Ukraine | Wide Awake Family

ONE YEAR!!!

Posted on November 13, 2014 by kimnjed

One year. ONE YEAR! Today marks one year since we landed in Ukraine to start this crazy new journey. We’re calling today our “Ukraine-iversary”.

I remember the elevator door opening in to the baggage claim at the airport in Kyiv. I remember looking around and wondering how on God’s green earth were we going to get all 12 suitcases, all 4 carry-ons, all 5 personal items, the guitar, and all four children from baggage claim, through customs, and to the van that we hoped was waiting for us.

And then. Then I saw frantic waving through the sliding door as it opened and closed past customs. There were at least 8 friends from Kyiv Vineyard with HUGE smiles on their faces, waiting to help us out the door. Oh the relief. Those dear, sweet friends will never understand what the moment meant to me. We were not alone. We had loved ones waiting for us. And that’s how it has been along this whole journey.

Now some of those who greeted us are like our Ukrainian family. Now Vasya, the driver who I hoped and prayed really would be waiting for us, is a loved friend who drives us to and from Romaniv almost every single week.

What a journey. What.a.journey.

This year has been full.

Full of laughter, and full of tears. Full of hugs and kisses, and full of loneliness. Full of learning, and full of humility. Full of intense joy and intense grief. Full of being a stranger, and full of absolute belonging.

But most of all, this year has been full to the brim, and then overflowing with blessing.

God has blessed us this year beyond our wildest dreams. His goodness has been without end. This has been the hardest year of our lives, but also the absolute best year of our lives. There have been days when we felt like the craziest people on the face of the earth, but God has walked beside us every second.

You know what’s exciting? This is just the beginning!!! One year is like nothing! We’re just scratching the surface of the plans God has for the special boys and young people we serve. The dreams He has been giving us are even wilder and crazier and bigger than before.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU a million times THANK YOU for walking with us on this journey. Thank you for your prayers, your encouragement, your comments, your emails, your financial support, your care packages, your love.

We are blessed to have you on the team.

To celebrate this most awesome Ukraine-iversary we have brought back the BeLOVE[d] t-shirts!

We will be selling the shirts until the end of the month, and 100% of the proceeds will go toward the transportation of our volunteer teams to and from Romaniv. They are Jesus’ hands and feet to our Boys and your support helps them (and us!) get there as often as possible.

Check out the sale at www.booster.com/wideawakeinternational

(God’s) Timing is Everything

Posted on October 6, 2014 by kimnjed

So yesterday was basically amazing.

We had the extreme honor and pleasure of meeting with a woman in Kyiv who has worked for twenty years to provide rights for, and secure the rights of people with disabilities. She and her team have worked tirelessly to rewrite laws and create legislation and lobby for the ones we love. This incredible woman was fighting for our Boys before we even had a clue they existed. This incredible woman deserves a standing ovation.

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As a mother of an adult son with disabilities she recognized the holes in the social system of Ukraine. She saw how her own son would fall between those cracks. She knew the value of his life and decided to do something about it.

As Ukraine attempts to move toward European Standards of Care for institutionalized children and adults it has become obvious that the current model of care can not continue “as is”. Major overhauls must happen. Major change must come. And it will have to be MAJOR.

Before we moved here we told people that the whole social system here in Ukraine would have to change in order for the dreams God has given us to come about. We dream of community living for people of all abilities where they are not isolated, but are active members of society. We dream of homes where children are not confined to their beds, but they are truly living and thriving, surrounded by loving support for all their days. Those dreams are legally impossible with the current system. BUT, change is coming. We don’t know when (but we do know it will be soon), we don’t now how, but now we know the people who have been dreaming this dream long before we arrived.

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Timing is everything. The harvest is so ripe. How can we honor those who have gone before us? How can we thank them enough for their tireless, unrecognized efforts? It’s truly humbling and so encouraging! I mean, think about this: we knew at some point we would have to hire a legal team to dig in to, and fight to change the laws here concerning people with disabilities. Then yesterday we learned that there are people here already doing that- and with much success!

There is much, much work to be done, and many battles yet to be fought, but we are not alone. We are a teeny-tiny piece of a great big puzzle here in Ukraine. There are others who care, and it is personal to them. We met one of them yesterday.

I’m a concrete thinker. I like to know what to do next. All these policies and plans and multi-year projects are nearly impossible for me to wrap my brain around. But, in our meeting we were given a solid next step to work toward. We learned that it is important to register Wide Awake International as an NGO here in Ukraine. That will be to our benefit once the big changes start to take place. So, we’ll get working on that right away.

