. In doing the preparation for Bible study on Thursday, I came across Ecclesiastes 11:10. I think it partially explains what I have been learning over the last four months. "So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless (NIV)." I don't believe the last part about youth and vigor, but I've definitely been learning the values of the first half. I can't say I've been totally successful though. It is something I've been working on, almost daily in fact. A few weeks ago, I had a near panic attack from anxiety. I believe it was because I had worked myself up over going out and doing some shopping. It wasn't anything reasonable to be worrying about either. For the longest time, I was paranoid about someone coming up to me and asking me a question in Russian. I'd be afraid to look like an idiot when I couldn't answer their question. It took several people actually doing that for me to be less worried about it.
As a counter-point, youth and vigor are absolutely not meaningless. Untempered perhaps but not meaningless. It takes a lot of energy and time to be a missionary. Young people have that in droves. If they can be molded and directed, they can be quite effective in the missions field.
Q. What would you tell people to encourage them to go on a missions trip? Or would you encourage them to go?
A. I would absolutely encourage people to go on a missions trip. Missions are one of the best way of broadening your view of the world. When you spend a week or more with a group of people outside your normal circles, your outlook can be challenged. I saw that on the trip in 2014. My perspective about life, the world, and missions in general changed because of 10 days spent in a different country.
These next few "questions" are just topics. There wasn't a specific query, only a request to write more about them.
The political situation here:
For a good background on this topic, read this article and then go here and watch the video. Both capture the essence of what is happening here. I'm in Kiev where things are relatively normal. We aren't under daily bombardment. We don't see soldiers with guns patrolling the streets. Behind the scenes however, there is still a lot of political unrest. I read almost daily, on the Kyiv Post, about corruption, schemes, trials, or protests. The upside is that the criminals and rebels who were working for Russia are being captured and put on trial. From an outsider's view, it looks like Ukraine is starting to cut out the cancer that has been strangling it for decades.
Ukraine is, and has been, clawing its way up and out of a mire of corruption since the fall of the USSR. Recently, the main police force has been almost completely replaced. The old police, called Militsia, were mired in the old, Soviet ways with bribes and corruption common-place. The new police seem to have the people's trust for now. Many of the old leaders are still in power though and it takes time to weed out all the problem areas in the government.
So politically, things seem stable. I encourage you to read more about it for yourself. There are so many things happening here on an almost daily basis that all I can do here is give a basic summary.
Refugees in Kiev:
I don't have a lot of interaction with refugees here. I've heard that many thousands have moved from Donetsk and Lugansk to Kiev. But since my ministry isn't directly to them, I don't hear much about it. It's not in the local news often. I did find this article though that tells a little about it.
Fallout from the Malaysian airliner crash in 2014:
There hasn't been a lot of news about the destruction of MH-17 lately. It's bad situation all around. 298 people were killed. In war, it's difficult to determine who exactly pushed the button. Ever since the day it happened, there has been an international game of "he said, she said" going on among the nations involved. Ukraine says it was Russia while Russia says it was Ukraine. From Wikipedia:
In July 2015, Malaysia proposed a United Nations resolution to set up an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of being behind the downing of the plane. While the proposal gained a majority on the UN Security Council (11 countries voting for it, 3 abstaining), it was vetoed by Russia.[21][22]Essentially, as long as Russia holds a position on the UN Security Council, there won't be any investigation or punishment for whomever supplied the missile or pushed the button. In October of this year, the Dutch Safety Board released it's final report about the incident. It concluded that a Russian-made missile exploded above and to the left of the cockpit, killing the crew before causing the aircraft to break up in the air. They weren't tasked with finding where the missile was fired from or who did it. But it was determined that the missile came from rebel-occupied territory. There is still an extensive investigation into the who, why, and how. So far though, no one has been charged with the responsibility of shooting down the plane.
Missionaries from Kiev:
And now for some better news. Big City Church already has sent out a missionary. One of their members is currently serving aboard the ship MV Logos Hope.
There is also another member of Big City who is planning on going to Bosnia. She will be going to help a local mission there. Here are two articles with a little more info about it.
Well, that's all for me. As a preview of the coming days, I'm going to a music night at the church office Saturday evening. It's a night of live, acoustic music played by various people including a band from Big City Church. On Sunday evening after English, we're holding a "Favorite Things" event. It's a way to keep people from English club involved in the activities we plan for them. Different people from the Liberty team chose some of their favorite things to do (chess, board games, sauna). I chose to do a conversation group about America. I've found that people always want to ask me about where I'm from, politics in the US, or just life in general. We don't have enough time to talk about it during the club time so we get to do it afterwards. I call it the "Ask An American" group. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Thanks for another great blog post and all of the information! Mom
ReplyDelete