Post by mazarick on Jul 28, 2018 22:27:29 GMT
(this is from an email sent in 2014)
From: Mike Mazarick
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 10:09 AM
To: Translators
Subject: A story about a failed attempt
I was searching for some way to help the situation between Ukraine and Russia. I came upon this picture:
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2014 10:09 AM
To: Translators
Subject: A story about a failed attempt
I was searching for some way to help the situation between Ukraine and Russia. I came upon this picture:
Russian Baptist Union President Alexey Smirnov, left, and Ukraine counterpart Vyacheslav Nesteruk, at a meeting in Kiev on April 8
Since I do not speak Russian or Ukrainian, you may want to relay this message to them.
In 1991-1992 I went to Novosibirsk/Academgorodok as a guest of the Academy of Science. Since the average wage of the scientists at Academgorodok was ~$25/month and the scientists there were Russia’s best, I figured there must be some way to commercialize this opportunity.
When I arrived, it was plain to see that the biggest need of the Russian people was a return to God. There was despair everywhere, society was totally broken, and there were some starting attempts in both the Russian Orthodox Church and Baptist Church in Novosibirsk to fulfill this need. I drove past several orphanages of ~5,000 kids each. It was quite fine with the State that they raise the children because it gave them more power over the lives of people. I had made the trip with a close friend (a potential investor) who had made ~4 hours of SVHS video tape. When I returned to Raleigh, NC, there was a local religious person who edited the tape down to ~18 minutes about the state of the church in Russia at that time, and a local clergy of OCA narrated the tape. It was shown on CableVision in Raleigh. There were no calls or results. It was also shown at a local Methodist church Sunday School class. Someone from that Sunday School class had mailed $10 to the Russian Orthodox church in Academgorodok, but the funds sent to c/o Tamara Ovadova to the Russian Orthodox church were stolen in the mail.
When I was in Academgorodok, I was a guest of Alex Marchuk. He was deputy director of the Institute of Informatics Sciences (he is now the director of IIS). I found out later that his dad was in charge of the Academy of Sciences for all of the USSR and was in charge between Brezhnev thru Gorbachev. His wife Elena came to the Research Triangle Park for ~6 months to obtain some business. Well, there wasn’t any. We had bought about $5k worth of modems, but the value of the ruble was cut in half between the time we shipped them and received payment (our payment was about 50% less than what we had invested in them). She had also played the 18 minute tape at a local Baptist Church, Ridge Road Baptist without any apparent immediate action. After she had left, Ridge Road Baptist church brought several children who were tainted by Chernobyl to stay for the summer. I do not know who they are, but there was one young girl who had stayed in contact when she returned, so it may be possible to find out if there is some interest. It is my guess and opinion that her presentation pushed them “over the edge”. The local Baptists do not take any actions quickly, but their discussions and decisions are very well considered.
The rise and fall of communism in the USSR is the most recent retelling of the oldest book in the Bible – the Tower of Babel. Man cannot lift himself up by the bootstraps and become like God. The results of the USSR and what happened to the people who were building the tower of Babel were much the same thing.
Although not a religious person myself, I recognize that it really doesn’t matter whether I am a believer or not – most of the society in NC are believers and religion puts a certain “vibe” on society that can’t be recognized until you go to a place where there isn’t one (like Novosibirsk in 1991). The results were things that I saw myself and were obvious to me. Unlike most people, I feel like I am personally responsible for the situation and can change almost anything. However, when ~39 Russian/Ukrainians died in Odessa I gave up because the issue was much bigger than I was. The more recent violence in Eastern Ukraine tells me that the problem really is much bigger than I am.
I am hoping that Alexey Smirnov and Vyacheslav Nesturuk can utilize this story about the failed attempt to know that God works in very mysterious ways, His timeframe is completely different than mine, His idea of success and mine are not the same, and all we can do is to try to know His wishes (which he will make true anyway) so that our efforts are aligned and not opposed to each other. I can only wish Alexey Smirnov and Vyacheslav Nesturuk success in their efforts at making the two “cousins” know they are one. They may or may not succeed, but if they don’t try to make them happen (in spite of all odds), they won’t.
