To L’viv – Friday, July
13
We awoke to a clear blue and sunny sky, with clear air and a
mercifully balmy temperature. The rain of yesterday has brought a brand new
climate. Slava Bohu! Today’s bus route headed for L’viv through some of the
most beautiful countryside in Ukraine.
In addition to the change in weather, what made today remarkable
was that we watched the
movie "Everything is Illuminated" – a story of a young Jewish boy’s return to Ukraine to find
his grandfather’s
family tree and the painful secrets contained within that history. It is not
only humorous, historically informed and deeply moving, but also depicts the
same Ukrainian countryside through which we were driving as we watched. “It is a premium movie!” (only those of you who have
watched it will appreciate this reference) and a great introduction to 21st century Ukrainian culture.
Our route
to L’viv took
us through MIWC’s Sasha Kreschuk’s home town of Rivne, where we will return for
another concert the following night. Our arrival in L’viv was widely cheered –
Evangelion members seasoned and new all love this beautiful city, sometimes
referred to as “the Vienna of western Ukraine.” A city full of interesting
history, it has at one time or another been a Ukrainian city, a Polish city, a
German city, and once again, after WW2 – a Ukrainian city. This is why it is
known as L’vov, Lemberg and L’viv depending on whom you ask. L’viv is home or ancestral
birthplace of many famous musicians. Among the many notable musicians who have
lived and worked here are Franz Xaver Mozart, one (of six) and second surviving son
of Wolfgang and Constanze, and also the family of Leonard Bernstein, named
after the town of Burshtyn, which means "amber." (we visited that
town and the amber factory earlier in the trip). Small world!
Upon our arrival
we checked into our hotel right at the center of the city, and it was once
again time to grab some lunch and see whatever part of the city we could in the
time before heading to the church for the concert. I took a small delegation to Cafe Veronika, a place I have loved to visit during previous times in: L’viv, and where the NWC Choir
seniors had a wonderful adventure and meal back in 2006. (remember it, you
guys?!) The food there is some of the best in L’viv, not to mention the
different kinds of verenikiy, the most amazing are the cherry filled. It was a
3-hour meal, served slowly and deliberately, in the most European way possible.
We had a delightful time. Following that, we boarded the bus for our concert at
Central Baptist. As we approached the church compound, we were greeted with new
paint on the outside – new green accents, and much enhanced landscaping,
ornamental trees and flowers in the courtyard. This church is such a beautiful
gem in the midst of older buildings, still in need of renovation! We sang to
our smallest audience so far, no doubt in part due to the weeknight placement
of our concert. The audience again included a wide spectrum: children, youth,
older folks and many in between. There were attentive and appreciate. As they
stood while we sang “America, the Beautiful” I could not help but be transfixed (sorry, DP…you were in my peripheral
vision, I promise!) by a woman who had her hands in the air, eyes locked on me
and the rest of us, who was fervently praying. mouth moving intently as we
sang. When the song changed to “Prayer for Ukraine” naturally she joined in the singing. Following that, she
again turned her eyes my way. It was a motivation to sing the best I could. I
never got to greet her after the concert. The connection can sometimes be
intense.
After the
concert, we headed out to the courtyard outside the front door, but I stopped
in the sanctuary to greet an American man from Oregon (what are the odds of
that!) who was teaching at the University here for a year. In the very next row
I was more than delighted to see my dear Konstantin “Kostya” Chuparski – our cellist from 2005
Colonial Chorale tour, together with his wife Yulia and adorable 1-year-old son
Matthew “Mattvi”. Kostya had caught my eye
(again, sorry DP) as we were singing the Rutter “The Lord Bless You and Keep
You” as
he sang along with us. We embraced, he kissed me and said “Tim, I love you, my brother,
my father!” Not
a bad way to end a great concert!
Back in 2005, we so enjoyed meeting him (one week a newlywed) and his
playing for our tour. During that visit, he had been the recipient of 2 sets of
new cello strings for his barely-student-model instrument. The strings were a
gift, compliments of the Colonial Chorale. In those days, new strings were
usually out of reach for average Ukrainians, and could only be acquired in
Germany or Poland, and travelling that far, as well as the cost of the strings
was out of the question. No “Schmitt Music” here in L’viv in those days! As long as I live, I will always
remember the big tears in his smiling eyes, as he held those packages of
strings and later proudly played on them. His wedding had taken place just
before our 2005 tour, and I still cherish the photo of he and his newlywed bride
Yulia, whom he left for a week in order to join our tour. These are the kinds
of stories so many of the Evangelion members and MIWC participants have of ministry
to and with our dear friends here.
I wish
the story had a glowing ending, but…. After a glorious concert and wonderful audience
interaction, our bus was in a minor accident a block away from the church, and
this necessitated having the group walk ten blocks or so back to the hotel. We
were able to get DP into a cab, which saved him having to walk (his hip would
not have withstood it). Interesting how The Evil One tries to thwart us in
every way possible. This was not a very subtle skirmish, I must say! He did not
win, despite the damage to the side of the bus. I hope those negotiations went
smoothly.
I spent
the rest of the evening, into the wee hours of the morning, back at Café Veronika with our MIWC
ministry team of Sasha Kreschuk, Serhiy Bilokin, Vitaliy Bolgar planning next
week’s
activities, an August church congress in L'viv and generally dreaming of the future. With us also were a young couple – Serhiy Jakobchuk and his wife Martha. He works with the
music ministry of Central Baptist, is also the conductor of a famous local choir
here. Martha is a singer and voice teacher, and Serhiy is also finishing his
doctorate in choral conducting at Lysenko Conservatory here in L'viv. (Lysenko
Conservatory is named after a famous Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko, who
wrote the Prayer for Ukraine) It is a fascinating world to step into. Rich in
history we are just learning for the first time. Jakobchuk heard Evangelion in 1998, and it was one of his inspirations for pursuing music and ministry. He is an important
link in the “chain” of young evangelicals who are working and studying at high
levels of artistic achievement here. This new generation is some of the “fruit” of the labors of MIWC and Evangelion
have seen toward elevating the musical and artistic standards of Christian believers
in this culture. I know Dennis and others have similar stories of those connections that have been made over the years. It's reassuring to know the influence and God's work here is clear. Slava Bohu!
