Half way

This week marks the half way point in our three year term in Eastern Europe. We left Melbourne 18 months ago this next week. The nearly full passport tells the story of interesting travel - it does not take long to fill a book when a Visa fills a page - some of the countries have needed 3 month visas and a stop over in China last year filled a page each way with stamps.
So where have we been - our work has taken us into Romania x1 , Moldova x 5 , Georgia x 1 for me and 2 for Ron, Ukraine x 2 and surprisingly the least traveled is Russia. Our work is predominantly in Moscow and we have journeyed to St Petersburg. Maybe we will correct that a little this year as we plan out our holidays and take in the sights of this vast land. Each of the places we have visited have their own unique attributes that endear you to the place.
Romania is the contrast of the people, Georgia the land - the history and beauty of the country, Ukraine the dilemma of a country with so much potential but struggling through politics and corruption, in Moldova it is the people - the joy and welcome even when surrounded with poverty. Russia still carries the strong influence of the post soviet culture and the challenge of working with a people so entrenched in this way of thinking.
For the Army we see the legacy of decisions made in the past and influences from the west because of a previously strong re-enforcement personnel that brings it own challenges. Local leadership is slowly developing but their is still a way to go before we have 'home grown leaders'

When we arrived in september last year we shared a role as Project Officers and Child sponsorship. After about 3 months that changed and Ron became sole projects officer and I took on a Resource PR role. So there has been interesting challenges as we work through all the aspects of our roles and endevour to bring our life experiences into our work. Hopefully to help and develop the people we work with and for.

This week we farewelled the Territorial Commanders. A Dutch couple have been here for two and a half years and now enter retirement. Their experience and strong leadership have brought some consolidation to the work here and some tough decisions have been made. This week we welcome our new leaders. An American couple come to lead the team here. So it will be interesting to experience this change and what they bring to the Territory.

We have experienced a whole year of seasons and come to the end of our second winter here. Currently it is the coldest winter for 50 years. The snow piles are higher than 8 feet in places. It has been a long and very cold winter right across Europe. The sad stories of the homeless in the extremes of this cold year abound. Stories of men who get drunk on cheap vodka and have their boots stolen and so end up with frost bite and then limb amputation. The stories of homeless dying on the streets because of the extreme conditions. The elderly in moldova who cannot afford to heat their homes because the power bills now exceed their pensions. Our work cannot meet the great needs - but we work with our people to ensure that the resources we have are used in the best way to meet the needs where we can. It will be spring soon and we look foward to the bare trees springing into green - but especially we look forward to the tulips and spring bulbs that are everywhere. The blossom trees abound - Moscow is a beautiful city in spring.

We continue to worship in the Moscow corps of Taganka and the opportunity to play in the orchestra gives service - where language is not a barrier. We have been asked to play at an ANZAC service in the Embassy so that will be interesting.

This past month has also been the new experience of testing the Moscow hospital service with Ron having a problem that required some treatment. An overnight stay after a small op was interesting for him. Fortunately, well covered by insurance but still a challenge to work through the process and language issues. He is recovering well. Medication needs has always been an issue, we could only bring 6 months worth with us - but you can get just about anything from the chemist - just need to know the Russian name. Prices vary greatly - so we shop around to find what we need. Panadol costs 4 rubles ( 20 cents) for a pack of 10. The greatest medication need is Vitamin D - so we just have to wait for the sun to shine to get that one !!!! When will the sun come out gain?????

Time is flying by so quickly - we look forward to some visitors from home this year and remind you if you want to take a stopover in Moscow we have a spare bed and will welcome you to stay awhile.
Until our next catch up
Lyn & Ron

trains, planes and.........snow

It's good to be official again. Our Visa and work permit process has been achieved.The final step involved leaving the country to get a visa to come back in. This week that becomes a multi- entry working Visa, allowing us to move in and out of Russia as we need. It has been a complicated process with rules that seem to change according to who you talk to. But is all good for now.

We travelled to Moldova late in January and spent a few days with the Callanders. Australia day was spent in over a foot of snow in the Russain Embassy. hot dogs for tea with Ian & Viv after a long day of work. No lamb chops or sausages on the barbie - but good at least to spend part of the day with someone from home. The snow falls have been frequent and every where we went the ground is well covered in a blanket of white.

Then it was off to Ukraine. We took the overnight train for 'the experience' - not that you see much overnight - but the 2 border crossings made for an interesting night. We were in a 4 bed coupe and the first border of Transitria - the guard pretended to read Ron's English passport cover to cover , but gave up on mine. The second crossing which is the offcial border the process was much stricter. Our passports were taken and waited on the train wondering what we would do if they did not come back before the train took off. But with a minute to spare our passports were back in hand with the appropriate stamps and we could roll over and try for some sleep before dawn. Our days in Ukraine involved meetings at DHQ and then another 7 hour train trip to visit a Corps. We arrived in the town ofDn..............(big word) affectionaltly known as 'neppo'
This is a large rural city in central /south eastern Ukraine. An industrial city for nuclear, arms and space industries. It was a closed city until the 1990's but now has nearly 2 million people.

There is a new Corps there and the Officers have concentrated their efforts in reaching out to students. There are several Universities in the city. We had a great 2 days connecting with the young people of this Corps - both in teaching and fellowship. Sunday afternoon a dozen of them took us on a 2 hour walk through the snow to show us the scenic sights. We very much enjoyed the opportunity to spend some time in this place. The hospitality of the Officers in sharing what little they had was humbling. we were reminded again how priviledged we are to be Australians and the amazing resources we have that we take so much for granted.

It was back on an overnight train for the trip to Kiev and a flight to Moscow. We have improved our ability to work the passport control lines and Ron is finally developing more of the Russian way when queuing. Elbows out and full steam ahead. No room for being a gentleman there!!!

So here we are back in our apartment amazed to realise this month marks the half way period of our three year term. We praise God for all His provisions and for the opportunities to work in this place.