Month 8 of my race has been spent in the one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, Yalta, Ukraine! We worked with a local Baptist church in the little town of Gaspra. Here are some highlights from this month:
-This month was “manistry” month for I Squad. This meant all of our men spent the month serving together outside of Kiev. The woman of I Squad took the opportunity to embrace being all women for the month and decided to name this month “feministry”. We received weekly emails from “gospel girl” with blogs to read and discuss, a bible study, and challenges. It was great to bond as the women on our team! Team Yebo ladies spent this month with the ladies of Team Thriven.
-The lady squad leaders (Jamie, Jillian, and Lynette) started out the month with us. We had so much fun with them.
-I had so much fun teaching English this month with Teresa. We had a smaller class at a nearby church, which was perfect for both of us. They loved showing us around and took us to their favorite place in Yalta, a gorgeous park by the sea.
-One of my favorite days in English class was the day we taught food and cooking vocabulary. The kids helped us make No Bake Cookies and Chips & Salsa using their new English vocabulary.
-Yalta has so much fun stuff to do for off days. My favorite day was spent eating sushi, rollerblading on the boardwalk, and relaxing at a coffee shop with Caitlin, Beth, and Ashley.
-We also got to help with yard work and cleaning of the hostel on site. The church runs a hostel that is open in the warmer months. It opened the day before we left so we were able to help get it ready for guests as well as clean up the grounds.
-Each Sunday they asked us to help with the Church services. The services ran about 2 and a half hours and was all in Russian. I read my bible A LOT. We were able to sing a few songs and share testimonies each Sunday. Our last Sunday there, I was able to share with the church about my story of freedom from legalism and good works.
-I had a bit of an obsession with Sushi this month. We ate it 3 times!
-On our last day of English class, our students surprised Teresa and I with a tea party to say goodbye! It was so fun to spend some precious moments with them before we left. Our students blessed us so much this month.
-I loved seeing the growth in the women on my team as individuals this month. God worked in each of us in amazing ways.
-Yesterday we took a 17-hour train ride to Kiev. Today, we will fly from Kiev to Amsterdam then Amsterdam to Atlanta. We have a 10-hour layover in Atlanta! My Mom and Dad drove to Atlanta yesterday so I will be spending my layover with them. Then we fly to Miami and then on to Teguigalpa, Honduras for debrief and month 9!
It’s crazy to think that month 8 has come to an end. We are heading to Honduras to being the last leg of our trip. This month all of iSquad will be together serving at Zion’s Gates Ministry in Teguigalpa, Honduras. I finally get to put the tent I’ve been carrying around to us this month too! Please be praying for us as we begin the last continent on our race!
