John White - Developing Church Leadership in the Russian Speaking World c/o Eric Yodis, Postal Box 3644, Donetsk 83076, UKRAINE August 2001 jwhite@alumni.princeton.edu http://www.marucheck.net/jw
A doctor was once asked by a patient who had met with a serious accident, "Doctor, how long shall I have to lie here?" The doctor answered, "Only a day at a time" (from Andrew Murray's "Abide in Christ").
Patience is a lesson that comes often in Ukraine, and in numerous forms. My most recent lesson happened while trying to buy train tickets at the local "kassa," a central place where you pay for various things. Since it's the summer time and especially hot here, many people would like to travel for vacation. Fortunately, I came with my language helper Slavic, and it turned out that I needed his language abilities more for standing in line than for buying the tickets!
The way I understand it, there are (at least) two kinds of lines here. The first kind is close to a free-for-all. Whoever can push their way to the front and place their order is first. As you can imagine, this can be rather frustrating, especially if I'm being pushed aside by little old ladies whom I'd rather not push back! The second kind of line actually has an order, but it's entirely unclear what it is. That was what I faced at the kassa-I knew I was behind one particular woman and ahead of another man, but that was all. You see, many people will claim their place in line and then sit down or even leave the building. So, I didn't know if I was tenth or fiftieth in line (and this makes it hard to pick a line, which is why people claim places in various lines, which of course adds to the confusion...). I was amused that during my three hours in line several times the people were again trying to figure out the order, and I was glad Slavic was there to help!
As often happens, this ended up being a good opportunity to practice speaking Russian with Slavic and to help another Ukrainian friend who had waited in line for four hours only to see his window close for an hour break! We both got our tickets and I was thankful to have survived another common test of patience in Ukraine.
I also very much appreciated your prayers for my mom's visit. We had a great time, and I was surprised by how much Russian I could translate. We traveled from Kiev to Sevastopol to Donetsk, and managed to pay for things, see sites, and talk to people successfully. One of the funniest moments was at the Donetsk Botanical Gardens, where a tour guide first explained the flora, then my professor Galina explained again in simpler Russian, and then I tried to translate for my mom. Of course by this time, she had often guessed what we were looking at anyway! Although I made many mistakes, I came away from the trip very encouraged that I could do a lot more than I thought I could before. It seems that sometimes God works best when we feel the least adequate.
I still face many frustrations when I don't understand or can't explain something that I want to, but God is teaching me to be patient and to rely on Him, if only a day at a time.
In thanks for your prayers,
John