The Countdown

16 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!

My time in Ukraine is quickly coming to an end, and therefore things have been winding down for the most part. The English classes that I have been teaching have now come to an end. I will truly miss this group of students, as they are wonderful people who are truly committed to learning.

Because things have been winding down, I have had more time to dive deeper into the relationships that I've made, particularly just spending time with the youth at the center. I know that I will miss the people here very much, especially those youth whom I have had the priviledge of building friendships with, and those that work with them. But at the same time it will be wonderful to be back at home, to see friends and family and to begin a new chapter in my life.

Two American work teams have come and gone. It was nice to see different faces fresh from the States, which gave me a reminder of how things will be when I return home. The next American work team coming is from my home church in Duvall, which I am VERY excited about, particularly because my parents are two of the team members!!! Once they arrive, I'll have two weeks with them and then I'll be returning home. For those of you that are interesed in my travel plans I am flying out of Kyiv on July 7th to Frankfurt, Germany where I will have a 20-hour layover. From Frankfurt I fly on to Washington DC, and then on to Seattle, where I will arrive at approximately 7:30PM on Sunday July 8th.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!! I very much look forward to seeing you all once again and sharing the adventures of my trip with you first hand!!

Things to be praying about in the next two weeks:

* The events of the Duvall Church work team.
* All of the travel arrangements.
* A peaceful farewell to all of my Ukrainian friends.

The Latest in Photos

Me with a girl from the youth center. (Note: The new hairdo!)









A friendly game of twister...









...or not.









A cute picture of one of the orphanage kids.










Another cute orphanage kid.










My latest group of ESL students. I'm going to miss these guys!!

A "Praise the Lord" Experience!

This Friday night I definitely had a “Praise the Lord” kind of experience. Usually when it is late, and I am coming home from somewhere I call a taxi. Well on Friday night I had quite the taxi experience. Usually taxi drivers aren’t normally super conversant, but this night the driver was. He, detecting my “exotic” accent, asked where I was from. I replied that I was from America, at first he didn’t believe me, for I was only the second American that he had met in his entire life. Of course he asked me what I was doing here, and my answer is always “I am teaching English at a church.” This night that response opened the door wide open for a spiritual conversation. He then proceeded to ask me if I were a Believer, which I replied that I was. Because he was unusually pleasant I asked him if he was also a Believer, to which he replied yes, in the sense that he believed that there is a God and a devil, but to one specific school of thought he was not allied with. Come to find out later in our conversation that earlier in the week he had driven another young woman who was also a Christian and with whom he had also had a spiritual conversation. He recognized the significance of this immediately and vowed he would never forget that day. Our conversation continued long after we arrived at my house, and included the topic of sin, and whether he believed in Jesus. I could not believe it! The entire experience was a complete miracle! How God had set up our meeting, and how He has loosened my tongue and allowed me to communicate freely with this man on this subject. Following the experience I was needless to say wired and completely OVERJOYED! PRAISE THE LORD!

Amusing Cultural Happenings

During our time in Kyiv, I did become the cheap source of entertainment for the boys. At first they taught me a useful greeting «Здaров брoдяги! Как житуха?», which is translated is essentially “Hey dudes, what’s up?” Next they thought they would teach me “Ukrainian.”
“Sarafan,” which I have now been dubbed, “we are in Kyiv now, you need to learn Ukrainian.” And of course they proceeded to introduce to me new “Ukrainian” words. Needless to say, I was hesitant to believe their legitimacy, and as it turns out they were in fact bad words. I felt like that poor fiancé on “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”!

The second quite hilarious cultural happening also occurred while we were in Kyiv. Often times people joke about saying things wrong in a different language and accidentally offending someone. Well before a couple of weeks ago I thought that was more of a joke than reality. One night while walking with our group in Kyiv I was talking with some of the boys about sports, and eventually started talking about ping-pong. To further enhance the conversation and to illustrate a point I began to act out playing ping-pong, which also included sound effects. Anyway, I guess one of the “sound effects” that I used was actually a profanity, and quite a bad one at that! I didn’t know! I was just trying to talk about ping-pong!

