The other day we were at a friend’s home and he told me that he was a 5th generation, underground Baptist. When he was a child, he was the only one who was not a member of the Pioneers (communist organization for young people). Teachers would point at him and tell the class that he believed in God. The reaction? Laughter and mocking.

He vividly remembers that word came to his father that the KGB were coming to look for religious materials. It just so happened that the KGB were coming to the right place. These underground Baptists were printing the Gospel of John in blue ink. The entire family had people remove books and papers from the home but time ran out. My friend remembers hiding literature under a pile of flowers and putting sheets of paper on the wall. When the KGB arrived, they looked everywhere but did find anything, despite looking directly at the papers on the wall. Religious material was in plain sight for the KGB to discover, but they did not. My friend said that God protected many times from certain danger.

Today, despite the persecution, including imprisonment for some members, the entire family are vibrant, followers of Jesus.

Untitled from Russell Woodbridge on Vimeo.

Киев’2011(Kiev/Ukraine) from zweizwei |motion timelapse| on Vimeo.

I generally try to avoid this subject but this guy was determined to teach me about the world of government. His theory was that everything in the world was controlled by the Masons and according to this surgeon, former president George W. Bush was behind quote a few evils in the world. After telling me about Bush, the guy asked me, “How in the world could Americans elect Obama? What has this guy ever done in his life? Where did he come from? Americans are not smart.”

He then proceeded to tell me about another conspiracy theory behind Obama’s ascendancy. I asked him if he had ever been to the United States, and he had not. OK, how do you know about all these secretive dealings behind world politics? He replied, “You can look it up on the internet.” I could not disguise my look of disbelief. I think the double-eye roll in opposite directions with my tongue hanging out of my mouth betrayed my thoughts. I wish I was making this up, but I am not.

I recently attended a football match between Ukraine and Germany in the renovated stadium in Kiev. Beside learning some new Russian words for stupid idiot when the fans screamed when the Ukrainian player missed the open net, and getting hugged and high-fived by friendly, beer-loving Ukrainians when Ukraine scored three times, I also witnessed the reception of the Ukrainian president at the game. When the announcer told the audience of 70,000 that President Yanukovych was at the game, the crowd booed him loudly for several minutes. My friend and I just looked around, smiled and said, “Wow. That hurts.”

Markus Waiting

Lukas on the Rope

Concentration

Take it easy.

Having fun.

Up high in the trees.

Someone punched in our apartment number and Markus answered the phone. We were not expecting anyone, so he asked who was there. A young lady spoke with him in English and he hung up the phone and did not buzz her in. She rang again and I answered. The young lady said that she was friend of our friend Sasha* and she wanted to have a conversation. It was a bit odd, but if this young lady was a friend of Sasha**, then she is a friend of ours.

She arrived upstairs and she asked me if I remembered her. “No, not really,” I responded. She did look familiar but I could not place her. Ingrid and I were on the way out to the store, so we did not have much time to chat. We did, however, invite the young lady in and asked what we could do for her. She responded, “I want to rent a room from you.” What? Where did you see the sign that a room was for rent? We said that we did not quite understand.

She proceeded to tell us that she was at our German club once, and noticed that we have a big apartment (true), and figured that we had extra rooms. Well if you have extra rooms, you rent them out, right? Hmmmm. “Did you happen to notice the four, growing kids as well?” I wondered. We told her that we do have a big apartment (her memory is good) but we also have a big family (she missed that part). We explained that it was simply not possible to rent a room to her. She was pleasant and just trying to find a place to live in Kiev, but it was a bit random to say the least.

*Sasha is not her real name.
** Sasha is still not her real name.

Ingrid Teaching

The ROSE Club

Making Friends

Jessica & Kasey Teaching

Markus Getting Wait

Having Fun

Day at the Beach

Ready for some Football

Ingrid & the Boys

Ingrid & Russ