From Nyet to Da: Communists, Atheists Choose Christianity/Ukrainian Teachers of Impact/Making a Change in Their Culture

From Nyet to Da

Communists, atheists choose Christianity

Ukrainian Teachers of Impact

Making a Change in Their Culture

JERRY GUIBOR

Copyright © 2012 Jerry Guibor

Photography and design by Jerry Guibor

Photo of Jerry Guibor on the back cover by Lyudmyla O. Guibor

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-3949-2 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012903573

WestBow Press rev. date: 03/22/2012

Contents

Foreword, A Separate Note And Appreciation

Introduction

Part One-Looking Back

1.   A Divine Conception

2.   Two Spies Meet Face To Face

Part Two-Teachers Of Impact

3.   Olga Nikiforivna Benyk

4.   Svitlana Vasylevna Motyzhen

5.   Liliya Olegivna Kozak

6.   Olena Volodymyrivna Mazurenko

7.   Lidiya Andriyivna Ivanova

8.   Natalya Ivanovna Vasylenko

9.   Valery Grigorovich Vasylenko

10.   Tetyana Volodymyrivna Galich

Part Three-Healing Grace

11.   Tamara Sergeyevna Polishchuk

12.   Valentyna Ivanovna Kuksenko

13.   Ruslan Vasylevich Kalytenko

Part Four-From Nyet To Da

14.   Valentyna Ivanovna Romanenko

15.   Vitaly Mikhailovich Ozernyy

Part Five-Behind The Scenes

16.   Olga Rostyslavivna Motrevich

17.   Oksana Volodymyrivna Yasinska

18.   Natalya Danylevna Reutska

19.   Galyna Mikhailovna Kargina

Part Six-Looking Ahead

20.   Sergey Fedorovich Butenko

21.   Rich Leary

22.   Vitaly, A Ukrainian Missionary

Epilogue

Glossary

Appendix A – Teachers’ Comments

Appendix B – Experience Exchange

Appendix C – Volunteers’ Comments

Endnotes

foreword

While reading a book like this, I think it is important to remember the historic and eternal significance of these stories. The people I interviewed willingly told their life stories – in a form similar to Life Maps – and their Christian testimonies, and many of them volunteered painful details and intimate remembrances of their lives in perilous times. Glory be to God that their stories will be preserved for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and beyond, so they will know how their families came to know the living Christ and, they, in turn, will have the opportunity to believe.

A Separate Note

These stories about Ukrainian Teachers of Impact center on Ukrainians, obviously. But because there is such a historical crossover from Soviet times to Ukraine’s current independence, there are inconsistencies in the spelling of names – either Russian or Ukrainian. I attempted to use all Ukrainian spellings and honor how a person spells his or her name in its English transliteration. For example, it may be Tetyana, Tatyana, Tetiana or Tatiana. For cities and places, I used Ukrainian spellings but omitted the apostrophe indicating the soft sound in the Cyrillic alphabet. However, consistency again is elusive.

Special Appreciation

As anyone who has worked in a foreign country knows, it is impossible to communicate and accomplish anything without employing a competent interpreter. To be able to complete and collect the interviews in this book, I had the expert help of several Ukrainian interpreters who were my ears and voice. Here they are, with their cities: Maria Grechanyuk, Kamyanets-Podilskii; Katya Kargina, Kremenchuk; Svitlana Katargina, Cherkasy; Larysa Moroz, Bila Tserkva; Svitlana Motyzhen, Bila Tserkva; Natalya Reutska, Khmelnytski; Yulia Rogach, Lutsk; Valentyna Shapovalova, Mykolaiv; Maryana Tsaruck, Lutsk; Victoria Kuznetsova, Kremenchuk; Veronika Voronina, Lviv.

And then a thank you to these friends and co-laborers who guided and encouraged me, and read chapters along the way as I compiled information and conducted interviews: Leif Bilen, Dwight Chappell, Dave Eskes, Anne Marie Gewin, Tetyana Galich, Diana Notaro, Jack Schendel and Jim Tomasik. And thanks to Leif and Jim for writing sidebars about Oleg Kargin. Your help was greatly appreciated.

