Ukraine 2011 Feedback
- Belinda Lennox
- Oct 14, 2011
Our team of six – Graeme & Belinda, Ian Mey, Siebert Botha, Devlyn van der Walt & Annerie Weber excitedly set off on 19th October via Amsterdam for Ukraine, where we spent 2 amazing weeks. The main focus of the trip was to come alongside & spend quality time with the two Leadership couples we relate too, namely Ivan & Zhenya Lemak of Christ for All, Sumy and Andrey & Natasha Zibrov of Christ for All, Poltava. Our first week was made up of traveling some 13 hours by overnight train (not anything like the ‘Orient Express’ I can assure you) to Western Ukraine in Trans-Carpathia where we spent 4 days with Ivan &Zhenya and Andrey & Natasha. It was great to be out of their respective cities and be able to relax with them, get to know them in a different setting and enjoy fun, close fellowship, prayer and input times with them. Ivan and Zhenya are expecting their second child, due sometime in March next year. Special times, special people and special memories which we treasure!
The Carpathian area is really beautiful – much like the foothills of the Natal Drakensburg. Our accommodation was in the village of Polyana – a sleepy, laid-back village set against the slopes of the hills. A memory of this village I came away with, was watching a woman from the village walk her cow each day up the slopes behind our small hotel. I would watch her, with her little stool tucked under her arm, set off for the green, grassy slopes and there she would sit and watch her cow munch away for hours and then back home they would go! We spent a day meeting and visiting with Ivan’s family who live in a neighbouring village where he grew up. We were treated like royalty and enjoyed a scrumptious lunch of local, traditional dishes under an apple tree in the garden. Once again I realized what genuine, true hospitality is all about. It’s definitely not about the best furniture, crockery and fine furnishings or fine cuisine, but its about being loved on and sharing ourselves and all we have to offer with friends & even strangers. So, we sat on tree stumps, old rickety wooden benches and dining room chairs around tables laden with lovingly cooked homemade food under the apple tree. We left that evening with boxes of fresh grapes from their vines, homemade cake, fresh homemade bread and other goodies bestowed upon us by Ivan’s mother. It felt like being in another world… another era….. almost like a ‘Heidi book’, so unlike how we live our lives today. I think we’ve lost something along the way…..
Back on the train for another 13 hour overnight trip to Kiev, where we bade farewell to Ivan & Zhenya who went on back home to Sumy. Later that same day, we made a 5 hour trip by train again to Poltava with Andrey & Natasha to spend some 6 days with them. From the warm, sunny days in Carpathia, we arrived to cold, wet Poltava! Our days were full and varied in Poltava where we tried to make every moment count of this opportunity to spend time with Christ for All congregation. Each day we were hosted by a different family in the church for our midday meal – what a lovely experience this was to be in their homes and meet their family members, many of whom are not believers or attending Christ for All. Our evenings were made up of leadership training, a men’s & women’s seminar and a marriage workshop. We were also able to look at a piece of land which the church was considering purchasing although nothing nothing has been finalized yet. Our Sunday in Poltava was quite eventful with Graeme preaching at two churches and Ian in another church in Poltava. The service in Christ for All was so encouraging and we are thrilled to see how Andrey and Natasha have cultivated a real sense of ‘family and serving’ in their church. We are always received so incredibly warmly and loved on by so many. Its wonderful to see the same families year after year and see how they have grown in God and involved in making Christ for All, Poltava a church who reaches out to others. It was also encouraging to see new faces. Andrey and Natasha are a precious pastoral couple and have grown in their leadership role. They embrace Truth, are eager to learn and apply themselves and we see the fruit of that in their congregation.
Leading a church in Ukraine is not for the fainthearted and we have a deep love and respect for both these couples for persevering in very difficult, discouraging and sometimes desperate situations.
And so with sad hearts we bade farewell to our friends on a cold morning at Poltava station for another 5 hour train trip back to Kiev where we spent our last day and night before returning home on the 5th October with grateful and full hearts!
Thank you to our Solid Ground family for praying for us, for your investment in the lives of these two church families in Sumy & Poltava. Wish you could all witness something of what God is doing through your generous giving and loving support of these two congregations.