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In the meantime we’ll keep in touch with our new contact in Kyiv, and faithfully serve the Boys God has put right in front of us. It’s more and more obvious as time goes by that this is the exact place we are supposed to be at this exact time in history. Because of that we can rest. Even though Ukraine is at war and the task before us seems insurmountable, we can be confident that God is truly in control. Yay for that!!!! Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. You are making a difference in many lives!

The photos are from last week at Romaniv. Little Ilya was cracking us up with his absolute love for music. It really helps him to regulate. He even tried to climb inside the guitar! Don’t miss him on Jed’s lap in the pics. Hilarious and awesome.

Coffee Chat

Posted on May 24, 2014 by kimnjed

On the eve of tomorrow’s presidential elections here in Ukraine, there is much that could be said. Things are getting more and more crazy in the East. I can’t even keep up with the news properly. People on both sides of the conflict are dying and no one knows what will happen next. Please join us in prayer for tomorrow’s elections! Pray that people would not be hindered from voting. Pray that there would be loads of courage and wisdom on each person who decides to make their voice heard. Pray for honesty and that corruption would be far away from these proceedings. That almost seems impossible, but we are praying it anyway. God is doing a new thing here and we choose hope.

Let’s chat. Let’s pretend you and I are sitting down for a nice, hot cup of coffee and you just asked me, “So, what have you guys been up to?”

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We’ve been great! I’m so glad it’s almost summer break. One more week of school and we’re done!!! Addy and Ezra had testing last week in reading, writing, and math and they both did fine on all the tests. Yay! They both recited poems in their class program and did awesome. FIVE MORE DAYS!!!!! Good thing too, because it’s really hard to think about school when it’s 80 degrees with blue skies and all the neighbor kids get to stay out playing till after 9:00 every night. 🙂

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Speaking of neighbor kids, we have a couple that have started to come over faithfully to invite the kids to come outside and play! They are sweet little girls that are both 11, and they really enjoy playing with the kids. They usually bring an assortment of siblings and other tag-alongs with them. One day they were so desperate to communicate that one of them actually ran inside her apartment and came out with an English-Russian dictionary! Thank you Jesus for fun kids to run around with.

The little girls made our kids this picture as a gift. Notice the bottom, “Set, Hava, Ezra, and HARRY” Hahahahahaha!!!! Looks like Addy’s got a new nickname!

So, in case you didn’t know, Ukrainians have a thing for hedgehogs. Everyone loves hedgehogs here. You can find candy named after hedgehogs; they are a super common theme in kids’ books; many families have stuffed animal hedgehogs in their houses, and the kids have homework that involves hedgehogs at least once a week. I love it! I don’t get it, but I enjoy it. Well, a couple nights ago there was a hedgehog on our street! I’d never seen a real one before! Coooool. One of the neighbors lightly kicked it until it rolled in to a ball and then he picked it up. I’ve got to admit, I’m becoming a fan!

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We had our second Youth Night at MTU last week. It was karaoke night and we all had a blast. We got to be outside, we ate food, chatted, sang, laughed, bowled. So many smiles…I am absolutely in love with Youth Night.

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Jed even pulled out the air guitar. Intense.

Last week classes at MTU ended for the school year. Now we enter the summer schedule, which is shaping up to be pretty stinking fun. I’ll do a post about that later. Over the past couple of months my friend Tanya and I had the best time meeting with some of the moms whose kids are served at MTU. Normally while the kids are in classes, the moms meet with Olya, a staff member of MTU. They chat, pray, and study the Bible. Olya is pretty busy, so Tanya and I took a couple of her groups and have met with them several times. We had such fun!! We drank tea, prayed, chatted…I absolutely loved getting to know some of the moms of the children and youth we serve. These are some awesome, strong, brave, and loving women. I adore them!

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Today was such a fun day here in Zhytomyr!! They hung up a record-breaking, HUGE HUGE HUGE Ukrainian flag on a building in our city center. There was a big gathering today at the flag to hear from some important people in the city, to hear some beautiful music, to sing the National Anthem, and basically just to show support and love the for this wonderful country. Many, many people were dressed in traditional clothing, there were flags everywhere…it was AWESOME. I was so thankful we got to be there to participate! Zhytomyr, as a city, has honestly been a bit sleepy when it comes to all that has been happening these past few months. But now, a few days after the attack and deaths of some of our own Zhytomyr soldiers who were fighting in the east, Zhytomyr is sleeping no more.

The view from the other side of the city center. Massive!!!

University students in traditional dress marched and chanted in the streets.

