Personal Meandering Thoughts

There are three distinct things going on here.

I'm surrounded by novelty. The culture is new, the landscape is new, faces, transportation, everything. It's all new to me, and it takes effort to get past my own expectations and assumptions to get and share an accurate sense of what is real. As I mentioned in a previous post, I recognise that that's not really possible, but I'm set to do my best. It's great to have long-term missionaries to help guide and shape the process.

Then there's the job. I'm here to collect materials to support the EFCCM and its missionaries. That is central, and I'm putting great pressure on myself to achieve the best results possible from this brief trip. But I'm actively avoiding being seen as the guy with the camera permanently attached to his face. However, the reality is that when a moment's over, there's no way to recapture it -- I just hope I can collect enough moments. I'm here as an ambassador for the Home Office, to establish my own relationships with our missionaries, and to give our Canadian congregations a good impression of what's going on. That's a lot to keep track of!

Finally, and this was unexpected, I'm processing my own personal missions experience. Nothing here is similar to my experience in Zimbabwe, but I'm reaching into my own past to try and come to terms with the feelings and memories of my past. This is something that is going to have ramifications for a long time, I can feel it. One missionary recognised that right away, and advised me to not to deny the process, but embrace it, and its whole gamut of accompanying emotions. I know it's good advice -- it'll be interesting to how it all plays out when I return.

Missionary POV: Quick Summary of Last Few Days

Easter was a fantastic experience! We started with a sunrise service, actually a little after sunrise, but we started under a sky that was overcast and damp. The worship portion was led by about six worship leaders including several singers and guitars, a violin and a flute. As the pastor delivered the Easter message the sun broke through, and it felt like God was revealing a small microcosm of the new resurrection to us, offering warmth to our shivering group. Someone told me it's the third year in a row that the weather has followed a similar pattern.

I've gotten a great sense of the work that our people are engaged in, from a larger-than-expected meeting in a home, to one-on-one family connections being built with local families. I hope that what I'm seeing and getting on camera imparts at least a sense of the awe that I feel. It's amazing to see God at work in a culture and language that otherwise has few similarities to my own. I think I'm getting the rhythm of this assignment, but I often find myself participating in what's going on around me rather than impertially observing it with the camera running -- it's a delicate balance. I'm curious to see how editing and compiling go when I get back, and look over the footage that I have.

Ukraine is a nation of contrasts. The modern and the ancient exist side by side. Younger women dress in the high fashion of European society, and older women dress in the long coats and "headkerchiefs" that reflect a deep tradition. New cars share cobblestone roads with smoky old Ladas. Same with old scooters and brand-new sportbikes. It's interesting to see all the places where culture is clashing. The latest electronics, fashion accessories, and even hardware parts are sold from kiosks in a market that is easy to imagine existing in similar form in antiquity. Crumbling concrete houses often have satellite dishes, and its occupants are likely to have at least one cellphone. Disposable income is a very new concept here, and it's really interesting to see how it's being used.

Missionary POV: I made it!

Quite frankly, when I rounded the corner at the Dnepro airport and saw my two bags waiting for me, I was actually surprised. They had to make the same flights (all four of them) in the same short turnaround that I did (sometimes just barely an hour). So everything’s here, all safe and sound. And now it’s time for me to say something I knew I was going to say right from the outset: “It’s nothing like I was expecting. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this is different.”

Dnepro first impressions? I’m glad I’m not driving! There are no lane markings, and so drivers make up their own, weaving in at out of the flow of traffic entirely unpredictably. Slowing down, turning, stopping, taking off right in front of you all happens without any kind of indication of intent. Cars don’t have to run to real well, but they’d better have good brakes! Helmet laws (like seatbelt laws) aren’t enforced; yesterday I saw three riders on a scooter, their hair blowing in the wind. I’ve always wanted the experience of riding without a helmet, but I have to say, I’m not tempted to try that here – not in the least!

The communist era has left a strong but fading mark on the place. For example central heating was popular here, and by that I mean large city blocks heated by the same source. Large ducts continue to join big buildings, crossing the roads like bridges. It reminds me of Brazil, and in retrospect that connection is probably intentional on Gilliam’s part. That's certainly on my "to get pictures of" list, so it may show up here soon!

Dnepro is obviously a burgeoning place. There are signs of growth and progress everywhere, with new modern buildings and lights. It makes for an odd pastiche. There is classic architecture, functional-but-crumbling concrete buildings, and then there are new, glitzy shopping centres and car dealerships. Very little exists to bridge the gap, like time stood still for a few decades, and I guess in a way, it did, and now it's rushing to catch up.

I have a much better idea now of how this trip is going to work out, and we have a tentative schedule in place. I’ve met several of the missionaries already, and they’re all great! There’s a lot of camaraderie here, with ribbing and in jokes flying fast and thick. As long as I can keep my gear working, and stay alert (a good night’s sleep -- on Ukraine time no less -- has helped I’m sure), then I should be able to get everything I need. I have a mental checklist developing of all the shots I want to get too – even after being here just over 12 hours, I can see things that will be important to the projects I’m working on. I have no, well few, problems trusting the Lord, but trusting myself can be challenging.

Missionary POV: Pre-departure Highlight #2

I mentioned flights in my last post, and how we'd promptly lost all the credit card points the office was chipping in. And then I mentioned that there was a snag between the airport and the airline. Well it turns out that that snag saved the day! The flight booked on points hadn't been cancelled when I got a call at the office outlining the disconnect between the airline and the airport, and what the airline was prepared to do about it. There were options of changing to a different day (if only I could have had that option two weeks ago!), getting a connecting flight on the airline's dime, or...a full refund!

