"Second Christmas"

Only one month late, I'll finally tell you about our "Second Christmas." The day before Christmas we made and decorated gingerbread men. Well, actually they were gingerbread bears, because Will had just bought us a set of bear cookie cutters, and we couldn't find the older men shapes.

And I quickly made a batch of kutya, since when a friend asked if I was going to, some of our children couldn't remember what it is. So, we ate that for desert, after the first star came out. Or, since it was too cloudy to see the stars, after some of our neighbors set off fireworks.

Oops. I'm going to have to do this in two parts. That was Christmas Eve. The actual Second Christmas post will come tomorrow.

Document details

After I last wrote about starting to renew our residency documents, here is what else has happened:

• Jan. 21 - Will went to talk to immigration lady. She didn't know what to do; suggested that he talk to someone at a nearby Catholic church. She said that she'd also ask about us at a meeting she would be going to soon. Will consulted a Christian lawyer who has been recommend to us.
• Jan. 22 - Agape office day for Will. Only document progress was that I edited document photos for us and got them printed out.
• Jan. 23 - Since we don't have to leave the country,* Will had another appointment with the lawyer and gave him all the documents he needs to get us invited.
• Jan. 24 - Will went out to Tsyurupinsk to work on some fix-up projects at the orphanage I visit. On his way back he stopped and talked to the migration lady again, just to check in with her.

Now our new invitations are ready. We need to go back to Dneprorudnoe soon now to unregister there. Apparently Will can't just do it by himself; I have to go, too. Then we'll have three days to get registered here. Please keep covering the whole process in prayer. Thanks!

*New info. We don't have to leave the country to renew any more. It's convenient and will save us enough money to pay the lawyer, but we're sad that we won't get to visit our friends and have our little Krakow "vacation."

A little more

I will translate a little more. There are quite a few news articles, blog posts, Facebook/VK updates about Andrei Nalivaiko and the killing of the local police officer, but only in Russian. It seems that more English speakers are getting interested, so I'll see what I can do to help.

First, if you do read Russian, you can read with me. These are the main sites I'm getting local news from (some of it is quite interesting these days!):
Херсон Онлайн
Мост
Типичный Херсон
(And I'm still figuring out who and what these newspapers are. All of them seem to be rather, um, free.)

Specific bits of recommended reading:
"Рэмбо" из Херсона
Нападение на херсонских милиционеров: много вопросов и минимум ответов
Друзья подозреваемого в убийстве херсонского милиционера не верят в поножовщину

Here is the next article after what I translated in my last post. It is somewhat old news, but since I pretty much started from the beginning, it makes sense to continue with this.

At KhNTU They Don't Believe the Story of Students Attaching Police
Students and teachers at Kherson National Technical University don't believe in the guilt of the students of this institution that was supposedly the location of the attack on police January 27.
Students and teachers of KhNTU informed us of this. However, in order to avoid sanctions from the leadership of the institution, they asked that we not give their first and last names.
According to the words of the students, yesterday's event looked something like this: in the evening a group of more than ten unknown men in regular clothes began to "stick" to several students of KhNTU, students that really are known to be activists of the local Euromaidan. The unknown men, who were clearly not student-age, insulted the students and even threatened them with pistols. The scared students ran on to the campus of KhNTU, where they called the police and reported the threats. However, when the police who had been called arrived, the apparently didn't want to register the students' statements and wanted to leave. After long discussion, the police finally did start to write down the students' testimonies. All of this took place in the student dormitory.
At the moment when they were taking the statements, those same unknown men who had threatened the students burst into the dormitory. The attackers, with pistols, forced everyone--including the police--to lie down on the floor. After that, under threat of using their weapons, they took the students with whom they had had conflict outside--"to figure it out." [I heard elsewhere that they actually carried Andrei out bodily and rammed the door open with his head!] After that, the police came to and followed them out. It is not entirely clear exactly what happened outside the dormitory, but the newly arrived police reinforcements kept only the students who had earlier called the police. None of the aggressive people in civilian clothing were detained.
That is the story. It is actively spreading and being discussed at KhNTU. Students of the university are convinced that their fellow students were victims of provocation by "titushki," or even members of special police forces. According to the words of the students, this is indicated by the unexpected highly professional ability of the detainees to use a knife, which had not been noticed before. It is known that police detained two students from KhNTU on suspicion of attacking law enforcement. There is also information that students of other universities are being held with them.
In KhNTU right now people are saying that it is urgently necessary to get lawyers to defend the detained students, and people are ready even for mass protests.
We note that today (January 28), at 12:30 the leaders of Kherson regional Interior Ministry will hold a press conference, at which, obviously, they will talk about what actually happened near Kherson National Technical University. [The press conference just left everyone more confused.]

