Ukrainian Hospitality

Like the other Blog posts in my Thoughts about Ukraine this is a document in progress.  I will be adding to it as memories are stirred and thought come out as I meditate about my time in Ukraine. 

To me it seems that Ukrainians can be the most hospitable and welcoming people that I have ever met.  On my first mission trip there in May of 2004 everywhere we stayed we were filled to excess.  A number of incidents come to mind.

My wife, our translator Svitlana and I stayed with a couple of women in Chernihiv. I don't remember the daughter's name but we knew her mum as Mama Nadia.  We made daily foreys to a village called Gumsherovsk; a former Soviet Missile Command.  We would leave early and return late at night.  Every morning would start with a big breakfast usually including meat cutlets, mashed potatoes, eggs and tomatoes.  Oh yes and of course either tea, coffee (instant) and juice.  And I must say that the juice that was sold there was the best I ever tasted; AnnMarie fell in love with the peach juice.

We would spend the day interacting with the children of Gunsherovsk. We did puppet shows, AnnMarie and our translator would read children's stories to them and the music group with us, Rhema, would sing songs including "Pray for Ukraine".

That song was song in Ukrainian, which we didn't understand, but it always made us cry when heard it.  The daughter (Christiana Molishkin) of the group leader (Uri Molishkin) wrote the song.  It is very popular in the Protestant community of Ukraine.

They would feed us well at the Officer's club then it was back to Mama Nadia's.  When we arrived, sometimes as late as 10:00 at night, she would have a hold big feed waiting for us.  There would be mashed potatoes swimming in butter, meat (кутлєті) and of course tomato slices and cucumber.

I don't believe that the Ukrainians lived that high on the hog so to speak.  I believe it was just a desire to bless their guests.

Towards the end of our 2004 Mission Trip, we had a final feast in the town of Ladan.  People that we had met earlier traveled hours in a crowded van to come and see us one more time.  Mama Nadia brought peach juice for AnnMarie and the Sashleek (Ukrainian BBQ) was excellent.  There was more food then we could shake a stick at.  I think maybe for me this was the point were in decided in my heart that I had to live is this beautiful country with it awesome blue skies and these incredible people who captured our hearts.

By far the most over the top experience we had was in the village of Krasny Celo.  This was in 2006 after we had been living in the country for a year.  Some friends from our home church came over to minister with us and we hooked up with "The Resurrection and the Life Church" in Chernihiv to do an outreach.  After it was all over a huge feast was prepared for us in a humble village home.  There was so much food on the table that there was no room for our plates!

A theme that unfolded in Ukraine for us was that the poorer the people the greater the feast.  Which reminds me of the words of Jesus, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, it is like a camel passing through the eye of a needle."  I can remember going to a Bible Study at a banker's house where there was just a plate of cookies and tea for those attending.

Another thing that struck me when we were in Ukraine was the lengths that Ukrainian Christians would go to sacrifice for others.  On our first mission trip to Ukraine we stayed in a village outside of the City of Chernihiv.  We stayed at the pastor's house.  Like me he was a bivocational pastor.  He worked for the gas company as well as being pastor of a small church in his village.  While we were staying there I hadn't really thought about the family living in the house until one night when I got up to use the restroom, there on the floor in the hallway outside of my room was the pastor, his wife, his children and the Bishop Vladimir were all sleeping on the floor while we Americans along with our translators where sleeping in their beds