Author: David

Winter holds a lot of meanings for people. Some associate it with Christmas, New Year, Thanksgiving, and a chance to make new resolutions for the next year. For others, winter is harder, bringing back some bad memory of a family member that was lost on a particular holiday, or it makes them think of some sort of lonliness.

Winter is a mix of all of those things here in Ukraine for most people, I think. It’s hard to begin Christmas celebrations here without thinking about the thousands of soldiers that are fighting on the Eastern Front right now to ensure our freedom to celebrate.

It’s also hard in a way, because this is the fourth winter we’ve had war and revolution here in Ukraine. The war started in 2013, when Victor Yanukovych, the then-president of Ukraine sent police to beat down a small group of protestors downtown, and that war is still being fought in Donbass (Eastern Ukraine).

I was listening to a song today while on the bus called “Злива” or “Downpour”. I didn’t know that it was about the Revolution and war in the East. When I realized what it was about, I almost started crying there on the bus. As I was preparing for this post, I had to fight back tears.

This is our fourth winter, and the war still isn’t over.

The song that I was listening to is below. I’ve roughly translated the chorus (corrections appreciated), which is beneath the video clip.

God save Ukraine.

Pour down, Downpour!
Wash all the filth away, Summer Rain!
We are more tired than ever from this winter

Pour down, Downpour!
I’ll probably never be the same as I was before
I asked someone for the May rain
Oh, that the rain would come and wash away winter

There is a team of folks from Georgia that is serving with our church this week. We are having a blast with them and praising God for them. They have helped us and another Baptist church to build stronger relationships with the community here. We got to visit and serve in a school, teaching them some English, including the song below.

Thank you guys so much for being here with us!

David is back from the hospital! He was there for 10 days total. They found some new things for him to be aware of health-wise. It was basically a normal treatment and tune-up for his rheumatic fever. Thank you all for your prayers! He actually had a really good time in the hospital, thanks to having a lot of books and friends coming to visit.

The bed above is where he stayed. It was his place to sleep, eat, and work all of that time. The hospital stay itself was free, but the medicines were all out-of-pocket, which added up pretty quickly.

Please be praying for his roommates there. He was in a hospital room with 5 other men: Adrian, Michael, Roman, Vasyl, and an older gentleman that he forgot to get the name of. They had a lot of different conversations, some of them turning to spiritual things. Please pray that they would all get to know Jesus. Vasyl was the one that David spent the most time with. He actually has the exact same diagnosis. David prayed with a couple of them before he left.

Please also be praying that we will be able to find Bicillin-5, a drug that’s only imported from Russia around here. It’s been a little hard to find recently. David is injected with that antibiotic every three weeks to prevent another Strep infection that would then cause his joint pain to come back.

Tomorrow, I’m supposed to go into the hospital for a few days for a completely normal treatment of my joint diseases. Please be praying for me, but don’t worry – one of the differences between American and Ukrainian medicine is that things that are normally done at home in America are done in a hospital. In a way, that’s a good thing, because the doctors can monitor me while I’m on their medications.

Things do get a little more complicated, though, when it comes to an extended stay in the hospital. I’ll be there for 10 days this time, and that presents some very interesting challenges.

Here’s my packing list for the hospital stay:

• Notebook, Bible, pen, etc.
• Toiletries
• A towel or two (the hospital may or may not supply you with one)
• Extra, warm clothes (they may not have turned the heat on yet in October)
• Slippers
• Plenty of wet-wipes (there are no showers)
• Plenty of cash (you pay for all of your medicines yourself, out of pocket, up-front)
• Extra food (they feed you three times a day, but very light food)
• An electric tea kettle (there’s no other way to make coffee or tea in the morning)
• Tea, coffee, cup, etc.
• Cell phone, charger, books, movies on my phone
• Reading lamp (there won’t be one next to my bed)
• Power strip

That’s just what I’ve thought of so far. There are some other things that I will probably ask Katya to bring to me. Please be praying for her and my mother-in-law during the time that I’m in the hospital. I really just want them to be kept safe – not that they can’t take care of themselves… I just love my wife and family.