After this I'll probably go back to my usual blogging about cute kids and fun days. But please don't forget to pray for Ukraine and Andrei and many other people involved! If I hear anything new, or have some extra free time, I can translate more, too.

Not political

Sine the very beginning of the protests in Kiev I have been glued to the news, praying hard for Ukraine. I have tried hard not to be vocal about it online, though. Then, a little over a week ago I started following local news, too. And on January 27 something happened here in Kherson. I have honestly never read about a news event that has so many versions, so I'll just translate one of the first articles that has the official announcement:

Police Announce that Some of their Workers were Attacked with a Knife in Kherson
The condition of two of them is serious. One of them has had an operation to remove his spleen. The third policeman got knife wounds in his knee and shoulder. The police captured the people who committed the crime. All who are being held are active and radical participants in the protests. Their actions qualify as attempted premeditated murder.
On January 27 at 8:00 p.m. the Kherson police received a report that on the corner of Kulika and Mira Streets an unknown person had injured two citizens.
An investigative team quickly arrived at the scene. Members of the team found that several young people had knife wounded three of a police criminal investigation team.
Police quickly identified and arrested the perpetrators of the crime. They are all students of one of the universities of Kherson. It turned out that all are active and radical participants in protests, the so-called "Euromaidan" in Kherson....

The next day one of the policemen died of his wounds. Also, more and more different eyewitness accounts started to come out. None of them match up with the official version, which didn't contain details like: the wounded policemen were all high-ranking officers, they were in plain clothes without identification, they may have started the fight(?), one knife--that hasn't been found anywhere--did all that damage to specially trained police detectives, some shots were fired, the students were the ones who called the police, etc.

Also, I started to read about the main suspect. He is a radical Russian-imperialist Maidan activist. (Huh?) There are also photos online of him working with a Party of Regions (ruling party) deputy. And this: he's an orphan. I found a post on Facebook that tells some of his life story. He ran away from an orphanage when he was 12, lived on the streets some, then lived in a place where "Americans had given money and built a home for orphans," where "swearing wasn't allowed, they were taught a normal way of life, and they had to attend church." I found out this morning that, yes, he did live at the orphan home we know here.

I don't know how to finish writing here. I barely scratched the surface of summarizing what's online, what people are talking about, and how both sides are reacting. This has brought the turmoil in Ukraine very close to us. I am very concerned about everything related, but specifically about Andrei, the main suspect. Of course, I have no idea of how guilty or not guilty he is, but that part doesn't matter much in something like this. He doesn't have much chance at being treated fairly. So, I'm praying for him and asking that you all will pray will me.

PRAY FOR UKRAINE!

Busy hands

The first few days of 2014 were full of happy busyness, because Julie brought craft kits for gifts. Lots of fun was had by all.

Now I just want to write about "Second Christmas," and then I think I'll be caught up.

Documentation

I usually say that getting visas and residency in Ukraine is doable, but that it takes a lot of work. Will started that work last week for the year ahead. Please be praying for him as he wades into this in a new region. The requirements can vary some, and he has to get to know all new officials and offices.

I might try to keep up with everything and give a blow-by-blow description of the process. So, Thursday he went out and found the first office that people said he needed to go to. They weren't open, but he at least got their office hours. Friday he went back, learned that he has to start at another office and found it, but it was already too late in the day. He'll go back there on Tuesday, since they're closed on Mondays....

Orphanage days

*

I'm settling into a schedule of visiting an orphanage across the river every Saturday. Remember the picnic we were invited to back in August? These are the same kids. They all have physical handicaps, and many are classified as mentally handicapped, too.

There was a bit of running around to get me in there. I know a lot of you prayed. They're under quarantine and very strict about who can have contact with the kids. So, I had a chest x-ray done to prove that I don't have TB. Obviously, I don't. But, they wrote on the paper that I have bronchitis. (Huh? I felt fine. Our only guess is that it was left over from a cold I had gotten over a month before that.) So, on my first try to visit the orphanage, the nurse wouldn't let me in at all. But, the missionary I'm helping has friends in high places.  She connected me with the head of the regional lung cancer ward, so that I was able to get a paper saying that my bronchitis was "in remission." And then, with everyone praying, I went back the next week and got in, no questions asked.

I've been translating while my friend teaches Bible lessons, and then just helping with whatever activity she has planned and playing with the kids. They love the attention, and we love giving it. Games of Uno and Candy Land after the lessons are very intense and exciting. And the chattering! The verbal kids love to have a captive audience to talk to, and even the non-verbal ones like to be heard. (There's one boy who seems to have his own sign language, and it makes me sad that I can't understand what he's saying... yet? Maybe I'll learn.) We usually visit both a boys group and a girls group each time. Today we also got to visit with the littlest ones who are in the worst condition, and we fed one of them his lunch.

