For the first time in 10 years I experienced Ukraine in the summer. As an extra blessing my dear husband, Dan, came with me for his first visit to this delightful country. What a treat to drink in the beauty and majesty of God's awesome creation while the flowers are blooming, crops are growing and people are out in their gardens working. L'viv and Chernivtsi are the two main cities we visited in Western Ukraine. We flew into L'viv, spent the night there and then drove in a bus for seven hours to Chernivtsi which is close to the border of Romania. From Chernivtsi, we went out each day into the country side and into the Carpathian foothills to visit children in camps, hospitals, homes for disabled and homes for elderly. Our days were so long I was not able to get to the Internet cafe to send stories. These entries will give you the overall flavor of each day we spent in beautiful Ukraine.
Since my first trip in 1999 the changes in Ukraine are staggering. I remember how difficult it was to get anyone to smile, including children. We had to work hard to see the corners of little mouths turn upward or even to laugh a little. When you walked down the sidewalk no one would look at you or acknowledge your presence. Seventeen years of freedom have bloomed into smiling faces, friendly hellos from strangers, and the precious sound of laughter can be heard. I will never forget the time on my first trip when our team walked a long distance to a McDonald's where we had a small taste of home and sat around tables laughing and talking. A Ukrainian man in the restaurant stopped us on the way out and was very angry because of our loud talking and laughing. Now you can go into a restaurant and hear people having a good time, celebrating and enjoying life. Freedom has come full bloom to the people of Ukraine and they are loving it.
Some new things I saw this trip were huge shopping centers similar to Home Depot and Super Wal-Mart. One of the shopping centers in Chernivtsi was like a Costco that also included a car dealership! There is renovation going on everywhere. The majority of houses we saw in the villages had new windows and many varieties of new fences. Buildings in cities are receiving face lifts and the hotels have improved so much I hardly feel like I am in a developing country any more. There is an abundance of nice cars such as Mercedes, Lexus and Toyota just to name a few. We even saw limos carrying wedding parties on Saturday. What a contrast from the early days after the Soviets lost power. Yes, freedom is showing in Ukraine and I feel very blessed to have witnessed the Light that has come to these incredibly strong, intelligent people.
Since my first trip in 1999 the changes in Ukraine are staggering. I remember how difficult it was to get anyone to smile, including children. We had to work hard to see the corners of little mouths turn upward or even to laugh a little. When you walked down the sidewalk no one would look at you or acknowledge your presence. Seventeen years of freedom have bloomed into smiling faces, friendly hellos from strangers, and the precious sound of laughter can be heard. I will never forget the time on my first trip when our team walked a long distance to a McDonald's where we had a small taste of home and sat around tables laughing and talking. A Ukrainian man in the restaurant stopped us on the way out and was very angry because of our loud talking and laughing. Now you can go into a restaurant and hear people having a good time, celebrating and enjoying life. Freedom has come full bloom to the people of Ukraine and they are loving it.
Some new things I saw this trip were huge shopping centers similar to Home Depot and Super Wal-Mart. One of the shopping centers in Chernivtsi was like a Costco that also included a car dealership! There is renovation going on everywhere. The majority of houses we saw in the villages had new windows and many varieties of new fences. Buildings in cities are receiving face lifts and the hotels have improved so much I hardly feel like I am in a developing country any more. There is an abundance of nice cars such as Mercedes, Lexus and Toyota just to name a few. We even saw limos carrying wedding parties on Saturday. What a contrast from the early days after the Soviets lost power. Yes, freedom is showing in Ukraine and I feel very blessed to have witnessed the Light that has come to these incredibly strong, intelligent people.
Best of all is that the Ukrainians are ministering to their own people. This is the ultimate goal of missions and witnessing the results of years of work is deeply rewarding. Many Americans and Canadians as well as other Europeans have come to minister to the Ukrainian people and teach them how to minister. They are quick learners and have picked up the mantle. We worked with one such woman named Masha who I will tell you about in another post. God is moving in Ukraine among the people and it shows!
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