Political Turmoil

For those of you who may not be aware, this has also been the month for political crisis in Ukraine. Earlier this month, President Viktor Yushenko, the hero of the 2004 Orange Revolution, disbanded parliament in an attempt to hold on to power. His rival Viktor Yanukovich had been alledgedly illegally recruiting members of Yushenko’s party to switch to his own party, which had shifted the balance of parliament and essentially robbed the President of any political power. In order to make a move at asserting his Presidential power, Yushenko disbanded Rada, the parliamentary body, and called for new elections. The case of course was appealed by Yanukovich and taken to the country’s highest court. Recently the courts came to their decision that the disbandment was constitutional and that elections could take place on June 27th. Given my major in international relations and minor in international politics, this is a very interesting time for me to be in Ukraine!

Пасха (Easter)

It was quite refreshing to see how Easter is celebrated amongst the people of Ukraine. Both Believers and non-Believers alike celebrate, and like the other major holidays, it is a day to spend with family and, of course, eat. What made this Easter special was the time following church. I was invited to my friend’s home to have lunch with them after church, and together we all went to the center of town where the evangelical community in Berdyansk had put together a parade and concert for the afternoon. The venue of the concert was the main square in the city by the sea, which is also home to the city’s statue of Lenin.
It was amazing to contrast this crowd of Believers gathered in a time of worship with the statue of Lenin in the background, a wonderful indication of how times have changed in Ukraine.

* Sign reads "Jesus is the Savior of Ukraine"

Youth Conference

At the end of March I also had the opportunity to accompany the youth group to a conference in Donetsk, one of the larger cities in Ukraine about a three-hour bus ride from Berdyansk. Every year the church takes a group, this year the group consisted of thirty-two teens and adult leaders. The theme of the conference this year was missions, and it was quite surprising as well as refreshing to hear the youth of Ukraine being challenged with the call of world missions!

Весной Отпуск

The spring holiday to Kyiv was a much needed break. It gave me the chance to get better acquainted with some of my friends at the church as well as an opportunity to live completely with Ukrainians and experience village life first hand. Several boys from the youth center also decided to accompany us on this adventure. They were surprisingly well behaved and the trip also gave me an opportunity to get better acquainted with them, as they took to teaching me Russian slang.

The sights in the city are breathtaking and filled with such amazing history. I am always amazed when I see such beautiful architecture and culture, because nothing that we have in the United States really comes close to the splendor of the old world. One of the sights we went to was the Pecherska Lavra, home to one of Kyiv’s ornate churches as well as a monastery that is still operational today. While there, looking upon the ornate architecture, I was reminded of the description of the throne room of Heaven in Revelations chapter 4:

“Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow all around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightenings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back…and they did not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’”

Київ!!!

This past week I had the opportunity to travel to Kyiv with some good friends from the youth center, and boy was it a blast!!!


Kyiv is such a beautiful city. This is St. Andrew's, and it actually looks like the postcards! It was so breathtaking!


My girls in Independence Square at the heart of Kyiv.


This is the Pecherska Lavra, a famous monastery in Kyiv which still operates today, also amazing and breathtaking. Here you can go down into catacombs and see the tombs of early monks. It was amazing to me to see these priests, men and women of God who were completely committed to His service, to the death.


And of course we had to stop at McDonalds.

Hot Dogs & Holiday

Зробив діло, гуляй сміло.
Ukrainian Proverb: When the work is done, have some fun.

This past week I'm pleased to announce that I ate my first Ukrainian hot dog! Though somewhat different than their American counterparts, it was a rather pleasant culinary experience. Rather than the traditional ketchup, mustard and relish condiments that we expect, the Ukrainian hot dog was topped with ketchup, mayonnaise, and a pickled beet and carrot mix, which was quite tasty. The hot dogs are sold by vendors in the market place and are what you would expect to see at the fair or at minor league baseball games. This hot dog vendor boasts that they have the "most delicious" hot dogs.

