Going Underground

Wednesday May 23, 2007 (posted Thursday at 9:30 pm)

Today we traveled with Sasha and his cousin Julia. Sasha is a deacon at Good News Church and also the AWANA missionary for this region. Julia came along to translate for us.

They took us to visit some of the Odessa catacombs which run underneath much of the city. They are actually unable to build a subway system in Odessa because of all the catacombs that exist. The city may collapse if they tunnel anymore. It was very interesting to see how and where these people lived in the catacombs.

We had lunch at the church and then were able to spend some time in the afternoon resting in our room.

In the evening we attended a Bible study and fellowship time at Good News Church. Jon led the Bible study and answered many questions about our church in South Dakota. It was a more casual experience and interesting to see that Ukrainian Christians wrestle with many of the same issues that American Christians do.

We have been well taken care of by the Christians here in Odessa. They have been very hospitable and kind to us.

Much of the following is copied from another person’s blog. He wrote such a good summary of our tour and I don’t have time to write that much.

Odessa is said to have two cites. One above ground and the other below the surface. Odessa is built on a thick bed of limestone. For well over a century, the builders of Odessa mined blocks of limestone from below the surface to construct the city above the surface. Over time, the mine shafts formed a labyrinth of tunnels, or catacombs, below the city. There are three layers of tunnels. The first, or top most layer consists of softer limestone mined for roads. The second and third layers were comprised of harder stone and used for construction of buildings.There are over 3,000 kilometers of tunnels under the city. If laid end to end, there would be enough tunnel to stretch from Odessa to St. Petersberg. Catacombs run anywhere from 12 to 20 meters below the surface. The third, or bottom layer has been flooded by water. At one time, the catacombs were mapped but, during WWII, the maps were destroyed to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Nazi’s. Today, the catacombs are sealed to prevent curiosity seekers from becoming hopelessly lost and to curtail criminal use. In 1941, the Nazi army laid siege to Odessa. For 109 days, citizens could not receive food and supplies by either land or sea. Odessa's waterworks were destroyed by bombardment. The regular Soviet Army and citizens of Odessa used what ever means possible to hold off the invaders, including, the catacombs. The vast, network of tunnels were perfect to launch attacks and move both fighters and supplies. Eventually, the city fell to the Nazis and for the next 3 ½ years, the resistance or, partisans, used the catacombs to harass the occupying force. Many children, some as young seven years old, fought against the Nazi’s. Odessa was home to many Jews and the catacombs were used to shelter them from Nazi patrols.The Nazis used specially trained dogs to pick up on the scent of the catacombs. Anyone on the surface who was identified by these dogs was assumed to be part of the resistance and killed immediately.

This is the entrance to the catacombs. To the left is a door in, in the middle you can see layers of shellstone as it is called here. Also in the middle is a memorial. To the right you can see how blocks of shellstone are used to build.

Behind this door is a path to the center of Odessa. Above ground it is 15 km. Through the path of catacombs it is 100 km.

This is an office for planning. They had a phonograph for music, typewriter, library and an oath to fight to the death.

Bedroom. It appears as if bedding consisted of mats made from dried reeds or straw. Living quarters were divided into three sections: men, women and families.

A barrel used for an oven.Kitchen. The occupants of the catacombs ground flour using a small, stone wheel and baked bread in a 55 gallon barrel that was converted into an oven. Smoke from the oven would give away their position so the oven was vented into the first level of tunnels, directly above the kitchen.

The well was also used to smuggle supplies and information to the partisans who were living in the catacombs. Partisans who remained on the surface, would go to the village well at the prearranged time to draw water. They would lower food and supplies in the empty bucket to partisans waiting below who would remove the supplies and fill the bucket with water (about six feet below this level) for the return trip to the surface.

A memorial to those who died from either direct military action, starvation or disease. Limestone carved into the shape of two hands, cupped together. A lantern rests in the open palms of hands.

