Unforgettable Ukraine

Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra The  Kiev-Pechersk Lavra is a most fascinating  place here in Kyiv. It is a large campus (50 acres) of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The official name is " The Holy Dormition Kyiv-Caves (“Kyiv-Pechersk”) Lavra." The word dormition   expresses the belief that the Virgin Mary died without suffering, and is in a state of spiritual peace. The word  lavra  denotes a  special honor given to   monasteries and  bears witness of  special veneration of the Most Holy Mother of God.  That’s why they say that Lavra is  heavenlike  and consider it to be the earthly lot of the Virgin (holy land under the special protection of the Mother of God). It is believed that the area was founded in 1051 AD when Apostle Andrew (who lived in a cave near the site, overlooking the Dnieper River) started attracting followers. They also built caves to live in as well, living as ascetics. Over the years and some mud slides, it was decided...

Бабин яр  [bob-bin yar] Ukraine is a country that loves the richness of its culture and traditions and has had many influences over the centuries from invasions and conquering armies.  However,  just like many European nations, Ukraine has a very dark history. It has been pillaged, resected, rearranged and trampled upon. Reading about the many wars and desolations caused by many would-be conquerors is exhausting. The land-grabs that fed the egos of so many despots has ravaged the land and her people over the centuries. We don't hear or read much in our history books about what happened here. Some of it has been side-lined to draw attention away from the culprits. The Ukrainians haven't forgotten. It would take volumes to relate all this history, so I will concentrate on one sad story - the story of Babyn Yar. Babyn Yar Timeline 1401 -  The Dominican monastery (a French Catholic order) purchased a tract of land from an older woman (grandma type - think "babushka"). Th...

Well my friends, here we are again. This is our third time serving in Eastern Europe. This time, we are in Kyiv, Ukraine. We have been assigned to work in records preservation. The church has contracted with several companies to digitize records from the many archives and museums throughout the country. Our assignment, so far, is to upload (ingest, as they call it) the many hard drives (shuttles) into the computer system developed for Family Search. The camera operators use solid state hard drives to capture the images from the archives. With many operators throughout Ukraine, we receive many shuttles every week that need processing. We are also responsible to keep track of the financial records. We currently live on the temple grounds in the housing made for temple missionaries. When the temple goes to phase 4 and we receive the temple missionaries back again, we will need to move out to make room for them. In the meantime, we are enjoying our little place here. Our journey h...