Selling Flowers On Kreshatik

I took this photo today. An elderly woman on Kreshatik selling flowers.

Do Faith And Art GoTogether?

I found a wonderfully written post on the subject of faith and art over at David duChemin's blog, "Pixelated Image." I highly recommend a visit........click HERE to check it out!

Johnny Depp Poster

I think this Ukrainian movie poster of Johnny Depp's new movie is pretty cool.

VP Biden Visits Kyiv

US Vice President Biden visited Kyiv this week and visited the Holodomor Memorial and then sat in a pub and drank a coke with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushenko.

I hope the Ambassador's House provided hot water for his showers.

To see some awesome photos of his visit at the blog Ukrainiana, click HERE.

No Water In Kyiv? Wash In The City's Fountains!

I haven't had hot water in nearly 3 1/2 weeks. This is a big annual hassle that everyone has to deal with!

Summer In Kyiv

Temperatures in Kyiv this week have mostly been 90F or more.

I've spent most of the week home and sick with pharyngitis. I started to feel better but last night came down with a fever which has broken today but I still feel way under the weather.

Fortunately my flat is reasonably comfortable in the heat. I do wish we had our hot water back on as it seems that every time I take a cold shower or wash my hair I become reinfected.

So much for the boring health details!

I did try to use my time this week wisely by working on a writing project that I have been working on and off again for some time now. In fact, four years to be precise.

I want to document a lot of the stories and experiences I've had working with street children. I would like eventually to see if there's a possibility of turning it into a book. I definitely have enough material. But it's sure hard work to put together. But I'm starting to find the process interesting. If a book doesn't materialize, then for sure, I will be editing pieces and posting them on my blog.

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• Finally, a post! (ukrainestreetchildren.blogspot.com)
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• The Medical Center (ukrainestreetchildren.blogspot.com)
• Ministry Thoughts (ukrainestreetchildren.blogspot.com)

Kyiv

I love these apartment buildings on Kreshatik.

Tsum

World famous Tsum department store with an interesting advertisement on the front of it.

St. Sofia's Church

Here is the square in front of St. Sofia's Church.

The Bell tower.....

St. Michael's Church

Sometimes I find it aggravating to take photos around Kyiv because I feel like there's so much extra "stuff" that can get in the way of a photo of a beautiful church or building. There's either wires or advertisements/billboards or new buildings have been added without much thought to the line of the old architecture. But this is what it really looks like........

So I have decided to just work with it and shoot it like it is. Here is a billboard placed on the sidewalk between St. Michaels and St. Sophia's church. It blocks the view of St. Michael's.

Here is St. Michael's Church close up.

Book Review - Teach With Your Heart

I remember reading about the English class from Wilson High School in Long Beach, California that became known as the "Freedom Writers" in our local newspaper.

The "Freedom Writers" were a group of At Risk teenagers which had pretty much been given up on by their school system and their society. They were inspired by their teacher, Erin Gruwell to write their life stories after being inspired by the lives of Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic and learning about the holocaust.

Their story and book inspired teachers and students alike all over America and a movie was even made about them.

I read "The Freedom Writer's Diary" during a particularly hard season of ministry to street kids and was very encouraged. The book mostly focuses on the stories of the students but I was interested in Erin Gruwell's side of the story.

"Teach With Your Heart" is Erin's story and she delivers an inspirational testimony of how a preppy, Newport Beach raised young woman, put aside all cultural barriers and connected with inner city youth and changed their lives forever.

Don't read without a box of kleenex!

Kyiv's Hyatt Hotel

This is Kyiv's Hyatt Hotel.

The cool thing about this photo is that I did not notice the clouds reflecting in the mirrored windows until I downloaded it.

Relational Ministry vs Formulaic Ministry

Here is an excerpt from my July newsletter. If you would like to receive my monthly newsletters, please send your name and email address to: mmkukraine@yahoo.com


Through twitter, I asked my followers what they wanted to know about my ministry and someone said they wanted to know how I keep ministering in such a depressing environment where there is so much unending need.

