** note: be sure to view the two video blogs linked in this post! **
Our first month in Ukraine is finished, and below is a summary of all the outreach we did!
I could not have asked for a better first month on the field. I went to Ukraine expecting darkness, cold weather and unfriendly people and I received the exact opposite. Ukraine was filled with breezy, sunny days, tons of flowers, and our team became very close with our ministry partners.
Lodic, Ira, and their family were the best part of our experience in Ukraine. They adopted us as their own, included us in family events, and by the end of the month we were doing everything together. Getting to know them, encourage their family, and as a result fortifying the church of Ukraine was the best part of our experience in this country.
- Kids summer camp:
During our first week, we assisted with the kid’s summer camp. Each of us were assigned an age group and each day we assisted with the lessons. I had the 7 year olds! The first day we taught the creation story, followed by the fall of man, Cain & Abel, Enoch, and the great flood.
I taught the story of Enoch, and at first, I wasn’t sure what to even teach about him. Genesis covers Enoch (Cain’s son) for only a few verses. But after digging into his story more and researching a few commentaries, there were a lot of lessons to surface from his lifetime. I was able to teach that 1) Heaven is not a reward for the righteous, and 2) it is necessary to please God, not men. Following the lesson, I felt led to ask if anyone wanted to accept Jesus into their heart, and one of my students said yes! Praise the Lord!!
- Summer camp for the teenagers / kids camp leaders:
During our second week of ministry, we went to a small village to help the church host a summer camp / retreat for the teenage leaders at the kids camp. Each day began with worship and a session. Each one of my teammates and I took turns speaking on a certain topic during the morning session.
I taught a session on serving joyfully, as the Lord has given us tons of joy! Recently, I’ve been learning how to be joyful again as I’ve begun the first few weeks of the race.
Serving joyfully is important as our attitude reflects what is inside. When we choose to be happy despite the circumstances we’re in and choose to see the positives in life, we are immediately acting as a witness to what Jesus Christ has done in our hearts. When the youth leaders at the camp serve joyfully, the kids see Jesus’s life in them, and as a result they will be witnessed to.
- Our host’s family:
The biggest part of our ministry was our host’s family & friends. We lived in the “hotel” next to the church, ate all of our meals in the church, and spent our down time getting to know our ministry host. I got really close with our host’s daughter, Nika. The Lord spoke volumes to me through her. She is wild, energetic, screams at inappropriate times, and most importantly, taught me how to be joyful again. She is so awesome!!!
We even had “brother roommates,” three young men that lived in the upper level of the house full-time. We didn’t speak the same language, but our team was able to grow so close with them! We were constantly encouraging, joking around, and ministering to one another.
At the beginning of the month, the Lord kept giving me the word “fortify.” Throughout the month, we had the incredible opportunity to fortify the church of Ukraine.
Ukraine is predominantly Eastern Greek Orthodox, a church that worships Mary (the mother of Jesus) and other saints. These people are on the right track, but they pray to these saints instead of the Messiah, Jesus. We were able to visit one of the churches during our time in Ukraine, and it was incredibly sad to see. There were even booths where people could purchase ‘holy water’ for use. The Christian church uses the concept of ‘holy water’ for baptisms, but it was still sad to see that members of the church were using this as financial leverage with its members & individuals making pilgrimages. Again, they’re kind of on the right track, but it was saddening and heavy to see people believing someone other than Jesus can guide them, and that works instead of faith in Jesus Christ can save them.
Our team was able to come alongside Lodic’s church to further fortify the Christian church in Ukraine. And likewise, our host family encouraged us as well. Together, we pulled together the manpower to host a children’s camp, youth camp, a few community day events to introduce the church to the community, and encourage Lodic & his beautiful family.
We LOVE our Ukrainian family!!
