Isaiah 58

Sometimes I look back on my years in Ukraine and think, "Dang, this is so hard. This is so HARD. Why do I DO this?" Life is so complicated here and it's routine to occasionally find yourself totally overwhelmed and feeling bereft. Last month I had a morning of feeling this way and I found myself starting to read Isaiah 58 and remembered thirteen years ago when this chapter had first gotten my attention.

I was on a bus with my missions team and we were somewhere between one of what seemed like one of thousands (I'm exaggerating, that's just what it felt like) of orphanages that we visited to give away Samaritan Purse shoeboxes which were packed full of gifts. At that time, teams were not as common as they are now and we found ourselves repeatedly meeting people and children who had never met Americans. We were oddities and entertainment. We smiled and hugged the kids and expressed probably more emotion in ten minutes than they would see in ten days time.

I had many reactions to seeing hundreds of children starving for attention and love. One of the more usual feelings for many people who visit institutional orphanages is, "This is SO wrong. Something has to be DONE about this. These children need to be FREE from this situation."

At some point on this blur of a trip, one lady got up and just started reading Isaiah 58. Now you have to understand that we had over thirty type A personalities on this trip. Amazingly enough we bonded and were so geared up that on the drive home from LAX we were all, "LET'S GO BACK RIGHT NOW THIS MINUTE AND DO IT AGAIN!" No one fell behind in this group.

So at one point of the trip, one of the ladies on our team got up and just started reading Isaiah 58 like it's the most normal thing to do while we are all driving down a potholed road in Ukraine. We got all worked up about setting the captives free and lifting that yoke of oppression and feeding the hungry and giving out clothes to those who need them. We were practically bouncing off the roof of the bus with excitement! We had a moment of emotional connection with God's heart. We were seeing the needs of the people that God wanted us to help and we connected the concept together.

Last month, thirteen years later I read that chapter again and I realize that the emotion, passion and desire are only the starting point when God calls us to go out and help others. The desire is good but it's only the beginning. The desire comes before the hard work. The preparing, the plans, the carrying it out is the next stage and it's not as easy. It is much harder. The sweat, tears, the strain on your finances and perseverance get played out and put to the test. The rubber meets the road so to speak. This is were some people unfortunately get disillusioned and quit.

I realized that desire and then the reality of carrying out ministry to people are two different things. We cannot always continue onwards to a goal solely sailing on our desires or passions. Like an athlete who has to discipline himself to train even on the days he doesn't feel like it, we have to understand that in helping people, we have to keep going even when the going gets tough. And even though that will be the hardest part, the results are well worth it.

Is it worth it to tell an orphan that Jesus loves them and see their whole life change with just these words? Is it worth it to give a child a shoebox of toys when they have nothing? Is it worth it to give cold children warm clothes? Is it worth it to help a street child get off the streets and begin to live a totally normal life? Is it worth it to give medicine to a sick child? Is it worth it to help tutor a child so they can learn another language? Is it worth it to spend time with a handicapped child who can't go to school and be around children his own age? Is it worth it to visit sick children in the hospital and pray for them? Is it worth it to help a child be placed in a family? Is it worth it to help a young mom understand how to show love to her child?

These are some of the things I've been able to be a part of after the passion of this chapter of Isaiah 58 captured my heart. I have had many people, some even Christians, ask me this question. Why do you do this? Why is this important?

Because it's worth it. Even through the hard days, it's worth it.

I still sometimes feel like I'm on that bus with my friends driving down the potholed roads of Ukraine. That trip was the beginning of a longer journey for me and my heart is thankful for everyone who is still "with me" on that "bus," my friends, family, sponsors, churches, organizations I've worked with, and my Ukrainian ministry partners.

Living out Isaiah 58 is not easy but it is SO worth it!

"And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.".....Isaiah 58:11

Turkish Delights

When you're me and you bring back gifts for your friends, eventually they will go on a trip and bring back a gift for you! My friend recently returned from Turkey and brought me a gift of this box of candy and turkish coffee!

The coffee is very fine and powdery so I thought I should make it in my turkish coffee pot! You just add the water and coffee and heat until it just starts to boil.

I opened the box and found these little white cotton ball looking things laying side by side inside of it.

Okay, the coffee was ready so I then poured it into a little tiny Ukrainian coffee cup.

Does this look like it's going to be tasty or what?

The candy is very much like cotton candy and is sugar spun into these little balls. The coffee? It was heavenly!

Street Life Video Clip

Here's a video I uploaded last night to my facebook page and thought today that I should post it on my blog so those of you who aren't on facebook can see it too. It was taken last year and is a video that one of our staff made when he found a Mom who had been living on the streets in Kyiv for over 10 years. She had lived on the street as a child and now is a Mom raising 2nd generation street kids.

