This month in Ukraine has been super short. More like 2 and a half weeks than a
month, but that’s okay. That’s
what God has planned for us!
God also had planned for our team to do atypical work with
atypical people (at least on the World Race) working beside us- Texans!
For just over a work a group of about thirty awesome college
students from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas came on a short
term mission trip to Jeremiah’s Hope.
They had a list of projects to do and they worked extremely hard to get
them done. To prepare for the
upcoming summer camp season, this team built a cabin, poured cement, built
three buildings on Sergei’s property, threw a baby shower for Svieta, painted,
and did countless other tasks. For
the week they were here, we worked right alongside them. We also did a lot of cooking and
cleaning to keep the camp running while around forty Americans were inhabiting
it.
It was kind of interesting- when our team came to Ukraine,
we had no idea that we would spend the vast majority of our time in the country
living alongside and working with Americans. We spent hours upon hours working with Americans, preparing
the camp for Ukrainian children that we would never meet. The Abilene group had prepared
activities for a two day camp with the village kids, but our time with them was
minimal. While they ran the camp
for the weekend, our team cooked, cleaned, and made sure that everything ran
smoothly so that the Texas team could focus on the kids. Last month in Romania our team worked
with kids between 3 and 5 times a week, so the change to standing back and
letting others take over was a bit of a challenge.
But this is where God called us. God called us to meet thirty brothers and sisters in Christ
that we would have otherwise never known.
God called us to pour out our stories and experiences onto the college
students. God called us to listen
to their hearts and hear fresh perspectives after being away from the US for
over four months. God called me to
saw wood into 124cm long pieces for Sergei’s outdoor shower, drill curtain rods
to the wall in the new house, help wash over two dozen loads of laundry, and
bake a dozen loaves of banana bread.
This is what our ministry was- to take care of things that are not
glamorous, but absolutely necessary to keep Jeremiah’s Hope running. And all the while, we were able to do
it with new friends that have no trouble speaking English.
Sawing
Banana Bread
Me, Chip, and Kate. Chip was such a joy and an encouragement the week he was here!
The whole Abilene group with Andrew’s family and team Majestic Summit! (We are all on the right side)
