“If all else fails, just pop ‘em and run”, Shane said. Welcome to Nova Pavlika, Ukraine.
The countryside of Ukraine, at least where we are, is split
into many little villages of anywhere from 15 to 50 houses. Typically there is only one road; the
larger villages may have a side street.
The soviet mentality was to keep costs as low as possible, so all the
houses are side by side just off the road, making connection to the above
ground natural gas pipes as easy as possible. The pipes are above ground because they’re cheaper to fix
that way, even if it does look awful.
The best jobs to be had are in the coalmines. The technology that they use is
probably the same that was used in the U.S. 50 years ago. Miners spend nearly 12 hours on their
hands and knees in a tunnel that is 36 inches high, filled with 3-4 inches of
water, and almost 90 degrees. All
that makes breathing the coal dust constantly seem not quite as terrible. The average coal miner retires by age
43 because of health complications.
Most don’t see the age of 50.
But their families need to eat, and in a good economy, Shane said that
the mines were paying upwards of $1,000 per month. That much money feeds the family and still leaves plenty of
money for vodka.
When we arrived, Shane told us that the alcoholism rate in
the area was at 85%. The coal
miners drink to alleviate the body pain from life in the mines. The rest drink just because that’s what
you do here. The men are lazy and
the women work what jobs they can find.
I’ve been here for just over 3 weeks and they’ve already celebrated 3
holidays. By celebrate I mean for
3 days everything grinds to a halt so that they can get drunk and either fight
each other or pass out. Easter
celebration was a drunken family picnic at the grave sight of deceased family
members. Nothing screams “He is
risen” like vodka and headstones.
A few nights ago Victor, the night watchman at the camp
where we’ve been staying, wasn’t able to come to work. His son was drunk and fighting. It was so bad that he called Shane for
help. This was definitely the
first time that ministry took me to the scene of a fight, and I gotta say, it
was much more exciting than prayer walks or orphanage programs.
The guys loaded in Shane’s jeep and headed off, not knowing
what lay ahead or what we were getting into. Some of these coalminers have hands the size of my head and
are built like Rocky, with all the personality of Mike Ditka. A few weeks ago I bit my lip and made
my eyes water. This was shaping up
to be either a very one-sided affair or an incredible display of the power of
the Holy Spirit.
As soon as we got there, I jumped out and let these fists of
fury go to work. Just kidding.
Victor met us at the door, his brow covered in sweat and
visibly shaken. His son was inside,
also covered in sweat and getting an earful from his mother. Although he is 30 years old, the scene
looked like something you would expect from a mother and her teenager. The gist of the story is the same as
many others in Ukraine. Vladimir
is a 30 year old man who rarely works, moves from one gullable girl to the
next, and spends most of his time drinking with his buddies. On this particular occasion he was
provoked by several younger guys and felt the urge to prove himself. After all, 30 is the new 20. We got to talk for a while with
Vladimir that night. He was still
a little drunk but couldn’t have been a more likeable guy. He’s had struggles in his life and said
that he drinks because his parents don’t understand him. He may have been 30 but seems to have
missed that maturation process that most of us in America get during high
school and college. And Vladimir’s
is a typical story around here.
Be praying for Vladimir, that we’ll get the opportunity to
spend time with him while he’s sober.
Pray for his family; they are at the end of their rope with him and
don’t know what to do. And pray
for the alcoholism in this area.
Nothing is going to get better until these ridiculous social customs are
abandoned.
