I’m grateful to God, and to so many friends who collaborated with me to do the impossible. Seven weeks ago today I shared the vaguest idea for a book with Pastor Kyle Holland of Cornerstone Church. Today I have copies of that book in my hand.
In partnership with the local Area Partnership [a government agency], his church had opened in March as one of the earliest hubs, as Ukrainians had arrived in the hotel opposite. I went along to see if I could help in any way, and as is my wont, I looked for books that might help. Bibles for Ukrainians were then unavailable, and I discovered that books in English would be little use. But Romans 14: 17 tells us that ‘the Kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy’, and our new frends certainly needed peace and joy. As Kyle and I chatted, the need for a bilingual picture book for children emerged. At that, he stood up, declared this was of God, prayed over me, and offered some seed funding. I was on my way! Little did I know how many of my friends would bring their unique contributions.
Olga Kearney of printers Sooner than Later suggested A5 size for cramped accommodation, a binding type that will lay flat for little hands, and silk finish for sticky fingers. Her boss, Mark Finney even offered an initial short print run for free to get final feedback just in case of cultural faux-pas. Wow! Olga told me that a short coherent story with striking illustrations is far more important than many pages. Gradually the story idea was forming – a brother and sister who arrive here having fled their homeland.
Next I met foster parent Joan Nixon. I knew my story needed to acknowledge Ukrainian trauma so that it could bring hope, but without triggering further upset. Joan told me that when we direct our senses toward nature we move our focus away from our trauma. So the children would notice our food and weather and landscape. I asked the Holy Spirit to give me the words, and I wrote my first draft.
Psychologist Denise Mullen gave a workshop for Ukrainian parents on helping their children. She talked of the value of sharing difficult stories, acknowledging emotions, and feeling understood. This confirmed that the book’s key message must be that Jesus understands. I sensed some key Bible verses were in Hebrews (2:18 and 4:15-16). But how could I incorporate them? Then Kyle preached from those very passages, and I had my answer!
Now the scary part – asking for feedback on the latest draft. But every person contributed differently, and to my relief there was no conflicting advice:
Elizabeth Cecil, a farmer’s daughter, asked why the children seemed to be from the city – oops! From her childcare background, she reminded me that victims of inappropriate touch would not be comforted by Jesus’ love if portrayed as a hug.
Sue Hill spotted that I hadn’t explained who Jesus is. 82% of Ukrainians identify as Christian believers, but others might not know who He is.
Andrew Wormleighton of Scamp Publishing gave permission to quote from The Family Bible, and Rachael Franklin of Authentic Media arranged an abridged credit for a tPt – the Passion translation verse.
Paul Perry of the Irish Bible Institute helped me with various theological questions He also noticed a line that could be misconstrued to imply that after Jesus came to earth, He decided to escape back to heaven. Oh no!
Paul, and also Alan Mordue of publishers Darton, Longman and Todd advised on how Orthodox Christians address God in prayer. 73% of Ukrainians adhere to Orthodox Christianity. We opted for ‘Lord Jesus Christ our God’, from a prayer said before Communion.
My new Ukrainian friends were a great help. Eg Marina Kovalchuk suggested I stress the distance and the exhaustion of the journey. She and her family drove from northern Ukraine down south into Romania, on into Hungary, and to Vienna in Austria, from where they flew to Dublin.
Poet Sarah Larkin checked the flow and metre of the story, and suggested that the children could also bring their concerns about the future to Jesus.
Copy editor & proofreader Jenny Page was amazing, suggesting many small changes that made a huge difference. She also pointed me in the right direction for the Copyright text. That was a sharp learning curve, as was registering as a publisher, buying ISBNs and barcodes, and submiting all the details on Title Editor.
After all these amendments, Ukrainian Liudmyla Ponomarenko translated the text into Ukrainian. She had already suggested typical names Oksana for the girl and Ihor for her brother. To my delight a Ukrainian Mum told me that the story and sentences were beautiful in their language. That was certainly no credit to me! Ukrainian is the native language of 68% of Ukrainians, and Russian is the native language of 30%. But Ukrainian is the language of education. So Russian speakers can all understand Ukrainian, and many Ukrainian speakers also understand Russian. When a Ukrainian and a Russian speaker meet, they can often hold quite a normal conversation by each speaking their mother tongue.
Illustrator and designer Lynda Shepherd of ColouringBox had already been beavering away on concepts and sketches. I’d sought feedback from Ukrainians on her initial cover design inorporating their traditional embroidery. We fast discovered regional variations, as Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe apart from Russia, with a 1,650 kms drive from east to west. Later some Ukrainians didn’t like red as a background on some pages. To them it is an aggressive colour, so that was changed. When Lynda slotted in the Ukrainian text, the result was beyond my wildest dreams! And the printed copies look even better. Click here to read more about the book or to order.
It’s been the most crazy seven weeks, but ‘with God all things are possible’, and especially so when the most amazing friends collaborate for the Kingdom of God. But none of it would have been possible without those who have prayed for me, in particular my friend and intercessor Shirley Embleton, whose prayer, discernment, and support has been literally out of this world!
Statistics from Wikipedia – click here for further details.
Thank you to Nick Park of EAI – Evangelical Alliance Ireland for his endorsement, and for his remarks about how God gives us creativity:
You can listen below to my radio interview about the book on the God Talk programme on north Dublin’s Near FM. We start talking specifically about Oksana and Ihor Went on a Journey at 13:38.