That’s a good question and I admit there are times when everything just seems too difficult and I struggle with normal human questions about suffering.

But one of the things that helps me a lot is remembering that ministry, no matter what kind of ministry it is, needs to be personal. When I am building personal relationships with the people around me, I experience and see more evidence of hope and encouragement in the world around me.

Matthew 25:35 is a verse where Jesus tells those he is allowing into heaven what they did for him personally:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me……(NIV)

Jesus emphasizes that these are personal things that these people did for him. Their actions affected him personally as well as affected the people they were helping at the time.

When ministry becomes about a formula or plan that people are plugged into, it becomes easier to stereotype people. Stereotyping can lead to people becoming stigmatized or marginalized. The person’s need becomes the problem to overcome and the individual is lost as people try to solve the need and forget about the person. The person’s individuality is lost and they become just another face in a sea of needs. Their problem or need can then overwhelm us. We see no end to their suffering. Then it is easier to become tired, hopeless and turn away in helplessness.

• One day I was met at a traffic light by a group of street children that I knew from the Day Center where I had been volunteering. It was a Sunday and the Day Center was closed so they would not receive a meal that day. We greeted one another and they and asked me to buy them lunch at the local market. I took them across the street and bought them all lunch. It wasn’t part of the ministry plan. I didn’t use special set aside ministry funds. I just understood that they had a real need and I met it.

• The Ukrainians I work with in our ministry have opened up their hearts to me. I have been ministered to by them as they accepted me as one of their own. No longer do I feel lonely in my desire to help street children get off the streets.

• A couple, who are good friends of mine, came to visit me in Kyiv. My friend was not prepared for the bitter fall weather in Ukraine and she had brought summer clothes with her. My neighbors took one look at her clothes and sandals and immediately ran into their flat and brought out tons of sweaters, jackets, scarves and even boots for her to wear during her time in Ukraine. She was amazed at their kindness in making sure she had warmer clothes to wear.

• One of my Ukrainian friend’s elderly grandmother was suffering from the effects of a bad stroke. She was very sick and could not take care of herself nor communicate well. As the church he attended believed this was caused by “sin,” no one from the church would come and visit her. I went to their flat regularly to visit with his family and grandma. One day my friend called me and held the phone up to his grandma’s mouth and I heard her say, “Michelle, please come and visit us and be our guest.” We were all surprised that she was able to string coherent words together much less invite someone over to visit her. She didn’t see my visits as something I had to do as part of a missions outreach. She saw me as a family friend.

• My elderly landlady saves up all her energy to take regular trips to a women’s prison. She returns from her visits with photographs of the women and she excitedly tells me each woman’s story and shares letters that they have written to her about how God is changing their lives. She saves up money to buy them medication and necessities that they can’t get in the prison.

Personal ministry gives people dignity. Personal ministry allows God to not only work in the hearts of those we are ministering to but he uses them to teach us about him as well.

I hope that these examples encourage you and I hope that you will reach out to someone you know today.

BBC Report That Ukrainian Hospitals Are Run With Little To No Money

A BBC News article focuses on the current state of hospitals in Ukraine which is pretty bleak. Since the economic "crisis" has started, I have heard rumors that hospitals were shutting down many of the special medical programs or just shutting down altogether.

Apparently a child with cancer in Ukraine has a mortality rate which is double that of the children who live in Western Europe. I have been in the children's cancer hospital here many times and know that the situation for the children and the parents is very serious and heartbreaking. Most families cannot pay for the medicine or treatment for their children.

To read the article and see photos of a hospital in Ukraine, click HERE.

Lenin Gets A Facelift

This is a video from youtube that a group of Ukrainian nationalists made covering their recent attempt to deface the Lenin statue that stands in the center of Kyiv.

In the end he reportedly suffered a broken nose and arm.

All I can think of as I watch this video is that if the ladder slips, that man is going to be seriously hurt in the fall.

(By posting this video, I am NOT condoning vandalism of public property. I just think it's pretty interesting to watch.)

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• Arrests after attack on Lenin statue (guardian.co.uk)