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About LinkBacks@ GenineFarmGirl: It sounds like you are serious about being sensitive about all this, so fair enough. It seems like you have a heart to really touch somebody's life, so I wish you all the best for this trip.
Originally Posted by genuinefarmgirl
Yeah, you should! People here could help you, as well. Several people here live in Ukraine or come from there originally.
When I did that trip which I'm talking about, I blogged here too. I got really carried away and wrote long epistles, but it was fun to share my impressions with people who are also interested in the region and learning the language.
I think everyone thought I was a bit silly when I actually didn't manage to get my visa for Russia and had to change my travel plans...
Back on the religious theme:
I was really impressed by Orthodox Christianity when I was travelling in Eastern Europe. It was completely unexpected to me.
I hadn't realised, and wasn't aware:
How seriously religious a lot of people genuinely are. They have faith -- definitely! Not everybody, but a large proportion.
Compared with the Netherlands, the UK, Scandinavia... people in the ex USSR are much more religious!
Even if I am a protestant and my faith is probably more like GenuineFarmGirl's -- how can I know that my faith is more accurate? I learned in school that Orthodox Christianity has the most direct line back to the earliest days of Christianity.
I was really blown away by the chanting in the Orthodox church and the reverence people showed towards the church, in lots of different ways.
And I spoke to an orthodox priest, he was SO good at explaining the orthodox faith and really got me thinking. He seemed like a really holy person and I get good, warm vibes just thinking of my conversation with him.
I had thought that people wouldn't know a lot about the Bible, due to the USSR policies on teaching religion. But people of I spoke with people of different ages, and they knew more of the Bible than the average person in the UK... The policies of the USSR seems to have pushed religion into the very private sphere, but certainly not killed it.
A few people here told some very touching stories about their secret baptisms outdoors, in their childhood, in Soviet days... I heard such stories again when I was travelling in this region.
People were so passionate about the icons and art in the church and it's a beautiful heritage. Many of the icons are just people from the Bible, not saints in the Catholic sense. Although some narrow-minded protestants would say this is idolatry, I just don't agree. It inspired people's faith.
They had collected money to renovate churches that were in a really bad shape and it was SO lovingly done. I saw this both in Romania and in Belarus.
Compare with Western Europe where people will complain about poor maintenance in the state church, but hardly anyone is prepared to put up any money for it. While in these countries, with lots of people quite short for cash, they can fund renovations of entire cathedrals. In Russia, I understand this is even more obvious but I did not see it myself.
So one of my biggest surprise travelling in this area was how many signs of strong and genuine Christian faith I saw. I actually had not expected it. I had thought the churches were dilapidated and most people atheists.
Plus the Orthodox churches are so pretty with their domes, and they actually have the liturgy on display on the walls in the church!
Quite a few Jehova's Witnesses in Minsk though. I was approached several times on the street.
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