Well, what’s happening is that my team and I are in Ukraine!!!!! No, we are not in the eastern side, but we are in the western city of Dubno. We are working with Pastor Ivan and his church for our last month….that’s right….it’s MONTH 11!! It is hard to believe, and I’m sure I’ll have a blog about that soon. But for now, my team and I are teaching ENGLISH to the community.
The Adventurers, my team, outside of our house for the month
Ukraine countryside (and guess what color the Ukrainian flag is? Sky blue on top and yellow like the wheat fields below!)
As a way to reach out to the community, Pastor Ivan and the church have organized free English lessons daily for the next 3 weeks. My team and I are the teachers – being native speakers – HA! – so our ability to speak English is coming in handy for this month of ministry! We teach three age group of people: children (9-13) in the morning, teenagers (14-17) in the afternoon, and adults (+18) in the evenings.
Signs advertising for the English classes!
The classes are held at the church, which helps get the community into the church to see that it is a safe place. There are some stigmas, not just here in Ukraine but in Eastern Europe, about churches that are not Orthodox or Catholic being a cult or bad . . . so having English classes at this protestant (Baptist) church really helps everyone see that the church cares about people and are willing to help. PLUS it’s a great way for us to connect with the community and invite them to church and church camp in August. We also are building relationships with our students as we see them daily and will begin to use the Bible as a teaching tool!
The church
Each day we prepare lessons for our students and have church members to help translate for our classes if that is needed. This program is very well organized and has been a very positive experience for us!
For me…. it’s been GREAT preparation for my return to teaching this fall at Plainfield North High School. If you remember back when I started this thing, my district gave me a year sabbatical to do the World Race. I am SO grateful for this time off as I have learned A TON but will enjoy transitioning back to teaching.
In less than a month I’ll be home – July 25th to be exact. I look forward to what lies ahead for me here in Ukraine this month and trust that, as I serve the Lord, He will prepare my heart for the return home.
Lauren
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Proverbs 3:34
