It was 20 years ago today...

No, it was longer ago that Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.  But 20 years ago Sgt. Pepper could finally be freely heard on Ukrainian radio and literally dozens of hardcore Beatles fans could finally go to a music store instead of the black market to buy their bootlegged albums.  

Today is the 20th anniversary of Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union. 

“In view of the mortal danger surrounding Ukraine in connection with the state coup in the USSR on August 19, 1991, Continuing the thousand-year tradition of state development in Ukraine, Proceeding from the right of a nation to self-determination in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and other international legal documents, and Implementing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine, The Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic solemnly declares the Independence of Ukraine and the creation of an independent Ukrainian state – UKRAINE.”

- Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, August 24, 1991 (via US embassy Kiev blog)

 

I remember being here in 2001 at the 10 year anniversary and though I was young and naive it seemed like Ukraine was young and already disillusioned with independence.   That was mostly due to corrupt government and poverty throughout most of Ukraine.  The government was still running the same as it had during the Soviet Union though the populace enjoyed a much greater degree of freedom (especially religious freedom).

Five years later at the 15 year anniversary of Independence the mood was very different.  The Orange Revolution had united many people against corruption and for change.  There was a new power structure that promised a new era of fighting corruption in government.  The economy was strong and people's lives were improving.  Ukraine had held its first open elections and it seemed like not only was the country independent but its citizens were finally independent as well.

Now at the 20 year anniversary much of the progress of the Orange Revolution has been reversed, lost, or forgotten.  The man charged with rigging the 2004 elections is now president and has taken huge steps in consolidation of power (some if has actually helped stabilize Ukraine) taking away many democratic reforms and processes that had made people feel like Ukraine was moving forward. The average person seems to feel that independence means not being dependent on their government as opposed to being an independent nation. 

In spite of these ups and downs in Ukraine over the last decade Ukraine has been one of the few post soviet nations to avoid civil war, to have free press (well at least some), and to continue to have massive religious freedom.  We'll see where the next 20 years takes Ukraine but for now I'm thankful that God has given Ukraine independence and caused the gospel to flourish here.  We pray that the gospel would take root and and transform the culture of Ukraine so that people would see that their freedom and hope is not found in a government or constitution but in Jesus Christ.
   

Global Mission Mondays: Mauritania

Tonight at our prayer meeting we will be praying for the country of Mauritania.

Over the last 30 years there have been 3 coups and much political instability in Mauritania.

Now in Mauritania about 20% of the population live on less than US$ 1.25 per day.  Modern day slavery is still a common practice and according to some estimates, up to 600,000 Mauritanians, or 20% of the population of 3.2 million, are still enslaved. 

Mauritania has one of the lowest GDP rates in Africa, despite being rich in natural resources. However, a majority of the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood.  In the early 21st century there were only 11 physicians per 100,000 people.

The country is nearly 100% Muslim, with almost no Christian presence.  The Joshua Project lists the people groups of Mauritania among the least reached with almost no Christian influence.

The need for the gospel in Mauritania is great.

Vacation

  

We spent the last week up in Chernigov hanging out with the McNamee family and the Knotts family and relaxing at the Knotts' dacha (cabin).  We spent the first couple days with the McNamee's and had a great time eating amazing gluten-free food, talking about roof installation, and making friends with Arden.

Then we went up to the dacha for some relaxation.  The weather was great, a little on the chilly side at night, but warm and sunny for most of the day.  I read most of John Piper's book Think which is a great book about using our minds to love God without becoming cold intellectuals. I also started reading Rid of My Disgrace.  It was great to have nothing to do but read, rest, and swim.  The McNamee's came up and joined us for an afternoon of swimming and BBQing. 

BBQ at the Dacha with the McNamee family

Then we went back to Chernigov to spend some time with the Knotts family.  Jake and I spent a whole day talking about book publishing and planning out the next six months for In Lumine Media and taking our employees out to lunch (at the best Italian cafe this side of the Dnipro).   Liese and Anya went thrift-store shopping and came back with bags of loot.  We had a lot of fun with the Knotts family and Maia was, as usual, a riot. 