Introduction

Contradictions, Corruption and the Culture

When the British statesman, Winston Churchill, spoke about Russia, he described it in his inimitable way: a riddle, a mystery, an enigma, all wrapped together. His now-famous comment that he uttered in 1939 was true then, and is still true in the 21st century. More to the point, however, the current condition of morality in Ukraine can be reduced to two words: contradictions and corruption.

Is it possible to unwrap a part of the mystery surrounding corruption in Ukraine? How did its society become so corrupt? Where did the corruption get its start? How did it become so pervasive in the culture? Does it go all the way back to olden days of roving warriors and hetmen¹? Is there a resemblance between the barbarians then and bold pickpocket teams in the Kiev subway today; politicians with their hands out; a duplicitous judicial system and brazen policemen who accept bribes? Or are these simply interminable, unanswerable questions?

Historically, corruption – legal and illegal – has waxed and waned at different times in Ukraine’s – and simultaneously in Russia’s – history: during ancient times, the Czarist era, the Soviet era and the post-Soviet era with the burgeoning Russian mafia.

Did the society right itself – momentarily – with the advent of Christianity in Kievan Rus in A.D. 988? According to one story, Prince Vladimir of Kiev consorted with pagan traditions, including bawdy holidays and alcohol, therefore preferring and choosing Christianity over Islam. And much later did it insufferably regress when Lenin rose to power and the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 erupted? Corruption was soon to be outlawed, punishable by death, but it returned with a vengeance as the Soviet Union began to dissolve two decades ago.

Contradictions abound, and today corruption is a way of life. Although not everybody is affected by the graft and bribery, everybody knows about it. But nobody seems to be able to do anything about it, and nobody ostensibly is in a hurry to change it – with these major exceptions: the International School Project (ISP) with its Christian ethics and morals curriculum, 220 Ukrainian Teachers of Impact who are qualified to conduct ISP seminars, and the thousands of teachers who are teaching The Future Begins Today curriculum in their classrooms.

I wondered about the state of corruption and posed these questions to a Ukrainian native: Who is responsible for all the corruption, and the cheating, the loafing worker, the behind-the-back deals that Andropov wanted to eliminate, the Communist Party?

No, because corruption among Party members was low.

Then is it the culture? The society? The people?

My friend answered:

Sure, people, but, simply, it’s the system. There are good people, too, of course.

Here are some anecdotes that expose the contradictions, corruption and culture inside the system.

OUR FRIEND, the young Ukrainian policeman, arrived at our apartment for a visit. Though he was not on duty that day, he was on a mission. He rushed into my room like a gust of wind. He put his face in my face, much closer than I wanted.

Tell me about koruptsiya in the United States, he said, drunkenly.

I told him corruption is everywhere in the world. What I didn’t tell him – I didn’t need to – was that corruption in Ukraine permeates every layer of the culture, from the president to mayors to the man on the street. And I conveniently forgot about America’s embarrassing history of corruption in Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York (read: Wall Street), to cite only a few examples.

He and his colleagues routinely stop motorists for phantom traffic violations and solicit bribes. It’s the primary way they supplement their pitifully low salaries. The bribes are always for money, though afterward they may make a quick run for a bottle of vodka.

ON TWO SEPARATE occasions, an English-language schoolteacher made no attempt to whitewash corruption and excess in Ukraine. He volunteered these examples:

It’s a well-known story that the mayor of Kiev, who professes to be a Christian, went on a holiday in Switzerland and spent $60,000 a night for a hotel room. He profits from crooked land sales in the Ukraine capital.

Teachers at the institute and university take money and give marginal students top grades.