Johnson kiddos feelin’ the love…

Our dear friend Olya helping Havalah in the sidewalk chalk competition. Kids were supposed to draw something to symbolize their love for Ukraine.

Addy, hard at work. Her writing says “I love Ukraine” -in Ukrainian! Nice job sis!

Showing our flowery support with traditional hairbands 🙂

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Some of our favorite people: Oksana, Nastya, Tolik, Victor, Katya,Olya, Oleg, Tanya, and baby Zakhar. (Seth was sooooo done. Haha)

Thank you for loving the Ukrainian people alongside us. May God have His way and may many hearts be turned to Him during this time.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20, 21

Let Go, Revisited

Posted on March 10, 2014 by kimnjed

On January 8th, in the dawn of the New Year, I wrote a post about my theme for 2014: “Let Go”. At that time it was something the Lord was softly whispering to me, and as I thought about it more I realized that it was something that really needed to begin to happen in my life. I began to realize how much of my life I hold on to every day, and because of that, how much less I am holding on to Jesus.

I sit here now, chuckling to myself about what God really had in store for me in the “Letting Go” realm. Chuckling as in, if I don’t laugh I’ll cry, sorta chuckle. Annnnnd it’s only March. Ha!

Much of the letting go in that post was concerning the need for me to let go as a mother.

“Before they were our babies, they were His. My kids belong to God. Forget what our culture says is required for a happy childhood. What does God say my kids need? What does God say is important for a child? Those are things to focus on and invest in. If my kids have all the happiness in the world, but their hearts are far from the Lord, what have they gained?”

Little did I know when I wrote that post, that a month later Addy and Ezra would be attending our local Ukrainian school. Never in a million years would I have predicted it. Before we moved and people asked about what we would do for school I answered them that we weren’t sure, but definitely they wouldn’t be in a local public school. Oy. Yeah, what do I know??

Addy and Ez have been in school for a month now. That act of “letting go” has been one of the hardest undertakings in my life. I know they don’t understand much of what is said during the day at school. I know at times they are nervous. Making friends has been difficult because they can’t speak more than a couple of words to the other kids. I so want them to be happy. I don’t want them to be lonely. They say they like school, but I wonder, deep down, are their little hearts okay?

Let go. We are being obedient to the Lord. Their happiness is not reliant on me. God will give them all that they need. He created them KNOWING this would be their life. Addy and Ezra, Havalah and Seth were each called to Ukraine, just as Jed and I were. So what if the American culture says they need lots and lots of friends and activities to be happy? They have each other as friends. They have a Mommy and Daddy that love them.

Let go.

Little did I know when I wrote that post about letting go, that 2 months later Ukraine would be at the brink of full-on war. With Russian troops moving further and further inland, no one knows what will happen next.

What does it mean to truly LET GO when face to face with war?

I have no idea, but I’m learning every day. We never could have anticipated that God would call us to this. But, He did. He knew full well what was going to happen in Ukraine a week after we arrived. He told us to come, to love on His children who have been hidden away for far too long. We came without a Plan B. Ukraine is our home now. Ukraine is God’s plan for our family.

What does it mean to lay it all down for the sake of Jesus? What does it mean to be ALL IN, and to really mean it? What does it mean to say YES, without conditions? It means the same thing now as it meant to us when we came here. Only now we better make sure we really believe it. Is our Yes truly without conditions? We are here in Ukraine until God tells us not to be here anymore.

Because of the political situation here, many people have been asking us when we will come home. Many have asked us if we have a red line, like “If such and such happens, then we will leave.” We have no line. All we have is the voice of the Lord, just as we did when we flew out of Portland on November 12th. We are watching the news; we are not seeking out danger, but who ever said God will always steer us clear of danger?

Let go.

I know we have our children to think of, and believe me, there is no one that wants our kids to be safe more than Jed and I do. But more than parents who try to keep them safe, what our kids truly need is parents who will listen to the voice of the Lord and follow Him no matter what- letting go of all else, and clinging with all they’ve got to the hand of Jesus.

Our friends here in Ukraine have no exit plan. Our boys at Romaniv have no exit plan. What of the countless others who lay in their cribs day after day, completely unaware of their homeland’s turmoil? They have no choice, no option of leaving their crib, let alone their country.

So here we stand and here we stay. We continually ask the Lord for wisdom. At the same time we continually ask Him to help us let go of ourselves, in order that we might hold more tightly to Him.