Maia with a smoothie

In Lumine lunch with Olya, Marina, Jake, and amazing food. Conor also was there. 

God has made our hearts capable of great joy in these things

John Piper on the joy of missions:

One of the terrible effects of the Fall is that our souls have shrunk. We are content with very small vision. And our ability to be amazed is often exhausted by artificial worlds in movies. This is tragic.

The real world is a stunning place. World population is an astounding size. Complexities of languages and cultures are mind-boggling. The universality of sin is manifest and terrible. The misery of suffering is appalling. The prospect of eternal suffering is the most sobering truth in the world. The coming of Jesus to save repentant people from every culture is the greatest news in the world. The hope of the end of sin the arrival of a new world of righteousness and joy in the presence of God is worth everything. And God’s granting us to be essential in this global redemption is astounding.

These are the greatest realities we were made to live for and think about and pray over and dream toward and throw ourselves into.

And my point here is that God has made our hearts capable of great joy in these things. Joy that can be had no other way. Not all are to be missionaries. But all are to tap into the joy of this great global cause of Christ.

via Desiring God

Global Mission Mondays: Morocco

 We've continued praying for countries in northern Africa at our church's weekly prayer meeting even though I haven't put the info up on our blog.  Tonight we are praying for the country of Morocco.

Morocco has a population of about 32 million people, 99% of whom fall into the general category of Arab-Berber however there are many distinct ethnic groups through Morocco with their own dialects.   Islam is the state religion and about 99% of the population is Muslim,  however Morocco has always been known for its islamic liberalism and openness towards the Western world. Christians make up about 1% of the countries population and are free to openly practice their faith but proselytizing Muslims is illegal.

[information from wikipedia and the joshua project]

An American Pickle in Ukraine

Pickled cucumbers are a big part of Ukrainian cuisine and the variations of recipes seem to depend largely on availability of ingredients as well as the tastes of those preparing them. For the most part the pickling process is based on a brine of salt, water and various herbs from one's garden. Vinegar is rarely used and the result is a pickle that we Footes deem an excellent addition to any number of salads that are traditionally prepared here. However it is merely tolerable on sandwiches, which is where most North Americans would consume pickles. There are a number of things wrong if their desired application is for a sandwich endeavor. They tend to lose their crispness, many times dill weed is not added, and they are also occasionally extremely salty.

We always plant way too many cucumbers. So I end up making way too many pickles. We sometimes donate them to prisoners when guys from our church visit them.  Incarcerated hommies need supplies for the Z.A. too!

I don't remember where I got my recipe but one year I made a batch of dill pickles and D raved that they came out similar to the Vlasic variety. Here's how I make 'em:

Dill Pickles

(per 1 large 3 liter jar)

1 liter of water
1/3 cup of salt
2 cups of white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

Smallish cucumbers- washed
1 clove of garlic
peppercorns
1 horseradish leaf
seeds of dill weed plant

Sterilize jars by washing them well and then placing them in the oven on low for 20 min. Turn oven off but leave oven door closed so that they stay warm. There are other methods of sterilization but this is the easiest in my opinion.

Wash cucs, horseradish, and dill weed. Combine first 4 ingredients from recipe above in saucepan and bring to a boil.

Add herbs and garlic to warm jars and pack them with washed cucs, not too tightly.

Add the salt and vinegar mixture. It should come most of the way up the jar. Top it off with boiling water from the kettle (to about and inch below the rim).

Use a chopstick or butter knife and slide it down the sides in a few places. This helps the trapped air to escape. Sometimes I forget this step and they still come out fine. However I have noticed that those on YouTube who really seem to know what they're doing always include this step. Pish posh!

Wipe the rim with a clean wet cloth so that nothing remaining could cause the seal to break.

You should have lids simmering in a pot. I use tongs to grab them one at a time and put them in place.

This here contraption is called a key (as are a number of other things in the Russian language). It is used to "lock" the seal in place. There are other, much easier methods of canning, such as twist-on lids. But this was the method I photographed. So this is what you get.

The key is place over the lid and turned. As the spiral moves inward the metal lid is sealed around the rubber. Below is a blurry photo of how it looks afterward.