And now I'm so tired that I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open. I think I'll go to bed at the same time as all the little people here, and they're brushing their teeth already now. Good night!


*I can't post pictures of the kids we're working with, so you get one of Bogdan at home enjoying leftovers after we decorated Christmas cookies in the orphanage last week. So much fun!

Quick links

• I posted bumpy video before. Here is a much better video of the Christmas program that our girls sang in. It was taken by a friend who is a professional videographer.
• I recently sent out our fall prayer letter. (I think? There was no response, maybe it didn't actually send?) Also, did you know that you can join our mailing list on the "About us" page, over there? -->
• Will has been working on the Agape English site, and he's made some great progress. It's still under construction, but take a look. Русский сайт здесь.

С Новым Годом!

We had a really fun, quiet New Year celebration. I have the photos all in the wrong order here, and I can't move them around. But then we celebrated all in the "wrong" order anyway. Russians and Ukrainians don't even sit down to eat until midnight. We had supper (without olivier; everyone is asking) at our usual time. Then we opened presents. There were lots this year! After presents we went out to do some early fireworks. Since the houses are pretty close together we walked out to the very edge of the city... and that just meant that we ended up launching something on to the roof of a much bigger and fancier house than we would have hit here. Oops. But no one was home, and it didn't do any damage. Then back home and to bed. Yes, before 2014. At midnight we discovered that private houses are the place to be for a real fireworks show. Wow. People in this part of the world know how to celebrate with fireworks, but the amount that we are used to around apartment buildings doesn't even compare with what we saw this time. I even tried to wake Jaan up to show him. Raia woke up on her own, and we watched the show through our windows. Happy New Year to all!

Ready to eat

All the boys planning with Jaan's new toy

Lots of presents!

Raia made presents for everyone.

Asleep with his presents later

After fireworks

"Cheers!"

Also enjoying their presents

Another Happy Day!

They spent two nights in a row on buses, just for one day with us. Now that is dedication! We are so thankful.

С Рождеством Христовым!

It's Christmas! The sun came out today, for the first time in almost two weeks. It's been strange to have winter holidays without any snow, but the sun made up for that today.

Christmas sunshine!

The second photo is actually from the last day of Advent. Merry Christmas to all! I will tell more about our holidays and post lots of photos one day soon. Right now we're going to go out to see the lights and decorations in the center of town.

Happy days

Колядки

I have other videos of when just the children's choir was singing, but first, here is a nice medley of the Ukrainian carols that we love so much. (You might be able to see Raia and Asya up there on the stage, too.)



More later!

"First Christmas"

"First Christmas" this year was half at home, half out and about. Usually First Christmas is at home--our family Christmas--and Second Christmas is church Christmas, so it was a little different this year. But it was good.

"Ляля 'Сус"

I read back and saw that last year he just said "ляля." We're making some progress here!

Happy Birthday to Jesus

Breakfast silliness

Hot chocolate outside (in the SUN!)

Movie instead of naptime

Then we went to Jaan's choir concert. I'll try to add a video of that here, when it uploads.

Most of us left early from that, in order to get the girls to church on time, so that they could practice again and get dressed there. Then Will and Jaan joined us as soon as they were done at music school. Same story on the video from church, although it might even be more complicated, because our computer doesn't want to cooperate with our camera anymore, so those videos are stuck. Negotiations are in progress....

(Edited to add: instead of putting the videos in here, I'll put them up as new posts.)

Bogdan liked the candles!

Asya and the other little ones were so cute up on the stage!

Merry Christmas to all!

Advent reflections

Advent this year has been different from ever before. I've never been so glad that I took time in the earlier years of parenting to think through family traditions and to build habits! November was full of busyness and guests, and December started off with more than a week without Papa, so I never had a moment to stop and think and plan what we would be doing this year. And yet, that hasn't mattered. We have faithfully had our quiet, thoughtful, and chaotic evenings with lots of time together by candlelight. Somehow, I found our nativity scene and Jesse tree pictures in boxes, and off we went "to Bethlehem" as Bogdan says often these days.

The first Sunday of Advent Jaan discovered that the church bookstore sells sparklers, so he bought some with his own money and generously shared them with everyone as a big surprise that evening. We've repeated that on the following Sundays, too. It was especially nice, since I didn't even have a chance to buy candles or make an advent wreath. We did scrounge up candles after that first Sunday, at least.