As part of the memorial, the face of a weeping woman was carved into the tunnel wall. When enough condensation forms in the hallow of her eyes, it trickles down her face to appear as if the woman is weeping in sorrow. It is damp and chilly in the tunnels. On the right is a barrel used to heat water for their bathroom. The heat also dried their clothes.

Views of city surrounding the museum and entrance to the catacombs. It appears much as it did in the 1940's. Though it might appear like a rural village, this area is within the boundaries of Odessa.

City of Odessa

posted Wednesday, May 23, at 8:45 am
Yesterday, Tuesday, we got a tour of many parts of the city. Pastor Alexander drove us to meet Michelle who works at Internot #4 (orphanage #4). She is from Omaha and teaches craft and dance classes in the orphanage. Our church helps support her work. We had hoped to meet some of the children that are pen pals with some of the Mitchell Christian School kids. Unfortunately there is a government inspection and visitors can not come in this week. We went to lunch with Michelle and saw her apartment.

from left: Morgan, Michelle, Pastor Alexander, Amber, Jon

After that Pastor Alexander took us on a tour of more of the city. To summarize, Odessa is like many cities trying to restore the beauty of the old buildings. It has great potential though because of the beautiful old buildings and history here. They just finished another beautiful park with many benches that was quite busy on a Tuesday afternoon. Off from there was a street with many upscale shops that was closed to traffic and was paved with cobblestone.

Opera House in Odessa (under restoration)

The new apartments and the old apartments. We saw many old apartments that were built in the 1980's under Soviet control. Apartments then were assigned to people. Here is a picture of the balconies. They build onto their balconies in a variety of ways to meet their needs. Many have windows to create a sunroom. This is where their laundry hangs from.

Chess and dominoes in the city park.

We went to Arcadia Beach area. That was a nice beach, full of people, with many shops and more in progress.


We then went to Pastor Alexander's for supper and visited with their family for the evening. Their son and his wife did most of the translating and we learned about their family.

Weekend Update

Monday May 21 at 2:30 pm

We have internet again after it was off for the weekend!

Amber writes…

Some of our friends that we met here at the seminary took us around Odessa. Their names are Maranda and Vasya. He is from Ukraine. She is from the US. She was our translator kind’ve because he doesn’t know a lot of English. Vasya speaks Hungarian, Russian, and Ukrainian. We ate at McDonald’s for lunch. We got to ride on a bus. They took us to a beach by the Black Sea. There were a lot of seashells in the sand and in the water. After the beach we stopped at the grocery store for a few things and then headed back to the seminary. I can’t wait to come home. I miss you all. We have had a lot of interesting adventures here but this is only one of them.

One thing I do like about Ukraine is that there are a lot of old buildings here that have some history about them. One thing that I don’t like is that cars sometimes don’t slow down for people when they are crossing the street. I am curious to know how old you have to be to be allowed to drive. I am having fun here though. There are a lot of neat sites to see. My mom and I have taken about 900 pictures so far on this trip and we still have about two weeks left. So we will be taking many more. We have also taken video of things. I will continue to tell you more about our adventures that we endure everyday. This is the end of the Amber Chronicles for now.

Janell writes...

On Saturday, May 19, 2007 we spent the day seeing a little more of Odessa. We met Miranda and Vasya here at the seminary. He is a Ukrainian student and here for two weeks. His wife is from Northwestern Iowa near Sioux Center. What a blessing they have been to us. He found the bus connections to get us around and Miranda did the translating so we could converse. He is a pastor in a town about the size of Mitchell in western Ukraine. They have been helping us understand the differences between Ukraine and U.S. and of course getting some laughs at our adventures and naivety.

They got us to McDonalds and ordered for us. It is just not as easy as you think. You can’t get Diet Coke with the meal deal, only regular Coke! What’s with that?! It only comes in a bottle, is really Coke Light, and must be ordered separately. Their ice cream sundaes come in an oversized cone as a cup. We then went to the beach on the Black Sea. There were quite a few people out swimming and laying out on the cloudy day. The temp was maybe 70 degrees. We walked along the water and Morgan collected lots of shells. It was just a nice relaxing day visiting with our new friends and learning about each other’s ministries.