New Center

After ten years, ChildRescue has had to move it's Rehabilitation Center across town. It now is going to be officially called, "The Social Center." Usually this kind of move means moving into a space that is run down and needs a lot of remodeling work. I visited our new Center this week and even though it's about half the space of our old Center, it does not need as much work as I thought it would and we will soon be ready to officially reopen.

We had a leader's meeting while the boys helped move things around. Then it was time for an Ukrainian lunch of salo, veggies and hard boiled eggs.

With watermelon for dessert! It was super good too!

Yum!

Life In The City

As time goes by when you live in a country not your own, life can seem, well, more normal. I can go for days speaking only Russian and chatting with people in my market or the local babushki that roam around looking asking for money. Things get to seem, well, normal. You're acclimatized. Then usually, something happens that totally rocks your world and you realize that you are way, way, way, not in Kansas anymore. In fact, you are in another world altogether.

This summer, I've noticed that about once a week, I wake up at 7 or 8am and hear an obnoxious tapping noise.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

It's loud. It goes on and on and on for about three or four hours.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

Because I live in a city and am use to constant street and neighbor noises, I've grown pretty tolerant of noise in general. I am even used to fireworks going off at 2 am in the morning. I can even say I like living in a city and enjoy the noise.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

But this.......

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

Last Monday at 8 am the noise started and continued for two hours.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

It got on my nerves and I had to figure out what or who was making this noise.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

I went out on my balcony to survey the back area and give the world my best hefty, "I am an Ukrainian woman-what are you doing?-you are being obnoxious and I am going to intimidate you" look. (I still haven't perfected this. I am still too thin and too young. I consider this a good thing.)

I hear it but don't see it.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

Then under the trees I see a man with a little tartar style cap on his head. He is clearly engrossed in his work and pounding something.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

I see the glint of metal.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

It is.......a sword!

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

A sword! Right here in the middle of Kyiv, a globalized, Eastern European city!

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

It was long and curved. A tartar sword.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

He must have been using it a lot for it to need so much attention.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

Could he be preparing his weapons for the rescue of the beautiful Yulia Tymoshenko?

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

Then he finished and pulled out a long, wooden stick and attached the sword to it.

It was a scythe! A scythe! You know, like the grim reaper, Kostya Levin in "Anna Karenina", and the sickle part of the communist party's hammer and sickle?

A scythe in the middle of Kyiv!

I have never seen one before in my life.

Definitely a "not in Kansas anymore" moment.

"tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap"

He finished about an hour later.

Then for the next two hours........

"shssss, shsss, shsss, shsss, shsss, shsss, shsss, shsss,"

Time to sharpen it!

I love Ukraine.

Less News = More Time To Live

I haven't turned on my TV and watched news in so long that I can't remember the last time it happened. In fact, I have stopped watching TV. I only use my TV to watch DVDs.

I haven't picked up a Kyiv Post, (our local english language newspaper) in so long that I can't remember the last time I read one either.

I read the news headlines on maybe a couple of internet news sites during the week. I skip those on Saturdays and Sundays. The world does not stop. I rarely click through a headline to an article. I usually can get the gist of what is going on in the world just by reading the headlines. I do notice articles posted on Facebook and Twitter. Again, I rarely click through to read them. I just read the headlines. Sometimes I just ignore Twitter because I've subscribed to too many news feeds. I need to clean up my twitter account big time.

The weird thing is, if you actually make an effort to pay less attention to news in our information overload culture, you will STILL know what is going on because you will still be made aware of what is going on around you. I call it "news osmosis" That's all the news I need to take in daily, otherwise it's information overload time.

What I've noticed about my news reading/watching habit is this. Less news = more time to live. Occasionally there's that disaster that we all keep up with, but for the most part, not much is happening day to day that's actually going to affect you.

When I visit my family in the states the news is on in their house from 8am to 11pm every day, except of course, for daily breaks that feature Judge Judy and/or her various TV show judge off springs. I've noticed that the constant steam of negative news I am subjected to (because let's face it, nothing positive ever really is presented) really gets on my nerves and if I pay attention to it I start to feel very negative.

Hence my motto: Less news = more life!

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."........John 14:27 (NIV)

Love The Salads!

If I had the time, I would love to do a food blog! Believe it or not, one of the most popular questions I get when I am state side is, "What do you eat in Ukraine?" So, I like to share from time to time.

It's summer now, so the markets are full and brimming over with fresh vegetables and fruits. Because the weather is so extreme here, I tend to like comfort type food in the winter and in the summer try to stick with lighter meals focusing on salads. Here is a yummy one with carrots, radishes, zucchini and mint leaves. Salt and pepper and olive oil to taste.