Vanya is Back!

Tonight at our big group meeting (which was pretty big for the summer--17 people) we had a great surprise. Vanya K. is back and officially out of the army! Compulsory army service for males, while currently being phased out, is still the rule in Ukraine. You can delay it by getting higher education, but eventually you are faced with a choice: to bribe or not to bribe. While some are excused for health reasons, most bribe a doctor who gives them a certificate that says they are unable to serve. It's also possible to hide until you are 25 but that's pretty risky. Vanya, though, decided to serve after finishing ICU-Kyiv and just finished his 9 months of duty. The Lord blessed him in many ways while there. Many of the good things that happened to him served as a great witness to the church. But it was a very hard nine months. The military in Ukraine is rough, underfunded, and generally a very unpleasant experience. Won't you join us in praying for Vanya as he returns to civilian life? He has to figure out where to live, to find a job, etc.

Today, besides the evening group, we went to a huge superstore and bought all the UEC's supplies for the next six months and a few things for us. It was a lot of fun! It's much cheaper in these big stores and it will save Vitaly a lot of time in the coming months. I actually finally bought a kitchen garbage can. Some of my readers will be glad to hear this. I think Lena was shocked too, that I found one I approved of.

The government is still a mess.