Getting Involved in Chernefsi

Chernefsi

As I rode the train from Vinnitsa to Chernefsi, it began to rain. The sky darkened, the air became cold. The gentle rocking of the train put me to sleep and then with a jostle I would awake as we made stops during the night. Loud noises from children in the cabin next to me opening and closing doors and pumping into the wall caused me to wake with a start. Finally I arrived.

The sky was still gray and the air cool. Everything was wet. I waited in the station for Vera to come and pick me up. I would be here until the end of August, except for the next week, when I would be in Kiev at a Eurasia youth conference.

I was taken to a Ukrainian home, where I would stay a couple of nights, one before the camp for handicapped children and one afterwards. I was nervous about this because of my previous experience, with a Ukrainian family who yelled at each other at all hours of the day or night. When we arrived, it was Saskia, a girl from Holland who opened the door, not a Ukrainian. Saskia has been working with Verra and the club for children with disabilities for over 5 years now. This trip she was only staying two weeks. In March she will be moving to Chernefsi for a year. Saskia helped me get settled in. As we were drinking tea in the kitchen people began to wake up. People coming and going, laughing and having a good time. I was not sure who they were or if they lived in this home but they were all happy people. I later found out that the home had once belonged to a large family (10kids I think). Six years ago all but the three oldest moved to the United States. Two siblings were visiting for the first time since they had moved. One of the sisters, who had stayed in Ukraine, was married with one son, 3 years old. They all lived here in this apartment. A boy from their church and Saskia were also living there. It was a full house, but a house filled with love. Throughout the day and evening, the door bell rang often- people stopping by to hang out. It was a fun place to be.

Shortly after getting settled in, Saskia and I met Verra at her apartment(The one that I had stayed at a month ago with the American girls and Vica). When I had last been here there were several banana boxes. Since then, they had multiplied. Saskia’s church had collected all sorts of clothes and toys and shipped them to Chernefsi. Verra will distribute them to the families she works with. Because of the multitude of clothes, many were given to a government store where the families Verra works with and other poor people in the community can come once a week and shop for free. It is a new program. People from the community can fill out an application. According to their needs they are able to take clothes. At the same facility as the free store, is where Verra will begin her club meetings in the fall. In the past the club was held at the local Young Life Club. The time has come for Verra’s organization, Aquilla Foundation and Young Life to go separate ways. They will have one last camp together. Please pray for the families involved because they will need to choose which club they will go to. Please pray that they would be able to make the best choice to help their family. Pray that it would be a peaceful separation and that it would be for the glory of God. Each will continue to offer a club, which allows more people in the community to be reached.

Several boxes of clothes were also donated to Victims of Chernobyl Relief Organization. This organization was started by the survivors of Chernobyl. Since the disaster that took place, the majority of survivors have received little or no help from the government. They remain on waiting lists. Many people have suffered physical ailments. As you can imagine, it is difficult for these people, who lost everything to move on with their lives. It was touching to hear the founder of the organization tell her story about how her own family was evacuated. People did not realize the danger they were in. Those who were relocated had to leave everything behind. The lady showed us pictures of when her and her son traveled back not too long ago. They entered their own apartment. All the furniture was gone. They found a few toys and school pictures that were left. Even now, as she recalled these events, her eyes swelled with tears. Many people died. Whole troops of soldiers were sent to clean up the rubble right after the catastrophe. None survived. Some people developed diseases and others disabilities due to the radiation they were exposed to. New ailments are still being discovered in victims, years after. It is a truly tragic event in the history of the world. It is very much remembered by those who effected by it. Every year on the date of the explosion, people meet in honor of those who were lost. There is a monument here in Chernefsi, erected in memory of those lost and affected by the event.

Camp

The first large ministry opportunity I was a part of here, in Chernefsi, was the camp for children with disabilities. This was a joint effort between Aquilla Foundation and Young Life. In Ukraine and other former Soviet Countries there is little for people with disabilities. Even in the larger cities you will see few if any accommodations such as wheel chair ramps or easy access to public transportation to help people get around. The majority of children with disabilities, who are capable of learning, are not educated. Many could have jobs but are not given an opportunity to do so. If a baby is born with a disability it is common and even encouraged to send it to an orphanage. There are orphanages specifically for children with disabilities. Given little attention or help, children grow from bad to worse. In addition, mental and emotional trauma is multiplied in the lives of these children. It is a life without love, without someone to care for them, without someone to hold them.

