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Happy 1530th Birthday

What!? 1530? Are you serious? Well, whatever Wikipedia may claim, Kyiv celebrated their 1530th birthday this weekend, marking its birth at 482 AD. That was just a little before the babushka that sits on the park bench was born (not seriously).

It gives a whole new perspective on old. At least it does for me. Of course, when you walk throughout the city, there are only a few places that are older than 100 years, like the Pechersk Lavra with mummified priests and monks and the golden gate which was the grand entrance into the city.

Of course, throughout the city are statues to heroes of Kyiv’s history, includingย Bogdan Khmelnytskyy (Cossack leader), Lesia Ukrainka, St Volodymyr, Yaroslav Mudry (Yaroslav the Wise), Princess Olga with Cyril & Methodius (creators of the cyrillic script), Taras Shevchenko and more!

And Kyiv isn’t even near the oldest city in Europe! But when you come visit, expect to learn a little bit of history because its part of the very fabric of Ukrainian society, celebrated with holidays, festivals and monuments.

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Special Feature: Ukraine

During the month of June we will doing special feature posts on Ukraine. It won’t be quite like discovery channel, we just don’t have the time or budget for that. The purpose of these posts is to give you a basic introduction to the world of an eastern European Ukrainian.

As you may have noticed, we’ve already started running with some articles on basic info and the 2012 European Football Cup (aka EuroCup). New articles will include topics like major holidays, significant events (births, weddings, funerals), the dacha and many more.

You can find these special articles by clicking on the Ukrainian flag at the bottom of the front page, or click here to go there now.

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EuroCup 2012 Poland-Ukraine

One of the largest football (soccer) events in the world is happening here in Ukraine. What does it mean for this nation? Will it be a great success? Is it even really such a big deal? YES! Every 4 years the best 16 national teams from across Europe play for the cup. At it will be held here in Ukraine and jointly in Poland.

The capital and infrastructure outlays for this event are unparalleled here. This event, at this time, has propelled Ukraine forward by 20 or 30 years. Rarely do games of any kind (like the Olypmics, etc) ever make money for the host countries or cities and it will almost certainly generate a deficit in dollars. But the gain in roadwork (beautifying, signage, surfacing), in air travel (new terminals), train travel (the first hi-speed train between the major cities will launch for this event), and in every aspect of tourism is incalculable.

Europe, possibly even the whole world, is watching. This is a defining moment for Ukraine and eastern Europe in general. Will it be a success? In some aspects we have already seen sad failures. The hotel industry hiked prices early on hoping for a windfall, but instead they pushed international fans away into the waiting arms of Poland. Never mind the political mess that surrounds Yanukovich and Tymoshenko. That situation has almost single-handedly contributed to the breakdown of talks between the European Union and Ukraine (the EU did not sign a major agreement this year based on Yanukovich’s imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko). That has led in turn to many European leaders boycotting the games here in Ukraine (including the final which will be held in Kyiv).

Can Ukraine turn it around? Hope is not lost yet. Fans will still come. Will they have a great experience – hopefully so! If ordinary citizens choose to treat visitors with respect and courtesy. If business owners charge fair prices for their services. If the police do not look to make money personally while doing their job – keeping the roads safe.

There is hope that EuroCup 2012 will be a success and that fans, both local and international, will have a great time!

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Basic Info

* Most of this info was taken from the Ukraine article on Wikipedia.

Ukraine’s Capital and largest city is Kyiv (Kiev/ะšะธั—ะฒ). Other major cities include Lviv (Lvov) in the west and Donetsk and Kharkiv in the east.

The only official language is Ukrainian but Russian is spoken east of Kyiv.

Almost 80% of Ukraine’s population is ethnically Ukrainian, and another 17% is ethnically Russian.

Government
The President is Viktor Yanukovych. The Prime Minister is Mykola Azarov and the Speaker of Parliament is Volodymyr Lytvyn. The Legislature is called Verkhovna Rada.

Historical Formation
– 882 Kievan Rus’
– 1199 Kingdom of Galiciaโ€“Volhynia
– 1649 Cossack Hetmanate
– Nov 7, 1917 Ukrainian National Republic
– Nov 1, 1918 West Ukrainian National Republic
– Dec 30, 1922 Ukrainian SSR
– Jun 30, 1941 Second Declaration of Independence
– Aug 24, 1991 Independence from the Soviet Union

The total area of Ukraine is 603,628 km2.
The 2010 population estimate is 45,888,000.
GDP Per capita is approx. $7,233.
Ukraine’s Currency is called the Hryvnia (UAH) and is approx 1 USD = 8 UAH.
Time zone Eastern European Time (UTC+2) but switches to DST in summer (UTC+3).
The International calling code is +380.

