Tonight I was returning home after taking Chris back to the orphanage/fraternity house (I Needa Papa). I was minding my own business, walking down Kreshatyk St. and, all of a sudden ,I (Ande, of course) saw a large sum of money drop to the sidewalk. Now, Kiev is not a place where you see money laying around. You wouldn't believe how many people around here beg for just one grivna, about 20 cents U.S. The money was folded and wrapped in plastic. I estimated it to be about $5000 in $100 bills. The moment of truth. I saw who dropped it. I picked it up and ran to the unsuspecting man and gave it to him. He thanked me sincerely and went on his way. I did not realize that I had a witness to this, who became my fan instantly (he was beside himself that I would give this wad of money back). We began to walk and talk and it became apparent that we only spoke a little of the other's native tongue. He asked me what country I was from. I told him America. He began to praise America with his hand over his heart. I wanted so badly to tell him why I gave it back (prompting of God's Spirit, not loving money, etc.) As I began to think of ways to explain myself, the man whom I gave the money back to came up to us. He said that he had 2 packs of money to start with. He asked where I found his money, and I pointed to an approximate place and told him. He spoke good English, and asked if we would please convince him by emptying our pockets so that he could be sure we did not have it. I was incredulous. About this time (by the way, it's cold), a plain clothes policeman unfurled his id and asked what seemed to be the problem (I guess). My groupie, flanked to my right, began to point to me and say, "This good man! He not have your money!" Then he disappeared in all of the confusion (not his problem). The policeman asked me to humor everyone by showing the contents of my pockets. I did, and then he let me go. I told them both that if I wanted any of his money in the first place, I would have kept what I had and not given ANY back.
I got to the Metrograd (underground mall) as soon as I could and weaved my way around to make sure I was not being followed. Then I took the other $5000 and bought myself a new suit for court. JUST KIDDING!!!!!
Hope your Holidays are less intrusive.
Ande
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Christmas in the Slammer?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Hello, Underwood Family! Please know you are in our thoughts and prayers. I pray you will have a blessed Christmas though it may not be at home. I am reminded that the first Christmas was in quite an unexpected place, as well. I am ashamed to admit that though I have been praying, I completely forgot about the blog!! I tried to coment before you guys left, and it didn't work...glad I remembered it now and have gotten caught up. I can pray better for you now. Thanks for sharing your experiences and allowing me to be part of what God is doing in your lives. We will continue praying for a safe and quick homecoming with Chris in tow!! Merry Christmas!
LOL - I'm so glad that you are finding humor in so much these days. I was laughing so hard reading about your money incident and the Christmas tree. I've really missed you all and it is good to hear what is going in your lives again - even if it is from the other side of the world! Merry Christmas to you all!
Hey, Underwoods!
The Hartsocks are ALL home and it was so great to meet Dasha. I thought of you all when I was in the coffee shop in Helena the other day ordering some of the special coffee to take home. A young man there was fretting b/c he didn't get the amt. of coffee he ordered - 5 lbs instead of 25 , or something, and I thought about how this used to be your concern and now you are on the other side of the world, ministering to so many - life can change so radically! You are so displaying your resting in Christ in your NON-fracticness and actual enjoyment of what sounds pretty difficult to me. Prayers from all of us for you to have a wonderful Christmas. BTW - I think the Lord really was protecting you from some unpleasantness about that money - sounds like angels are on duty for you.
Paula and Ande,
Wow! What an adventure you are having! The Christmas your family will remember forever. I'm so thankful the Lord protected you in that money episode. Very strange.
I'm curious, just how big was that tree you hauled across the city?
We're having a very quiet, uneventful holiday here. The big news is that it finally got cold yesterday. We even got some frost last night. Not QUITE a white Christmas, but closer. It feels a little more like winter now. It was 80 degrees a week ago. There are times when 80 degrees is nice, but never in December. Global warming with hiccups I guess.
David preached on hell yesterday for his Christmas sermon. If anyone could pull it off without getting run out of town on a rail, it would be David. And he did. Fabulous presentation on the gospel and the love and grace of the Father. Hope you get to hear it.
Tell the kids I have a black and white floppy ear bunny named Achilles living in my bathroom. His name was Fiona when we first got him, but Ian said that a rabbit named Fiona didn't fit his image. So, since no one knows if this rabbit is a girl or a boy, he is now Achilles. Achilles likes toilet paper. We've lost several rolls to him already. Living in the bathroom works out really well for him in other ways as well. He has a steady stream of visitors and he has discovered that he too can sit on the toilet, at least when the lid is down. He had a couple of mishaps where he fell in before he figured that one out. But water doesn't seem to bother him too much. He often hops up on the side of the tub to join whoever happens to be in the tub. When he's been alone too long, he does a little rabbit dance to show us how happy he is when we come in. He runs around the room in cirles, takes a flying leap to the top of his cage, then runs inside to do his business because, I suppose, that is what most everyone else does when they come in the bathroom. He's very sociable.
Have a happy Christmas and know that we are in earnest prayer daily for your court date, your flight, safety, health, and whatever else we can think of for you. Can't wait to hear the next installment.
Love,
JR and Laura and the boys.
So glad you didn't end up in prison. Your last paragraph was hilarious. Praying that this will be a wonderful, memorable, jail-free Christmas and that your whole family will be home together soon.
Hey ya'll! (How's that for a reminder of home?) :-) I've missed reading your adventures, due to having a newborn, but am back with the techno-dependent world again. I loved this story. Ande, you need to keep up the blog even after this experience - your writing is hilarious! We love ya'll and are so thankful for your witness, whether you could verbalize what you wanted to or not.
Post a Comment