Valentines Day and Death
Legend informs us that Valentine was a Christian priest who lived in Rome during the 5th century. In all likelihood, he ended up being martyred for refusing to recant. Hagiographical info tells us that he opposed the emperor’s direction for soldiers not marrying and married people on the sly. Imprisoned, he healed the blind daughter of his jailor and wrote her a letter before being executed which he signed, “your Valentine”. Elle was listening to a “Focus on the Family” story about this man yesterday and came to the end of it exclaiming at the beauty of it all and wondering if it was true. Sadly, I had to say that it was highly unlikely. (How unromantic!) But I agreed with her that it was a lovely story to listen to!
Saturday night, we had 8 couples gather in our upper room for a “date”. We also had Cheryl, Vitya, Larissa, Kolya, Sveta, Jesse and Marie help with serving and preparation. Most of the evening was spent with the couples by themselves at tables, but we did mingle at the end of the evening and from what we heard, these couples felt like it was a magical night. In spite of the necessity of keeping the evening programme ticking along, I know Pris and I enjoyed it a lot, too.
This week-end the ladies will be putting on an evening for ladies in the community. The theme for the evening is “God – peace for the heart”. Right now, I’m guessing we’ll be squeezing about 50 ladies into the room. The air gets quite heady with that many bodies in a room steadily heating up over the course of the evening! Our ongoing prayer is that more of these women will understand God’s remarkable gift of close and un-encumbered fellowship with Him through Jesus.
The student nights we continue to hold Fridays and Sundays are both fun and challenging. When some students are belligerently drunk or high… there’s not a lot you can do with them. (We haven’t yet resorted to handcuffing them and calling the cops!) Each week, they continue to hear God’s Word and see examples of people who love them without screaming or beating them. Surely, some of them will someday respond affirmatively to truth!
I walked back from the mechanics today through soft mud. (Took me back to my days as a kid hanging out in the rainforest in Tassie!) We continue to be surprised by the warm weather. The big positive for most in Ukraine is the amount of gas we use to keep our houses warm. (The savings is considerable!) The kids are a bit disappointed as they were hoping to sleep with me in an igloo again this year. With no snow… no igloo.
(This photo was just now pulled off the Kyiv Post website of action this afternoon.)
Now for “Death”… Yesterday, the pot of carefully cooked emotions boiled over in Kiev. The opposition asked for a return to the Ukrainian Constitution of 2004 which would give parliament more power. Elements from within their ranks understood that for there to be progress on this revolution, blood needed spilling and the world needed to notice and feel aghast at the atrocities. Journalism is heavily weighted in favour of the protestors, so much of the reporting is focusing on the suffering of the “people” as opposed to the suffering of “big government”. And it must be granted, "the people” come out looking much like a Jack Russell terrier who nipped at the heels of a bad-natured Doberman. Anyway, the government had no desire to return to an old constitution, let alone agree to hold new elections, and so the protestors moved against the heavily protected parliament building and violence erupted in a serious way.
Having said that, the violence we’re privy to through TV footage, by and large seems controlled and somewhat farcical. Farcical because we know what the two groups are capable of in way of violence should either of them choose to go “all out”. Yet for now, they choose to throw bricks and shoot fireworks and shine lasers and throw Molotov cocktails and in short – just poke at each other for now. The real fight is in the realm of propaganda and public opinion.
The expectation is for the crisis to roll on involving more violence and unrest. The government seems to have little choice but to ultimately accede to the demands of the protestors for the resignation of the president and new elections. Violence perpetrated against the protestors just seems to be “turning the gas of emotions higher”.
Tomorrow, a few of us are heading to visit Vlad in prison. We will travel through Kiev. Considering everything, the trip hints at being “different” than usual. The police are searching vehicles going into Kiev and interviewing drivers. Anti-terrorism laws have been instituted giving the security forces extra authority to detain anyone they think are “suspicious-looking” for 72 hours without notifying relatives. It could be a fairly interesting trip!
Vlad is doing great. He’s keen to get home. :) He sees a possibility of getting released within this next year… and as “hope springs eternal”, his spirits have lifted appreciatively. He works from before dawn to after dusk and ordered another tranche of sermons on his mp3 player that he listens to under his hood as he works. The guards don’t seem to mind.
When you trust in the Lord and in His goodness and power – the basic foundations of your life are rock solid. Personally, I like rock solid. I feel comfortable on rock solid foundations. If I may be so bold, my blessing for you is that God would grant you a heart that understands and accepts eternal truth concerning His nature and character. Be blessed! 
P.S. Priscilla’s Mom turned 50?? recently and we were privileged to be there with her for that celebration.