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3 Weeks Old

Wow how time flies. Aunty Lisa and Uncle Mike just spent 2 weeks here, giving us the wonderful opportunity to get on our feet since you joined us Kai. They held you lots, played with you, bathed you, changed you and loved you! You may never understand how great your uncles and aunties are, but hopefully one day you’ll become just like them!

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Love Grandma & Grandpa D

happy birthday, cassie! you’re 4 now! hope you had a good birthday. iย just remembered you already had your birthday because you are sleepingย now. did you like your piano book? next time we skype will you play us aย song? we miss you lots. this comes w/ love from grandpa & grandma d.

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2 Weeks

** This is a guest post by Mike Hopcraft.

Wow! ย I can’t believe that 2 weeks have gone by. ย Lisa and I haveย thoroughlyย enjoyed Ben and Ang’s wonderful hospitality. ย I am so glad that Lisa has been here before and that Ben was such a willing guide – I would have been lost many times over. ย Not only with the language but with the driving! ย Ben could be a rally race car champion!

Helping at the YWAM work day was very satisfiying. ย Seeing two of the interior walls being built for the new kitchen and the volleyball court levelled as well as LOTS of other clean up was great! ย It was neat to see how the whole YWAM team works hard, laughs a lot and encourages each other – what a great team.

We were able to see lots of the sights of Kiev as well as Lviv. ย In Kiev we saw the Iron Mamma, the war memorial, Lavra,ย holodomor memorial, Khreshchatyk St. and many more sites! ย I learned so much about the history of Ukraine, Kiev and Lviv. ย I really like old buildings and… doors, funny eh? ย Anyway, Lviv was a great place to take pictures of both! ย Ben, Jay, Lisa and I took the night train to get there (at 6am!!) and we walked up and down almost every street in the old part of Lviv. ย It was absolutely amazing. ย Not only did we cover lots of the streets but we went ‘under ground’ for supper, which included secret passageways and hidden doors! ย We also had a dizzying climb to the top of the bell tower and had a fantastic view of the city! ย At the end of the day we went back to the train station to wait for our train, which was scheduled to depart at midnight. ย We arrived at about 9:30 and it was very nice to be off our feet after a long day of walking. ย On the way back our train stopped for about an hour and that train car got quite warm – no need for those wool blankets. :)

Thanks Ben and Ang for being such great hosts! ย It was wonderful to spend so much time with you and your kids. ย May God bless you for the work you are doing in Kiev.

Mike.

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Baptism

This last Saturday we had a church picnic and baptism. What a beautiful day it was and by that I don’t mean the weather. Oh, the weather was great too but what makes a baptism special is not the weather. It’s being a part of something incredible.

What is baptism? Maybe this is oversimplifying it a little, but it is an experience of identifying with Jesus. He loved us and so died an innocent death to give us new life. When someone is baptised, they are usually dunked under the water, symbolising death (death to sin) and then raised out of the water, symbolising new life, the new life they have received in Jesus Christ.

Two of our friends were baptised this Saturday. What a beautiful day it was. Congratulations Veronica and Pasha – Christ is risen and you have new life with him!

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Uncle Mike’s Bike

I’m Lovin’ It! It’s true that those words usually refer to McDonald’s (which I can recognize from a long distance), but this time they refer to the joyride that Uncle Mike provided. Unbelievably, they took apart a little bike, packed it in a suitcase and flew all the way to Ukraine with it. So on day 3 I was pretty surprised to find my bum sitting on this little BMX, whippin’ around the YWAM property by the careful hands of Uncle Mike. Thanks uncle Mike!

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Property Work Day

Taking care of the properties used for serving people is clearly important. Whether its a building used for meetings, a van for transport or a beach for camps, the time spent in cleaning, maintenance and repairs is part and parcel of the opportunity to use them.

Here in Kyiv, we have a property with some buildings, fields for soccer and games, and a beautiful beach. Each gets used in different ways and by different groups. So for us its vital to be a part of taking care of them. Our visiting family (Ben’s sister Lisa and her husband Mike) contributed to our property care during the most recent property work day by spreading sand, picking rocks and building walls (part of an addition to the kitchen). Thanks for helping out!