Mike Mazarick
PS – I am doing a “cut and paste” of several emails that may have some bearing on these efforts:
= = = = =
Sasha,
Thank you for writing. 22 years have passed, and it is difficult to summarize what happened during that period.
…
Although we did not have a lot of personal success 22 years ago, one thing to be very proud of is the effort that Elena made going to the Baptist church near my house. There were some children from Chernobyl (Ukraine) that were adopted by this church as a result of her efforts. It was the only effort we made that had any results, and we made a lot of different efforts. I am sure that 22 years ago, the local Baptist church thought they were hosting children from Russia because (in their mind) the Ukraine and Russia were the same thing. Even today, we both know that this is partly true and partly false.
About Peter: you know that I last saw him when he was a very advanced 10 year old. I am glad that he is working with you at IIS and I am also glad that he has a business he is working on making successful. He will be successful because he has someone with experience to teach him that he pretends not to listen to (it is the way with all sons – they have to find their own way). My idea was quite simple: there is another experienced General in Ukraine named Marchuk, when he discovers that the “Russian side” is also named (Peter) Marchuk and who’s father looks a lot like him, it will soften his heart and give the negotiations a better chance for success. These aren’t the final negotiations, but it is better than what now exists. What exists now is needless bloodshed and violence on all sides.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevhen_Marchuk
…
From: Alexander Marchuk
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 8:19 AM
To: 'Mike Mazarick'
Subject: RE: my apologies
Dear Mike!
Sorry for delay with my answers. Each time I receive your messages, I had no ideas what to write. And also to formulate in English what I can’t formulate in Russian is too difficult. According to my (and our) ages, there is no wish to make changes in the life, even in business activities. I passed your messages with proposals to Peter, but it seems, he has not interested in the project. He is very active in his business, this is not only science, but also business projects. A month ago he visited US – New-York, San Jose, Los Angeles. There are Russian friends in many points of US and they assist in doing visits and meetings. His idea is to provide software for some areas of creation writing and show-business.
About problems in Ukraine. You know, this is very sensitive question for Russian citizens. Almost everybody in Russia, has roots in Ukraine. For example, my family name Marchuk is from Ukraine, my grandfather came from Ukraine to Russia in be beginning of 20-th century. Most of Ukraine people both which speak Russian or Ukrainian, are our brothers. It is a great tragedy, that during more than 20 years Ukraine propaganda build a wall between nations.
We with you are not responsible for errors of our governments. Now we live in different worlds of propaganda. According our side, US administration began Ukraine “project” to weaken Russia and Europe and to build barrier between Russia and EU. They make Russia as enemies, aggressors and terrorists. Our president may be made his errors, but Crimea is not an error. People, which live in Crimea are now happy, that they are in Russia. It is too complicated to explain details of why they are happy. The main is that Crimea was Russian during almost 200 years, a lot of Russians died in wars with Turkey and Germany, Sebastopol is “Hero City” (official title) in our history (same title has Odessa and Kiev, by they are much more Ukrainian). People of Crimea are happy (really!) and it is impossible to say them something like “O, sorry, we have made an error. Go back to Ukrain! (or US government want you to go back)”.
I hope we are still friends, although I write you irregularly.
--Sasha
From: Mike Mazarick
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 10:53 PM
To: 'Alexander Marchuk'
Subject: my apologies
Sasha,
A few months ago, like a typical American, I didn’t realize just how complicated and historical the situation between Russia and the Ukraine was. I realize now that there is much more to this history that I have recently learned. I have learned a lot, but there is even more that I do not know. It really is like an outsider getting in the middle of an inheritance dispute in a family. It doesn’t provide any benefit to me to get in the middle of this dispute and having me in the middle doesn’t help resolve the dispute. Years ago, it took Yeltsin and Mulroney to do what we were trying to do, so it was not a great concern that it was too difficult for me. Now, even Putin, Merkel, and Obama are having a difficult time with resolving this situation. I know when it is beyond what I can do.
