The
Messengers have had quite an interesting month here in Ukraine. Of
course, our Papa, in His Sovereignty and Splendor knew what He was
doing when He sent us to Odessa, Ukraine. This city has been a big
help with getting ready to deal with the upcoming culture shock and
re-entry into civilization.
While Ukraine is still a third world nation, they are working their
way up. The people here care about things that we have forgotten
about-like stylish clothing, hair styles, showering regularly, etc.
The prices are high and we can’t really get away with being the
scavenger selves we’ve become over the past ten months.
I realize it’s still going to be quite the adjustment coming home,
however, Ukraine has served as a nice step back into civilization as
I once knew it.
We have also been around lots and lots of English speakers, a lot of
them American, making relationships easy to build. Probably easier
than in any month prior.
The interesting part about all of this, is that we were only in one
place for 6 days tops this month. Our ministry consisted of us
hanging out with people….hanging out with people all over Ukraine.
We have packed up our packs 9 times this month, each time moving to
some other part of the country and spending a couple days or so with
people I could work along side of the rest of my life.
This has been a month of ‘goodbyes’. Perhaps preparing us for the
big goodbye that is on it’s way.
This last week we stayed in a village about 20 hours away from
Odessa. (Trains have quickly become my favorite mode of
transportation.) We hopped off the train, 5am, and were greeted by
our final ministry contacts, Marina and Vika.
Marina Vika
Marina and Vika
These two best friends of ten years have given their lives to be a
light in their very atheist country. They raise support so they can
live their lives and minister to those around them. We meshed
quickly, we laughed, drank tea, watched movies and shared stories.
Then, at the end of a couple days, we said goodbye.
If I had to choose a word for this month it would be ‘moving’…or
‘goodbye’.
…or ‘kitties’. As they have been everywhere. At least three
different people have offered me free kittens and there are grown up
cats up and down every street.
As you can imagine, I love Ukraine. Unfortunately, it’s time to
say, ‘goodbye’.