Please listen to my heart. It’s not that we are trying to call ourselves some sort of heroes or attempting to be foolishly brave. The Ukrainian people are the ones who are brave. The heroes are the Ukrainians who live for Jesus despite the injustice that has surrounded them all their lives. We are simply reminded that a life of obedience does not always equal a life of physical safety. The Ukrainian people need the hope of Jesus more than ever right now. With a new government being formed there is new hope for the children we have come to serve. We believe with all of our hearts that we are here in Ukraine for such a time as this. If you’ve followed our story at all you know that we didn’t arrive here by accident. 🙂 God made the way and He has a purpose in it.

When we very first started on this journey, way back in 2010, God gave us some verses. They have been my comfort more times than I can count. It had been quite a while since I looked them up, and today I wept as I read them again. Just knowing that God knew all about this way back then is such a comfort. He does see. He does know.

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.

For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities…

‘Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord who has compassion on you…

All your sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children’s peace, In righteousness you will be established: tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear.”

Isaiah 54:2, 3, 10, 13-14

Let go with me, will you? He promises to be more than enough. I intend to trust that.

To Remember

Posted on February 22, 2014 by kimnjed

How to begin? My heart is full to bursting with emotion, yet I feel almost embarrassed to write. We are Ukrainian babies. We’ve only lived here for a little over 3 months. We only just started falling in love with Ukraine and her people in 2010. What do we know of Ukraine?

There are missionaries who have lived here for decades. They’ve given years and years of their lives to the Ukrainian people. They’ve loved Ukraine for almost as long as I’ve been alive. What do we know of Ukraine compared to them? Not much.

Then there are the Ukrainian people themselves. So many lived through the fall of the Soviet Union, were present when Ukraine found it’s independence, had their hopes built by the Orange Revolution, then hopes dashed when things did not improve- but only got worse.

They know what it is to expect corruption. They know what it is to live without hope of change. They know what it is to be stolen from and oppressed over and over and over. What do we know of Ukraine? Nothing.

We know practically nothing of Ukraine compared to these, yet our hearts yearn to know. God has planted us here and He has given us an overwhelming love for these people. I know I will never understand like those others, so I can only share what I do know, with a humbled heart. I simply have to write it down because I never want to forget these days.

Yesterday we took a walk with the kids to the site of the fallen Lenin statue here in Zhitomir. We attempted to explain to the kids why these days are significant. As we walked we talked of history books yet to be written and revolution and lost lives. We talked about what it means that the people of Maidan were willing to give their lives for freedom. We talked about those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. We have several friends who spent significant time at Maidan in the past few months. It could have been any one of them.

When we reached the statue our hearts swelled and our eyes filled with tears. Photos of some of the fallen were on the front of the monument. Candles and flowers were at the base. Where Lenin stood for so long was a lone Ukrainian flag. People were constantly streaming to the site. Some took pictures, some talked with each other, some simply looked and were quiet.

What struck Jed and I the most was that the crowd was almost solely made up of the elderly. Old men hobbled up with canes and snapped pictures. Babushkas looked at the photos on the monument, lips moving silently. Oh, what I would have paid to know what they were thinking. These people who have endured such hardship and pain, what do they think of this time in history? Do they hold hope for their beloved Ukraine, as we do? What can they tell us of life and suffering, hope and fear? Oh, what I would pay.

Today the president was impeached and fled from Kyiv. Today Ukraine began to build it’s new future. This is the stuff of the History Channel, yet we are here, living it alongside our neighbors and friends. We are here trying our best to understand and support. And we have to wonder, why did God place us here for this time in history? He knew when we boarded the plane in Oregon that a revolution would begin a week after our arrival.

Perhaps He placed us for this time so we would understand just a bit more what it means to be a Ukrainian. Perhaps it was so we would know better how to pray, and others who may not have noticed before would be prompted to pray as well. Perhaps there are people here that we are specifically here to encourage at this time. God only knows. I will just say that I am 100% thankful for it. There is nowhere else we would rather be at this time. Our hearts are simply exploding with love for our new countrymen.

We pray that as Ukraine builds it’s new future that men’s hearts would be turned toward the Lord. May the sacrifice at Maidan never be in vain. As the thousands stood, and even now stand for justice, may they not forget their most vulnerable who desperately need justice as well. May government leaders’ hearts be softened for the fatherless. May their eyes be opened to the value of every single life in this country.

Ezra said it best: “I know, Mom! Let’s pray that the new president will love orphans!”

Amen. So be it.

There is a long road ahead in building a new Ukraine. Much wisdom and courage will be needed. May God bless Ukraine and may His Spirit flood this land like never before. May many, many hearts and eyes turn to Him as the real Hope for this country. May Ukrainians live lives wide awake to the Father and His never-ending love for them.