I only have about a week and half before I’ll be moving on from Ukraine to Romania. Time has flown by so fast! I had so many new experiences, from staying in hostels and trying to navigate in cities full of signs i can’t read, to buying groceries written in Ukrainian and ordering food when the waitress has no idea what you are trying to tell her.
For the first week of ministry, we were teaching english in a local school known only as School #24. In Ukraine, the public schools are simply numbered. I had a classroom to myself with 10 to 20 kids each day, all about 12 or 13 years old. I had never taught english in my life, so day one I felt like a fish out of water. We were given some teaching materials and worksheets to help, but i definitely had my share of awkward pauses as I gathered my thoughts and decided what I was going to talk about for two solid hours. I am SUPER thankful that I had a local women, Olexandra, interpret for me when necessary. This is a luxury that some, but not all, of my teammates were lucky enough to have. Honestly, I don’t know how I could have done it without her. The kids in my class spoke english well enough on some topics, but others I would just get confused looks and blank stairs until Olexandra cam to my rescue and explained to them what in the world I was talking about or what the rules were for a game I was trying to teach them. Here is a picture of my class!! These guys were absolutely
Olexandra can be seen poking her head in behind me. She had an awesome 4 year old, Nazar, tag along with her each day, but sadly not the day I took this picture.
Like in the United States, public schools here in Ukraine are a bit picky when it comes to talking about God and religion in general, so we were we were all limited in what we could say, but on the last day of the week, we were given a chance to explain to our students why we are in Ukraine for the month, which naturally leads to explaining the World Race, which of course leads to explaining why I would want to do something like that, who God is to me, what He has done for me, and just how awesome our heavenly Abba Father is in general. Seems like a natural enough order of events to me. `/(O_O)/‘
On our first weekend break from ministry, we decided to hop over to Poland for 2 days to see Auschwitz. Auschwitz was the largest out of all of the Nazi concentration camps during WWII. To describe to you the things I saw, what went through my mind, and how that place made we feel is a whole blog’s worth all on its own, so I’ll keep this short and show a few pictures.
Front gates, where prisoners arrived by freight train.
Electrified barbed wire fence surrounding prisoner compound.
One of the child prisoner units. One of many.
Auschwitz left each of us with a lot to think about, to say the least.
This last week, which we just finished up, was spent helping with a VBS at the local church we are serving with for the month. We helped with the games, taught them a little english, and even taught them some kids songs in english, such as “Jesus Loves Me” and “I’m in the Lord’s Army”.
Kayla and I’s class, adorable 4-6 year olds
We taught them to count to 10 (in there second language!)
Each day we taught all the kids a new song.
The kiddos, making a joyful noise to the Lord!
This coming week, our last in Ukraine, team SOLDOD will be back at the church teaching English classes in the evening for adults. Honestly, that’s an intimidating concept for me. I felt green enough our first week when I had to figure out what I was gonna do with a room full of 13 year olds for two hours, and now I’m moving up to adults of all ages, split into two sessions, totaling about 4 hours. I’m super nervous, but God was able to turn the last english school into a huge success and I’m sure He can take our obedient and willing hearts and do the same again and even more. This week, we will have no restriction on sharing the gospel with these people and we will even have the opportunity to play some music and worship with them!
It’s now three weeks into the World Race, coming up on the end of my first month away from home, and it’s weird to think I won’t be going home after leaving Ukraine. Obviously, I know I’m not. But, I’ve got that feeling like you have toward the end of a vacation or summer break, like things are coming to an end and I’ll be back at home and at work soon. But that isn’t true, which is weird. God has placed me on a path that is very unfamiliar to me, one that my feet have never walked on. But that’s where growth happens, isn’t it? When you are far from your safe little comfort zone, and everything is so new and strange, exciting and scary…… I have already begun to miss my family and my friends back in the States, and my journey has only just begun. As the weeks have passed, this team has begun to feel like a little family and I love and care for each and every one of them. Together, we will keep moving forward, pressing on to take hold of that for which Jesus Christ took hold of us (Philippians 3:14). As my feet tread where they never have before, God will bring me to a place where I can do things for His Kingdom that I never dreamed of, things I would never have the chance to do otherwise. One of my biggest fears for the World Race is that I will come to the end of it and not have learned anything, not grown. My flesh is quick to draw comparisons between myself and my teammates; and let me tell you, these are some pretty amazing people, just saying. But if you let him, the enemy will steal your joy and cause division where Jesus seeks unity. God’s answer to my fear is this:
“Be patient. Growth comes with time. Just keep seeking, and you will find. Put one foot in front of the other, and you will reach your destination. But don’t focus so much on the destination that you miss the journey”.
I’ll be posting again in about a week with info on me and the rest of team SOLDOD heading to Romania!
Before signing off, I would like to invite you to make this not only my journey, but yours as well. Here are three ways to do that:
1) By far the most important, PRAY.
2) Donate. (If you would like to donate, click the orange “Donate!” button in the top right-hand corner or reach out to me for more information!)
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