Over the river and through the woods.

Today was an adventure.

As I boarded the van that was to take us out to a rural village, I didn’t know what to expect. Pastor Peter, our fearless leader, and obviously our fearless driver, turned on the air conditioning and asked us, “okay?” When we said, “da, da!” he replied with hearty, “very good!” and we were off.

About an hour and two near-death experiences later, we arrived in Chudniv (or something like that). Our first stop was a camp at one of the schools in the small town. Maybe 100 (or maybe not, I’m awful at guesstimating) kids gathered around and asked us questions, showing off their English skillz. After that, we were invited to play a friendly game of futbol. It was girls+Americans vs. boys.

Pause. I forgot to mention one very important detail. Remember the long dress I bought yesterday from the mall? Well although Pastor Peter was very pleased with my purchase and was sure that my mom and dad would approve of me wearing this to church as I now looked like a true Ukrainian Baptist, when I tried it on yesterday, I made a very disappointing discovery. It is completely see-through. I mean like, standing in the light or with a light behind me and it’s plain as day. And I didn’t have any choice but to wear it.  So I tried to hold my bag in front of me all day and just forget about it, but I know I looked completely ridiculous at all times. Also, it is a good ole spaghetti strap as well, which means I had to wear a sweater. It was probably over 90 today. Needless to say, I’m disgusting right now and might go jump in the shower before I finish this post.

Alright. Nice and clean.

Anyways, so just picture me (remember that I have lost all sportiness and coordination…that would also assume I ever had any…whatever) frolicking around like an antelope in the tall grass attempting to kick the ball in an ankle-length dress. And then being a HUGE GIRL and slightly shrieking and cowering whenever the ball was maybe almost kicked in my direction. It was seriously pathetic. Especially coming from the JV co-captain and all-star left wing defensive player for the Heritage Christian Eagles.

After, we snapped some pictures of the kids:

(Why do I love feet pictures but hate feet?)

And they snapped some of us on their camera phones:

We toured the nicest school in the region:

After that, we walked across the street to the local kindergarten which was home to the most adorable children I’ve ever seen:

Also, I’m not showing all the adorable children I met here. I have to save some for my articles. But believe me, just so cute.

We then went to one of the worst schools in the region. All the kids are still there because I guess they have camps during the day. These kids were great, and Pastor Peter tried to make us talk to them. Barry of course did great and told of his world travels, Chris gave his all Ukrainian bio that he memorized specifically to make us all look really bad, and when it was my turn I asked how old they were and then realized I had nothing else to say. So of course I awkwardly looked around and stared at Krystallin who thank goodness took the reigns on that one. Oops. Again.

Pastor Peter handed out bananas as treats to all the cuties:

From there we went and visited several homes, just to chat and sometimes hand out bags of food and juice.

As we pulled off the road and onto a dirt path, we parked the van and walked up to a small green gate and up to a tiny, dilapidated house. Inside lived the most precious babushka and sister in Christ. Walking in, its pitch black due to the lack of electricity, but as soon as your eyes adjust, we could see this little old woman sitting on a bed in the front room. We could barely all fit. There was a single stove-top, some empty dusty jars, a can of spoons, and some holes in the walls where she stored her things. Not only was it dirty, but it was falling apart and literally everything in there must have been as old as she was, 88 years. The miniscule hallway lead to her bedroom (the front room was her ‘guestroom’) where she had a bed and pictures of her from years ago.

My heart ached for the old woman who lived alone, back in a corner of rural Ukraine and whose family only came when she received her pension. She couldn’t walk without her stick but came and stood outside and told us of the days when she was a nurse at the local hospital and how she would look after the soldiers in WW2 as the battles were not far from the village.

The best part was when she said that although her memory is fading, she can still read her favorite passage in the Scriptures, and she can remember it. And as we bowed our heads and held hands while the tiny little babushka with only a handful of teeth and glasses that magnified her eyes in a way that made her look like the most classic lil old lady you’ve ever seen, she prayed for us. Standing there, a rush of emotion hit me at the beauty of this. The beauty of the family that we have in Christ that spans over borders, cultures, languages and age. I realized this, even though it might sound cliché: I’m going to see this little babushka again, for forever. For some reason that hit me so hard, and it was completely beautiful, it took away sadness. That’s the beauty and hope we have in Christ.

After she prayed she took off her glasses and let us photograph her:

(I love the one of Barry showing her the picture.)

We visited another family at their house after this. They had 10 children, the youngest only a few months old. One precious daughter, Katya had Cerebral Palsy and the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Walking in the house smelled stuffy and like hot people and it was dark and very warm. Two rooms were filled with beds and rugs and fabric hung as wallpaper and doors. I just stood in these houses and wondered how it is that people, families actually live in something that resembles what I used to play house in as a child. This family was hoping to move to a bigger house, but they are currently waiting for government aid.

It just completely baffles me that people live this rustically in this day and age. I’m fairly positive there was no electricity and I doubt there was running water. People live like this all over the country. These seem like basic necessities in our minds, and people live their entire lives without it. I don’t know if it’s me being simply American and Westernized, or having compassion, but I just want to give these kids more than that.

We have it so good. And I mean, why? We didn’t do anything differently. How is it that we were born into beautiful, healthy and wealthy homes instead of a rural Ukrainian village?

These people are our brothers and sisters. We have a familial obligation to encourage and help them in their time of need. And that’s exactly what Pastor Peter and his church is doing. It’s beautiful.

And not to get all blah blah blah, but I keep thinking to myself that it’s possible to do this sort of thing in America. Maybe not to that extreme, but our Family has needs here. Why aren’t we addressing it? I know I just ignore it.

But now my eyes are opened.

I can’t go on ignoring my own Family.

Anyways, here are some of the kids. So precious:

So yeah. I guess that’s all really. Take from that what you will. I suppose I’m still half processing it all. Like everything so far. I’m sure I’ll have this big epiphany at some point but for now, it is what it is.

I’ve started brainstorming for my next article and I’m sure you won’t want to miss it. So keep a lookout!

I’m getting tired. So goodnight, love you all!

Lauren