By "The Fat" I mean "End."
By "Lady" I mean "of."
By "Sang" I mean "Ministry."
Sometimes things are lost in translation. Hopefully this is not one of those times.
Working backwards, this is what the next two weeks looks like.
September 3rd @ 6:55pm arrive in Pittsburgh International Airport and greeted by loving family.
August 30th-September 2nd. The Awakening. All current squads–there are five right now–will meet in Dublin for teachings, worship, and fellowship.
August 26th-29th: Final Debrief. Bring closure to our year spent together. Bring some Kleenex.
August 24th-25th: Make final arrangements in Dublin before the squad arrives.
August 22nd-24th: Travel from ministry site to Kiev and on to Dublin, Ireland.
August 21st: Write "End of Ministry" blog.
If you are like me, you would have just, at best, scanned the last several lines because they had dates and information non-applicable to yourself. I don't blame you. Heck, I'm blown away by how many of you have stuck with me thoughout this journey, but I'll get to those "summarizing a year abroad" blogs in the coming weeks. For now, here's one last ministry blog.
Today, unofficially, marks the end of ministry for me on the World Race. The time when "the fat lady sings" has always registered to me as merely a signal or demarcation of the end of the was and the beginning of the is. I've never considered before that the song the fat lady sings is in itself worth listening to.
This past week the song was being sung as we helped lead a softball camp to kids that have literally never touched a glove or bat before. This week was unique because we split up as a team and stayed in the homes of church members for several nights. We would all reunite the next day to eat lunch, teach English lessons for about an hour or two, facilitate the camp until around 8:00pm, have dinner as a church family, set up a projector on the field, and watch a movie under the Ukrainian sky with dozens and dozens of local youth in attendance each night. I can use vague terms like "amazing," "memorable," and "a lot of fun" to describe the general feel of the week, but ambiguities definitely don't make good blogs.
While the camp was well and good, it's the little moments that stand out in my mind. Getting my hair cut at a legitimate salon for the first time in years–for free! Playing futbol, USA vs. Ukraine, and doing more than at least holding our own. Sitting out back of our host's house–where the dining room table is–drinking tea, talking, and laughing with our Ukrainian friends until well past midnight. Making learning English fun by assembling props, planning games, and going beyond mediocre. Leading the campers in stretches and making the drills and games more than just drills and games.
Looking back on these examples, and really our entire time in Ukraine, I've been learning about initiating. No incentive beyond the gospel drives the MacDonald's to put in overtime for a self-imposed, post-retirement, ministry job. Someone stepping up and initiaing haircut appointments, games, lessons, etc. added to the experience because it brought in more of the relational component. From this last month of ministry I'm making the mental note to initiate more. Often times I catch myself wanting "more" of something, yet for some reason I don't want to be the one to take the next step. In a sense, this concept is at the heart of servant leadership. I was once told that, unfortunately, life is full of periods of waiting. There's a time and a place for waiting, but I know that I can't keep the fat lady from singing forever.
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