Back to Kyiv

Saturday July 11, 2009

This was the last day of the VBS classes. The group in Ternopil finished class and then took a two hour drive to Lviv in western Ukraine near the Polish border. This area of Ukraine was under Polish rule for many years and was the center of many activities. We think of old buildings in America that are 50 to 100 years old. Buildings in Europe go back many centuries. We had an opportunity to visit the Armenian Church in Lviv that was built in 1363.

Sign on the Armenian Church indicating its age.


Entrance to the Armenian Church.


As we walked around the center of Lviv we found this street artist drawing one of the local features in chalk.

Sunday July 12, 2009

Ternopil Pastor Taras Kokovskiy watches as Polly Joubert posts some of the craft projects before the church service.


Following the church service, the VBS students gave a concert of the songs they had learned during the VBS program.


VBS students and teachers gathered on the front steps for a group picture.

Thoughts of Faith Ukraine VBS is over for another year. The volunteers will return to Kyiv tonight. Some will travel by van, but most will travel by overnight train. They will leave their cities from early to late Sunday evening and arrive in Kyiv from 4:00am to 9:00am. There will be a bus to the Dubek conference center, time to freshen up and breakfast. Then it will be a sack lunch and off to St. Andrew St. in Kyiv. This is a famous shopping district for Ukrainian souveniers where vendors line up along the street for nearly 1/2 mile.

Late Monday afternoon the volunteers will return to the Dubek Center for dinner and then to pack for travel. The bus to Kyiv Boryspil Airport will arrive at 3:00am for the hour long trip to the airport. They will check in for the 6:40 flight to Amsterdam. From there, there will be return flights to Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit. Please keep all in your prayers until they are once again home safely.

Thank you for following the 2009 Ukraine VBS Prihoda (adventure)!

Kermit Traska

VBS in Kremenets

Friday July 10, 2009

We traveled the approximately 60 kilometers between Ternopil and Kremenets arriving at the church at about 8:30am.

The church is in the center of the town of about 20,000 people. It is a good place to sell what you grow. Today you could buy fresh red currents, black currents, blueberries, red raspberries and black raspberries.


The congregation, with the help of Thoughts of Faith and many others, were able to buy an old restaurant building and convert it to a church building. It is the nicest looking building in the town!


The American volunteers in Kremenets include (left to right) Stephan Babinec, Bill Stiefel, Jaimie Waack, Alyssa Mews, Tammy Schunk, Brent Peterson and Julie Cox.


Before the classes began, Pastor Roman Andruntsiv (far back on right) led the group of American and Ukrainian volunteers in prayer. On Monday, the first day of VBS, there were 101 students. The high count has been 124, and today there were 118 students. The students are divided into four groups by age: primary - 6 to 8 years (22); lower-middle - 9 to 10 years (27); upper-middle - 11 to 13 years (49); and upper - 14 to 18 years(20).


What's that word? It's in English. English based on the Bible lesson is one of the four lessons of the VBS program.


Ihor, a professional music teacher, taught each group for 40 minutes during the four morning sessions. The students will present a concert of the songs they have learned at the end of the morning worship service on Sunday. They will invite family and friends to come to the worship service and to hear them sing.


The young children get into their craft project for the day.


VBS is big news in Kremenets. The weekly newspaper "Dialog" had a picture of the American and Ukrainian volunteers and an article about the VBS program.

Tomorrow, Saturday, is the final day for the VBS lessons. Each group will take part in the worship service on Sunday. Please keep them all in your prayers as they complete their work in the congregations throughout Ukraine and travel back to Kyiv before flying home.

Kermit Traska

VBS in Ternopil

Thursday July 9, 2009

Ternopil is in Western Ukraine. It is one of the two oldest of the 25 congregations in the Ukrainian Lutheran Church, the other is in Kyiv. Ternopil is also the location of St Sophia Seminary of the ULC and the home for the Gift of Life program that provides mobile medical and dental care to the underserved populations of Ukraine and also 5 pro-life counseling centers. The VBS program in Ternopil dates back to 1995 and has been held in this congregation every year since then. This year there is a total of 27 students in the VBS program, 3 in the primary class, 12 in the middle class and 12 in the upper class.

The VBS team in Ternopil consists of (left to right) Elise Brown, Olya Tkachenko Elertson (from Ternopil now teaching at Wisconsin Lutheran High School), Ihor Kokovskiy (translator), Amanda Burk, Pastor Taras Kokovskiy and Polly Joubert. Polly has been the lead person preparing the craft projects for the last several years for the ToF Ukraine VBS program -- thanks Polly for all of your work!