On March 8th nations all over the world (including Ukraine) celebrate International Women's Day. According to internationalwomensday.com, March 8th is a "global day connecting all women around the world and inspiring them to achieve their full potential" and it "celebrates the collective power of women past, present and future." In Ukraine the holiday is celebrated by a four day weekend. As one Ukrainian described it to me, it is because you need to celebrate before the holiday, celebrate the day of the holiday, as well as the day after, and then you need the rest of the time in order to recover and be able to go back to work on Monday. This reminded me a lot of the average student's life at the University of Idaho.


For this holiday, husbands are supposed to give their wives a break from domestic chores, and all young boys are supposed to be good to the girls and say nice things to them. In my opinion, Women's Day is a wonderful holiday and surpasses both Valentine's and Mother's Day. Why? Valentine's and Mother's Day are fairly exclusive holidays. For instance, you have to either be in a romantic relationship or be a mother. Women's Day however is far less exclusive. The only requirement is that you happen to have been born with two X chromosomes and it does not discriminate on age or relationships status.

March 8th was celebrated by going to the orphanage after a long time away due to the flu quarantine. We presented the female staff with flowers, while we made sure each child got their share of candies and cookies. My beginning English class was cancelled due to the holiday, and it was nice to have an evening at home. The climax of the holiday however did not come until this past Tuesday. At the beginning of class, our students surprised Inna and me with chocolates and tea, and of course every gift that is given is accompanied by a speech of health, happiness, and love! Apparently the class had gotten together and arranged this special surprise! What a treat! We were obviously quite stunned. This display of appreciation most certainly made my day, week, month, maybe even year! It is always a struggle when you are working to serve other people, and you aren't sure if you are appreciated or even making a difference in their lives. So needless to say my students gave me the most wonderful gift, better than tea or even chocolates...affirmation.

Як трибого, то до Бога.

Ukrainian Proverb: When in trouble, then you'll turn to God.

Within the past several months, a group of teenage boys have been calling the youth center home. They seem to be really connecting with everyone there, which is amazing to me, as these boys are typical un-churched teenagers, who smoke and drink regularly, and the youth center is a clean, Christian environment. Recently these boys have developed great relationships with the staff as well as with the church youth who spend their free time there.

However, one Friday night, all of these boys came into the center completely drunk. The frequency and commonality of this in society is what makes the situation even more unfortunate. Apparently, the local youth had not had school for several days, due to a flue quarantine, and th eboys took this opportunity to drink.

They were back on Saturday completely sober, and seemingly unaffected by the events that had transpired the day before. One February 15th, the youth center held a party in celebration of Valentine's Day. The boys were there. During the party was a time of worship to God and everyone was told about God's unfailing and true love for them. All were attentive and not a word was uttered in objection or mockery. It seemed like God was moving in their lives.

Every Sunday night the church holds youth group in the same venue as used by the youth center throughout the week. At these meetings the Bible is studied, there is prayer as well as a time of fun and fellowship. This past Sunday, only two weeks after they all came into the center drunk, all of them were at youth group, where they read the Bible and prayed.

Each and every one of these boys is seeking after something. God is using this opportunity in order to reveal Himself to them, to meet them in their point of need. I am taken back with awe in terms of how God is moving within the lives of this generation, and this experience helps to remind me that I am in face serving a real and living God who is still very much at work in the world today.

Слово не горобець, вилетить не спіймаєш.

Ukrainian Proverb: A word is not a sparrow, if it flies away, you won't catch it.

