Seeing Kiev and Paperwork in Hand

Greetings!

Julie and I really had a fun, adventurous day today. We were blessed to be again joined by our new friend Heather, who is from Nashville and is living in Ukraine working for Radooga, a ministry which serves Ukrainian youth, including orphans. She took time out of her day to accompany us around the city, and we can't speak highly enough of her and her organization. They are saving lives and changing a country for Christ. Check them out here at radooga.com.

As an amusing side note, I may not have mentioned that when we first arrived here, we purchased a Ukrainian cell phone and loaded it with enough minutes for the duration of our trip, which cost very little. We have used it a few times to speak to our facilitator and Heather, but we have been receiving, almost non-stop, some interesting text messages. For example:

                                                                       

Not sure what these are about, but we assume its some type of mass marketing campaign. Anyway, we had two things we needed to do today. First, we had to pick up our official letter giving us permission to visit A's region at the SDA. Second, we needed to buy some crafting supplies to take with us to share with A's friends at the orphanage. With Heather as our guide, we made a full day of it. We first walked down to near Maidan Square to have lunch at the Globus, which is an underground mall. Along the way, we saw a few things of note.

This if the Golden Gate, or Zoloti vorota. This is the original location, but largely a reconstruction of the gate that marked the boundary of Kiev 1,000 years ago. There used to be only wilderness on the other side.

This is the excellent Italian restaurant where we had dinner Monday night.

We went to a Ukrainian, cafeteria-style restaurant in the food court, which turned out to be pretty good. We had soup, Kiev chicken, which is fried chicken with butter on the inside, potato salad and bread. Also at the food court there was a McDonalds and Baskin Robbins. Then there was this place, which we did not patronize, although a part of me really wanted to. 

 McFoxy Lady! A chicken place rather than a McDonalds knock off. Wasn't highly recommended. 

After lunch, we took the Ukrainian Metro to a large retail store called MegaMart. The Kiev Metro is the deepest in the world, and where we entered it seemed to take 5 or more minutes just to get down the fast moving escalator.The ride itself was comparable to most other subways I've been on. Coming up out the subway, there was American music playing (as there always seems to be) over an intercom system. This time, it was AC DC (Highway to Hell). At the top of the stairs, there was a Ukrainian gentlemen passing out some type of flyer, only he was doing it while simultaneously doing the Chuck Berry dance a la Johnny B Goode and screaming out something like "Oh Yeah!" in falsetto and in time with the music. It's unfortunate that I couldn't get a picture made with this guy, but it was snowing and I ended it taking a header right on the pavement as soon as I stepped off the stairs. I was probably thinking of how I would imitate him given a chance. I can say, however, that all three of us ended up falling at different times during our long trek through the snow. 

MegaMart was a lot like Costco, and we found lots of good craft supplies and gifts for the children. My kids will  like this picture, as they had what they affectionately call "drivey carts:"

After MegaMart, we took the Metro back towards the SDA with the intent of taking a cool train up the side of the steep bluff I mentioned yesterday (sort of like an incline train). When we got there, the attendant said it was closed. When asked why, she shrugged and said it was snowing. In any case, we got a picture made in front of it. 

Since we couldn't take the train, we had a pretty long, very slippery, uphill hike to get to the SDA. Once there, we were able to pick up our letter of recommendation without incident after a 45 minute wait. During that time, we met several other American families from Arizona, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It's wonderful to see so many others with a heart for orphans. Then, we had a snowy hike back to our apartment. The city was very beautiful in the snowy dusk. 

Snowy Kiev

Back at our apartment, we had some more fellowship time with Heather before she departed for Western Ukraine. We really look forward to seeing her again on our third trip here. Afterward, we bravely set out on our own to a pizza place we saw on our way back. Thankfully, they spoke English (as many people in Kiev seem to) and we ordered our dinner and walked back. Now we have to finish packing our things and getting ready to travel in a few hours. It's amazing to think that 6 months exactly since we tearfully placed "A" back on an airplane home we will be seeing her again. The Lord has certainly gone before us and blessed us through this whole venture, and we can't wait to see her again. Look for many more photos and details in the days to come. This is the end of what I wanted to share with you about our adoption experiences today. However, if you're at all curious about our take on the political climate here in Ukraine, please keep reading.

As I close, I want to address the political situation in Ukraine, which is headline news around the world. I'm going to generalize a bit, but please bear with me this matter is heavy on my heart. Without going into too much detail, we've learned much more about the Maidan protests, and will have much more to say about it later on once the adoption process is complete. It's often said that we Americans take things (possessions, material items, freedoms, lifestyles, etc.).  for granted, and that is certainly true. However, what we don't realize is the source of those things. Ingrained in American culture is an amazing concept: A government of law, not men. In America, the law is supreme,  it flows up from the people, and we and our elected leaders alike are bound to it. We are all equal before the law. And the law clearly confirms inalienable rights granted by our Creator (it does not create them, only affirms them). As a result of the law securing these rights, we may assemble and worship as we choose, bear arms, conduct business freely, contract with whom we choose, state our opinions without legal reprisal, and be guaranteed a litany of legal rights in criminal and civil cases. The material success of our country, while a blessing, is not a forgone conclusion around in the world, and does not naturally occur in other countries as a result of the accumulation of wealth and power. Our system remains a rarity in the history of the world and in the world today. We are what we are and have what we have because our liberty is enshrined in law that everyone is subject to equally. Conversely, in Ukraine, the president can have laws created, changed, eliminated, bent, or ignored. People can and are being beaten, arrested, robbed, blacklisted, and vanishing, on a whim. Ukraine, unfortunately, is currently a government of men.  Here what rights you have are subject to the government, and the law means nothing if you know the right person or have enough money. I understand partisan politics in the US and am not without political convictions, but there is nothing even remotely close equivalent to Democratic or Republican party politics here. There are dozens of parties and competing interests in Maidan Square (Independence Square, ironically), and I don't pretend to understand the details of this movement. However, I can tell you that the people who have been in the cold for two months have one unifying desire: that they would become a free nation where rights are protected by law, and power is exerted by the people over the government, and not the government over the people. 

You might well say that a government of law is well and good, what kind of law? Bad laws would mean bad government. What is the source of our law? On November 19, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Abraham Lincoln gave what is one of the most revered speeches in American history that simply and eloquently sums up our governmental philosophy: 

"that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth"

Beautiful words, but not unique. 500 years earlier, John Wycliffe, an English theologian, completed a translation of the New Testament into English, a revolutionary act at the time. Wycliffe was so reviled by the Vatican for translating the Bible into a language his countrymen could understand that 44 years after his death his body was dug up and his bones were ground to powder and cast into the river Thames. 

In the prologue of the Wycliffe Bible, written in 1384, is stated the following:

"This Bible is for the Government of the People, by the People, and for the People."

Let's pray that the Ukrainian government will discover and confirm, and the American people remember, the source of their rights, laws, and government. 

Will update you all tomorrow. Have a blessed evening.

Michael and Julie