Taxi story #1

First, I'll repost a story from January that I had already shared on Facebook: 

The app I like for other places doesn't work here, so I decided to try a local one. It didn't seem to be working with my bank card, so I paid for two trips with cash. Then I got a call from the driver who brought Asya and me back from the tax office. He said that actually the app had taken money from my card, so he found the other driver who we had ridden with on a different trip, brought back the money for both those times and left it for me with someone at the door to the church. Not only are these drivers out there on the roads without traffic lights, dodging drones (in the snow now, too), they're incredibly honest and kind. 

 I still carry the note he left with the money in my wallet as a reminder about kindness and honesty. 

A detail that I didn't share before: this taxi was in such bad shape that I wasn't sure it could go as far as we needed to, and the driver appeared not to have bathed in a while. But the car and its owner both showed me not to worry about appearances.

Kherson taxis

We're back from our trip. Thank you for praying.

Honestly, I can't write much about Kherson lately. I don't like to say publicly exactly when we're traveling there, and I can't say much about other details that touch on life and ministry there. Amazing ministries in Kherson need internet silence. The security services check our phones for photos on the way out of the city every time, and I wouldn't post them if I had them. 

Kherson taxi window

But, I think I need to start a collection of Kherson taxi stories. These days when we're there, we get around almost exclusively on taxis, which--by the way--are cheaper than in Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv and "safer" cities. Public transport can be dangerous (although I was happy to use the free trolleybuses the last few times I've been there), and now it's often not running at all or on very limited schedules and routes. So.... 

Taxis are often my "we're not in Kansas anymore" moment of culture shock anyway when we go back and forth between worlds now. In Ivano-Frankivsk they're more expensive (but still not too bad), nice cars, and the drivers tell you to put on the seat belt if you're in the front seat. They have AC in the summer, heating in the winter, and their windows aren't broken. The drivers are polite and professional. In Kherson, I hadn't even seen a taxi with unbroken windows until this most recent trip, the cars are mostly old and beaten up... and then we did get a Tesla, but that was an anomaly. The drivers are the nicest, bravest, possibly weirdest you can imagine, but if you would try to put on a seatbelt they would probably scream at you: it's way too dangerous to wear a seat belt in Kherson! 

 I'll follow this with a few taxi stories.

Quick post

It isn't time for me to send out another letter yet, but I wanted to post quickly here to say that Will, Jaan, and I will be traveling again tomorrow to work on documents. Will and I will be getting our residence cards and updating our registration; Jaan is starting the application process again. Asya and Bogdan are staying back this time. Please pray for our travels and for the ones not going, too. (This is neither here nor there, but you can pray for Raia in Alaska while you're at it. Then you'll have all of us covered.) Also, I'm really hoping that we can figure out more of what comes after this with documents for us: permanent residency for Will, citizenship for me, or whatever. Please pray that we can get a consultation with someone who knows what to do and figure out good next steps. Thanks!

Easter Day

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

As the Easter season continues, I want to go back to Easter Day, which was April 12 here. I was rushing to get us back from Kherson to Ivano-Frankivsk in order to be able to celebrate with the church here. As the leader of the children’s ministry, I had planned the day’s activities and left instructions of what to do if I couldn’t be there, but I didn’t want to miss it. The other teachers and I were excited about the idea of baking “Resurrection rolls” with the kids. I found us an oven to borrow, and they did a quick version at Capernaum club the day before without me. Then on Sunday morning I did it again with the church kids. We had all the kids together for the Easter story, baking, and a craft. Unlike our small Christmas celebration, I think every child who could come did, plus a few. It was great and wild fun. The main thing was that they heard the story of Christ’s death and resurrection and felt the joy of the day.

This little one was disappointed that her marshmallow disappeared. Oops.

After the kids' celebration, there was food for the whole church, then fellowship and games. Then our own family came home, took photos and rested. I'm not sure I like this pattern of holidays and travel that we've had--rushing back from Poland just before church Thanksgiving, in a bus all day Christmas, trains from Kherson on the eve of Easter--but that's just the way it has worked out. And, like I've said before, I'm especially loving the Easter season this year.

Little bits of news

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

(Today is day 12/19 of the 50-day Easter season.)

News items listed:

• Our trip to Kherson to turn in documents went well.
• We got back just in time to have a lovely Easter Day at church. That's our family Easter photo above.
• Now I'm trying to fully savor the Easter season. 
• We hosted a picnic for the pastors of this region (photo below). It was such a beautiful day!
• Bogdan sprained his right index finger and experienced the emergency room here again. No bandura playing for 2-3 weeks, but he can still draw.
• He is at a Young Life conference now.
• Asya is also away.
• Spring is beautiful!
• And...

We just found out that Jaan's residency application was rejected because of a mistake. None of us caught it, and neither did the Migration lady when she painstakingly accepted our applications. You may remember that the beginning of the process is an official letter from our inviting organization, which is the church here, to the Kherson administration, asking for their approval. The mistake was in that letter, so fixing it has to go all the way back to the beginning. We had several days of up and down here, with the mistake being found, then a possible easy solution, then a final no about that easy way today. So, Will's restarting everything for Jaan. Once it's all ready again, Jaan will go apply again.

Trip to Yaremche

Last week was Spring Break for most kids here. Our family didn't take the whole week off from school, but we did have a special field trip on Friday. Having an experienced outdoor guide as one of our Sunday school teachers is giving us fun trips together, and I really see these times building good relationships among the kids and teachers at our church.

We started out pretty early in the morning, to get on a train up into the mountains. Our group was eight kids, three Sunday school teachers (including me), another mom, a grandmother who happened to be visiting her grandchildren for their break, and a dog.

The order of the photos is a little jumbled, but you can see that we walked through Yaremche, explored the Dovbush Trail--which was our main destination--then back down through the town and to McDonald's (or was that our main destination?). After that, one little guy fell asleep in the train station, while the rest played games and waited for our return train.

Bogdan's 15th

On March 12 Bogdan turned 15. The morning of his actual birthday he made brownies to take to art class later in the day. Then he celebrated his birthday there. His teacher and classmates really made the day special for him, surprising him with a cake and presents. They gave him art supplies and special military patches and had tea twice, once with the younger class and once with just the older group.

The next day Bogdan got to celebrate with his friends. He invited four boys he enjoys spending time with, two originally from Kherson and two from here. They played outside while Will grilled meat. Then we had dinner. More play until it was completely dark and cold. After that, they came in for tea and opening presents.

Bogdan had a great birthday and was well celebrated by lots of people who love and appreciate him.