On June 20th, our second grandchild, Sadie Joy Reeve, was born to Clare and Matt. As you can see she is beautiful. Get used to seeing photos of her and Joel featured a bit in successive posts. We’re grandparents…that’s our job!!
Sadie with mum and Aunties Beth and Megan
Joel meeting his new cousinNOW… the blog!!!
It's been a long time since our last posting.
Where were we???? It would be an understatement to say that life has been hectic. There have been many comings and goings, several trips abroad and camps attended, mixed in with the everyday demands of Divisional life. Let’s reflect… We may do this in a few rapid fire ‘blogs’ over the next week or so.
May 7th…. Viv’s birthday. What a present…an International trip!!!!
We set off in the car on a 9 day visit to Crimea in the south of Ukraine, our neighbouring country. Crimea borders the Black Sea. This time incorporated two or three days of public holidays and weekends.
On the promenade with Yalta in the background
Our first five days were spent in Yalta on the South coast, which is a beautiful resort town on the coast, surrounded by spectacular mountains. We stayed at a little B&B with magnificent views of the ocean. The cost for this view was climbing precarious exterior stairs (more like a glorified ladder!!) but once there, it was worth it.
We had been requested to do a three hour presentation at Yalta University with the given topic ‘Unknown Australia’. Those who attended were students who had been studying English. We gave a brief historical and political overview, and spoke about the economy, geography, culture, and of course sport!
It seems that everyone in this part of the world is interested in pictures of Australia's unique fauna. (When there is any confusion about whether we are Australian or Austrian, mentioning the word ‘kangaroo’ soon clarifies our roots!) Vegemite tasting was also part of the experience. Needless to say, it was either a 'love or hate' reaction.
The next few days were spent exploring this area and its associated rich history, especially when it comes to wars, spanning many centuries. Our tour guide was Yuri Gulyanytsky, a Salvationist from Yalta who is an expert on the area. Places of interest included Livadia Palace, the scene where Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill talked about the future of Europe at the end of WW2.
In the grounds of Livadia Palace
Continuing on the 'war' theme... we visited the field where the ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ took place, and also saw some former secret Soviet Naval bases, which are now popular tourist destinations. A unique feature of one such base, Balaklava, is the secret submarine maintenance docks. At the height of the Cold War, subs would enter the inlet of this village, and enter an excavated tunnel that was the entry point to the underground workshops. These former naval establishments are a shadow of their former selves.
Look carefully at this poster to see the 'secret' access to the Submarine workshop
In the township of Balaklava
The road along the coast is reminiscent of the Great Ocean road in Victoria with sea on one side and towering mountains on the other. There was the mandatory visit to a couple of spectacular Orthodox Churches which had been magnificently restored in post Soviet times.
Near to the town of Sevastopol are the ancient Greek ruins of the settlement of Hersones, dating back to the 6th century B.C. A new sense of historical perspective comes when you walk amongst areas with such history, and try to imagine the everyday activities that happened 2500 years earlier. Yuri and Ian fossicked along the beach and found some fragments of old earthenware pottery.
Yuri and Ian searching for artifacts.There are also pockets of Turkish influence in this area and we were introduced to the delights of Turkish cuisine.
It's a tough life for Turkish men!! This man was set for the day to be waited upon by his Turkish women.
In Yalta itself we enjoyed leisurely strolls along the lengthy promenade and were constantly fascinated by the variety of activities happening, ranging from chess games, string ensembles, palm reading, and mini bike hire.
An entertainer who kept singing old Soviet war songs.
Palm reading
The‘Swallows Nest’, a ‘castle’ is an iconic landmark of Yalta,built by a wealthy German for his gypsy lover. It now sits precariously on a cliff top overhanging the black sea. The story goes that the gypsy lover left after only one night. (C’est la vie!) Because of his nationality, the man left at the commencement of the Second WW. The Swallows Nest is now one of the main tourist attractions in the town.
The views from the 'Swallow's Nest' are breathtaking
Sunday morning we attended the Yalta Corps and participated in worship. We were again overwhelmed with a warm welcome, and had flowers ‘thrust’ at us several times during the service.
The Salvation Army meets on the third level of an old Soviet building now used by an association for the blind. As we climbed the stairs we saw this relic from Cold War days, giving instructions on what to do when ‘they attack us with nuclear bombs.’ (Fascinating!)
On Sunday afternoon we journeyed on to Kerch on the East Coast of Crimea. Here we spent three days teaching a module entitled ‘Contagious Christianity’ to delegates of a lay leadership course. This is an interdenominational college with representatives from many churches including the Army. The course aims to develop lay leadership in the Churches of Eastern Europe. Yuri was our translator, and has the wonderful gift of making us sound better than we really are. We were challenged by their eagerness to learn, their strong faith and their powerful prayers. We were also challenged by the camp food, but we are managing to eat everything that is put in front of us. The reality is you either eat or go hungry. The campsite itself was formerly a Pioneers camp (‘Pioneers’ was the equivalent of a youth movement – with a mixture of ‘scouting’ activities and political indoctrination) There are many of these camp sites scattered throughout the former Soviet union now abandoned. The campsite at Kerch has been transformed through the finances and support of Global Action, a Christian teaching and aid organisation, which also happens to sponsor many projects run by The Salvation Army in Moldova.
Ian teaching with the help of Yuri, our translator.
In the few hours we had free, we did a whirlwind tour of the city of Kerch, with Yuri once again proving a great tour guide, giving us a comprehensive history of the place.
A sea view from Kerch. Just 5 kms across the sea behind us is mainland Russia
Like many before us, we are taking the salute under one of the many statues of Lenin that remain intact throughout the former Soviet Union
The 850 kms back to Chisinau took us 15 hours in the car. It was a long way on fairly ordinary roads. We have come to the conclusion that Ukrainian drivers are amongst the worst in the world. It is common for cars and trucks to overtake other vehicles whilst going up a hill or while taking a bend, regardless of what might be coming in the other direction. At times it was quite scary. Since then we have been told that the Ukrainian road toll over the Easter weekend exceeded the road toll for Sweden for all of 2007.
We are still here to tell the story….
Sometimes we still have to pinch ourselves to remind us that all this is really happening to us, it still seems so unreal. We feel privileged to be serving in this part of the world. In the midst of all the above mentioned experiences are the many challenges that are part and parcel of everyday as we lead the Army in this Division. But God is at work, and continues to provide grace and strength for the task.
Until next time… Lots of love.
