Let love explode and bring the dead to life
A love so bold to see a revolution somehow
My God's not dead, He's surely alive
And He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion
5 months, 5 cities, 5 cultures, 5 homes, — 5 months contain so many memories, faces, and emotions. I thought by now that month 2 would have faded into the backdrop of my mind and felt more like a distant memory –but it’s still as though yesterday I just boarded the bus bound for month 3. I still remain in close contact with the friends I made during month 2 and 4 and its hard sometimes watiching their lives through photographs instead of being with them. I had hoped that month 5 would be easier to leave –I’m not sure how much stretching my heart can take, I already feel pulled in so many directions. But as I’m writing this from a train on my way to month 6, I can tell you that month 5 wasn’t any easier to leave.
The last week we volunteered at a school teaching English for their summer school English camp. The class I worked with was the older 15 and 16 year olds –which is one of my favorite age groups. The combination of early mornings, late nights, pouring everything that I had into relationship building, earning their trust, speaking into their lives, being an example, and sharing who I am because of who God is, made me realize that this month and every month isn’t just about “doing ministry” it’s about impacting people’s lives and leaving a footprint wherever I go.
The youth, like the majority of the population in Ukraine, do not know the Jesus we know. Years of Communism have left the country godless, and the only religion that they are familiar with is the ultra conservative Orthodox Church. I once asked a 17 year old girl from the English club in Lughansk if she ever went to church, she quickly replied, “No, that stuff isn’t for me.” And I would agree –that type of religion isn’t for me either. Because I would never be satisfied with following the religious traditions of man, I could only ever be satisfied following Jesus.
We ran into a group of young people from Kiev who were traveling around the Ukraine evangelizing and motivating the youth of churches to go out and evangelize and show the real Jesus to their cities, in their schools, on the streets… One thing that they said was that the Ukraine is a ripe harvest, people are open –not to dead religion, but to Jesus, they want the real thing. They said that almost every day on their trip they see someone come to the Lord.
There is a separation of Church and State here in the Ukraine, so we had to be really careful during the school hours not to be overt with sharing the Gospel. So a lot of this week for me wasn’t so much about preaching to my students, but it was about living the Gospel for my students to see –it was about being the real thing. I’m reminded of that quote by Saint Francis Assisi “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.”
Because a lot my students don’t use facebook but have the Ukrainian alternative Kontakte, I got one so that I can stay in contact with them. I’m hoping that through the pictures and stories that I post of what God is doing in my life and in all the places that I have yet to go, they will see the real thing, the real Jesus.
I have a little less than 1 month to raise the final $2,800 that I need to be fully funded. My last deadline is July 1st. If you would like to donate and keep me on the field, click the support me tab underneath my profile picture. Thank you so much!
