Our Life in a Series of Pictures: November 2015 to March 2016

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2015 and the making of pumpkin pies! We celebrated with Mike's Advanced English class at our apartment.

Christmas 2015 and the decorating of the tree. Celebrations begin in December and go through the end of January and include: St Nicholas Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Ukrainian Christmas Eve, Ukrainian Christmas Day, Old New Year's and Old Christmas Day and maybe I forgot a couple here and there- but, it is quite fun to have so many celebrations.

Mike resuming preparations for his classes mid-January. We had a drafty apartment...

Solomiya and Fedya and Chicken Pox. That was not fun.

Fedya learning to drive Rudolf's van post-Chicken Pox.

Solomiya in her pre-school class. Contrary to what you may think, based on this picture (yes, Solomiya is in the green dress and looks like she is sleeping), she LOVES school. Sometime in 2015 spring (my memory is a bit fuzzy), we moved Solomiya from the government kindergarten to a private kindergarten. Did I mention she LOVES this school and absolutely LOVES her teacher?
This school has been great for her. The differences include: smaller class size, Montessori style of teaching, shorter day.
The school is actually held at our church and the head teacher is our Pastor's wife, Lilia (pictured above). The lessons are taught in Russian, so now Solomiya is becoming trilingual (English, Ukrainian, Russian) and soon will become my personal translator.

In March 2016, we moved out of our apartment and into this house! We are still renting, but the cool thing is that the rent is the same as our apartment. Yes, thank you. What a blessing from God!
 

This is what the garden area looked like in spring. Now, late summer, it looks a bit like a jungle.

Three weeks after we move, Misha is born! Phew, that was close.

     This house has been such a huge blessing! There is a lot of room for the kids to play, we can all sit at the same table to eat, we can easily go outside without cramming 2 adults, 2 kids a baby and stroller into an elevator.
     We also have extra bedrooms and have been able to host friends from New York, friends from Poland, a teacher from Sweden and a pastor and wife from England.
Please come and visit!

Our Trip to the US: 2015

Last September, my brother traveled to Ukraine, stayed with us for a few days, explored Uzhhorod and then helped me travel to the USA with the kiddos. Mike traveled two weeks later.
Here we are at a monument on the border of Ukraine and Slovakia.

We had a great time hanging out with him and really appreciated his help while traveling. We appreciate his sacrifice, as he had to leave his own little girl and wife, for the trip.

Besides spending time with family and friends, we got to do a lot of crazy things that we could never do in Uzhhorod: like buying taco shells and...

... going to amazing bookstores where they let kids play with toys!

     It was a good trip. We had a lot of fun reconnecting with our church family and sharing about what we are up to in Ukraine. It was fun to eat food that we normally cannot find in Uzhhorod and go to places where our kids could run around without falling onto broken glass or garbage. It was a nice change. It was a busy, and somewhat stressful trip; but good.

 

     It's very strange being a visitor in the place where you were born and grew up. It's strange being shocked by what once was normal:

- people wearing their pajamas to go shopping

- no fences and gates around private homes

- so many huge and expensive cars and SUVs

- waitresses asking repeatedly if the food is good, if they can get you something and bringing the check without you asking for it

- the lady at the post office acting super nice, like she really wants to help me

 

    And then, being shocked by what I once thought was strange about Ukrainian culture, but now seems perfectly normal and correct: and the shock of people in the US doing these things:

- ice in every drink (this does not happen in Ukraine because cold drinks could lead to a cold or sore throat)

- grass in every yard; no fruit trees or gardens (every inch of earth is usually cultivated)

- keeping the air conditioning/or fans on around small children (because of the draft and the draft leading to sickness)

- babies and small children not wearing hats to protect against the sun's heat or the chilly wind (because they MUST be protected from every type of weather)

- when waiting in line, leaving at least 1 foot between you and the other people in front and behind (personal space while waiting in line does not exist in Ukraine)

 

It is very interesting to live in another part of the world and to travel. The world does not seem as big as I once thought it was.

 

 

 

 

How life has changed since our last post...

This little guy was born March 23, 2016 at 5:00am in room 2 at the Birth House in Uzhhorod, Ukraine (Fedya was also born at 5:00am, but in room 1- interesting...).
Mykhailo Hallenback
We call him Misha.
 

He just turned 5 months old!
 

Fedya has been teaching Misha many things. As you can see, he is a fast learner.

Misha adores his big sister (even though he does look a bit concerned in this picture)!

 

Pastor Josef's New Building: Part 2

This is the entry-way you see when you walk up the steps and into the side door. To the right, there is a set of steps going down to the basement and then stairs going up to the second floor. Straight ahead is...

... this large room! As you can see, it is already being used for storage (clothing and shoes ready to be given away).

The right side of the basement and..

...the left side of the basement. Two rooms that they are already remodeling. One of the biggest projects down here is making the space dry.

 

There is also this front part of the building (the steps lead to another separate entry and space), but it has been open to the elements for at least a few months due to broken windows and doors. There are 2 or 3 smaller rooms connected to this part of the building.

This is a view of the side of the building.

Thank you SO much for giving money so that the remodeling can begin!
Anyone interested in helping? Come on over and you will be put to good use.

Pastor Josef's New Building: Part 1

A couple Sunday's ago, our home church in New York raised money to give to Pastor Josef and help with the renovation inside his new building.

We first met Josef almost 10 years ago when we joined our church in NY for short-term volunteer trips to Ukraine. At this time, Josef's main energy went into working with children who were either living, or spending most of their time, on the streets. Some of them were orphans, some of them came from alcoholic homes or from parents who were not interested in what their kids were doing.
For these children, Josef, his family and his team provided weekly meals and a safe place for the kids to meet. During this time, they played games, did crafts, learned songs and dances and had people readily available to listen to them and provide for their physical and emotional needs. Most importantly, Josef taught the kids about a God who loved them and encouraged them to pursue great things in life, regardless of their circumstances.

Fast forward to 2015: it is amazing to see what God has done through Josef in the past 10 years.
- The same kids Josef reached out to 10 years ago, are now leaders in the same ministry and in the church.
- A permanent foster home was built in a village just outside of Uzhhorod, where Josef and his team can offer kids a place to stay permanently or temporarily. Currently, he is expanding their original vision of the purpose of the home to include refugees from the east of Ukraine.
- Josef expanded his work to include adults suffering from alcohol and/or drug addiction.
- Though they did not have their own building, Josef began regular Sunday services a few years ago and now has a thriving congregation.
- Josef has raised up an amazing group of young leaders. This group of young adults, they are passionate about God and living their life for Him. They are steadfast and live their life with a purpose.

This new building gives Josef and his team a permanent base in the heart of the city that is their very own.

Here is Josef standing in front of the building. It is situated at a major intersection near the center of the city. Perfect spot!

View of the intersection from the front of the building. If you take the road straight, past the buildings in the photos, you will end up in the heart of the city in less than 2 minutes (by car; maybe 10 minutes by walking).

View from the parking lot: the train station (the small building directly in the center of the photo). Once again, great location!

The main entrance and a Solomiya.

Fedya

Cannot believe this little guy will be 1 on May 15th!

 

 

Uzhhorod, Ukraine

 

Walking into our apartment complex: caught the setting sun right in between two buildings.

Love the cobblestone.

*I did not take this picture*
I just thought it was really awesome.