My Ukraine

Until recently Ukraine was a country mostly unheard of by Australians. And now it's on the news everyday, and not for good reasons. There has been great unrest in Ukraine from back at the end of 2013 and now it has all escalated to a barbaric invasion of Russia/pro-Russian support into Ukrainian territory escalating with the most recent tragedy and horrific shooting down of the passenger plane MH17 which makes absolutely no sense.

There is so much that I could say of my opinion on everything that is going on at the moment. But while I'm filled with total heartache, horror and confusion, I want to focus on Ukraine as the country I know. For me, Ukraine is my second home. I spent 12 years of my life there with my family as Christian missionaries living for 9 of those years in the capital, Kiev. I have walked the streets around Maidan spuare, had epic snowball fights every New Year's Eve, learnt the language fluently and spent countless hours with friends playing soccer or munching on sunflower seeds.  I have nothing but wonderful memories of life in Ukraine and even though I have now been living back in Australia for close to 8 years, I still have close friendships in Kiev.

In the midst of the current mess, let me share with you My Ukraine. Just over a year ago I was visiting Kiev for a friend's wedding and as always I was swept up in the beauty of the city and the joy of being reunited with precious friends.

Ukrainians love summer and with winter being so long and cold, once the warmer season comes around everyone is out enjoying day light as long as they can. Each weekend the main street in the centre of town is closed to all traffic and is the perfect place for a nice warm evening stroll passing beautiful statues and historic buildings. This never gets old and is one of my favourite things to do when I visit Kiev.

The Dnieper River runs through Kiev and is a very popular place for swimming in summer and fishing in winter (after cutting a deep hole through the ice of course). 

The funicular is much like a single carriage tram which runs up and down the Volodymyrska Hill connecting the more historic Uppertown and the more commercial lower neighbourhood of Podil. I absolutely love riding the funicular even though it lasts for a whole of 30seconds! Riding through the trees from near the Dnieper River up to the streets of cobblestones where you can find long souvenir lined streets. Everything about the funicular ride screams authentic Ukraine to me! The beautiful stained glass windows, the little booth to buy your ticket to ride, rickety sounds of the funicular and bright blue of the carriages! It never gets old!

Ukraine is going through massive turmoil which does not appear to be ending anytime soon. So while I'm over here in Australia, I feel helpless. Going from feelings of wanting to head right on over there and fight for the people and a country that I greatly love and miss to knowing and understanding that God is  in control of it all. And while saying "I am praying for you" seems so cliché, it is far from small. With the war feeling so close to home for me, I have come to understand that prayer is more powerful than we could ever assume! Prayer has the power to soften the hardest of hearts, bring peace in confusion and to shine salvation in completely dire situations and all because the one we are praying to is Lord of all. 

And now I think I'll go search for some salted sunflower seeds as I reminisce my beautiful Ukraine!