Jon spent the evening working on his sermon for Sunday morning. I spent it trying to find internet but with no luck.













On Sunday, May 21, 2007 we went to our sister church. Good News Baptist Church in Fontanka averages about 125 people. They started in 1998 with twelve people. A house near the Black Sea was donated to them to meet in but when landslides into the sea threatened that building, they had to find a new location. They found a spot and old building for $11,000 a few years ago and have been building since then. The land is now worth a half million dollars. Land in Fontanka has sky rocketed and there are many new homes being built. That is worse than California I think. So the church has lots of potential in a growing suburb.

Their church services are a little different. They sing a few songs and have a sermon. Then they excuse the children for Sunday school and have the next two sermons with some songs in between. The service is two hours. The Christians here take their faith seriously because they have to. Evangelicals are viewed as a cult due to Soviet propaganda. Things are changing slowly amongst the younger generation.

The people there were very friendly and welcoming. We got another sampling of good Ukrainian food after church. Glenn from Louisiana also rode to church with us and gave the second sermon. He comes to the seminary every two years and teaches a course. His hometown was hit by Hurricane Rita. It hit right after Katrina. I forgot about that one because of all the coverage of Katrina. He told us about areas that were devastated by that hurricane. He lives 100 miles inland and had quite a bit of damage.


We spent the rest of the day reading, playing games, and eating a supper of beef jerky and power bars. Last night we watched a DVD of Dragnet and The Rifleman and ate dry bagged popcorn.

Jon also had the opportunity to call home to Northridge Baptist Church and give them a live update during both morning worship services. It is so good to know that there are many people praying for us on this journey.

Home-cooked Ukrainian food!

Friday, May 18, 2007, 9 pm

Janell writes....

We went to Good News Baptist Church of Fontanka on Thursday evening for Ascension Day. Most churches here have a service on this day. We sang a few songs and Jon preached the second sermon. After the service we sat down to a meal with Vasily and his family, Pastor Alexander and his wife Luba, and two deacons. This was a small meal for a church meal-they only had 12 plates of food on the table! Ukranians are very hospitable and will serve their best to guests even if they have little. They had a variety of things and even some sort of deviled eggs like any good church potluck would. These eggs were cut off about 2/3rd's way up and they put the top back on. Almost like a little hat. I will try to get a picture.


From left, Vasily, his children and wife, Luba, Pastor Alexander and a deacon.

We had some good conversation learning about the culture and history of Ukraine, needs of their church, and about each other.

On Friday morning we got a tour of Odessa. Pastor Alexander took us downtown. The only catch was that he doesn't speak English and we don't speak Russian. It was tough to have so many questions and not be able to ask them. With our Russian/English books and the few English words he did know we did learn some things. Just no long detailed history. So if you want to know more you can go onto the internet as will I. It was a beautiful day. We walked leisurely and saw the main parts of downtown and their historical area. They have many beautiful old buildings. Many are in a state of restoration though with the rundown in between. Not that different than our cities being restored. The downtown is on a high hill overlooking the harbor on the Black Sea. There were many cargo ships docked with coal trains next to the docks. The Potemkin Stairs lead from downtown down the hill to the docks. There is a beautiful view of them if you google Odessa, Ukraine Wikipedia. Actually I will probably find out our info about the area on the internet since it is all in Russian here.

Morgan writes.....
There are 194 steps on the Potemkin Stairs. I counted every one. It was cool to get to see the Black Sea. It is not black. We got to meet Pastor Alexander's son. Then we went to lunch at the pastor's house. I got to meet his two daughter-in-law's and daughter (Anna, Natasha, Natasha). I ate about three oranges. I miss you guys. I am excited to come home in about two weeks. Taking a rest at step #97.