At the beginning of the class a student brought a bouquet of flowers for Polly Joubert.


Polly Joubert goes over the Bible lesson for the day with the help of a translator.


The students add color to one of the craft projects that helps to explain the Bible lesson for the day.


The students are busily at work on the craft project as the pyramids of Egypt begin to take shape!


Singing is an important part of the VBS program. Here the children practice songs that they will sing for the Sunday service.

Tomorrow is a visit to the Kremenets congregation about one hour north of Ternopil. This will end my tour of five congregations in Western Ukraine. VBS has also taken place in seven other congregations in Eastern and Southern Ukraine. Ukraine is about the size of Texas and would be extremely difficult to get to all 12 VBS locations in only one week. We pray that the VBS program will continue and next year the visits will be to those other congregations.

Thank you for keeping up with the VBS program in Ukraine.

Kermit Traska

VBS in Lazarivka

Wednesday July 8, 2009

Today I traveled from Ivano-Frankivsk to Lazarivka to visit the VBS program. It is nesting time for the storks. Yes, in Ukraine, the people also believe that storks bring babies to the families. It is believed to be good luck for the family if a stork chooses your home as a place to build a nest.

Three young storks in a nest by a "lucky home."


The church building in Lazarivka dates back to the early 1900's when it was occupied by a Lutheran congregation. The congregation ceased in 1945 when Communism took over Ukraine. The building was used as a community building. In the mid-1990's, with Ukraine independence, the building was returned to the re-started Lutheran congregation and restored for church use. This is where the VBS program is being held in Lazarivka. Lazarivka is a village of 450 people that is 3 kilometers off the main highway between Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil. There are 31 children in the local school and 26 of them were in the VBS program today.


The VBS team in Lazarivka includes (left to right) Katherine Cleven, Beth Krause, Julia Telko (translator), Pastor Oleksandr Husar and Rachel Skaaland.


The craft projects were divided between the upper (on the left) and primary (on the right). There is limited table space, but the children seemed happy to make do with the space they had whether on a table or on another bench.


This boy of about 7 or 8 years was standing on the road about 50 yards from the church building. He seemed interested in what was going on inside. Pastor Husar went to talk with him to invite him to the VBS program. He said: "Not today, I am too late. But, I will be the first one tomorrow!"


Pastor Husar led the closing prayer at the end of the VBS session.


I explained to the children that some of the pictures I was taking would be on the Internet and asked if any of them had access to the Internet in their homes. They said: "No, but we can get the Internet on our cell phones!" Some of the children have cell phones and they quickly programed www.tof.org into them. What a "connected world" we live in.

Tomorrow I vist the VBS program in Ternopil.

Kermit Traska

VBS in Ivano-Frankivsk

Tuesday July 7, 2009

The city of Ivano-Frankivsk is named after the Ukrainian author Ivan Franko. His statue is in front of the hotel that I am staying in in the Old Town area of the city.



The VBS team in the Ivano-Frankivsk congregation (left to right) Peter Heyn, Sharon Anthony, Steve Ludwig and Pastor Serhiy Romanyuk. Today 48 children attended the three classes that are divided into primay (23), middle (9) and upper (16). They meet in three rooms of a business center near the center of the city.


The primary group made Joseph's Coat of Many Colors and were singing songs in both Ukraian and English.



The middle and upper groups craft project was to make a cross from clothes pins.



This placque was on a side street near the hotel. It recognizes Theodor Zoeckler as a German evangelist who was instrumental in helping to start the Lutheran church in Western Ukraine.

Tomorrow, Wednesday I'll be off to Lazarivka about 40 kilometers north of Ivano-Frankivsk. After VBS I will then travel on to Ternopil to visit VBS in both Ternopil and Kremenets.

Kermit Traska

VBS in Kamyanets-Podilski

Monday July 6, 2009

Volunteer VBS teachers in Kamyanets-Podilskiy (left to right) James McCulloch, Rev. Neal Schroeder, Judy McCulloch and Selah Elmquist.


The opening devotion was led by Pastor Andriy Honcharuk of the Kamyanets-Podilskiy congregation. The congregation meets in the local chess club.



There were 27 students in the first day of classes. They were encouraged to bring their friends for Tuesday.



The 2009 VBS lesson book and a Ukrainian Bible.



The students couldn't wait to start coloring.



Lunch for the volunteers included homemade borshch made by Oksana Mrychkovskiy, wife of the congregation president.

