We came into this month without any certainty on what our ministry was going to look like for the month. Honestly, we were unsure if we were going to have a set ministry at all! We were prepared to “wing it”, but fortunately we’ve had the pleasure of 
meeting up with three Americans, John, Patty, and Mark, who have given us plenty of opportunities.
Our new American friends all teach at the Christian University in Odessa. Of the 500 of so students that attend the university, only about 15% profess to be believers. Although founded by a Christian, the school is simply the best and cheapest option available for a lot of the young men and women of Odessa and the surrounding area. It’s our job to sit in on some classes and help out the students.
There’s a Spanish class that some of us attended (although we haven’t spoken Spanish since January!) where the students were learning some basic vocabulary and greetings. We were able to help them with pronunciation and conjugation, but I think we learned a lot of new words as well! We also sat in on some theology classes and participated in the discussion. Finally, we joined the conversational english classes where we were able to give students some one-on-one time.
On Tuesday evenings after class there’s a Bible study for all who are interested. It’s a chance to take those who want to learn more and show them how to apply Biblical principles to their every day lives. On Wednesday evenings, we head out to an Odessa neighborhood of some 200,000 people and do street evangelism. Taking along a translator, we ask Ukranians some questions about life and then open a doorway for the translator to share the Gospel. It’s a system they’ve developed, and my team was met with a lot of success. Check out Cathy’s blog for more details.
On Thursday evenings, we have what I would consider the coup de gras – English Club! Many students from the University and even some who don’t attend come out for a chance to learn some new english words and a chance to practice with Americans. This week my team was asked to run the show, so we put together a presentation on the places we’ve been this year. We taught them about the peoples of the world, food, religion, and we showed the some of our pictures. When our presentation was complete, we split them into groups and talked with the students about where they’ve been, where they want to go, what foods, they want to try, etc.
Our ministry has already been a lot of fun, and I think it’s only going to get better! Tonight we’re going out with the students to play lazer tag, and on Saturday we’ll be visiting an orphanage to act out some skits and play with some kids. We’ll have more opportunities next week to attend classes, and we’re trying to put together dinner parties and Bible studies and things to get these students around us so we can pour into them. I had a vision where God told me to fill these kids with as much of the Word as we can, so that’s what we’ll do. More to come!
