I am currently sitting in a nice little coffee and chocolate shop on a cobble-stoned street in Kiev, Ukraine. We arrived in Eastern Europe and I welcomed the change of culture and change of pace. How can it be that less than a week ago I was surrounded by the chaos and fast-paced world of Bangalore, India? That part of the world seems so far away to me now as I consider how I have traded my salwar kameez for a coat and heavier clothes. I am covered up now for warmth rather than cultural modesty. Kiev is a nice change of pace for me. We arrived and were immediately taken to a retreat center outside of the city to rest for a few days and spend some much needed time together as a squad. We have since moved to a location closer to the city and some of our coaches from the States have arrived, Michael and Kathy Hindes as well as a much anticipated visit from Jake Rodriguez, my friend and logistics leader/partner in crime.
Kiev is a much more comfortable place for me of the places that we have visited. It is more western and definitely has a European atmosphere. The architecture and history of the city lend themselves to the cultural environment and modern conveniences like a metro system that is relatively easy to navigate and coffee houses and internet just welcome a westerner to settle in for awhile. I acquiesced to jumping back into western culture with out shame.
This month my team, Remnant will be in a little village near the Russian boarder of Ukraine called Lugansk. We will be living with pretty rustic conditions considering how cold it is here and we may not have electricity and definitely won’t have warm water. We will be working in preparing the site where we will be living for summer camps later in the year and also partnering with an orphanage and doing some evangelism in the local villages. I am really excited to be with my team this month to minister along side of them. I am still figuring out what my role will be moving forward with logistics. I still may be doing some moving around during the month so I can go where I am needed to get things set up for the squad but my home base will still be Remnant. Being with them this month is going to be great. Internet access this month is highly unlikely so my blogging activity may be sporadic at best- but don’t let that stop you from sending messages and leaving comments! I love hearing from you!
Please continue to lift me, my team, and my squad up in your prayers as we face the spirits of division over this country. Ukraine has a fragmented past and even the church here suffers greatly from being divided. Please pray that my team will be unified in heart and purpose despite the atmosphere here and that we will be able to minister to a fragmented people. Also, pray that we work to gain a grasp on the Russian language that is very difficult to learn! This place has the least amount of English speakers of any place so far on the Race which makes communication even at restaurants and in the metro look more like a game of charades than a conversation. But we get by and hopefully make a few Ukrainian people crack a smile in the process.
