Thursday March 13th. It was a beautiful day out today. Not too warm because we still needed our overcoats. But the sun was out - at least for part of the day. Apparently overcast and rain is the norm for the spring season in Kiev. A sunny day means that a city twice the size of Philadelphia - suffering from cabin fever - wants to bust out. And we were right there with them.
When we were told about this apartment last Saturday, they said that we would be in Kiev but not near the center of town. Well maybe not but there are certainly some interesting sights within walking distance of our apartment. A couple sites close to our apartment are the
Cathedrals of St. Michael and St. Sophia at St. Michael's Square. I've included pics here of both St. Sophia by itself and the Cathedral from the opposite side of The Square. St. Sophia Cathedral is Kiev's oldest standing Church (built in 1037) and is also the most visible site from the city's center. The original St. Michael Cathedral was built in the 12th Century but was blown to bits by Josef Stalin in the 1930s and the lot was left bare until recently. The St. Michael Cathedral was rebuilt in 2001 and is currently an active Church. Versus St. Sophia which today is more of a monument than an actual Church.
If you want to see Christian persecution first hand, go no further than Kiev. The Ukrainians really suffered, not only under Josef Stalin but during the entire 75 year long Communist Nightmare.
In an earlier post I mentioned The Golden Gate. In medievel times Kiev was a city that was
completely surrounded by a wall. There were only two ways in and out of the city. On one end of the city there was a gate for commoners. And on the other side of the city was "The Golden Gate" used by nobility and rich folks. The Golden Gate is fairly close to our apartment and in this post I've included a few pictures. I'd say that The Gate is about 20 or so meters tall; if you can fathom a guess via these pictures then by all means please do so. It is near a few major intersections in Kiev and makes a nice, little park like area with benches. There is a tall statue at the foot of the gate. The statue dwarfs Shirley but then the statue is dwarfed by the Golden Gate itself. At first I had no idea who the statue was. I tried to guess but all I could come up with was that it looked like a cross between Vladimir Lenin and Robin Hood. Later when we returned to the apartment we looked it up. We found the Statue to be of Yaroslav the Wise, protector of Kiev. And that "small" Church that he is carrying is the St. Sophia Cathedral. Apparently Yaroslav is the one who built the St. Sophia Cathedral also pictured on this page. Yaroslav ordered the construction of the Cathedral in 1037 to thank God for protecting the city against 
the Pecheneg invasion of 1024. Yaroslav modelled and named the Cathedral after the Aghia Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Constantinople. Yea I thought that Cathedral looked familiar.
OK enough history lesson for now. Sorry but in addition to loving to write, I am also a history buff. This city is old - more than 6 times as old as my own country. It is a history buff's Club Med.
We spoke to our facilitator this afternoon. He had nothing new to report which doesn't surprise me. Its only been two days since we officially rejected the little girl's referral and requested another SDA appointment. He did say though that when we get word of another appointment, its going to happen quick so we need to be ready. And we intend to be. A new appointment leads to a child and a child is still our priority for being here.
Stay tuned. More to come later....
Steve
When we were told about this apartment last Saturday, they said that we would be in Kiev but not near the center of town. Well maybe not but there are certainly some interesting sights within walking distance of our apartment. A couple sites close to our apartment are the
Cathedrals of St. Michael and St. Sophia at St. Michael's Square. I've included pics here of both St. Sophia by itself and the Cathedral from the opposite side of The Square. St. Sophia Cathedral is Kiev's oldest standing Church (built in 1037) and is also the most visible site from the city's center. The original St. Michael Cathedral was built in the 12th Century but was blown to bits by Josef Stalin in the 1930s and the lot was left bare until recently. The St. Michael Cathedral was rebuilt in 2001 and is currently an active Church. Versus St. Sophia which today is more of a monument than an actual Church.If you want to see Christian persecution first hand, go no further than Kiev. The Ukrainians really suffered, not only under Josef Stalin but during the entire 75 year long Communist Nightmare.
In an earlier post I mentioned The Golden Gate. In medievel times Kiev was a city that was
completely surrounded by a wall. There were only two ways in and out of the city. On one end of the city there was a gate for commoners. And on the other side of the city was "The Golden Gate" used by nobility and rich folks. The Golden Gate is fairly close to our apartment and in this post I've included a few pictures. I'd say that The Gate is about 20 or so meters tall; if you can fathom a guess via these pictures then by all means please do so. It is near a few major intersections in Kiev and makes a nice, little park like area with benches. There is a tall statue at the foot of the gate. The statue dwarfs Shirley but then the statue is dwarfed by the Golden Gate itself. At first I had no idea who the statue was. I tried to guess but all I could come up with was that it looked like a cross between Vladimir Lenin and Robin Hood. Later when we returned to the apartment we looked it up. We found the Statue to be of Yaroslav the Wise, protector of Kiev. And that "small" Church that he is carrying is the St. Sophia Cathedral. Apparently Yaroslav is the one who built the St. Sophia Cathedral also pictured on this page. Yaroslav ordered the construction of the Cathedral in 1037 to thank God for protecting the city against 
the Pecheneg invasion of 1024. Yaroslav modelled and named the Cathedral after the Aghia Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Constantinople. Yea I thought that Cathedral looked familiar.OK enough history lesson for now. Sorry but in addition to loving to write, I am also a history buff. This city is old - more than 6 times as old as my own country. It is a history buff's Club Med.
We spoke to our facilitator this afternoon. He had nothing new to report which doesn't surprise me. Its only been two days since we officially rejected the little girl's referral and requested another SDA appointment. He did say though that when we get word of another appointment, its going to happen quick so we need to be ready. And we intend to be. A new appointment leads to a child and a child is still our priority for being here.
Stay tuned. More to come later....
Steve
1 comment:
We're praying for a great 2nd appointment for you! We are an American World family as well. We are using Yuri as our facilitator, who are you using? If it's Yuri, please tell him hello from the Reeds. Enjoy Kiev!
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