Well, we made it safely!
U Squad made it across the Ukrainian/Romanian border early in the morning May 4th. The only question the border guards asked us was, “Are you children?” Ummm…no. But thanks? I guess?
Anyway, we made it into the country and split up by team to travel to our specific ministry sites. The whole squad is in the western half of the country, four teams in the north, and two in the south. Team COOL is spending the month in Rivne, Ukraine, in the northwestern part of the country, not too far from the Polish border.
This month, we are partnering with Salvation Church to plan and put on a week-long adult English camp. Teaching English to adults will be a new challenge, one that we’re all excited for! This past week and the upcoming week are planning weeks, so we’ve been spending a lot of time on our computers in a cute little apartment!
The cute little apartment belongs to Tania Martin, an American missionary here in Ukraine. Well, currently she’s not here…her sending organization wanted her to leave the country for her safety until the elections are over. She’s been hopping around Europe, waiting to come home to Rivne, and she Skypes in to our morning meetings to help our Ukrainian contact, Tania (there are a LOT of Tanias here!) explain what the camp will look like. Please be in prayer for American Tania, as it’s hard to be away from her home in Rivne and her community. While she’s gone, we’ve moved in to her apartment, which is a bit of a squeeze, but it’s so nice to have a kitchen to cook in, a washing machine, and hot showers. Especially before we head to Africa!
We’ve also gone to a home Bible study, and helped out with an AWANA group. The AWANA club had their end-of-year celebration this past Saturday in a forest (which was amazingly beautiful!) and we had a great time playing games with the kids, teaching them about scavenger hunts, learning Ukrainian games from them, and seeing them open Operation Christmas Child boxes. (Most of the boxes went to orphanages and poor communities in and around Rivne, but there were some left over that the AWANA kids received as well.) We also had the blessing of having the church service today translated into English for us. It was so encouraging to be fed from the Word!
So as you can see, I’m alive, well, and loving Ukraine! Our little section of the city is so cute! There’s a lot of parks in Rivne, including one the locals call Swan Lake. Life here goes on as normal…we pray with our new friends for the events happening in Crimea and the eastern part of the country, but otherwise, you would never know something is brewing over there. I love the culture, the food, and the people! This will be an amazing (and unfortunately short) month, and I can’t wait to share more with you!
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