After lunch Victor Mrychkovskiy drove me half way to Ivano-Frankivsk where we were met by Pastor Serhiy Romanyuk for the remainder of the trip. Tomorrow I will visit the VBS program in Ivano-Frankivsk and add more photos.

Kermit Traska

Monday and Map of Ukraine

It is already Monday and the VBS classes begin today in 12 congregations all across Ukraine. A map of Ukraine is above to give you a general idea of the 12 locations where VBS is taking place. On Sunday our hosts in Kamyanets-Podilskiy took us on a tour to visit Chrystal Cave and a 12th century castle. In the evening we visited the Old Town with many buildings and a castle from the Middle Ages. About 750,000 visitors a year come to Kamyanets-Podilskiy. There is a family from Pennsylvania in the hotel. Last night as we were waiting for the lights on the castle to come on, we heard English being spoken. There was a man and his wife and another man from Australia. The single man was not traveling with the others, but had met that day on a bus going to the castle. It's a small world after all. The one man's grandfather left the Ukraine city of Kolamiya in 1944 because of the war.

Today I visit the classes in Kamyanets-Podilskiy and then travel on to Ivano-Frankivsk to attend the classes there tomorrow.

Thanks for following the Thoughts of Faith, Ukraine VBS program.

Kermit Traska

VBS "Group Photo"

This was taken just before lunch on Friday. Following the photos, we had lunch and the groups began departing for the 12 congregations. Please keep them all in your prayers as they travel to their locations and begin preparations to recieve the children on Monday.

I am in the city of Kamyanets-Podilskiy. This congregation holds its worship service on Saturday in the summer time. After the service, many of the members go out to their dachas for the rest of the weekend. There they tend their gardens and relax for a few days before returning to work on Monday.

After church, we walked to a local school and were entertained by a youth folk dance group. Many in the group are members of the congregation. Later, the president of the congregation hosted a 4th of July celebration with a picnic in their back yard. In the evening, I spoke with my wife Beth who is with the Oleksandria congregation. As I was talking with her, I could hear fireworks boom in the background from a festival in their town. Our Ukrainian friends helped us celebrate our Independence Day today. I assured them that we would be thinking of and celebrating their Independence Day with them on August 24th.

Kermit Traska

Friday and Saturday in Ukraine

The Thursday tour of Kyiv was a hiking adventure. Kyiv is a city on a hill and we hikedup and down to see the sights! We visited St.Sophia,St.Michael's, Independence Square,The Golden Gate and St.Volodymyr's Cathedral.

On Friday Bishop V'yacheslav Horpynchuk of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church presented a program about the history of Ukraine and Christianity in Ukraine. Group poictures were taken and then lunch. Members from the congregations began arriving at the Dubek Conference Center to take the volunteers back to their home towns. Some would travel by van or car, some by train.

I travelled with the group going to Kamyanets-Podilski. It was a 6 & 1/2 hour van ride going southwest of Kyiv. We drove through a terrific rain storm, but arrived to sunshine. The volunteers got settled and we had a wonderful Ukrainian dinner provided by the host family.

Today I had pictures downloaded to my laptop and purchased a wi-fi card in order to include some pictures. Try as I might, I couln't get connected. So I am using a private computer and cannot include pictures at this time. I hope to get my laptop connected to include some pictures also.

Will write more soon.

Kermit Traska

Hello from Kyiv

We all made it! Everyone is doing well other than being tired from the long flights.

One group had come directly from Seattle to Amsterdam and on to Kyiv. Most of the rest of the group came from Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit. These last three were on the same flight from Amsterdam to Kyiv. The flight arrived about 10 minutes late -- but that was the beginning of our delay. Once off the plane, we had to go through the passport check point. Another plane had come in so there were many people in line. The lines ordinarily move relatively slow. Try to pick a fast moving line and something always happens. We got up to about 6th place when the line stopped moving. It was shift change time so the agent left the kiosk. Then there was a person that had some problem with his passport that took the agent out of the kiosk several times. Fortunately, many of our group were in other lines. They were able to gather much of the luggage even for those still waiting at the passport check. Everyone made it through passport check, inventory of luggage was taken and the next step was to go through the green line of the customs check. So nearly 50 of us pisked up our bags and trooped past the inspectors, again no problems, out into the airport lobby where there were lots of taxi drivers waitinbg to offer us rides.

Our friends from the Ukrainian Lutheran Church were waiting with signs that read "ULC VBS". We gathered around them and trooped outside to a holding area until we located our bus. Our friends had also brought a large bottle of water for each of the weary travelers.

