Remember Tanya, the interpreter who said she had never been around "religious" people before? After her most uncomfortable first day, Tanya was assigned to work in the upholstery shop with some locals who were cutting wood, foam and vinyl to make seat cushions. Our interpreters were paid workers but the other Ukrainians who worked in this area were volunteers. Leana, our seamstress, came to us from a church in Sumy and brought her cordless sewing machine. It looked a lot like my grandmother's treadle machine with a handle on the side of the wheel which, when turned, supplied the forward momentum for stitching. In essence, you cranked the wheel with your right hand and guided the fabric with your left. Leana was quite skilled in making this all work and despite the "no English" language barrier, she seemed to understand where straps etc needed to be sewn.
There were two thicknesses of foam we used for a variety of seat cushions, head rests and padding for various needs. The foam was cut with an electric knife and there were glue guns to aid the process of adhering pieces together. This little workshop was outside in an area with a dirt floor and the electricity was provided by way of an extension cord. The knife and glue gun needed adapters because they were American made and the electric plugs and voltage in Ukraine are completely different. In spite of those challenges, the first day in the upholstery shop went pretty well.
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| Leana cranking the sewing machine |
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| Tanya carefully cutting the foam pieces |
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| Tanya & Kostya cutting foam |
On Tuesday, the volunteer crew, except for Leana, decided not to show up, nor did they return the rest of the week. That left Tanya, a psychology major, to run the upholstery shop and figure out how to use all the tools, fill the orders and "make do" with her own set of skills. Now if this happened to me, I would have protested loudly about not knowing how to use any of the tools and not having help. Not Tanya, oh no, Tanya faced the challenge with determination, creativity and the Ukrainian "can do" attitude! When we realized the volunteers we not coming back (except Leana the seamstress), every team member took turns going back to the upholstery shop to help with the orders. Tanya dove right in with the electric knife, carefully measuring, marking and cutting each piece of foam to fill the request of the therapists. She tackled the electric saw to cut the plywood boards, learned to cover the cushions with vinyl and became quite handy with the glue & staple guns. Up until this point, Tanya had never done anything like this, nor was she familiar with the tools. She did not complain or try to pass off difficult requests to someone else. You could almost see the wheels turning in her mind as she read the orders, thought through what process she needed to use and executed the finished product. By the way, she was filling orders for 7 teams! Our little Tanya came faithfully every day with a positive attitude and worked hard to accomplish all that was asked of her.
At the end of the week, we had a goodbye breakfast with all the interpreters and gave each of them large bags of gifts we brought from the States. Each team bragged about their interpreter and each interpreter had their opportunity to say something about the experience. The moment Tanya opened her mouth and started to smile, we knew she had something exciting to tell us. In the course of the week, she experienced the tremendous support of the team and witnessed all the love we poured out to the patients and to her. She said she had never experienced or seen anything like it before and it changed her, inside. She said that what she saw was real and something was growing in her heart. You can imagine how we all felt as she beamed while speaking of this new faith. There wasn't a dry eye in the room (including the other interpreters) and after the breakfast, Dave, our GAiN leader took Tanya aside and explained the Gospel to her one more time. Tanya eagerly received Jesus Christ into her heart and life. As we boarded the bus for Kyiv and the beloved interpreters were leaving the hotel, I looked out the window and saw our beautiful Tanya skipping down the street with her long blond pony tail swishing back and forth. She was as light as air bobbing along with a new song in her heart.
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| Tanya's glowing face as she tells of her new found faith |
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