This last month I was in L’viv, Ukraine, and I was literally
surrounded by Blessings. We stayed in the home of Mark and Rhonda Blessing
along with their three daughters – Bria, Lindsay, and Krista.
Most of our ministry consisted of doing construction on the
third floor of their home, Beth El. The purpose of Beth El is to provide a resting
place for missionaries, a retreat for groups up to 35, and as a temporary
dwelling place for Jewish people going back to their homeland.
God once again blessed us with a beautiful home to live in
and wonderful contacts.
In addition to working on Beth El, we taught English Club
once a week. Caleb (the leader of the other team that was with us) and I took
on the job of planning and teaching English Club each week, and for me it was
such a blessing! This was the first time in 23 years that I was not getting ready
for the first day of school, and I was definitely missing it. From elementary school
to college to teaching, I’ve always excitedly awaited the approach of the new
school year, so planning and teaching English club helped give me my “school”
fix!
In honor of the Olympics, our first English Club was Olympic
themed.
Since club was mixed with Americans and Ukranians we divided the club in
half. We had the Amerikrainians vs. Umericans competing to win the gold medal.
We had several rounds of competition that included “the Fly Swatter Game” to
practice Olympic vocabulary (thanks to my good friend and amazing teacher, Emily
Senko, for showing me that game J),
Olympic trivia, and lastly a discussion about
the legacy we’d like to leave for future generations.
In the end the
Amerikrainians and the Umericans tied (we tried several times to have one
winner, but it wasn’t happenening). So after a playing of the Ukrainian
National Hymn (their word, not mine) gold medals were presented to all.
In addition to construction at Beth El and English Club…
Lydia and I enjoyed a delicious cup of green coffee (it was weird to us too)
Both teams sang in the city square
We watched the daily cow parade
Ashley and I loved on Lucy the dog
I used my first squatty potty, which wasn’t as bad as I anticipated
We celebrated the Sabbath with an amazing dinner
Caleb blew the Shofar (it may or may not have required several attempts)
I got stung by a nasty hornet
We practiced our Ukrainian poses
Were able to meet with a Holocaust survivor
And we celebrated Ukrainian Independence Day. This little boy’s outfit was too good.
All in all, my time in Ukraine was filled with so many
blessings, new people, and God’s grace.
