Report 3, April 26, 2008 (from J. Kachelman)

When I looked at Friday’s schedule, I thought there would not be much of a pressing schedule. But I forgot how  quickly situations change and how slowly things move over here. The traffic in the last few years has multiplied significantly. There are traffic jams everywhere and it is much easier to walk than to try to get a car to take you anywhere. When I first started coming every vehicle was almost the old Russian Lada, but now there has been an influx of every make and model. The biggest problem is transportation—first the cost, next the fuel, and finally the number of cars on streets never designed to provide smooth traffic flow for such numbers. In the Soviet Union there were wide sidewalks because there were few vehicles. Private ownership of a vehicle was unique. There were “professional drivers” that drove. Now private ownership of vehicles is almost common but one has to find a parking place that is secure and deal with a number of other issues that, to me, are too problematic to accept.

The morning began with a meeting with Sasha Rodnaev.  Sasha and his wife, Julia, live and work in Krasnoarmeisk. They are a nice young couple who have Sasha’s seven-year-old niece living with them. Sasha tells me that it looks like the niece will be with them always because the mother is living a very bad life. He says the mother had become a Christian but the world pulled her back and now she is caught up in all sorts of sin and refuses to leave. Sasha has been working in Krasnoarmeisk for several years. The congregation there has been supported by the Mt. Juliet, TN congregation for many years.

I have been to Krasnoarmeisk on several trips and have described that city in detail in previous reports. This is the city where the Soviets manufactured the missiles that would be directed toward the west. Sasha discussed the welfare of the church there and said their greatest hindrance was the fact they had no permanent meeting place. They had rented a room but the rent grew to over $1,000 per month so they had to stop assembling there and now they assemble in the Rodnaev’s flat. I shared with Sasha what Sergey in Kyiv had told me of their dilemma of the meeting place and how that was resolved. Sasha expressed interest in getting a container of benevolent items shipped into the city and suggested that would help the church’s reputation and influence as well as helping the community and perhaps this would open the opportunity for a permanent meeting place.

On the merry hunt for a Ukrainian ID number…

In the fall the Elizabethtown congregation had requested that I transfer the registration of the office flat into my name. The reason for this was they had discovered that the flat had been registered in the name of the preacher in the Central congregation and they did not want it that way. I tried to get the registration transferred only to get into the Notary’s office and be asked for my 10-digit registration number. I did not know what that was but I was informed that in order to have the registration of any property in my name I must have this ID number. Upon hearing this news, the Central preacher said it was God telling me that I should leave the flat in the preacher’s name. I told him that the flat’s registration was going to be changed as the eldership had directed. I found out that in order to get the ID number I had to go to some taxation department and apply for the number and wait for ten days and then receive it. Tanya, as a citizen, could get the registration in her name without any delay so I said that is what we would do. The Central preacher objected saying the elders had said it was to be in my name and not Tanya’s. I replied that the elders had communicated it was to be in my name and if that was not possible then it was to be in Tanya’s name; but under no circumstances was it to be left in his name.

The preacher refused to believe that so we called Henry McAlister very early in the morning for Henry to tell the preacher that what I was saying was accurate.

Since my time in Donetsk last fall would not allow for the 10-day waiting period, we placed the flat in Tanya’s name and decided that the first item of business upon my return was for me to apply and get the registration. So this was one of the first items on the “to-do” list as I arrived in Donetsk. This point sounded so simple…We began calling to see what time we could be present and begin the application process. We called and called and called. Finally there was an answer saying that we needed to call another number. And we called and called and called…finally Tanya decided to call the first back and just ask their operating hours. After 5 attempts she finally was able to talk with someone who said the holiday were beginning on Sunday so they did not know what hours would be today (Friday). She did find out that the place is to be working on Monday and I could go but there was the fact that the 10-day period would not be possible due to the holidays. We then found out that I can give Tanya my power of attorney to change the registration and all we needed was a notarized copy of my passport with a translation that was also notarized and I would need my Arkansas driver’s license notarized, translated and then notarized. I have my passport but left my driver’s license at home.

Jennifer is on the road in Nashville and eventually going to Chattanooga so she is not there to scan the license. I thought that with the electronic filing systems of today the State will have my license in digital format and could easily email it to me. (I forgot that “easily” is not in the vocabulary of any governmental procedures.) I sent a quick email to Jennifer asking her to call the State Department and have them email my license. She did so only to be told that the privacy act requires me to call and talk personally to them and request the copy. Such a call was impossible. After hours and stresses and irritations and more emails I finally received an email copy of my license. Now the next thing to do it to find someone working at the appropriate department.

This first item on the to-do list began about 9:00 a.m. and I received the email copy around 11:15 p.m. Friday night—an all-day event on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean!

Food for the widows in the village…

The next to-do was to buy some food and get it to the train so it could be transported to the village where Tanya’s mom lives. Her mom had requested that she send some food as Easter would be Sunday and it would be appropriate to eat certain foods once again. We had a list of requested items—liver sausage, frozen chicken parts, ground chicken, smoked fish, some chocolates, and (if possible) some bananas. We put together what could be supplied from the items I had brought and the items Tanya had already collected but there were still several things that were lacking and so a shopping trip was required before we could go to train station.