With great courage and at great cost there are a few parents who decide to raise their children themselves. Choosing to raise a child with a disability in this culture is a lonely journey of trials and difficulties. Caring for a disabled child is a full time job. Many of the children come from single parent homes or have at least one alcoholic parent. It is one of the goals of the Aquilla foundation to build relationships with these families. By providing clubs, summer camp, special events, and Bible study a network is created to help people to connect to each other. Through these connections and relationships people not only connect with each other but are given the opportunity to connect with God.

For most children Summer Camp is a yearly summer ritual. For children with disabilities it is a dream. On July 24th this dream became a reality for about forty disabled children and their families. As children and parents arrived on the afternoon of the 24th they were greeted by big smiles, candy, and mineral water.

After being shown to their rooms each child was partnered with a counselor who would be their buddy for the week. Because the counselors are able to help with the students, the week offers much needed rest for the parents.
Every day the kids stayed busy. Breakfast, songs, Bible lesson, lunch, craft, quest, dinner, club meeting, snack, family groups, and finally bed… these are all items squeezed into the schedule every day. Children and parents were divided into family groups. Two family groups were combined to create a team. I was part of the “Newvio” group or “New”. We teamed up with the “Chickensie” group to become the “Newvio Chickensie” team. (For those of you who are wondering, they got their name from the English word Chicken. Since there was more than one person on their team they decided it should be plural. In the Russian language you do not add an “s” to the end of a word to make it plural but the “ie” sound.

Miscommunication

As a team the Newvio Chickensies competed in a variety of tasks or challenges. One of our first tasks was to create a family album. We had to take pictures and create a story to go with it. As simple as this task may sound it was one of the most confusing due to some miscommunications.

A Wedding! That is the best way to start a family album, right? Well, it was. And as commanded I was the bride and the groom was David, one of the boys from the American team that joined us for the week. The mothers hustled and bustled around to find me a beautiful bouquet of weeds. They arranged David and I side by side. We were ready for the picture… so we thought. But you cannot have a decent wedding without the dress. There was a dress, that was brought for the purpose of dressing up, however one of the other teams had it. We had to wait. This was fine. A few minutes later Sasha, one of the team leaders was waving us in side for the photo. We were taking the wedding picture inside. When I came in side and excited mother started telling me to “lesheat” or lay down. Hmmmmm? Lay down for my wedding picture. I repeated her questioningly. “Yes, Yes, Lay down!” Okay, I sat on the couch and leaned back keeping my shoed feet on the ground. Suddenly, I found my legs in the hand of the ecstatic mother. She placed my feet on the couch and spread my legs apart. As I looked up at the other American, I began to apologize because I had no idea what was going on, when PLOP! There was a baby between my legs. Apparently we weren’t getting married, we were HAVING A BABY! They wrapped a towel around the baby and laid him down. They placed David beside me. The baby sat up. They laid him back down. He sat back up. He wasn’t happy this time. Ready, 1,2,3 Snap! Picture perfect!

Now that we had, had our baby, we did the next logical thing we got married. The family album followed us and our child as he grew older, went to school, beat somebody up, got punished for beating someone up, got a job, bought a car, and finally we were elderly.

Being an American

After living in Ukraine for about five months my understanding of the culture has grown. I am not here to change the culture. That is not why I am here. I choose to come into another culture which means I must be cautious of my actions and attitudes. While working at camp a team of Americans joined us from California. To my disappointment, I found it rather embarrassing to be associated with them. I won’t go into all the details but I write this with the hope that if you are reading this as an American traveling outside of your own culture you would check your passport at the door. As part of the family of God, may you serve with a cheerful attitude. Whether you be passing through a country, staying for a couple weeks, a year, or several years it is important to remember that you are there not as a U.S. citizen but a citizen of God’s kingdom. If you can research the culture you are visiting ahead of time. Be prepared to share what God is doing in your life. Don’t hesitate to love, to touch, to smile. I am not saying you cannot miss home or like your way of doing things but don’t complain about another cultures way of doing things. Do not demand things for your personal comfort. And do not argue with nationals or those who live in the culture about whether or not you should have to respect cultural customs, such as sitting on cement or standing in the rain, while you are in the country.

Going Separate Ways

This camp was an important event for the organizational leadership because it marks the ending of the partnership between Aquilla and Young Life. Each organization will offer a club. The families involved must choose one to attend. This will allow more families in the community to be helped. There will still be larger events for all of the students and families to attend. Deciding which club to attend is a difficult decision for many of the families. Please pray for the families to make the best decision for them and not to be swayed by others opinions. Pray that this would be a peaceful separation. Pray for all involved. Pray for both clubs as they prepare to begin this fall. Ask God to provide the recourses, finance, and strength for the leaders to continue their work.