How did I get locked inside the seminary?

Well, first of all, you need to know that here in Kiev the Ukrainian holidays are far from over. In fact, this is the height of the holiday season. It began with New Year’s Eve, continues through Orthodox Christmas and ends with “Old New Year.” (See chart below)

While westerners have already gotten back to work, Cheri and I included, many government offices in Ukraine are closed, few stores are open and the halls of Kiev Theological Seminary are empty. While it’s nice to have the entire seminary to myself, it’s strangely quiet. There is no staff here except the security guard. The library and cafeteria are closed, and there are no students.

I stayed so late one night preparing for my upcoming course, “Missionary Life and Health,” that security thought the building was empty. When I tried to go home for dinner I found the front door locked and saw through the window that the wrought-iron gate was padlocked! Thankfully, security caught me trying to “break out” and allowed me to go home.

Please remember Cheri and me as we swim against the tide of holiday fever.

Rich Strahm, Kiev Theological Seminary

(Serving with Equippers Network International since 2002)