Welcome back all 65,000 points and the nearly $300 in taxes we had to pay! What a great phone call to get the day before I leave! I felt so bad about all those points -- a whole return trip to Europe no less -- just going to absolute waste! Phew!

Now I just gotta wrap a whole bunch of loose ends, and I'll be ready. That'll probably mean no sleep at all tonight, but what else is new?! Man, with all the screens I stare at, if people really did turn square-eyed, my whole head would be a very pointy cube.

Missionary POV: Shenanigans Ensue...

Welcome to my first real update for the Missionary Point of View trip to Ukraine. There's a lot to share, and I haven't even left yet!

I can't possibly begin to explain. Describe maybe, but explain? Here's the scenario. I'm trying to get to Dnepropetrovsk (Dnepro) in Ukraine, and I have had my flight booked at least three different ways. First we started on credit card points, but using points offers no flexibility. You book wrong, you're toast! And it turned out that the booking was going to get me in the early morning of the day after I absolutely needed to be there. So that wasn't going to work.

We proceeded to reserve a ticket with a well-known airline beginning with the letter 'L', and they're going through some sort of kaffufle with the Dnepro airport that might/should be resolved in the interim between when I reserved the ticket and when I was scheduled to leave. They wouldn't let us finalise the ticket until they knew whether the kaffufle was resolved, because they didn't want to be on the hook for getting me to Dnepro. Was a resolution reached? No. So I'd have to be re-routed to Kiev, and then find my own way down to Dnepro. The price started off reasonable, but the process wasn't. And then with the connection flights required, and the overnights incurred, it ended up being more expensive than option 3.

We'd originally asked about flying with another, better airline, but it turned out that it was going to be substiantailly more expensive (I'm talking more than double). But with everything else going on, and with a huge reduction in ticket price from initial inquiries (my guess is that they just want to sell-out this flight), the balance actually tipped the other way! So now I'm getting there when I need to, while leaving here a day later, and on my way back I get an overnight in Vienna. Vienna? For a whole night? It's enough to make my head spin. If everything's still working at that point, and I can find some toothpicks to prop my eyelids open, I hope Austrian film is cheap!

Most unique detail so far: I'm flying at least one leg of this trip in a Fokker. If that turns out to be a red triplane, you can definitely expect to see pictures here! :-)

If you are the praying kind, please pray for my health and safety, for the reliability of my gear, that it all stays on my person (it's not all mine), and most importantly that I can establish a rapport with the missionaries I'm there to support. There is a lot to compress into a week-and-a-half, and I'm feeling a ton of pressure to soak it all in, to capture it, and later share it, in a way that is meaningful.

This Month's Grammar-Time

I'm not a big fan of grammar. But sometimes it's useful to know the mechanics of a language, so here's a particularly useful rule of thumb:

Never start a sentence with a comma.

Now you know! This has been Grammar-Time, another proud presentation from livingartyrs.com!

A Long, Thin Tightrope.

I'm always on my toes. I tread the fine line between morally-oblivious marketing as propagated by corporations, and the hackneyed, rough-and-ready existing methodology from the church. When I see a Christian piece that is a direct rip-off of an innovative commercial strategy, I cringe. When I see dusty, traditional Christian marketing efforts, I shudder. Both provide constant reminders that we don’t have it all figured out just yet.

This is the challenge: our metaphors need to be entirely reworked. We cannot afford to be aligned with money-as-sole-goal corporate institutions, and yet we need something newer, fresher, better than what is out there now. The story we’re offering is the same one it’s always been, it just needs to be be told in "the parlance of our times".

We need to reduce the program to its elements. Those individual fragments must be linked to a specific need, and after each is examined carefully, they must be assembled into something new to match them. It’s a risky, scary process, because what’s currently available works for some. And for those whom it’s working, it’s working quite well enough, thank you very much. And the new model certainly won’t be perfect. But the imperative remains. It takes new to attract new.

This of course is familiar to all people, perhaps especially Christians as we straddle the immediate and the infinite. However, not all are as aware of the struggle as those on the front lines – those whose vocation it is to lead culture. Culture by itself cannot be trusted to form an accurate way to address its own needs. It needs input, guidance and encouragement. And, with all that I am and have, that’s what I’m trying to do.

Think Slow

It’s an antithesis in our world. Everything is faster, quicker, more immediate. There has been much talk of a theoretical upper limit to electronic processing power. But little mention is made of the upper limit of our neurons. How fast can you make good decisions? How fast can you bring other people on board? How much did you miss?

I think we are witnessing the first generation in government to have to deal with this. In order to be in front of the media, the administration has to make rapid-fire decisions. There is no time for due process – to ask questions, let alone answer them. Appearing pro-active now requires being pre-emptive. There have been some costly mistakes. There will be more. They are the size of nations.

The promise of the info age is that life will happen at the speed of thought. Is that really a noble goal? When life moves a little faster than thought, what then? How 'bout a lot faster? Some time ago, humans achieved the ability to generate and share information at a far higher rate than their capacity to process it. With the technological improvements, every single person joins the global fray. Now when the phone rings, it could be a telemarketer, or it could be your mother. In a very real sense, it’s just another voice competing for your attention.

If that's not what you've signed up for, then change. Reduce the speed at which your life travels. Enjoy your time, don't wring your hands over it. Figure out what you need to do to make that happen. Then do it.