We found our two busses, loaded the luggage and got on for the ride to the Dubek Conference Center on the outskirsts of Kyiv. The trip to Dubek usually takes about an hour. But, this was rush hour in Kyiv and the streets clogged with cars. It took us about 2 hours in the slow moving traffic.

Upon arrival at Dubek, people and luggage were off loaded and taken to the third floor meeting area. There room assignments were made and keys handed out. The kitchen staff had been expecting us an hour earlier, so they were anxious to feed us dinner. Dinners was a breaded breast of chicken and mashed potatoes. There were a few announcements and people were on their own until breakfast at 8:00 AM.

This morning breakfast was at 8:00 followed by a morning devotion led by Pastor Bill Bader. A bus was waiting to take us on our Kyiv tour that today will include the 1000 year old St. Sophia Monastary, the restored St. Michael's Cathedral, Independence Square and St. Volodymyr's Cathdral as well as other sights in Kyiv.

Tonight we have dinner and then a worship service including the Lord's Supper using the liturgy of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church.

The weather is beautiful. Today somewhere in the high 70's to mid 80's. but, the humidity is much lower here than it is in the midwest!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. More when I can get to the Internet again. I hope to be able to use my laptop so I can include some pictures when I get a little more time. I am doing this while the groups are touring the churches that I have visited several times.

Kermit Traska

PS: When I get a chance, I also check my e-mail at ktraska@att.net. Urgent questions can be sent to me and I will respond when I have the opportunity.

Hello From Schiphol Airport Amsterdam

Our groups have met at the airport in Amsterdam. Traveling with the group from Minneapolis was a little bit of an adventure. The first ones to check in had one gate assigned and those checking in later were at a different gate. The gate was changed and we found one another for the 8 and 1/2 hour flight to Amsterdam. Our gate in Amsterdam was D43. But, checking the monitors - the gate was changed to D41, just one away. Arriving at the gate, the 21 people that had flown from Chicage were waiting there for us. The Detroit group will arrive shortly. Schiphol Airport is large enough to explore for quite some time. Our flight to Kyiv begins loading about noon and should depart about 12:50. So far the flights have been on time and quite smooth.

More from Kyiv when we can find Internet access. Keep us in your prayers.

Kermit Traska

Ukraine Prihoda - VBS 2009

Today nearly 50 volunteers depart America traveling to Kyiv, Ukraine. There they will begin their prihoda (adventure) for spreading the gospel message in 12 congregations of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. The volunteers depart from Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit as well as some coming from more distant locations. The group arrives in Kyiv at about 4:30 on Wednesday and will be taken by bus to the Dubek Conference Center. Thursday will be a day to tour Kyiv. After dinner on Thursday there will be a worship service with communion led by Pastor Yuriy Fizer. Friday will continue the orientation for the VBS sessions including a presentation on church history in Ukraine by Bishop V'yacheslav Horpynchuk. Later in the afternoon or early evening they will depart to the 12 congregations all across Ukraine by car, van, bus or train.

There will be six days of VBS lessons culminating in the worship service on Sunday July 12th. The volunteers then return to Kyiv for another day of sightseeing and shopping. They return to the US on Tuesday July 14th.

As long as we can find access to the Internet, VBS updates will be posted on this website.

Please keep the volunteers, the Ukrainian host congregations and all of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church in your thoughts and prayers.

Ordinations in Plzen, Czech Republic

Ordination of the First Czech National Pastors: The two Czech seminary students, Martin Vršecký and Petr Krákora, finished their seminary studies in May. Their ordination service was on Sunday, June 7, at St. Paul’s Church in Plzen. The children from the school and the adult choir presented special music. The Ladies Club hosted a reception following the service. Several pastors from the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church in Germany, as well as several ELS pastors participated in the service. Petr and Martin have been studying for the Holy Ministry since 2001. Their seminary preparation has been thorough and, in addition, they have had many years of “practical” preparation…writing sermons, conducting worship, making sick calls, teaching Religion and Catechism classes in Martin Luther School, etc. Keep these two men in your prayers as they begin their service as shepherds of God’s people in the Czech Republic!

Mission Director, Rev. Mark Grubbs, conducted the rite of ordination.


(Left to Right) Rev. Martin Vršecký and Rev. Petr Krákora



Pastors participating in the ordination ceremony.

European CELC Meets in Latvia

From April 30th to May 2nd the Confessional Lutheran Church of Latvia (CLCL) hosted the Europe Regional Conference of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). The Conference was held in Saulkrasti, a town on the Baltic Sea coast not far from Riga. There were 26 representatives from various Europe region churches including Latvia, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal and Russia. The theme for the Conference was “Thy Will be Done.”

