More on Maxime

Maxime playing a little PlayStation

I just thought I'd give a little update on the life of Maxime for those following what is happening in his life. We have been in a three week quarantine period because of the flu epidemic reportedly sweeping through Ukraine. This has meant no school for Maxime, so he has been spending his time in the village where his grandparents own another home. Maxime has spent very little time in school since his father died, putting him even farther behind than he already is.

On Wednesday, Maxime's mother Vera came over and told us what happened while Maxime was away. She said that his grandmother, Luda, took her by the hair and dragged her into the street and told her never to come back that she was going to be Maxime's mother from now on. Vera left with only the clothes on her back from the "home" she has lived in for the last 14 years. Vera is now living with her parents and disabled sister. She is trying to get a job and get her life back together again. We are helping her with the cost of replacing Maxime's legal documents. The grandmother is insisting that his passport and other documents were stolen and has been lying to Maxime about the whereabouts of his mother and the reason she left.

Thankfully, today we saw Maxime talking to his mother outside, but his grandmother has done all she can to separate him from his mother. Edna and I agree that Vera needed to get her life together, but Maxime's grandmother has turned out to be a very cruel person. She gives Maxime money to buy candy and lets him stay home from school whenever he wants. For now, Maxime thinks that life with his grandmother is much better and has no desire to be with his mother who he believes has abandoned him. Maxime is also no longer allowed to go to church with us because his grandmother took him to an Orthodox church where he was supposedly baptized and is now a member of that church and no other. She also took away the Bible and children's Bible that we gave Maxime. She has replaced them with an Orthodox Bible printed in Old Church Slavonic, which of course he can't read.

Please pray for Maxime and for Vera. We know that God is using this situation to bring about positive change in their lives. We hope that Maxime will come to know the truth of what his grandmother is doing and that Vera would put her faith in Christ to give her strength.

Maxime Returns

Maxime opening up a little care package from America

Yesterday, Maxime returned from his trip to a sanatorium (a place for resting usually with very spartan accommodations) in the city of Zhytomyr. He spent the last twenty days there passing his time by playing on a small indoor playground. He said the food wasn't very good and it was mostly old people staying there. He was alone and had little more than the clothes on his back when he left here. I'm pretty sure he was glad to be back.

When Maxime came to our door we had a box of clothes waiting for him that had come from a family in Kansas. The box was packed full of clothes that he really needed and even a bag of Jolly Rancher candies that he was nice enough to share with Dominic and Joshua. Maxime later went to church with us and spent the night before going off to school this morning for the first time since his father died. He actually ate so much at dinner last night that he thought he was going to be sick. Thanks again to everyone who has offered to help out with Maxime. It has been much appreciated.

Maxime in his new clothes

A Word of Thanks

Maxime in the village with puppies

We just wanted to say thank you to the people who have come forward to help Maxime. It means so much to us and to him that there are people out there that have never met him, yet still care about him. Thank you and God bless you.

The Funeral for Maxime's Father

At the cemetery in the village

Yesterday was the funeral for Maxime's father, Andriy. It was one of the saddest funerals I have ever been to. It was hard to watch as a mother and father held their son, as a brother said goodbye to his brother, as a wife kissed her husband, and a son saw his father, all for the last time.

Joshua led the procession with a photo of Andriy.

I'm just glad that we were able to be there for Maxime and his family. His grandmother, Luda, and his grandfather were very thankful that we were there and that I could take photos for them. Tanya from Pryluky was also able to be there for the funeral and I know Maxime was happy that someone had come all that way just to be there for him. Joshua and Dominic were the only ones Maxime's age at the funeral, so I'm sure it helped him to know they were there for him too.

Tanya and Edna holding flower wreaths.

Thank you for all of your prayers. Maxime's grandmother, Luda, has said that Maxime and his mother will probably move in with them in the front house. They had previously lived in an attached section that had one bedroom and no indoor plumbing. Maxime's grandfather actually locked up the place where Maxime had been living and said that he didn't want anyone going back in there again. This is a blessing because that place was beyond any description I could give.

Maxime and his mother, Vera

Now we are going to be working with Maxime's grandmother to make sure that Maxime is provided for. His grandparents are pensioners and his mother has no income so we are going to try and get the necessities that he needs. Maxime has no bedding or sheets to sleep on so this will be the first thing we will try to get for him. He is also going to need clothes, especially with winter approaching. Right now, Maxime doesn't even have a pair of socks to wear. We had to give him some of Joshua's clothes so that he would have something to wear for the funeral. If you'd like to help us purchase any of these things, please contact us through email (if you don't have it, you can click HERE and then click the email link under Contact).

Update on Maxime

Maxime and Joshua placing flowers with Maxime's father

Please continue to pray for Maxime and his mother. Today has been especially difficult for everyone as they prepared Andriy to be buried tomorrow. Vera, Maxime's mother, is in no condition to care for him so Maxime will be staying with us for now. She has been drinking heavily and fell down unconscious outside for several minutes this morning. An ambulance was called, but she refused to go to the hospital.

