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Yesterday was almost as exciting as the first couple days here in Lviv, but for different reasons. Our hostel is right in the center of Lviv, and like in any city center square, there's always a lot going on, especially during the weekends.
About 2pm yesterday, we were resting back at our hostel and heard really loud music (it sounded like old Ukrainian folk songs) coming from the main square. Of course, we went to investigate. We were greeted by a peaceful, but loud, protest called "Free Yulia." in case you're not familiar with YuliaTymoshenko, she's a Ukrainian politician that, according to the protestors, was unjustly and unlawfully arrested for a crime that she didn't commit. She was sentenced to seven years in prison and has served her first year. She has been largely responsible for pushing to get Ukraine eligible to join the EU. Because of the political bend of the judicial system exerted on her, many European government officials called for countries in the EuroCup to boycott games in Ukraine, until justice is served. For more information on Yulia and the current political state of Ukraine, check out this link:
http://www.euronews.com/tag/yulia-tymoshenko/
The most significant part of the protest was centered around the Shevchenko monument in the middle of the square. The protesters had gagged the statue. This is significant because Shevchenko is a famous Ukrainian poet, and is largely considered the voice of Ukraine. I think the protestors were trying to draw a comparison between Yulia, being the Ukrainian people's voice (a politician that actually wants what's best for Ukraine, instead of wanting what's best for them) and putting her in jail has the same affect as gagging Shevchenko... It silences the voice of Ukraine.
After we saw everything to see at the protest (which is still going on), we decided to check out City Park Hill, which our guidebook said is one of the prettiest parks in Lviv. We begin our walk to the park, which is about 20 minutes away by foot. We did a great job following the map and posted signs, and had no problem getting to where the park should have been. But the further we walked from the Center of Lviv, we noticed two unsettling things. First, there were less and less people on the streets. Second, we began noticing that the few people on the streets were going through the trash, looking for food. I started to get nervous, but we didn't want to give up on the park. Soon, we began to also noticed that as less people were visible on the streets, there was an appearance of swastikas painted on the fences - enough to make us feel like it wasn't just random graffiti. Our conversation abruptly ended as we both saw this simultaneously, and we immediately turned around and gave up on the park.
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| This picture says more than 1,000 Words... |
After McDonald's, we start to head over to Rynok Square, when we hear really strange singing coming from the streets. At first I don't recognize the song, but then I realize, it's a Hare Krishna group chanting in the streets. It was like a Hare Krishna parade, with flags, bright colors, and swaying arms in the air.
Now, I have to backtrack. When we were leaving Ternopil, George gave us a bunch of Gospel tracks in Ukrainian. When he gave them to us, I wasn't really sure what I would do with them, but once in Lviv, Byron and I have been leaving them all around the city at restaurants, etc., hoping someone would read them. Well, the moment I saw the Hare Krishna parade, I felt the Holy Sprit tell me we had to go to talk to them. So, excitedly, I told Byron, "Follow those Krishnas! They need Jesus!"
We raced after them and then stopped and prayed, asking the Lord to send us the right person to talk to. Sure enough, a guy comes up to us in his orange monk outfit and asks if we have a minute. He asked in Russian first, and I told him we didn't understand Russian. He them asked if we spoke English, and I said yes. The Lord sent us a Ukrainian Hare Krishna monk, fluent in English, in the middle of Lviv! How crazy is that!
Now, usually I'm so nervous in situations like this, but the Lord just gave me this crazy boldness, and I had no nerves or fear to deal with. So, I ask him to tell me what he believes, so he does, and hands me a Hare Krishna book. Then, he asks me if we could give him a donation for the book. I tell him no because we don't believe that what the book has to say is true. He responds saying, "This book is full of religious philosophy and is good for studying."
I respond by saying, "the only religious philosophy that's true is the Bible, and there's only one true God, the God of the Bible. And there's only one truth, and that's the Bible."
I don't know how devout he was because he didn't argue with us, but he didn't give up the donation request. "it's ok if you disagree," he said, "but maybe still a small donation, for food?"
"I'm sorry, I'm a traveler and don't have extra money, but We have a book we can give to you." We gave him a Gospel track and he totally took it and we said goodbye. Will he read it? Who knows, but if you guys think about it, maybe you can pray that this man does read the track and becomes interested in Jesus and having a relationship with Him.
After the exciting moment of evangelism, the Lord opened our eyes to the people around us... It really put an urgency in our hearts and reminded us of the verse that says, "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." In our prayers yesterday, both of us felt an overwhelming need to say, "here I am Lord, send us."
Definitely an interesting day in Lviv. The Lord's hand was totally upon every part of our day... Our next post will be in Kiev. We can't wait to see all of our friends in Kiev and see what the Lord's doing in the lives of the missionaries there!
God Bless,
Emily
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