Well guys…I’m really here. Actually, I’ve been here for about 2 weeks now! Shhh, don’t tell anyone I haven’t written a blog about Ukraine yet. You see, a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks both with things we have experienced and ways that God has been mentoring me. This blog is going to be about experiences I think. Though who knows what will happen by the end. So here we go.
We are staying with, wouldn’t you know it, an American family here in Ukraine! Seriously, we are at home here. Just like part of the family. After the first day I had 5 new brothers and sisters and kind of a pseudo-mom and dad. It is nice. We get to experience some American made food, people who speak English as a first language, an oven, a gas stove-top, drinking water purified out of the tap, and even playing some catch in the yard.
The first night we were here, a group of about 20 students from a local youth group wanted to come and welcome us to Ukraine by cooking dinner for us! They were so awesome. I tried Sala, which is uncooked pigs fat (a Ukrainian favorite snack), salted fish (another raw Ukrainian favorite, though not mine at all), and varaniki…That one was delicious. It was like a dough with mashed potatoes in it. Sometimes it has meat or even jelly I guess. It was a good time. Oh, by the way, the best cream puffs in the world are in Ukraine…basically, a Eastern European Twinkie. So addictive.
The weather was very cold and breezy for the first week but it has begun to warm up and feel like Spring!
So far we have gone to two different high schools to share with the students about our trip thus far. They have been awesome and we have had opportunities to hang out with them outside of school and they actually showed us around our town Lutugino. We have had them over for dinner so they could experience tacos for the first time. The looks they gave us when we tried to explain how they worked were priceless.
One of the more prominent ministries of our contact is doing eyeglass clinics. They go to surrounding towns, to churches, and do free eye exams and give away free eyeglasses to anyone who needs them. We get to share testimonies as they wait, get to know the people, love on little old Babushkas (grandmothers), sing songs for people, give out some Bibles. It is a really cool hands on ministry.
So far it has been a lot of fun to be in this new part of the world. This week we travel about an hour away from our contact’s house to stay with different families and teach at some English camps while doing some more eyeglass clinics. Can’t wait to see what is in store for that one!
The Man With Unclean Lips,
Brandon Barnum