A few months ago, I was hoping that I could just listen, because (I believed at the time) I would be considered neutral with no particular side to take. The motivation was really to turn Odessa from being a associated with crisis into being associated with a vacation (like it used to be and should be). It is well understood by me that my presence is not desired nor needed. Although I was close to getting a “gig” in Odessa before the latest bloodshed happened, right after it happened I have told the jazz and rock music personalities that I will not go to Odessa until Odessa is already known and associated as the place to go for a vacation (a long time from now). A secondary direction was to reconnect with IIS.
I will eliminate my pictures, music, and videos from VK.com. I can also take down the picture on Facebook of us from years ago with Sen. Jesse Helms if you tell me to. It was put up several months ago to “hide” my age, because in the US, there is definite age discrimination when your credentials are being looked at. The picture was put up as a joke, because everyone always goes to Facebook to check someone out (it is another “myth” of the internet that you can check someone out by going to Facebook).
I wanted to give you a brief apology for the intrusion into your life after 22 years.
Best wishes,
Mike Mazarick
= = = = = = = =
Vlad, you are much closer to the situation in Odessa than I am.
I have been doing some reading about why I passed several orphanages with 5,000 kids each while I was in Novosibirsk. It turns out that a Bolshevik Ukrainian (the daughter of a Cossack) is responsible. In her attempt to free women, she ended up enslaving the entire family structure. No one loves someone unconditionally as much as their mother, and she is directly responsible for severing the band between a mother and child. Where is that band of love in the orphanages? When a woman is free from being bound to a man, a man is also free from being bound to a woman.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Kollontai
So, this is another example of a problem that is bigger than both of us. Who is responsible? Both Ukrainians and Russians need forgiveness because they tried and failed. I would say that there is some credit because they tried, but it should have been abandoned much earlier. I shouldn’t have been able to ride in a car in 1992 and see direct evidence of this total, abject failure. It is part of the total power of any state to terrorize its citizens:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Arsenyev
So who is responsible now? I believe the only way forward is for both Ukrainian and Russian people to recognize that there is no hope for them and both of them need forgiveness. We need it too, but it is easier to see and is more obvious when we look at others.
In 1991-1992 I went to Novosibirsk/Academgorodok as a guest of the Academy of Science. Since the average wage of the scientists at Academgorodok was ~$25/month and the scientists there were Russia’s best, I figured there must be some way to commercialize this opportunity.
When I arrived, it was plain to see that the biggest need of the Russian people was a return to God. There was despair everywhere, society was totally broken, and there were some starting attempts in both the Russian Orthodox Church and Baptist Church in Novosibirsk to fulfill this need. I drove past several orphanages of ~5,000 kids each. It was quite fine with the State that they raise the children because it gave them more power over the lives of people. I had made the trip with a close friend (a potential investor) who had made ~4 hours of SVHS video tape. When I returned to Raleigh, NC, there was a local religious person who edited the tape down to ~18 minutes about the state of the church in Russia at that time, and a local clergy of OCA narrated the tape. It was shown on CableVision in Raleigh. There were no calls or results. It was also shown at a local Methodist church Sunday School class. Someone from that Sunday School class had mailed $10 to the Russian Orthodox church in Academgorodok, but the funds sent to c/o Tamara Ovadova to the Russian Orthodox church were stolen in the mail.
