Wrapping up my last few days of ministry is somewhat surreal. I started this trip almost 11 months ago and to think that I only have a mere few days left is hard to comprehend. I came into this month exhausted and with the mentality that I just had to “get through” it in order to finish. To my surprise, ministry this month has probably been my most favorite out of ALL of them. Myself along with five other girls are working alongside Forrest & Darcy Ferdon and their two adopted Ukranian children. They are a missionary family from the states who have been here for the last 3 years. I have to give them props for choosing Lugansk out of all of the places in Ukraine, because it is a HARD city to live in.
(The Ferdons kids) 
Lugansk is the capital of mail order brides for Ukraine. Everywhere you walk in the city, NO ONE smiles and getting yelled at while walking down the streets is not uncommon. People drink beer and liquor at all hours of the day and it is not odd to see men and women walk to work in the morning with a bottle of brewsky in their hand. ALL of the women dress to the nines, and if you are not in 3 inch heels, tight pants, and perfect make up, then you are going to be out of place. The people of Lugansk seem to be obsessed with image and booze. If you want to talk about an unreached people group, Lugansk Ukraine would be at the top of my list.
As much as I do not like the culture of the city, the ministry here that the Ferdons have is extremely fruitful. They are doing a lot of work at the MANY orphanages in the area and building relationships with the orphans. Currently, we are also attending an English school every day for about 6-8 hours and helping the students and teachers. Most of the students are high school and university aged and they are an absolute blast. We help with everything from grammar to American history (NOT exactly my strongest subject!). The teachers always allow students time to ask us questions about America, politics(those convos can get REAL interesting), religion, and anything else that they are interested about. Because of the freedom that we have in these classes, we have each had opportunities to talk about Jesus and preach the gospel. These conversations have not been forced, but encouraged by the teachers and students. Outside of class, many of us have interacted with the students to build relationships with them, whether it be being invited to their home for a Shichliek(BBQ) or inviting them over to hang out with us.
Every Friday night we have a “Coffee Night” at our flat and invite all of the students to come over to speak English and watch movies. This past Friday we had over 40 students crammed into our apartment. The night consisted of teaching them how to make smores(over a gas stove), listening to different people play the guitar or violin, and getting to know each other. Many of the people here in Ukraine have a skewed view of what a “Christian” is. They think that Christianity is only for their grandparents or that you have to change who you are as a person to be a Christian. It has been great to show them that we as Christians are JUST like them. We are WRECKING their view of Christianity and it is AWESOME.
(Me with some of the high school aged students at our coffee night)
(one of the students playing the guitar for us) (showing them how to make smores…NOT exactly practicing fire safety!)