The Christmas Mystery was our new special treat, and it's been perfect for this year and this age range. Every evening we lit our candles, sang, and then turned on the audio book chapter for that day. I didn't even have to wrestle with balancing Bogdan and a book to read aloud. And everyone was enthralled! Bogdan picked up on the refrain in the book, "to Bethlehem!" and repeated it every time he heard it, even if he didn't follow the rest of the story.

Listening and coloring

In the mornings we read Jesse tree passages and hung the pictures (see them below?) as part of our morning school. So, that didn't happen every single day, but we got a good idea of Jesus' family tree.

Another little something different this year is that all our children's Sunday school classes have advent wreathes. They lit candles and talked about Christmas coming, too. It was the first time our children could ever just randomly babble (as they do) about Advent and have people around them actually understand what they mean. I wished that I had a camera the first time they lit a candle in Bogdan's class. They gathered all the toddlers around, lit the candles, and then Bogdan started singing "A-A-A-a-a-a...." No one joined in, and he was a bit baffled when they just blew them out a little later, but at least they had them, and he definitely knew what was going on!

We've slowly brought out our nativity scene figures, one by one, sometimes reading these sweet devotionals, sometimes not. That depended on our mood and how our set matched up with the author's there. Now the empty manger awaits the Baby....

Winter piano concert

Today Jaan had his first real concert at this new music school, and he did wonderfully!

The captive audience

Ded Moroz!

Jaan and his teacher

Afterwards

On Wednesday Jaan will have his choir concert, then he'll be done with music school for 2013. Also on Wednesday, Raia and Asya will be singing in the children's choir at church. We're hoping to be able to make it to both events without having to divide and conquer. You might be able to watch the girls, live, if the church video stream works. Grandparents should enjoy that: starting Wednesday at 11:00 am, your time, or 6:00 pm here in Ukraine.

Hello?

Where did I leave off? Ah, yes, Will was coming home. He come home really sick. Fortunately, he got over that quickly, but our week started off slowly, and then limped on with recovery, office days, lots of time and emotional energy spent on watching Kiev* (and praying for Ukraine!), and then fun excitement this weekend, too.

First snow!

Will is working on a behind-the-scenes bit of Agape's photo project: uploading the photos and updating the info with them. So, he hasn't translated the most recent articles, but you can see them on the Russian site. Then, next week, he should be able to get them up on the English site, too.

We enjoyed meeting the really nice and really professional photographers who have been here, traveling to orphanages, taking pictures of children, and making them feel very special. They have a fancy little printer with them, so each child gets portraits printed out, right there. Then, those photos are also uploaded to a server, that they'll be able to access later. Often, children who grow up in orphanages have very few or no photos from their childhood. This will give them at least a few. Also, the photos are given to people who pray for each individual child.

Doesn't everyone do Advent sparklers?

Two, for the second week of Advent

What's that book about the little girl with the giant dog?

* Good article, if you only have time for one. And the note that I would add to whatever else is out there, is just that it's all more complicated than much of what I've seen in English; it's really not just about the EU.

Second Thanksgiving photos

Will should be home tonight. Hurrah!

Here are a few photos from our "second Thanksgiving" dinner, last Saturday with English-speaking families.

Children's table

Again

Adult (and baby) table
I just realized that one little guy is completely hidden behind his papa.
And Bogdan was at the children's table by himself for the first time.

We're so thankful for these people! This group (give or take a few who were missing or extra) gets together about twice a month for fellowship, a meal, and lots of play time for the children.

And the other group that we had Thanksgiving with, too... so thankful for them! The conversation that night was really sweet: about the beginning of Agape, vision of where it's headed now, immigrant life, and so much more.

(Photos from Julia.)

Thanksgiving photos

This time without Will is going much better than last time (when we started off the week sick). Still, I haven't had much free time at all, no time to get to the computer and write details about Advent or anything else. But, we're alive and well, thriving even.

Will is enjoying this session of the Agape school in Uzhgorod, even though the material they're covering is heavy at times. This time the teaching is in Dutch, translated into Russian, so he's having an experience that we have gotten unused to: not being able to understand both sides of what is being said.

Here are photos from a week ago. Like I said, when we realized that Will wouldn't be here for the American group Thanksgiving, we got together with the Fedorchuks and a few more Ukrainian-Americans from Sacramento to celebrate. Vera made everything really beautiful and cooked a perfect turkey. We added our turkey, cranberry sauce ("jam," everyone was joking about eating meat with jam), and pies.

Thanksgiving sunset

Photo shoot before leaving:

Since he covered his face in the next photo

And once we got there:

The group

From Vera's pretty table

Soon I should have some photos from our second Thanksgiving, when we got together on Saturday with Americans and Canadians.

(Some of the photos above are from Vera and Ira.)