She may be moving in with her mother and Maxime doesn't know if he will move with her as well. Right now, he is unsure about what will happen to him. He is doing his best to stay strong and even helped Edna pick out some flowers that he and Joshua placed with his father. The family has asked me to photograph the funeral tomorrow so we will be going by bus to the village where Maxime's father will be buried.

Remembering Andriy

Please Pray for Maxime

Maxime, Lusya, and Kristina last week at the Children's Festival

Early this morning Maxime's father, Andriy, died of liver failure. He was thirty-six years old. Maxime has spent the whole day with us and is spending the night tonight, trying to keep from thinking about what happened. He went with us to church and did his best not to let anyone see him cry, but he's really struggling to deal with his emotions right now. He said the hardest part will be trying to go to sleep when all he can think about is his father.

Please keep Maxime in your prayers and also his mother Vera, who also came very close to dying this past year. This could be a turning point in both of their lives. Pray that God will use it for His glory and comfort them as He draws them near to Him.

Children's Festival

Maxime dressed for a fashion relay race.

Yesterday we held a Children's Festival on the playground outside of our apartment with the help of eleven people from Calvary Chapel Pryluky. We also cleaned up the playground, added four new benches, repaired the old swings, and added a suspended balance beam before the festival. I can't believe how much we accomplished in just one day. The festival was a huge success in that God's word was taught and the name of Jesus was made known as our Lord and Savior to about fifty kids (not counting about fifteen or so that came late or simply just watched the other kids participate). It doesn't get much better than that.

Songs and prayer to gather the children.

The team had five stations with four rotating groups broken down by age. The theme was, "Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life". There were crafts, Bible Teaching, worship songs, activities, and face painting. The festival ended with songs, a prayer, and a water balloon toss. Words can't really describe how much God blessed our time with the children and with everyone from Pryluky, so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Edna and Olya discussing the festival.

We were happy to see that several mothers and grandmothers thanked us for our work on the playground and for the festival. It was interesting to see how many people in the surrounding apartments were all watching and listening to the music from their balconies. A few people watched the festival from the benches on the playground, including our neighbor Olya (who also helped us out with the cooking). Olya and Natasha, the woman whose husband died last week (see post), said they both want to come to church with us next week. Praise God.

Max and Dominic uncovering an ancient walkway and border.

Max and Yana painting the street with John 14:6.

Kolya and Max replacing the bearings on the old swings.

Dasha and Dasha. "Jesus - the way, and the truth, and the life!"

Max and Sasha securing a balance beam.

Building new benches.

Testing the new attraction.

Sasha finishing the benches.

"God loves you!"

Tanya with her group on the new benches.

Max teaching about salvation only through Jesus Christ.

Natasha painting faces and hands.

Dasha, Vika, and Tanya with happy faces, literally.

"Jesus"

Maryna helping lead the kids in a song.

Water balloon toss.

You can see the rest of the photos we took by clicking HERE.

First Bell at School 16

Ringing the first bell

Today was the first day of school in Ukraine and even though the boys are staying home this year to focus on home schooling, I decided to go anyway. Since we know so many of the children, it felt a little like we were sending our own kids off to school.

Our neighbor Oksana

The ceremony had pretty much the same format as last year, but instead of a little girl riding on the shoulders of an older student and ringing the bell, they did things a little different. This year they had a boy and a girl ring the bell together as they were flanked by two older students.

Oksana and Alina

All the children dress up for the first day of school and bring their teachers bouquets of flowers. It broke my heart to see Maxime after the ceremony standing in the back wearing basically the same clothes he had been wearing on the playground the day before and looking a little bit dirty. I realized that he hadn't stood with his classmates. He didn't have a back pack or even a bag to carry his new books in like the other kids either. It really bothered me that his parents did absolutely nothing for him on his first day of school as he goes into 7th grade. At least I was there for him and was able to tell him to be happy as he went off to his class room. Hopefully that meant something.

Two police officers attending the event just in case things get out of hand. (just kidding) The officer on the left is Alina's father and her mother is next to him.

Caught Red Handed (as well as blue, green, and yellow)

Maxime painting the sandbox for the little kids

Today, I continued working on the playground with the help of the neighborhood children. All of their parents love the fact that the playground is getting fixed up, but I'm not sure how they feel about their children being covered in paint each day. No one has complained yet. In fact, one of the mothers gave me and Edna a box of chocolate and told us how much she appreciated us fixing up the playground.

Oksana finishing up the Ukrainian Horse on Tuesday (She still has blue hands)

Dasha, Masha, Yuliya, and Maryna posing by the horse

Anyway, all the kids love working on the playground. I do the repairs and they do as much painting as I'll let them. Apparently kids here never get the chance to paint. The adults won't let them. The word has gotten out that I'm handing kids paint brushes and paint and turning them loose on the playground. This has led to kids I've never seen before showing up and asking to paint. One girl today came from over a mile away in a different neighborhood to get a chance to fling some paint around. Another girl actually made an appointment with me to paint after she gets out of school tomorrow. I had to promise here a time slot and color. She wants to paint something blue. Is painting really that fun?

