I’ve
always been taught that everything we own belongs to God.
It’s
easy to say.
It’s
even easy to believe.
But
is it really easy to live that way?
I
know that I haven’t really.
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything
in it. The world and all its people belong to him. Ps 24:1
Meet the Tupchyk’s.
Maria: A friend
of a friend. She and her fiancé, Vanya, picked
us up at the bus station at 3am, having to get up the next morning and go to
work. She helped us find lodging at Kiev
Christian University. One dorm room with
6 bunk beds, perfect. Once she saw the
room (it wasn’t bad), she immediately insisted that we come and stay with her
family. She was always offering help.
(Maria and her
fiancé, Vanya.)
Mama Anna: As soon as we walked in she immediately
ushered us into the kitchen where she had Ukrainian borscht and unlimited pastries
available for us. I have never seen
anyone with such a gift for hospitality.
She was always up in the kitchen baking when I went to bed, and when I
woke up she was getting breakfast together. One morning, I was putting jelly on
my bread. Apparently, she didn’t think
that I put enough on so she grabbed my hand and slathered a lot more jelly on.
I didn’t complainJ. There was a lot of hand motions due to language barriers, but she always came through loud and clear.
Andrew: Never
having met us before, Andrew helped us move our luggage across town to their
apartment. He then had to temporarily
move in with a friend so that we could stay in his room. When I thanked him for this he told me that
it is not his room. It belongs to God.
He then thanked us for coming to stay thus giving him the opportunity to serve God in that
way.
Sergey: He is a pastor of a church. He already lives
with 4 girls and he lovingly accepted 6 more girls into his home, a brave man. He let us use the church office for all of
our UHC work and gathering.
<span style=' Following in her mom’s footsteps in the
gift of hospitality. Helen often helped
with our laundry.
Helen: Following in her mom’s footsteps in the gift of
hospitality. Helen often helped with our
laundry. Both Helen and Christine both love K-pop, so they instantly bonded over dramas and music videos.
(Ola, Christine, and Helen enjoyed Korean drama.)
