Lance & Megan's Blog

What Ukraine wants

March2

Things in Ukraine have been changing hourly for the past week or so.  It has been a real emotional roller coaster here.  So to begin, I will take a look at the bigger picture and then get into specifics.  At least from my point of view.

It is hard, sometimes, to listen to commentary about the Ukrainian situation from outside Ukraine.  Most big news organizations portray this unrest in terms of people mad about not being aligned with EU.  Sure that is what started this whole movement, however it was never really about being with EU in the first place. It was more about getting away from Russia.  Being a part of the EU trade circle will not all be pie and diamonds.  It has the potential to be really rough for the country.  However, most Ukrainians see it as better than Russia.

That all said. The current movement does not have much to do with the EU at all.  It is a movement towards freedom from oppression.  A friend of mine did an interview with a US news station and summed that all up quite well.

To really understand why this unrest got to the place it did, you have to look at the demographics of Ukraine as well as the history of the people in power.  The country is mostly split into two major demographics. The ethnic Ukrainian Ukrainian and ethnic Russian Ukrainian. The ethnic Russian population of course has stronger ties to Russia.  This is where the currently former President comes from.  Not only that, he was in prison twice and basically a mobster.  When the Soviet Union fell, a lot of mobsters and corrupt officials became leaders of the country since they had the money.  The region where he came from is strongly influenced by fear, manipulation and corruption.  So you can now see, his presidency has been very much that of fear, manipulation and corruption.  In his side of the country, this has worked well for years but not in Western and Central Ukraine where it is predominantly ethnic Ukrainian.

Ukrainians are fighters.  In the past few hundred years they have had about 80 years of freedom  and only a little over 20 of that being since the Soviet Union fell.  This entire time, they have fought against the oppressor. So a new oppression in the form of a president who was acting more like a dictator/mobster did not do him any favors.  (Just google “Yanukovych palace” and judge for yourself if this president was on his way to joining the dictators club.) He was bold enough to use his tried and true tactics on the nation of Ukraine (such as imprisoning the opposition, putting friends and family in important positions, stealing money from Ukrainians etc.) and it totally backfired. Character has a funny way of coming out no matter who you are and this was the case with the president.  He eventually saw violence as the answer… big mistake.  So now you see a nation taking charge of it’s future and fighting for freedom.  Side note, this is the first time in recent times, people have actually died for freedom.

So, the former president seems to be running things, the protesters want to make sure change happens before they back down and true leadership for the country is uncertain.  The nation really needs prayer during this time. Not every Ukrainian is happy with what is happening.  A lot of the Ethnic Russian population sees this as a loss. Whatever happens, Ukraine is and will be different.  Most Ukrainians want change in a big way, just ask Lenin. His statues are coming down all over the place.  It is the Ukrainian symbolic gesture that screams “we are done with the old and rooted corruption, we want something better for our nation!”  They proved this with their lives.

posted under cultural, Ukraine | Comments Off on What Ukraine wants

Ternopil gets into the action

March1

Most of the action for independence is in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine which is an 9 hour train ride away. Ternopil is usually a quiet city, not too much happens here. Ternopil is the capital of the Ternopil oblast, what Americans would call states. The Ternopil oblast is the poorest in the country, we do not have many exports, we are primarily a university region.

Despite the economy here, Ternopilites have gone in droves to Kiev to help in the fighting. Ternopil is quite nationalistic and will contribute to any cause that will help Ukraine as a country. Not only have people here gone, they have given tires, food, medical supplies, and money to help in the revolution.

On February 19th, the people became more active. Earlier one government building was taken over by protesters but on Wednesday night they set fire to the police office, the prosecutors office and police vehicles. They tore up the cobble in the streets and threw them at other government building windows. People wanted to make sure to put an end to all corruption in all areas of the government.

Here are a few photos of what happened.

Ternopil riot 1 overturned truck

Ternopil riot 4 (good)

Ternopil riot 3

posted under cultural, Ukraine | Comments Off on Ternopil gets into the action

And they chanted “REVOLUTION!”

December5

8 Years ago, this same place was full of protesters demanding the resignation of the same president they reelected 3 years ago.