View of Odessa from the dock.
On the large dock is a Maritime museum, a very tall hotel, and at the very end an Orthodox church. The main religion in Ukraine is the Orthodox church and there are lots of ornate churches.
After our walk we went to visit the pastor's son who works downtown. We went to an old rundown building, went through locked doors, down old, smelly hallways and up stairs, through another locked and bolted heavy door into a beautiful remodeled office. Many of the buildings are historical so the main structure is gutted and remodeling is done. It is just not done all at once so there will be nice remodeled offices and apartments right next to run down ones. Eugene, his son, speaks English well so he translated for us. We got to ask some questions from our tour. We also visited more about Alexander's life. His grandfather was a Polish Jew and died in a concentration camp. His grandmother took her seven children and ended up in Russia. He came from the rare Christian family and talked of the persecution while growing up. Even now Baptist's are scorned here in Ukraine. Communist propaganda tells people that Baptist's are a sect so they are afraid of them.

We then went to Alexander's house for lunch. Lunches in Ukraine are the biggest meal and eaten at 1:00-2:00. That was the best Ukrainian food we have had since we have been here! Most people here have large gardens and grow all their food. In fact, we are told that many Ukranians can not tolerate preservatives because they are used to home grown fresh food. Cucumbers, tomatoes, and cabbage are common. We also had chicken and pork. Beef is not common here. We had more good conversation and got to meet the rest of their family. Alexander and Luba have four children. Their two sons are married and they all live with them. Therefore, they have eight adults in the house and a baby on the way. Their oldest son is 27. That is common here since children can't afford their own place. Our translator was thirty something and also hoping to buy a home rather than live with his parents.
Thanks for the emails you have sent. We are trying to answer but lose the internet more often than we would like. Also, ignore the "posted" times. They are totally wrong. Not Ukrainian or CST.

Mac & Cheese for breakfast

Thursday, May 17 4 pm

Morgan's favorite meal was for breakfast! It was noodles and cheese and tasted very good. Our day was spent mostly resting, reading, and relaxing. We also have internet in our room! So you can email us if you want because we have very few email addresses with us. We are not sure if we will have time to answer or have access(since every day is different) but do enjoy hearing from you.

We got a tour of the seminary this morning from VP Vasily. We walked to his house and met his family. Morgan and Amber stayed to play with their 6 and 2 year olds while we walked to the store to get a few things. At lunch we visited with some more American's and one was from Iowa! We spent this afternoon resting and Jon has been preparing for a sermon tonight. We will go to our sister church, Good News Baptist Church in Fontanka for a meal and service.

Janell

Naming the Girls

Lienna is second from left, Tanya is fourth from left, Morgan is second from right and Amber is first from the right.

Posted May 21, 2007

We wanted to explain how we named the girls. We came to Ukraine with possible names for the girls in case they wanted new first names. The first day we were at the orphanage we asked Lienna and Tanya if they wanted to keep their same first names and they responded with a definite YES. Janell had mentioned that we could give the girls middle names in honor of our sisters. Janell's sister is Lynette and my sister is Becky (Rebecca). We thus named them Lienna Lynette and Tanya Rebecca.

Lienna Lynette and Tanya Rebecca Tolly

Wednesday, May 16, 2007
We know you have been praying. Today is proof of that. First the court hearing and then the car ride.

We started the day not knowing if all would fall in place for us to complete the adoption. The judge said Yes! The adoption is approved! Now we wait the mandatory ten days for the decree to be processed and then on for a few more days of paperwork.

We started the day cramming into a Russian made Lada car.  Seroge (and his big briefcase), Jon, me Tanya and Lienna on our laps in the back seat for a 30 minute drive to the county seat. We got there promptly just to stand and wait for over an hour outside the courthouse for the judge. He walked past us to go in, then came out and took a stroll through the park, then came back and finally called us in a while later. We still did not have word from Kiev that our paperwork was signed. The procedure is to have the papers signed, the prelim hearing, and then the final hearing a day later.

