We made it to Eastern Europe! Praise God. It took a full three days of travel (4 flights, one bus, two trains, and a van ride) but we made it just north of Kyiv to our ministry host.
*Shout out to the amazing logistics leaders (Ashlyn and Elise) for taking care of the 34 of us and ensuring that we make it to our hosts safely. It’s no easy task keeping up with everyone.
For the month of May, I am with Team Salty and Bright who is partnered with Team Agape for the month. So, there are 14 of us all together. Our host is an American from the great state of Texas (whoop!) who has a few ministries going on. He has lived in the Ukraine for 15 years and has been doing ministry here for 21 years. His wife is also American and has been here longer than he has. They have three kids and are working on adopting their fourth. They are awesome.
Going from rural Africa to our current location was quite a shock.
Sleeping pads –> beds
Cold bucket showers –> running hot showers
Rare wifi –> wifi on site
Nshima –> homemade baked goods
Driving on the left side of the road –> driving on the right side
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining about Africa. I LOVED it. The shift was just shocking. There are still many moments where I feel out of place.
This month most of the ministry I’ll be doing is non-people related. So far I have:
Spread pig poop and hay all over a field before it was plowed
Dug trenches for planting
Helped decorate for a neon dance party/game night
Planted corn seeds and onion bulbs.
Learned the basics of how to build ropes courses.
Built as I climbed a tower of beer crates (21 to be exact)(while wearing a harness of course)
Learned to belay
Cleaned cabins and bathrooms
And we’ve only been here a week! This weekend there will be 100 people at the camp so we are preparing for that. Meanwhile, six of us will be going to a different camp to help one of the men with ropes courses for 100 kids.
Each day has been different so far. But, the general idea is that we are doing all the odds and ends to help them prepare for camps they will hold this summer. I am bumped and bruised and super happy.
More to come!
