Goodbye Bila Tserkva, Goodbye Ukraine

By the time this blog posts, we should be on an Aeroflot plane somewhere over Russia on our way to Los Angeles. We don't know exactly what God has planned for us, but we know that He has forever changed our lives by taking us to Ukraine. Our perspective on life in this world will never be the same. God has taught us so much over the last three years. We are so grateful for all the opportunities He has given us and all the people He has brought into our lives. We have definitely witnessed lives changed, including our own.

We don't know if we will ever have a chance to return to Ukraine although I would love to lead a short term missions team to Ukraine if God wills it. I honestly believe that leaving Ukraine is much harder than when we left the United States. We always knew that someday we would have to move back and that we could go back to visit friends and relatives, but we know there is a possibility that we may never return or see all the beautiful people of Ukraine that we have come to know and love. Some of those people are dear friends and like family to us. I can't begin to describe all the emotions we have been feeling.

Our time in Ukraine has taught us a unique lesson in the value of life as we watched people die simply because the knowledge and resources that could have otherwise saved them was not available. I know it has helped me to see more clearly that we are perishing and that Jesus is the only one who can truly save us. We have also been blessed to see God bring new life into this world in Ukraine. There is no greater joy than holding an infant in your arms and being able to dedicate them to the Lord.

We will be living in California and serving the Lord however we can, but our hearts will always be in Ukraine. Thank you to everyone who has helped us through prayer and support. You have truly been a part of this chapter in our lives and touched lives that you may never be aware of. And to all of our friends in Ukraine, we love you and will NEVER forget you. May the Hope of Christ be with you always.

A Week of Lasts

One of our last big meals together - Joshua, Dominic, Max, Little Max, Tanya, Mark, Zhanna, Vlad, Dima, Svita, and Edna

This week has been filled with lots of last things to do and last goodbyes as we begin our last week in Ukraine. Today we said goodbye to everyone at church as it was our last church service in Bila Tserkva. There were so many tears and reminiscing of fond memories over the last few years. God has really blessed us with the people He has brought into our lives here in Ukraine. It was very difficult to walk down the hall and out the door knowing we may never return or see them again in this life.

Saturday we said goodbye to our dear friends from Pryluky who came to stay with us on Thursday since Edna couldn't travel that far (Vlad and Zhanna with their Anya and Daniel, and Max and Tanya with their Little Max and Mark). We had so much fun just sitting around and talking with everyone and introducing them to our friends Dima and Svita here in Bila Tserkva. We were so glad to have them as our last over night guest in our home before leaving Ukraine. Here are a few of the pictures I took while they were here. Thanks guys.

Vlad and Zhanna's Baby Daniel

Anya and Zhanna

Dima playing bass guitar

Anya, Vlad, and Dima

Little Max, Max, and Mark

Little Max and Joshua

Little Max - "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Dima and Vlad waving to me like crazy people with Anya

Field Trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau

Gate into Auschwitz "Work Makes You Free"

On Saturday the 29th, just two days after the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration/death camps, we took Dominic and Joshua on a historical tour of the camps. We spent two days in Poland to satisfy our Ukrainian registration requirements and used the time to give the boys a very real and invaluable lesson in history. Dominic and Joshua had watched several documentaries about the camps, but actually being there made it real. It was an extremely moving and surreal experience to witness the evidence of human cruelty at its worst.

The numbers speak for themselves

One of the most difficult parts of the tour was hearing that about 70% of each incoming group, mostly women and children, those deemed unfit to work, were immediately sent to the gas chambers or shot. Others were later tortured to death through starvation and slow suffocation.

Looking into Auschwitz

The view from behind the barbed wire

"On the Way to Death"

Children's belongings

The Nazis utilized everything they could from the victims including their hair to be used in textile production. The victim's belongings were sorted and shipped to Germany. Some of the stockpiles of personal effects escaped destruction by the fleeing SS guards and were discovered by the invading Soviet Army. These items of the dead were subsequently put on display. What we saw there was horrible, but it should also never be forgotten.

Joshua looking at the many pairs of children's shoes

Eye glasses

Prosthetic limbs and walking aides

Chamber pots

Over 40,000 pairs of shoes

Brushes

The rail yard at Birkenau was the final destination for this luggage

Fabrics made from human hair along with hair from the camp victims

No man's land

Zyklon B used to gas the camp prisoners

The crematorium is located next to the gas chamber that were made to look like showers. The zyklon B pellets were dropped through hatches in the roof resulting in deadly gas.

Some of the ovens were used to cremate as many as 9,000 bodies in a day

Joshua after coming out of the gas chamber/crematorium.

Inside Birkenau just a few minutes from Auschwitz I. This is where the new arrivals were brought and selected either for work or for death.

Joshua and Dominic looking over Birkenau from the main tower.

View of the rail yard where the fates of the new arrivals were determined.

The line between certain death and uncertain life

Inside one of the wooden barracks designed to hold 700 people (30 people to a bunk with 10 on each level). In winter snow came through the roof and there was no fuel for heating.

The infamous train tracks leading into Birkenau

Another sad fact in the history of these death camps was made known to us by our guide. When Germany invaded Poland, the Soviet Union also invaded, and by agreement dived up Poland. It was only after Hitler broke his agreement with Stalin by invading the Soviet Union that the Soviets later "liberated" the Polish people. Many of the survivors of Auschwitz were arrested as political enemies of the Soviet state and sent to Soviet labor camps. Many did not return. Our guide told us that Poland's liberation came in 1989 when the Kremlin backed communist government lost its grip on the country.

"The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again." -George Santayana
(on the wall leading into block 4 at Auschwitz I)