In five papers presenters from our sister churches addressed the issue how the will of the Lord is exercised. The essays were well prepared and also demonstrated an original approach to the theme how God generously provides for both the spiritual and the material needs of the world and of His believers. Particularly, the ever-growing request for wealth and comfort was
discussed from a critical perspective as opposed to the words from the Bible that encourage modesty and content.

There were also discussions on the stewardship of the Word and the Means of Grace with regard to mission outreach for the Christian church. The power and self-sufficiency of the Word of God was emphasized as opposed to methodology. The world today is preoccupied with economy problems. Interest of the society in which our churches live is not in the Christian message. Even so, the overall spirit of the Conference was quite optimistic. The Lord has not promised that there will always be a rich harvest in terms of numbers. But, what is required from our churches, as well as from every church, is faithfulness to the Gospel message.

Thoughts of Faith Board of Directors

Board of Directors – Thoughts of Faith - April 3, 2009
Pictured here are, from left: (back row) Rev. Wayne Borgwardt, Leroy Meyer, Dan Browning, Mark Schwan; (middle) Dave Ewert, Tom Conzelman, Keith Wiederhoeft, Kermit Traska; (front) Rev. John Petersen, Paul Fick, Rev. George Orvick, Rev. Paul Schneider, and Rev. Erwin Ekhoff.

The Thoughts of Faith (ToF) Board of Directors meets three times a year to review, discuss and direct the administrative and mission activities in Central and Eastern Europe. We thank these men for faithfully serving ToF and its missions.

Easter in Sevastopol Ukraine

Little Angels with real Ukrainian Easter Eggs



The members of the congregation from the Ukrainian Lutheran Church in Sevastopol took time to pose for a picture on the front steps of their church after the Easter service on April 19th. The Ukrainian Lutheran Church follows the Eastern calendar resulting in Easter for 2009 being one week later than we celebrated in America. Pastor Viktor Pashchenko, in white robe, serves the congregation in Sevastopol.

Special Graduation at St. Sophia Seminary

(Left to Right) Rev. Oleh Yukhymenko, Prof. Kenneth Cherney, Rev. Andriy Honcharuk, Prof. John Vogt

Seven years of postgraduate study received their reward on March 25 at St. Sophia Seminary. Andriy Honcharuk, who has served the ULC as pastor and currently is teaching part-time at the seminary, was granted the Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS). Professor Kenneth Cherney of WLS presented the diploma.

In his remarks at the presentation ceremony, Prof. Cherney said that this day was also a milestone for the Ukrainian Lutheran Church. The ULC looks forward, Prof. Cherney commented, to the day when it stands on its own feet and is no longer dependent on help from sister churches in other parts of the world. Honcharuk’s STM degree is a step toward that goal. It signals to sister churches in our worldwide CELC fellowship that the ULC has gained another man who has the education and degree to teach theological courses on the seminary level.

Pastor Honcharuk’s credits for this degree were earned through several trips to the U.S. to attend summer quarter classes at WLS. Credits toward such a degree can also be earned through courses in St. Sophia Seminary’s summer quarter each June. In June 2008, a total of 27 pastors and theological students from throughout Central and Eastern Europe and Scandinavia attended St. Sophia’s summer quarter.

Thank You Pastor Mack

(Left to Right) Kermit Traska, Pastor Mack, Pam Schultz

For the past several years, Pastor William Mack has come to the ToF office in Oregon, Wisconsin to lead a devotion on Wednesday mornings. He has recently accepted a call from a congregation in Illinois to serve a mission congregation in Carlsbad, CA. Pastor Mack was presented with a handmade cross from the Carpathian region of Ukraine. We thank Pastor Mack for his interest in and service to Thoughts of Faith.

Work Day in Milwaukee at Two Tunics

"The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." Luke 3:11

This verse comes from Two Tunics organization in Milwaukee where companies in America donate overstock items to be distributed through nonprofit organizations. On Monday February 16, 2009, workers from Trinity Lutheran in Waukesha and Oregon met at the Corp Care warehouse and spent three hours processing the donated clothing in anticipation of the April material aid shipment to Ukraine. The workers processed more than 3,000 articles of clothing in approximately 90 boxes. Items included a variety of infant, youth and adult clothing. "Many hands make light work" exemplifies the hard work put in by the volunteers. Thank you very much.

Prepared for Thoughts of Faith.

Processing the clothing.


Every piece had to be handled carefully.


Lots of new socks.


Ready for boxing.


Adding up all of the pieces.


The work crew. Thank you very much!!