From here we had about a twenty minute walk to Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery. This is said to be the most sacred place in Kiev and is the largest and most prominent Orthodox monastery of Ukraine. Pechersk means cave and Lavra in Greek terminology is a passage or alley way. It began when twenty monks lived underground in caves for twenty years and then came to the surface to build the monastery. Within the monastery there were many museums, but each had an additional cost so we just picked the Museum of Books and Book Printing. Inside there were books dating back to the seventeenth century up until modern day, many of them being bibles. Nadya pointed out that they looked like books that were in the Harry Potter movies, and I have to say that was a pretty accurate observation. Inside one of the churches was a a golden plated altar and candle holders. There were both round and square holders. People place candles on the round one to represent health for the living and the square to honor the deceased. Ann made sure I didn't have a picture with the square holder in the background because it wouldn't be proper, so I had to delete a couple of pictures.
At the front entrance to the monastery there was a vending machine with bottled cokes and candy. This was the first time Nadya had ever seen one so each time we walked by she stopped and stared at it. We said that if she ever traveled to America she would be overwhelmed by all of the technology!
We left the monastery and started on our walk back to the metro through a very wealthy area of the city. There would be a Range Rover every now and then that would drive by and I said that even in the U.S. that those were luxury cars. She said that there is a good chance that the people driving them didn't get their money in an honest way and she went on to tell me about how much corruption there is here. It is very unfortunate that honest people will hardly ever get the chance to live without stress over money. She also explained how you can tell how rich some of these people driving the nice cars are by their license plates. They pay lots and lots of money to have zeros and sevens on their license plates. We saw one with all zeroes and a seven, we could only imagine how much money they have to buy that plate number. I found it to be such a strange way to flaunt your money.
Once we made it back to the station we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch. We have had McDonald's just about everyday because it is cheap and the quality is guaranteed. This has been a real treat for Nadya because it is her favorite and they don't have a McDonald's close to where they live. On our way back to the hotel there were several people painted to look like statues. We paid them a couple of Grevnyas (less than a dollar) to have our picture made with them. After we returned to the hotel for a rest we all fell asleep. It was a much needed nap after all of the walking we are doing.
For dinner we had pizza and enjoyed another evening walking around in the cool weather listening to bands playing on the street. One band was playing some American classic rock. Smoke On the Water was played and it was fun to watch some older men enjoying the music and moving to the beat. We got back to the hotel and talked for a long time about some more of Ann's experiences in America. She told me about the very start of her trip and Nadya recited her journal word for word. She has almost all of Ann's journal and letters to her parents memorized from small details like what Ann had to eat and drink on the flight over. She talked about different embarrassing stories like not being able to turn on the car headlights, not being able to find the back door at my grandparents house, and not knowing how to use the ice maker at a gas station. We laughed and talked until two in the morning. After she fell asleep I finished writing some postcards.
We just had to check out of the hotel, but we're able to check in our bags so we will spend the rest of today seeing a bit more of the city. Excited about heading to Zaporozhye!
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We just got news that my grandfather will be having surgery on Tuesday, so prayers would be appreciated. Also, a good friend of mine is heading to Nuevo Laredo for the second time in a few months to share the gospel. The drug war has gotten so much worse in the past couple of months so he needs prayers to guide him in the safest possible way to come in contact with the right people who need the Word the most.
"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world. Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us." -1 John 4:16-18
Love reading your blog. Keep it UP! See you soon Love ya - Kim
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