The judge had us come in and asked quite a few questions of Jon, me, Tanya, Lienna, another official, and the deputy director of the orphanage. Then he made it official without the papers from Kiev!! Seroge said he has never seen that happen and then to also combine the two hearings!! Thanks for praying! No doubt it was God! Right after the hearing, Seroge received a call that our papers had been signed in Kiev and all was well.

Tanya and Lienna were quite excited but yet bummed that they can’t leave with us now. We can’t go back to get them until after the ten day waiting period. We then left the orphanage at about 2:30 pm. We were given some gifts and had some tearful good-byes already. Our housekeeper was very happy for the girls and was very emotional. She was so kind to us. She works so hard to clean for 70 children in her building and wash all their clothes. She gave Amber and Morgan some little gifts and of course I cried. Next week will be really hard when we say our final good-byes.

Now the ride to Odessa! I have never felt compelled to kiss the ground before but I sure felt like it when we got to the Odessa Theological Seminary where we are staying! Like our trip from Odessa, we had too small of a car again. Only this time it was smaller. It was a sports car with a really nice stereo system. It started bad when he couldn’t even find his way out of Andreyevo. There is only one road out and he had just driven in that way. We did make it to the highway and then the real ride began! Then on down the highway. He used his remote control and his video screen came up. It was pretty cool except that it meant he was going to watch the music videos rather than the road. These were not kid videos and I was glad Morgan had fallen asleep so she didn’t see them. However Amber got to see more of the Ukrainian culture then she wanted. A bit more explicit than our TV. So he had the videos on, was engaged in lots of conversation with Seroge and driving about 150 km/hr! (over 90 mph) We were on a 4 lane highway so we had two lanes and two shoulders to drive on and he used them. We found that the shoulder works when the car in front of you is passing a motorcycle. Then when a tractor mowing the grass is coming at you in the passing lane you can push the other car over to the right shoulder. Many thoughts were going through my mind by now, like “I hope Tanya and Lienna don’t become orphans again today”. Of course, we were praying a lot. This is where I KNOW you were praying because I am alive to tell the rest. There is no exaggeration here. Next time I watch a movie with crazy chase scenes though, I will know what it feels like.

Anyway, back to the road. We had road construction but that doesn’t slow us down. Now there were three lanes with the right lane going south, the left lane going north, and the middle lane being a passing lane for both directions! That meant many games of “chicken”. When it was time to pull over we just cut off the driver to our right. Now I know why the back panel on his car was replaced. I can’t even begin to count the number of passes he made like this. Thirty I suppose. Some on two lane highways, in town, with no shoulder. Then there is the exit ramp under construction. To paint the picture: imagine the I-90 and I-29 intersection. You are coming from Brookings and want to go to Minnesota. The exit ramp in under construction so you go past it a little, take the ditch, and drive up the ramp against the traffic that is coming from Mitchell and turning into Sioux Falls. At the top of the ramp, you turn onto the newly constructed (closed) road and turn towards Minnesota. Eventually we got on the traveled road. That is when we started driving down the middle of the two lane road to pass people. I only wish I would have gotten my video camera out but I couldn’t move because we were so packed and so hot in the car. I would have preferred air conditioning over the stereo. I am still amazed as I write this. But through it all, I did have the peace of God’s protection. Well, until the end anyway. Then I wanted to yell at him, “we can’t pay you if we are dead!”

As you can imagine we were so happy to get to the seminary. We feel like we are at an oasis! We are in a newly constructed dorm and it is sooo nice! We have an American looking toilet! Oh yeah, we never told you about that. We had a meal and met some professors who are here for two weeks from USA! (so we can have a conversation without looking in the translation book)  Vasily, the vice president of the seminary is so hospitable. We are exhausted after today and look forward to rest.

So thank you so much for your prayers! And mom, I promise not to get into a car like that again.

Janell, for the Tolly’s