The third week in Ukraine we were able to serve as camp
counselors/ mentors for orphans who had outgrown their stay in orphanages and
were therefore in homes that had been started by Andrew and Jenny. These teens
ranged in age from about fifteen years old all the way up to about twenty-three
years old (almost the same age as us!) Many of them are either finishing high
school, starting trade school, taking college courses, or looking for work. I
loved hanging out with them, building relationships, hearing about their
stories, and encouraging/ loving on them in whatever way I could. 
During the week I was able to sit in on a morning
devotional/ discussion group with Jenny and some of the teens. We went through
different scriptures with them each day and tried to elicit some discussion by
asking questions; we wanted to allow them to open up, talk about issues they
were dealing with, be able to support and pray for them, and encourage them in
any way we could. The discussion was in Russian/ Ukrainian so I didn’t always
know what was going on but Jenny would kindly translate for me here and there
so I could keep track of the conversation. I was able to share pieces of my
story throughout the week about how God has divinely worked in my life as well,
which I pray was an encouragement to them. After the discussions Jenny and I
would generally just sit and talk about how they went and some of the things
the teens were dealing with that we could be praying for. I learned a lot in
that time and am deeply thankful for the insight I got into their lives and the
whole Ukrainian mindset. Jenny is awesome!
There were two girls in our group who said they were
Christians but had been disappointed by God recently and were in a period of
doubting their faith. I could resonate with where they were at and my heart
went out to them. Jenny told me that they could be struggling with a few
things, but she had a feeling they had simply made some mistakes and weren’t
living up to the expectations of what they thought a Christian “should� be.
There’s this mindset in Ukraine that once you accept Christ, everything in your
life will instantly change and you will never mess up again. Don’t get me
wrong, I am a full believer in the fact that Christ offers radical and complete
healing of past wounds and addictions in the blink of an eye… but this doesn’t
always happen. Sometimes it’s a process of healing and transformation as we are
made into new creations in Him.
There are lasting effects from the Soviet period which are
present in this case; during that time people were unable to talk about their
faith so therefore you would know a Christian by what they did or did not do (for example, since heavy drinking
is so prevalent in the country and actually a huge issue, if someone refused a
drink others would automatically know they were a Christian). Therefore, a
person’s faith has become primarily defined by their actions. (Let me clarify
here… I believe Christians are called to live by a different standard, should
not conform to the patterns of this world, and will be recognizable by the
fruits of the Spirit. However, there is still grace in the midst of all that. We
are not called to live legalistically but by the Spirit at work within us.)
I was talking to a teen at the beginning of the camp week
and some of this came out; she had somewhat isolated herself from the group
because she was from a different city, didn’t know the other campers, and had a
physical disability. Jenny had specifically pointed her out to me and said that
she needed someone to pursue and invest in her, so I was determined to do so. Talking
to her was definitely a challenge because of the language barrier but I was finally
able to sit down with her one day and was blessed by our choppy conversation. She
had pushed me away a few times before (because of past hurts I’m sure) and I
was grateful to simply be able to love on her and show that someone cared. We
talked for a while and then I started asking her about God.
“Do you know God?� I asked. She motioned that she knew Him
vaguely and so I decided to probe deeper, asking her if she wanted to know God
more. She basically told me “not yet�… that she might do it later. “Why later?�
I questioned, “why not now?� She then proceeded to tell me that she still
smoked and was therefore unable to become a Christian because of what she did.
As I talked to Jenny later in the week I understood more clearly where this
mindset was coming from. I believe when we become Christians we will desire to
live a life holy and pleasing to the Lord… but that will not be something we
cultivate in ourselves – it will be the Living God at work within us. I think
it’s dangerous to believe that we must first be transformed before we can be
“good enough� to accept Christ. That is a lie from the devil. None of us are
good enough… that’s the whole point; that’s exactly why we need a SAVIOR! I tried
to tell her that it’s not all about what we do; it’s not a legalistic set of
rules… it’s about a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus. I told her that “God just wants to
be your friend.� She smiled and said she was good with God in her heart. I don’t
know where she’s at with the Lord and the conversation kind of fizzled after
that, but I’m simply grateful for this experience and for the ability to pray
for her.
I learned a bit more about the Ukrainian system while
talking with Andrew one day as well; he told us that Ukraine is very
shame-based and that this mindset can be seen in different facets of society. He
told us about how some of the schools are run in the country; he said that if a
student answers a question incorrectly the teacher will make them come to the
front of the class and ridicule them in front of all the other students,
causing complete humiliation and a fear of speaking up in general. People are
therefore afraid to step out, ask questions, or go against the grain, which
makes for an extremely oppressive environment. This is definitely something to
continue praying for… for FREEDOM.
“He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted,
to proclaim
freedom for the captives
and release
from darkness for the prisonersâ€� – Isaiah
61:1