I use the inversion method to process pickles. This method is not really used in the States anymore in favor of a water bath, which would kill any bacteria. I usually do the water bath method when canning jams and chutneys, okay I don't. But I'm not too worried about this method for pickles because of the salt and vinegar content. The acid keeps anything from growing. Actually many Ukrainians don't even bother to seal out the air. They just fill the jars and put them directly in their cellars and they keep all winter.

So choose a spot in your house that won't be disturbed for a few days. Lay a folded blanket or a few towels down. Invert the jars with a few inches between them for air circulation. Cover them with a few more blankets, or as some locals do, with a fur coat.

Leave them 3-4 days undisturbed. Then store them right-side-up in your cellar or pantry. They should be ready in a few weeks.

Annnnnnnnnd Voila, pickles galore!

Some Photos of Kaharlyk

I realized it has been quite a while since I've taken any pictures of Kaharlyk so I took my camera with me today as Liese and were walking around town and snapped away.   This is Kaharlyk:

One of Kaharlyk's many small residential streets.

The always lovely Liese.

People waiting for a bus near The Tank.

People checking out our town's classifieds.

Doing some public utilities maintenance in front of the hospital. 

A lady selling onions and melons from a van.

Selling milk out front of the newest addition to Kaharlyk's retail stores.

Kaharlyk's roundabout, we don't need stop lights in this town.

A bus ostensibly bound for Sushana that was parked most of the day on this street near our house.

The Desiring God National Conference

We just booked tickets to go to the Desiring God National Conference in September.  Liese and I don't usually attend conferences, partly because of scheduling and finances and partly because we are somewhat introverted and large crowds of people can be a bit overwhelming.   But since we've been trying to expand In Lumine Media we've realized that attending conferences can be very beneficial not just for In Lumine but for our ministry here in Kaharlyk.  At last year's DG National Conference we met a number of people with ministries (like The Elisha Foundation) who we hope will help our church to further spread the gospel in our region.

When we found out that the theme of The DG Conference this year was world missions we decided that it could be advantageous to network with organizations and people that minister on this side of the world, both for In Lumine and for us.  We prayed about it, talked about it, and then wrote in our newsletter that we would like to go.  The next month we were given about half of what we would need to go, so we decided to go for it. 

We found out we were a little late to register for an exhibitor's booth for In Lumine which means that we won't be able to promote In Lumine as much as we would like, but it will still be good for us to be there.  Our hope is that we will meet like-minded people and work together to spread the gospel throughout Ukraine and the Russian speaking world through our local church and In Lumine Media as well as be encouraged by the speakers and what God is doing around the world.

This week in photos

I was going to write various blog posts last week but we had thunderstorms that knocked our power out several times so I figured I'd do one mega-post for the whole week. . . with photos.

getting warmed up on the freshly mowed field.

With all the rain we've been having the field at the elementary school where we have cricket practice has been getting very overgrown.  So I suggested we take our lawnmowers out and mow the soccer field before practice.   Nothing like playing on a nicely mowed field.  Our cricket team is improving, we had two games over the weekend and our guys played really well. 

Wayne sharing from the bible after dinner.

Wednesday night was our monthly evening for senior citizens.  Usually in July we have the evening in our church's back yard and we grill hot dogs as a fun summer theme.  But this year the weather forecast was for thunderstorms so we set up inside and grilled hot dogs anyway.   As soon as the evening ended and people started to leave the predicted thunderstorm hit and turned out to be more of a monsoon than a thunderstorm. So we gave everyone a ride home.

Serving up plates of food.

 Saturday afternoon we had our monthly church work day.  We've been putting up fence boards to finish the fence around our church property.  We got quite a bit done for a half day of work. 

Wayne and Timor cutting boards.

 

about a third of the way done with our fence.

 At home I've been working on getting our fence put up.  I've got most of the poles in place for this section, concrete poured for a foundation, and the rest of the boards cut and ready to be sealed.  

100 boards ready to be sealed.

Liese has been working inside painting, plastering, and canning (we'll write about her canning exploits another time).  We took off radiators so that she could plaster and paint behind them.  We are getting very close to being done.