We stopped at several places selling meat and bought the meat items and then went to a grocery and bought some canned items and fruit. I bought more than enough because there are several widows in that village who do not receive anything and are in the most desperate condition. I knew Tanya’s mother would share these food items with those in need. The tour for shopping was by walking and consumed about 2.5 hours. The train pulled out of the depot at 4:15 p.m. We finished shopping and walked as fast as we could with sacks filled with canned goods and meat, packed them in an old sachel, and it was 3:45 p.m. As we walked back from shopping we saw the streets clogged and cars were not moving in any direction and this was the mess we would have to jump into when we went to the train station. We called a taxi and he arrived at 4:01 p.m.

We had 14 minutes to make it to the train station. On a good day without any traffic you can make it to the train station in 20-25 minutes. There was no hope of sending the food on the next day’s train because Tanya’s mother had told her that the entire village would be at the Orthodox Church so it was important that we get the food on today’s train. When the taxi arrived I told the driver that we needed to get to the train station very fast and I would pay him extra to do it. He was not the fastest driver I have ridden with but he got us there in 15 minutes in spite of heavy traffic and road construction. He took the most unorthodox route winding through the construction sites of buildings, hopping curbs, and driving as fast as he could all the while talking with Tanya about a number of things. We arrived at the depot at 4:16 p.m.

We asked him to wait. I grabbed two bags that weighed approximately 20 and 30 pounds and ran up the steps and through the terminal and out the back door and down the loading lanes to the tracks where the village train was just about to leave. Tanya had sprinted ahead of me to grab the train so it would not leave. I soon arrived huffing & puffing. We placed the bags in the conductor’s compartment. They would ride there until the train stopped at the village. We pay 5 grivenas a bag for transport like this. I wondered how good the chicken and other meat would be since it is not in a refrigerated compartment plus the temp inside the compartment had to be 80-90F!

Meeting with OUR HOME Consignee…

After leaving the train station we had to locate a money exchange. The first one we found had an exchange rate at 4.60! We kept looking and looking and walking and walking and finally we found one with 4.80. It was then time to go to one of the Consignees we use to ship into Donetsk—OUR HOME. We were going to make the appointment on time—the first such happening today. We caught a trolley bus and walked up to the front door of OUR HOME with one minute to spare. I reached to pull the door open and it was locked. Then a gasp from Tanya and these words, “Oh, I forgot! They have moved from this place.” “Where have they moved?” “Well it is close to our office flat” (so it was about a 30-minute walk back-tracking our route just taken!). The director is Vladimir Savelovich and he is always most eager to talk to us. A lady named “Valentina” had coordinated the distribution of the items shipped and she is getting the letters and notes for us. She said there were several newspaper articles about the distribution and she will also get those for us.

Vladimir wanted to talk with me about a special project he is currently involved with. He is currently working with a committee that is structuring a cooperative “educational loaning of teachers” throughout Ukraine. Vladimir says that this project will include 20,000 schools, boarding homes, and orphanages and 20 institutes of higher learning all over Ukraine. Vladimir asked if I could help offer contacts to schools and universities in the USA that would be interested in sending teachers to teach at brief intervals. He said, “Of course the emphasis I expect from your people would be spiritual, but I am interested in them also teaching basic courses needed in our schools and institutes.” I told him that I would need more information to share with those I could contact. So we are scheduled to meet again tomorrow with the Director of the cooperative Institute. This presents an interesting opportunity for Christians to be able to go all over Ukraine to teach in the schools and institutes with the clear understanding they will also present their courses from the biblical perspective. This would offer the opportunity for Christians to show the students in Ukraine how practical an impact biblical Christianity makes upon one’s education, vocation, and daily living. More of this meeting in tomorrow’s report.

After the meeting with Vladimir we were scheduled to meet a group for supper. In this group was Ashly Kempt from the Atlanta, GA area. Ashly is studying over here this year and will return to Atlanta the first of June. Also in this group was Natasha who is a ballerina in the Donetsk ballet company. When she was first introduced to me they said she was “a ballet dancer.” With the accent I thought they said that she was “a belly dancer”! The dinner lasted a long time and we were finished about 10:00 p.m. I finally got into bed after 11:30. It had been a long and arduous day!

Interesting triva of no truth…

As I was flying into Donetsk I looked at the airline magazine in the seat pocket. There were a number of interesting points in it. Since the Orthodox Easter is tomorrow, there were many articles about painted eggs and their origin. Imagine the surprise I had when I read that the Easter eggs originated because the women that went to see the tomb of Christ carried a basket of eggs. When they met the risen Lord they did not believe it was really Him so He touched the basket and all the eggs turned a bright red. In another section there were some articles about the origin of April Fools' Day. It was stated that the origin is uncertain but then went on to say that it had to do with the changing of the calendars from the Julian to the Gregorian. Here is what I recall it saying. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian calendar) to replace the old Julian calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated January 1. That was the year France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to January 1. But many people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it because of the difficulty in communicating in those times; so they continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1.  Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists calling them “fools” because they did not believe the truth of the matter. They also tried to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe. Now remember that this origin of April Fools was in the same column as the miracle of the eggs!

Keep praying for our efforts!!