Observations at 5 Months

Bill and I have just returned from spending March at home seeing the kids, and helping with Sarah’s newborn.

As we come back here are some thoughts:

With a focus on language learning, we have been forced to sit back and observe and not jump into ministry, although the temptation to do so has been strong. Every month we have been here has been a learning experience. We have been exposed to more and more of the culture and problems that are experienced by the people here.

As is often the case some of our initial impressions and conclusions have been proven false over time. At first we thought that the people as a whole were somewhat unfriendly. When we greeted people in Kiev as we were out walking they frequently avoided eye contact and did not return our greetings. However, what we have found is that in our building, the people we have met on the landings and sitting out front on park benches have been very warm and smile at our attempts to use the language. They greet us by name and are quite friendly. And of course the people in our church have always been welcoming. What some have explained to us is that Ukrainians have very strong relationships within their families and close friends. It seems as if there is a definite wariness regarding strangers and one wonders how much of this is leftover from Soviet times.

Also, it seems that people have enough of their own problems that they don’t attempt to get involved with others. Our friend Farri, told us that in the bazaar someone had died on the sidewalk and for at least an hour people just stepped over the body and went on their way. One icy day a man fell on the ice and was unable to get up because he had broken his arm. People continued to pass him by until Bill stopped and helped him up and on to where he was going.

Over time we have realized the severity of the problems here. There are two classes of people, wealthy and scraping by. Rents and inflation are high and people typically share apartments with family members of different generations, with each family occupying a different room. Alcoholism is a huge problem. One young man in our church stated that among men over 40 he believed it to be over 90%. As a result most marriages end in divorce and fathers moves on to new wives, leaving mothers with the responsibility of the children. Most children are being raised by mothers or grandmothers. Young men do not have any kind of role models in their families for how to be a good husband or father and the cycle continues.

Among young people, there are approximately 100,000 children in orphanages. When they graduate at 18, they are out and nothing else is provided for them. Many live on the street and turn to drugs and prostitution. Ukraine has one of the most rapidly increasing rates of AIDS in Europe.

The problems are huge and we continue to look for direction regarding where we would be best used.

Matthew 10:18-19 “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”