When I was in Academgorodok, I was a guest of Alex Marchuk. He was deputy director of the Institute of Informatics Sciences (he is now the director of IIS). I found out later that his dad was in charge of the Academy of Sciences for all of the USSR and was in charge between Brezhnev thru Gorbachev. His wife Elena came to the Research Triangle Park for ~6 months to obtain some business. Well, there wasn’t any. We had bought about $5k worth of modems, but the value of the ruble was cut in half between the time we shipped them and received payment (our payment was about 50% less than what we had invested in them). She had also played the 18 minute tape at a local Baptist Church, Ridge Road Baptist without any apparent immediate action. After she had left, Ridge Road Baptist church brought several children who were tainted by Chernobyl to stay for the summer. I do not know who they are, but there was one young girl who had stayed in contact when she returned, so it may be possible to find out if there is some interest. It is my guess and opinion that her presentation pushed them “over the edge”. The local Baptists do not take any actions quickly, but their discussions and decisions are very well considered.
The rise and fall of communism in the USSR is the most recent retelling of the oldest book in the Bible – the Tower of Babel. Man cannot lift himself up by the bootstraps and become like God. The results of the USSR and what happened to the people who were building the tower of Babel were much the same thing.
Although not a religious person myself, I recognize that it really doesn’t matter whether I am a believer or not – most of the society in NC are believers and religion puts a certain “vibe” on society that can’t be recognized until you go to a place where there isn’t one (like Novosibirsk in 1991). The results were things that I saw myself and were obvious to me. Unlike most people, I feel like I am personally responsible for the situation and can change almost anything. However, when ~39 Russian/Ukrainians died in Odessa I gave up because the issue was much bigger than I was. The more recent violence in Eastern Ukraine tells me that the problem really is much bigger than I am.
I am hoping that Alexey Smirnov and Vyacheslav Nesturuk can utilize this story about the failed attempt to know that God works in very mysterious ways, His timeframe is completely different than mine, His idea of success and mine are not the same, and all we can do is to try to know His wishes (which he will make true anyway) so that our efforts are aligned and not opposed to each other. I can only wish Alexey Smirnov and Vyacheslav Nesturuk success in their efforts at making the two “cousins” know they are one. They may or may not succeed, but if they don’t try to make them happen (in spite of all odds), they won’t.
Mike Mazarick
PS – I am doing a “cut and paste” of several emails that may have some bearing on these efforts:
= = = = =
Sasha,
Thank you for writing. 22 years have passed, and it is difficult to summarize what happened during that period.
…
Although we did not have a lot of personal success 22 years ago, one thing to be very proud of is the effort that Elena made going to the Baptist church near my house. There were some children from Chernobyl (Ukraine) that were adopted by this church as a result of her efforts. It was the only effort we made that had any results, and we made a lot of different efforts. I am sure that 22 years ago, the local Baptist church thought they were hosting children from Russia because (in their mind) the Ukraine and Russia were the same thing. Even today, we both know that this is partly true and partly false.
About Peter: you know that I last saw him when he was a very advanced 10 year old. I am glad that he is working with you at IIS and I am also glad that he has a business he is working on making successful. He will be successful because he has someone with experience to teach him that he pretends not to listen to (it is the way with all sons – they have to find their own way). My idea was quite simple: there is another experienced General in Ukraine named Marchuk, when he discovers that the “Russian side” is also named (Peter) Marchuk and who’s father looks a lot like him, it will soften his heart and give the negotiations a better chance for success. These aren’t the final negotiations, but it is better than what now exists. What exists now is needless bloodshed and violence on all sides.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Yevhen_Marchuk
…
From: Alexander Marchuk
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 8:19 AM
To: 'Mike Mazarick'
Subject: RE: my apologies
Dear Mike!
Sorry for delay with my answers. Each time I receive your messages, I had no ideas what to write. And also to formulate in English what I can’t formulate in Russian is too difficult. According to my (and our) ages, there is no wish to make changes in the life, even in business activities. I passed your messages with proposals to Peter, but it seems, he has not interested in the project. He is very active in his business, this is not only science, but also business projects. A month ago he visited US – New-York, San Jose, Los Angeles. There are Russian friends in many points of US and they assist in doing visits and meetings. His idea is to provide software for some areas of creation writing and show-business.