[8 Years ago, this same place was full of protesters demanding the resignation of the same president they reelected 3 years ago.]

It is hard not to hear news coming from the nation we are serving in these days.  Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been the rope in a tug-o-war between Western Europe and the Post Soviet power house, Russia.  It is a very strategic location economically and let’s not forget militarily. Ukraine is pretty much split in half in terms of loyalties (from my estimate).  Half would like to create strong ties with Russia and the other half I would consider anti-Russia. This second group is actually a couple groups in it’s own right. The EU lovers and the Ukrainian nationalists wanting to get away from Russia with the EU the most convenient route.

[This is the biggest protest Ukraine as seen since the Orange Revolution]

[This is the biggest protest Ukraine as seen since the Orange Revolution]

So when the president, who is seen as a puppet of Moscow by many, backed out of signing a highly anticipated agreement with the EU at the last minute, people got angry.  What started as a peaceful protest has now turned into a seemingly global move to oust the president…again. (Click HERE for more on the Orange Revolution) An interesting twist has been that a lot of pro-president regions have now had enough and have turned on the president as well.

The Police are faithfully protecting Kyiv's main Lenin Statue.

[The Police are faithfully protecting Kyiv’s main Lenin Statue.]

There is no doubt that the Ukrainian government is receiving pressure from both east and west. Recent history shows us that Russia is not afraid of shutting off gas to Ukraine in these kinds of situation, resulting in people freezing to death, just to prove a point.  Recent history also shows us that Europe has no bite to it’s bark in dealing with issues in Ukraine.  Take for example the imprisonment of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko due to selective justice… aka being the opposition leader that almost won. With all the threats and complaining, nothing has really changed in the former prime minister’s situation. So now it is left to the Ukrainian People.  The government and police force have stirred up the hornet’s nest.  All across the country people are peacefully protesting.  Of course, there are some that try to use force.  Many protests in recent years have ended with nothing accomplished, but this one has teeth.  It is a sign that the Ukrainian people are once again fed up with way the nation has been led. Please pray for the nation of Ukraine. It is in dire need of some godly people who will be counter cultural in the way they do politics.

 

Big thanks to Josh Walker for the photos.  He works with YWAM in Kyiv.

posted under cultural, Lance, Megan | Comments Off on And they chanted “REVOLUTION!”

Eating and boiling

July24

American idiom: That really makes my blood boil!

Ukrainian version: That really eats my liver!

 

Yep, next time you want to use the idiom “boils my blood” just use “eats my liver” instead. It’s the same thing!

posted under cultural, funny, Ukraine | Comments Off on Eating and boiling

Teaching in the Карпа́ты!

July7

A connection is made (or reconnection, depending on view).

A teaching opportunity.

A sudden invitation.

A bumpy bus ride.

Arrive at a home in the Карпа́ты or Carpathians.

Teaching with Lance

Teaching with Lance

I had the great opportunity to teach in the Carpathians along with three others, Andri, Allison and Lance. We were asked to staff a retreat time for the staff of the Ternopil Missions Institute. This was their first staff retreat and the first time they had someone come to do any teaching.

lance & games15

Building team

We had fun partaking in team building games, relaxing together, teaching, praying, and some sightseeing. We taught on topics such as team, relationships, unity, confrontation, and healthy boundaries. We did a lot of debriefing which is basically taking a step back and reflecting on what has happened both good and bad in the past years. This team of people had never been able to have someone help guide them through this process. Allison and I helped them create a timeline and go through all the fun and happy memories to the sad and tearful memories.

Seeing a castle

Seeing a castle

Not always easy to get a picture while I’m teaching, but here is one while I was closing up our time of creating a timeline. The hanging green, blue, and purple chickens in the background were used to create a mobile to demonstrate how taking away one piece will completely alter the mobile. Each piece needs each other to balance and it will take time to adjust when one piece is taken away. The same applies to a team or family when one member leaves. Transition takes time and will cause some imbalance at first.

teaching in Carpti

 

posted under cultural, Teaching, Ukraine | Comments Off on Teaching in the Карпа́ты!
« Older EntriesNewer Entries »