Leeza taking a turn painting

Dasha being very careful

Dasha's twin sister Masha completing the sandbox

New Year's Day

"Happy New Year! 2009" on the River Ros

On New Year's Day, Dominic and I walked down to the river to see how frozen it was. We found that it was frozen solid enough to safely support our weight and probably the weight of a small car. The ice had a soft blanket of snow on it and I was able to snap the above photo on this unusually sunny day under a clear blue sky.

Did Moroz handing out candy on New Year's Day in our neighborhood

We found Did Moroz wondering around our neighborhood handing out candy to children on their sleds. Our neighbor told us that this man dresses up as Did Moroz each year and does this on New Year's Day much to the delight of neighborhood children.

Maxime excited about getting a children's book of Bible stories

Maxime spent New Year's Eve in the village with his grandparents, but took the bus home in the morning. He came straight to our place where we gave him his gifts and loaded him up with some food. He was especially excited about the book of Bible stories in Ukrainian that we got him. He immediately took it and began reading it out loud to himself as Tanya and Kolya helped us prepare for the other guests that were on their way over. He laid on the couch reading Bible stories until everybody arrived for dinner.

Maxime busy reading Bible stories

We know it is difficult for Maxime to read and we know he struggles in school, but what some of our guests told us, broke our hearts. We had assumed that Maxime was only speaking simple Ukrainian to us because he was trying to help us to understand. We learned that he speaks this way to everyone. They told us that besides mixing in a lot of Russian words with his Ukrainian, Maxime speaks as though he were a small child just learning to speak who doesn't know how to use the right tenses or cases in normal speech. Dominic told us that Maxime showed him his grades at school and his highest grade in any of his classes was a 4 out of a possible 12. The sad part is that his teachers don't care. He will just go through school like this until it comes time to graduate and take exams. The result will be that he won't pass any of his exams and won't get any further education. He will most likely have to work with his father as a plumber when he is done with school. Joshua believes that Maxime might grow up to be a pastor some day. That would be a beautiful thing.

Celebrating Edna and Tanya's birthday on New Year's Day

When Olya broke out the sparklers, I didn't expect her to light them. She passed them around the table before I could bring myself to think of a polite objection to fireworks in our living room. I figured that since everybody was lighting sparklers at the table that they must know what they're doing. Of course, I was wrong. We ended up with a smoke filled room, holes burned through the table cloth and into the table, and a thick coating of what looked like black pepper all over our food and in our drinks. (Luckily the smoke alarm didn't go off, because there aren't any in Ukraine.) Everybody had a good time despite minor burns and smoke inhalation.

No, we didn't make Maxime work for food. He just loves to help out when he can.

We're happy that Maxime could be a part of the celebrations and spend the night with us. Hopefully he will be able to stay at our place over most of the holiday break.

Church Christmas Party

Maxime, Marina, Ira, and Joshua

On Saturday the 27th, we had our church Christmas party where we invited people to come from the three English clubs we are involved in. Several people from our church also invited their friends and family. The Christmas party began to take life when Valya suggested that we do something for Christmas where we could invite people to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

Maria and Edna

Kristina played the bandura and sang for us.

It started with Valya's idea of having a skit that would portray the parable of the ten virgins awaiting the bridegroom that Jesus told about in the book of Matthew. It ended up including several songs by girls from our church, a bandura performance, a slide show on the life of Jesus, a presentation of why Jesus is better than Santa Claus, personal testimony, and of course a slide show of American Christmas scenes complete with classic Christmas songs by Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, and even Alvin and the Chipmunks.

Maria, Nastya, Zhenya, and Veronika singing

The girls performing a skit of the ten virgins awaiting the bridegroom from Matthew 25:1-13

Ruslan, Karina, Marina, and Anya

Besides being a fun time for everybody involved, our Christmas party was a cooperative effort to work together with fellow laborers in Christ. Along with our church, Ruslan and Anya and a couple from their church, Andriy and Marina, poured their hearts into making this Christmas party a success.

After the Christmas party we were all pretty tired, but thankful that everything went well and everyone had a good time. From left to right: Valya, Fedir, Nastya, Yana, Nikita, Ruslan, Anya, Me, Edna, Andriy, and Marina.

Maxime and Joshua with Fedir dressed as Did Moroz

Fedir wasn't able to join us until almost the end of our Christmas party because he had to work. It was his job that day to dress up as Did Moroz and delight the young children as their parents snapped pictures and took video. As not to be outdone, the children also dress up in costumes for the occasion.

Fedir as Did Moroz with some children

I thought it was cool that there were sleigh rides going on that day too.

On Sunday, the following day, we continued this same type of unity by combining our church with theirs for a joint service. We met at their church where I was honored to be able to share a message on the sacrifice of Christ being born into the world and several girls from our church were invited up to sing. The skit of the parable of the ten virgins was also performed again.

Regardless of what we may have shared or said at the Christmas party, I think our willingnes to cross denominational lines, put aside doctrinal differences, and work towards a common goal of making the Gospel known, spoke louder than words. In this way, no one person can take credit. To God goes all the glory.