I don’t like it! While I am super excited to get home and see my family and friends and my precious dog, Luke, I cannot seem to wrap my head around leaving my world race family. See, this is what I have in the back of my head every minute of every day. These are the thoughts that keep me up every night until 3 or 4 am. How excited I am, and yet, how terribly sad I am at the exact same time. Anxiety. But, we have less then a month left we are in Moldova! But this is about last month in Ukraine and how awesome our month was. Last month we worked with university students. So we pretty much go into their English classes, talk about ourselves, then hangout with after wards at the local coffee shops. We went salsa dancing, cleaned up parks, shopping, dinners, game nights… Life is so hard, I tell you. And these students are amazing. Their English is exceptionally great, which makes for really good conversation. They were inspired by what we had to say and where we have been, and they all had wonderful style. When I look back on Ukraine, I will think of the following: 1. Leather jackets. 2. Open markets 3. Coffee 4. Salsa dancing 5. The most unusual board games ever created. Super nerdy, yet entertaining. 6. Dumplings 7. Metro 8. Sleeping in the office 9. Getting Chelsea O lost in Kiev (long story) 10. MY BEAUTIFUL NEW UKRAINIAN FRIENDS!!! There is so much more that I think of as well. But one thing that God has really been teaching me over this last month is…*gulp* I don’t even like to admit it… patience. The ministry partners at CCX have built their ministry around relationships (which I totally dig). Their agenda isn’t to see how fast they can convert locals to what they believe in, nope. They are set up here for the long run. To build long lasting relationships with students, to disciple them, to bring the Love of Jesus to a nation that already knows about Him, just might not know Him. It can take years for a student to come to know Jesus the way that He desires to know everyone– on a personal level. And it takes a lot of freaking patience. Something that I seem to lack a lot of the time. Something that I find difficult to ask for, because I know that will mean God will answer me and stretch me in that area by actually making me practice being patient, and I don’t want to! But what an example our contacts were last month. It’s hard enough to be a full time missionary in a foreign country, but to be in a culture that doesn’t show immediate results, they show great patience. I don’t even think they are aware of it most of the time. But it’s the thing that I will take away from them. They were amazing. My team had a freaking awesome month. I feel spoiled with a month like that. Great food, great new friends, great contacts and food….sigh…. I didn’t know I would love Ukraine so much! …now for month 11: The beginning of the end. <3
October 28, 2011
Our world race has quickly been winding down, and now that we are in Eastern Europe, it seems that every time I blink my eyes, another day has passed.
