Well our second month is officially done….We got an amazing
three-day send off from the people that we worked with in Ukraine. The last day
we thanked them by throwing them an American style BBQ, complete with barbeque
ribs, cornbread, corn on the cob, potato salad, peach cobbler with ice cream,
homemade peanut butter with crackers (this is a big deal because they do not
have peanut butter in Ukraine), and sweet tea. This last month we were so blessed!
The people in Ukraine are what made this month great! All the amazing babushkas
were a treat to have around! They were so giving of their time and had such
open hearts. This was so apparent by the time that they spent with us before we
left. They came to hang out with us in the middle of the night for hours until
our bus arrived. They were eager to fall in love with Christ and fall deeper into
the midst of Christ! It was very sad to close that chapter but we are off to
another adventure.
We got on a bus at 1:30am and headed off to Moldova for our
World Race debrief. We picked up five other teams on the way. We drove through
the night and arrived at our debrief site seventeen hours later. We drove
through cornfields, then got stopped at the border for 2.5 hours with no
air….just how good 42 hot, sweaty people stuck on a bus smell…but we were
excited when we got our stamps with the new country Transnistria to add to our
passports! Our journey ended with driving on a dirt road that we had to back
out of because it was too narrow. Needless to say, because the bus couldn’t
make it, we had to hike into our camp site with all of our gear. It actually
felt great to walk a bit after being on a bus for 17 hours.
I actually have no idea where we are in Moldova….but the
camp is very rustic, and beautiful! We have squatty potties, community showers,
and no internet. Many of you are probably reading this and thinking that sounds
awful, but it is far from that! It is so amazing to get away from everything
and just be able to debrief with our team and talk about the highlights and
lowlights while being surrounded with amazing people. We are able to worship
God freely and not have any distractions! To many people this does not sound
like relaxing, but for me it is a blessing not to have any distractions!
This next month, our team
will be living in Tiraspol with Megan’s team. Tiraspol is the 2nd
largest city in Moldova. We will be doing English club as well as working with
the churches youth group. Our schedule will be working with English camps twice
a day Tuesday-Friday. We will work with the churches youth group on Saturday
and on Sunday we will help out with the Sunday school classes. I am humbled
that for this season of the race AIM staff has appointed me as the new team
leader. I am so excited to see how God is going to help me grow in this
process! Thanks for your prayers – this month you can pray for this new
adventure and that our team would continue to grow closer to each other and
God.