EXACTLY TO the point, the grandmother boasted that her grandson was a top student. She then lamented that she paid 200 gryven a month from her 900 gryven-a-month pension² to the professors at the university where her grandson attended. She said, If he wanted a 5, I had to pay 200 gryven. If I paid 150, then he would get a 4. In order to receive a 3, it was 100. And that is not an acceptable grade. She is nearly 70 years old and must continue teaching school so she can supplement her meager pension.

MARIA IS EMBARRASSED that her son dropped out of school with but one year to go so he could become a beezneezman.

What kind of business?

He’s a beezneezman.

I know, but what’s his job?

He’s a beezneezman. That’s all.

Turns out, he runs with a two-bit gang that deals in extortion. He’s only 20 years old and already has done time in prison.

THE MIDDLE-SCHOOL STUDENT dries his hands in the restroom. He takes a shot at the waste basket and misses. The soggy paper towel hits the floor. He nonchalantly walks away, and it lies there.

Perhaps he thinks no one saw him and, besides, the janitor will pick it up.

Aren’t morality and character defined by what we do when we think no one is looking?

YEARS LATER, when my wife’s international Ukraine passport was stolen in San Francisco, we went downtown to the Ukraine Consulate and asked for a replacement. Immediately, we came head to head with a subtle form of corruption, far from her Motherland.

The third official in the chain of command looked at me and said with a straight face:

What do you want me to do about it?

Naïvely, I thought to myself, YOU are the Ukraine government. Why don’t you help one of YOUR fellow citizens? Later I realized he was hinting for money under the table.

After a series of subsequent phone calls, he told Luda she would have to return to Ukraine for the replacement passport. A friend and former co-worker heard of her plight. He offered to do her a favor and obtain a new passport. He said he could save us a bundle and only wanted a mere $500. When we arrived back in Ukraine, we paid the standard fee, $138, and she had a new passport within a week.

THE RED-HAIRED dentist’s touch was a little rough, but at her price, was I complaining? Her work was free. She was a friend of a friend. While she didn’t charge me anything, she politely accepted a box of chocolates as payment. Was it a bribe, a gift or simply cultural?

IN A DIFFERENT CITY, I needed to have a crown repaired. A schoolteacher friend took me to her dentist. For nearly two hours, her dentist and two other women dentists were puzzled by its American construction. At last, they solved the problem, and the tooth was back to normal.

I asked my friend, How much do I owe them?

Nothing.

Well, then, how much do I owe you?

Nothing.

After another attempt to pay her, she said, If you ask me again, we won’t be friends any longer. My friendship was payment enough for her.

TWO YOUNG WOMEN at the state Bureau of Translation, which translated many documents that my wife needed to emigrate to America, at first took payment for each page. Later, when my wife’s charm won them over, they often ignored some of the charges. The amount of money was negligible; they treasured her friendship.

IT WAS AN EARLY AUTUMN NIGHT in Kiev and chilly. I paid the woman vendor on my street corner and hurried home with the tomatoes. When I reached my apartment, I realized I didn’t have my wallet. I rushed back to her vegetable stand. She was waiting with a smile – and my wallet. All was intact.

THE YELLOW BUS was crowded, so the woman passed her 20 gryven note to the person sitting in front of her. I watched it make its way toward the front of the bus, hand over shoulder and row after row, to the driver. The fare was only 1 gryvna and 50 kopecks, but apparently she had no small bills or coins. At the time, the 20 gryven note was worth about $2.50, and the fare about 18 cents. Soon, here came her exact change back via the same route. It was the Ukraine honor system on trolley buses, avtobuses, tramvys and marshrutkas (minibuses) in action.

ON MY FIRST visit to Kiev in 2003, I knew where I wanted to go on the trolley bus. But I didn’t know where to get off. I whispered into the ear of the conductor, and immediately the riders on the bus answered in a chorus of helpful voices: The third stop.

FRIENDSHIPS AND FAVORS. Once you have a connection inside the system, once people take you in, strangers only a moment ago will go out of their way to help you. Inside the culture, inside the society, inside a classroom, inside an apartment, inside the infamous kitchen conversations, they are kind, generous and gracious hosts. Outside, on the street or in the Metro, beware of the hooligans and pickpockets.

FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS, schoolteachers in Ukraine and Russia, among other countries, have been getting a much-needed refresher course on Christian morals and ethics. God’s primary crucible has been the public schools, and the catalyst that unites the teachers and God’s word has been Western volunteers and staff members with the International School Project. Volunteers from throughout America and Canada have introduced a Christian-based curriculum to public school teachers so they can rebuild the moral base of the society and give the system ethical currency. The chemistry has created an amalgam that has been nothing short of a miraculous work of God.

TO BE SURE, communism was morally bankrupt and designed without God from the beginning. The founders unabashedly stole the Ten Commandments and used them as a pretext for a bastardized morality. Do not steal was often quoted; do not lie and do not cheat were other litmus tests for a young Pioneer member striving to join the Bright Future of the Communist Party.

Near the end, when the Party had all but unraveled, it was no secret that the Party was rotten at its core. Even incompetent officials at the top were smart enough to know it – the generals, apparatchiks and ministers who organized the failed coup in August of 1991. They tried to stop the runaway train wreck. They could not.³

PART ONE

LOOKING BACK

CHAPTER ONE

A Divine Conception

As the USSR⁴ was fully in its fatal swan dive in 1989, top officials in the Ministry of Education wisely realized the desperate need to instill a new set of morals and ethics into the youngsters of the still-Soviet Union. History textbooks were as dog-eared and obsolete as the USSR soon would be, and their contents read more like fiction than history.⁵ And then there were 10 mocking commandments in the Communist mantra.⁶

On Dec. 8, 1989, the JESUS film was shown in the USSR for the first time in the Republic of Georgia. Along with those education officials, the top-level people from the political, religious, sports, business, film and social worlds were in attendance.

During the next six months in Georgia, the film was shown in commercial theaters while Paul Eshleman and his team were signing contracts for more showings and dubbing the film into other languages of the Soviet Union. Those began in the fall of 1990.

In an e-mail message,⁷ Eshleman gives this account:

"We premiered the film in Moscow, Leningrad and the capital cities from Lithuania to Romania. On page 64 of my book, ‘The Touch of JESUS,’ you can see the entire scheduling of the premieres.⁸ At most of those premieres, representatives of the Departments of Education mentioned that it would be good if the children in the schools could see the film. However, no promises were made. Especially interested was Olga Polykovskaya, who was part of the Russian Ministry of Education.

In January of 1991, I was scheduled to make a trip to Mongolia and I asked our contacts in Moscow to set me up with the Soviet Minister of Education. It was then that I was asked how we were going to follow-up with all the students that might respond if we gave the film to all the schools. On page 88 in my book, I recommended a Convocation for teachers and a course on Christian Ethics and Morality, that would include first steps for students that were making a decision for Christ. So it was Jan. 23, 1991, that I made a proposal to give a ‘JESUS’ film to every school in the Russian Republic and teach their teachers how to present a course on Christian Ethics and Morality as a Foundation for Society.

In a separate message,⁹ Eshleman writes about the moment he made his proposal:

It was then that the deputy Minister of Education, Yevgeny Kurkin, leaned back in his chair, and said, ‘We don’t know how many holes we have in the foundation of our society after 70 years without God.’

It was still no certainty that anything would happen. One week later, Eshleman called him back:

They accepted my proposal to do an experimental test with 1,000 teachers in Moscow, Leningrad and Vologda. I then called Blair Cook and asked him to pull together a group of people to begin work on developing the course.

In a short period of time, a 10-week curriculum, Foundations of Christian Ethics, was developed, and Kurkin, the deputy Minister of Education, began to invite teachers to attend a Convocation.

At that moment, what would become the International School Project was conceived.¹⁰

Between 600 and 800 teachers attended the first ISP Convocation in Moscow beginning on May 15, 1991.¹¹ They saw the JESUS film and received the curriculum, Bibles, films