About problems in Ukraine. You know, this is very sensitive question for Russian citizens. Almost everybody in Russia, has roots in Ukraine. For example, my family name Marchuk is from Ukraine, my grandfather came from Ukraine to Russia in be beginning of 20-th century. Most of Ukraine people both which speak Russian or Ukrainian, are our brothers. It is a great tragedy, that during more than 20 years Ukraine propaganda build a wall between nations.
We with you are not responsible for errors of our governments. Now we live in different worlds of propaganda. According our side, US administration began Ukraine “project” to weaken Russia and Europe and to build barrier between Russia and EU. They make Russia as enemies, aggressors and terrorists. Our president may be made his errors, but Crimea is not an error. People, which live in Crimea are now happy, that they are in Russia. It is too complicated to explain details of why they are happy. The main is that Crimea was Russian during almost 200 years, a lot of Russians died in wars with Turkey and Germany, Sebastopol is “Hero City” (official title) in our history (same title has Odessa and Kiev, by they are much more Ukrainian). People of Crimea are happy (really!) and it is impossible to say them something like “O, sorry, we have made an error. Go back to Ukrain! (or US government want you to go back)”.
I hope we are still friends, although I write you irregularly.
--Sasha
From: Mike Mazarick
Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 10:53 PM
To: 'Alexander Marchuk'
Subject: my apologies
Sasha,
A few months ago, like a typical American, I didn’t realize just how complicated and historical the situation between Russia and the Ukraine was. I realize now that there is much more to this history that I have recently learned. I have learned a lot, but there is even more that I do not know. It really is like an outsider getting in the middle of an inheritance dispute in a family. It doesn’t provide any benefit to me to get in the middle of this dispute and having me in the middle doesn’t help resolve the dispute. Years ago, it took Yeltsin and Mulroney to do what we were trying to do, so it was not a great concern that it was too difficult for me. Now, even Putin, Merkel, and Obama are having a difficult time with resolving this situation. I know when it is beyond what I can do.
A few months ago, I was hoping that I could just listen, because (I believed at the time) I would be considered neutral with no particular side to take. The motivation was really to turn Odessa from being a associated with crisis into being associated with a vacation (like it used to be and should be). It is well understood by me that my presence is not desired nor needed. Although I was close to getting a “gig” in Odessa before the latest bloodshed happened, right after it happened I have told the jazz and rock music personalities that I will not go to Odessa until Odessa is already known and associated as the place to go for a vacation (a long time from now). A secondary direction was to reconnect with IIS.
I will eliminate my pictures, music, and videos from VK.com. I can also take down the picture on Facebook of us from years ago with Sen. Jesse Helms if you tell me to. It was put up several months ago to “hide” my age, because in the US, there is definite age discrimination when your credentials are being looked at. The picture was put up as a joke, because everyone always goes to Facebook to check someone out (it is another “myth” of the internet that you can check someone out by going to Facebook).
I wanted to give you a brief apology for the intrusion into your life after 22 years.
Best wishes,
Mike Mazarick
= = = = = = = =
Vlad, you are much closer to the situation in Odessa than I am.
I have been doing some reading about why I passed several orphanages with 5,000 kids each while I was in Novosibirsk. It turns out that a Bolshevik Ukrainian (the daughter of a Cossack) is responsible. In her attempt to free women, she ended up enslaving the entire family structure. No one loves someone unconditionally as much as their mother, and she is directly responsible for severing the band between a mother and child. Where is that band of love in the orphanages? When a woman is free from being bound to a man, a man is also free from being bound to a woman.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Kollontai
So, this is another example of a problem that is bigger than both of us. Who is responsible? Both Ukrainians and Russians need forgiveness because they tried and failed. I would say that there is some credit because they tried, but it should have been abandoned much earlier. I shouldn’t have been able to ride in a car in 1992 and see direct evidence of this total, abject failure. It is part of the total power of any state to terrorize its citizens:
wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Arsenyev
So who is responsible now? I believe the only way forward is for both Ukrainian and Russian people to recognize that there is no hope for them and both of them need forgiveness. We need it too, but it is easier to see and is more obvious when we look at others.