Due to weeks of holidays, final exams, and work conflicts, our college fellowship was not able to meet successfully for quite some time, a fact that was to say the least, very frustrating for me. But on Sunday the 11th, God proved His faithfulness, and we had our first extremely successful fellowship group!
Our group!
There were eight of us in all, all of the usual crowd plus one! It was such an answer to prayer! We managed to discuss chapter two in Drury's book, overall it was a good discussion, as far as I could tell. Sometimes it absolutely feels as if I am herding cats while blindfolded (that one was for you, Eli) with the language barrier. I feel as if I am taking shots in the dark as far as discussion questions go sometimes, but I'm sure that it all works out in the end. Don't get me wrong, it is all extremely rewarding!
This is what I look like while herding cats.

At this past meeting, for the first time I was able to feel as if I were back at the university hanging out with my peer group. We had a lengthy discussion about holiness-what it is, certain scriptures that tell us how to make ourselves more holy, as well as holiness movements in our own cultures. Following the discussion we broke into partners and prayed with one another for the upcoming week. It was a perfect end to the study.

To unwind and to fellowship with one another we ended the evening by playing a game, which was extremely fun. It strikes me as interesting how when it comes to games and parties, that even the most reserved of people choose to participate, and suddenly people are no longer quite as reserved and modest as you thought they were.

Praise God and thank you for all of the prayers!

Recent Odd Cultural Experiences:
• Recently while sitting and reading by the sea, I was approached by a pair of Jehovah's witnesses, who wished to attempt a conversation with me. Though by itself this may not seem like such a strange occurrence. What makes it odd is the fact that it has been my third encounter within the five months that I have been here.

• Along the same lines, I was also recently stopped by an obviously inebriated man while on my way to the bus stop. He was apparently in need of relationship advice, either that or he was asking for my hand in marriage, I of course was not able to help him with either.

• While riding the bus downtown one day, a woman stood up and began preaching. This was something that was unexpected though quite refreshing given the country's all to recent religious suppression.

Новость

Of course only a few weeks have gone by since my last post, but it feels as if it has been an entire month! So many things have been happening, or at least it feels like it.

Winter has finally come to Ukraine! I don’t know why this is exciting. After months of unseasonably warm weather we were met with our first snowfall of the year this past week. Let me tell you, now it is COLD! Although I am no friend of winter weather, it was beginning to feel as if I was missing out on a part of the true Ukrainian experience!

Grammar class has been going strong. For the past three weeks I have had a regular group of ten students, which is far more than I had thought would come. It has been a real blessing for me, as I enjoy spending time with the group twice each week. In a few days we will be getting ready to embark on our trip to Budapest, Hungary and Uzhgorod, Ukraine, which I am very excited for! I’m looking forward to exploring and seeing all that Budapest has to offer, within reason of course. After our holiday in Hungary the schedule will begin to run with full strength. Monday nights will be devoted to my grammar class. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be teaching another beginning adult ESL class, and of course Fridays will be our conversation group as always. I will be one busy girl, but it will be extremely worth it, of this I am sure.

For all of my prayer warriors out there—thank you so much for your diligence! I have needed much prayer during my time here, and I have really felt it all working in the different aspects of my life. Keep it up! And if you think of it please keep the adult ESL classes in your prayers, especially as I will be getting a new group of students in February. It is my desire to be able to introduce them to God, to a relationship with Christ and to the church that I am working with.

An interesting yet somewhat unfortunate tale from the orphanage…
Recently, during one of our twice-weekly visits to the orphanage, I was playing UNO with a couple teenage boys and one girl. These are some of the older students whom I have enjoyed building relationships with in the last few weeks. During one of our games, however, I spent the majority of time explaining to this one boy why he should not use certain English profanities, all of this is occurring in Russian by the way (kudos to me!). Looking back on the experience it gave me a chuckle. At the same time I began to think about what an awesome opportunity I have to be with those kids in that place, and to be able to minister to them through relationships, as I know that they most likely have no Godly influence in their lives. Please pray for this one boy in particular, as he has a dynamic charismatic personality who could be an influential leader of others for Christ one day. I am praying that God would do the impossible in his life.

ФОТОГРАФИЯ!

These are some pictures I took recently while on a walk down to the sea.

Isn't the sunset amazing?

There is something about fishing boats that is so beautiful!