This was one
of the best months of the race for me so far. There was a lot of chain-sawing,
pizzas, painting, cement mixing, cheesecake, retreats, and languages to go
around. Man-time was excellent and provided some excellent learning
opportunities. Allow me to share some things that I learned in the Ukraine
during the month of April.
Guy friends > Girl friends. I think it is okay to have friends
that are both girls as well as guys, however, there comes a time when I will be
married. I will have a wife, and she will replace anyone else as my best
friend. Relationships I have with any girls will still be existent, but will
not be to the deep extent as they may have previously been. Guy friends are
there for life. Guy friends can still be close friends because they are of the
same gender. Guy friends that are close friends can be approachable, reliable,
and there for me. They can give advice about sticky situations, help you out in
times of need, and can help keep you sane.
NCAA Championship games are best at
4AM. Our awesome
contact, Andrew, set it up so we could watch Michigan barely lose the championship
game. We got to watch the game, starting at 4AM Ukraine time, streaming live on
the internet and projected on a huge wall in our dining room. It was a game to
remember!
Slaughtering a 300 pound pig is no
joke! Around the
middle of the month, one of the maintenance guys on the property, Sergei, asked
if anyone wanted to assist him in the assassination of his well-rounded pig. We
headed next door two days later and watched in awe and helped him prepare the
next 6 months of food for him and his family.
Anything done with guys involves less
complaining than if done with girls. I’m going to keep it real for you, this is truth. Any work
done with just guys is more enjoyable because there is less complaining. If
we’re doing cement work as a normal team there’s complaints that the mixer is
too loud, the cement is too dusty, or its back-breaking work. If it’s cooking
there’s not access to certain ingredients, certain tools, or no dishwasher.
Guys just make it work, and make it work well.
We will put down pizza like it’s our
job! One night for
dinner, Andrew got us all our own pizza from Dominos in Kiev. Each of us had
eight slices of heaven that night whether it was Hawaiian or deluxe. We just
about fainted when he brought us dessert from the house later that evening. Men
can sure put it down!
Boys in Ukraine start smoking as early as 10
years old. The last
weekend we were at Jeremiah’s Hope, we held a Christian retreat “camp” there
for 15 young, underprivileged, and abused boys. We were told ahead of time that
some of them may smoke and to not be surprised. We were surprised, however, as
most of the boys smoked cigarettes heavily, even a 10 year old boy! It’s crazy
sad to think these boys are most likely following the cycle from their dads and
grandparents, as these habits they had are now the boys’ habits.
“Man-time” was fantastic. It’s awesome when you’re having
fellowship time with eleven other guys that are around your age. You face
similar problems, struggles, and concerns. You might have similar backgrounds,
families, or issues. This time together every evening was so productive and
helpful to our walks with Christ.
Whirlwind trips to Krakow rock my
socks. Near the
middle of our time, we were granted permission to take a two day trip to
Krakow, Poland to see the historic city as well as the famous Auschwitz
concentration camp. Six of us went to see the sights; it was an adventure I
will never forget!
I actually will meet people from the
Middle East during my lifetime. I thought that I would never really get to meet anyone from
the Middle East. The second weekend in Ukraine, we held an English camp on the
property. There were international students there around my age coming from
countries such as Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Kazakhstan, and even China. It was
great to help them were their English as well as sharing the Gospel through our
lessons.
We love our fires big. Twice this month we had bonfires.
Twice this month I thought Andrew’s property would be engulfed in flames
because of the height and mass of our fires.
In all
seriousness, manistry month in the Ukraine was AMAZING. God revealed a lot to
us all as individuals and as the men of i-squad. Struggles and hardships are
fought better when fought together, which is exactly what we practiced and what
we should do as men. A huge shout out and thank you to our contact, Andrew, who
set us up with an amazing manistry location, pizza, cheesecake, creme brulee, showers,
beds, and wifi. The manual labor was tough and productive, the village visits
eye-opening, and the retreats and camps a blast!
