So yes this has been a great week, a very long week, and a blessed week!
English Club and Pilgrims have been great as normal, and I continue to build stronger relationships.
Everyone is so friendly and I love being around everyone but I think that might turn into a problem for me soon. I really hate leaving when people are having a good time and sometimes it leads to me sacrificing sleep, chores, and work that I have to catch up on later. But I am working on that for sure.
This week I simply asked a fellow who is a normal here at the student center if he would like to have some tea. It was a seeming small gesture but this is the most we have be able to interact with each other because my Ukrainian is so poor and he know little English. This was only a few minutes after my grammar lesson and so I was really tired from that but as we sat down and did our best to communicate he decided we should have a language lesson together. He grabs a Bible in Ukrainian and one in English that is the same translation (does this make since?) and we took turns reading the same verse, first he would read a verse 2 times in English and then I would read a verse 2 times in Ukrainian and we would help each other with pronouncing the words. I didn't really learn any Ukrainian but it was great speaking practice and even better bonding time that I had not even planned on having! God is so amazing some time!
Another realization that I came across is how much I love my job here. I knew I liked it but didn't realize that I loved it until I was trying to plan to do something and realized I was extremely busy. How does that make me realize I love my job? I didn't feel busy, I was not stressed over having to get stuff done I was excited about the work I get to do, even entering names into a data base for us to contact. Yes I have been truly blessed with my placement and I am extremely thankful!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
No use Crying over spilled spaghetti
What an amazing week!
I apologize that last weeks blog was a bit on the less informative side, and that the blog for this week is a day late, but I will be better this time I promise.
I have really fallen into a good community here. Last Sunday we had a lot of people over to Erika's and we had sushi and shared stories. It was great sushi an Asian food in eastern europe!!! It was great, I loved it. The rest of the week was amazing, I have created such great friends both Ukrainian and American. During English club we have lost a few people, but it is still great, last week we had game night and it went great!
For Pilgrims we had John Calhounne, a Unite Methdoist Missionary in Kiev come and preach, we shared lunch and had a good talk just discussing ministries and our lives in Ukraine.
Friday night was amazing, we had another gathering with people from the student center. It was great we had spaghetti and pizza, it was such a great night. while preparing the meal the dry spaghetti was dropped out of the bottom of the box, but we picked it up and boiled it and it was all good :). We all stayed late playing apples to apples and various other games and just enjoying being around one another.
Saturday I went out with the feeding program and again it was amazing, we went to the church first and and handed out bags to the older ladies who wait there for us and then we went on our route, sadly there was no one out due to the rain and coldness. Next we walked around and then it started snowing which was awesome!! That was followed by a long round of again apples to apples (such a great game),
Yesterday was Church and church meeting. It was great, I have started working with Kids club during the service since it is in Ukrainian and I love it so much. After church there was a meal and we meet as a leadership team.
I feel so welcomed and at home here. I am use to eating just once a day and here I get told I don't eat enough, as I am writing I have been offered cookies, cake, and tea, just to that I won't starve to death. I love the community I have here and really enjoy watching it grow. God is doing great things here and it is so so wonderful.
I apologize that last weeks blog was a bit on the less informative side, and that the blog for this week is a day late, but I will be better this time I promise.
I have really fallen into a good community here. Last Sunday we had a lot of people over to Erika's and we had sushi and shared stories. It was great sushi an Asian food in eastern europe!!! It was great, I loved it. The rest of the week was amazing, I have created such great friends both Ukrainian and American. During English club we have lost a few people, but it is still great, last week we had game night and it went great!
For Pilgrims we had John Calhounne, a Unite Methdoist Missionary in Kiev come and preach, we shared lunch and had a good talk just discussing ministries and our lives in Ukraine.
Friday night was amazing, we had another gathering with people from the student center. It was great we had spaghetti and pizza, it was such a great night. while preparing the meal the dry spaghetti was dropped out of the bottom of the box, but we picked it up and boiled it and it was all good :). We all stayed late playing apples to apples and various other games and just enjoying being around one another.
Saturday I went out with the feeding program and again it was amazing, we went to the church first and and handed out bags to the older ladies who wait there for us and then we went on our route, sadly there was no one out due to the rain and coldness. Next we walked around and then it started snowing which was awesome!! That was followed by a long round of again apples to apples (such a great game),
I feel so welcomed and at home here. I am use to eating just once a day and here I get told I don't eat enough, as I am writing I have been offered cookies, cake, and tea, just to that I won't starve to death. I love the community I have here and really enjoy watching it grow. God is doing great things here and it is so so wonderful.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Falling into the norm
What a week it has been!
This week has felt like my first "normal" week. There was nothing extremely new, no huge cultural surprises or anything that I felt was abnormal.
Let me start with what the week looked like for me. First Monday: Monday is suppose to be my day off, but after working between 30 and 40 hours a week and classes like I have for the last year almost, and working at summer camps every summer I am still learning what a day off means. This Monday I actually did very little work on my day off, we gathered to play cards and fellowship with some other young adult missionaries we have gotten to know and then we had praise and worship with our Student Center Leadership team.
Tuesday we had English club, it was awesome, we had still 30-40 people, and the English lesson was based off of Numbers 22 with the talking donkey, so we mixed Shrek into it as well.
Wednesday I started my small group we are studying the book of Acts, there were five of us and we had a great discussion on the introduction and the first 11 verses.
Thursday was Pilgrims and it also went great, we had a guest speaker and he did extremely well. Also on Thursday I received a package from home, and it was great, I GOT LITTLE DEBBIE COOKIES!! and peanut butter and lots of other goodies.
Friday was a good day for planning for next week, we discussed the plans for English club this Tuesday and then I worked on getting ready for small group.
Saturday was yet another day off, but like I mentioned I am not good at days off, so to start Saturday we had a meeting to plan the future themes and ideas for Kids Club (Childrens Church). To this meeting I wore my sandals like I have every day almost since I have moved here, I was not expecting that the temperature would decide to stay in the 40's all day long :-(. After our meeting I hurried home and changed into wool socks boots and a nice warm jacket. From there we gathered again as a small group of American Missionaries for a day of relaxing. We did a few photos for one of the missionaries to create a slide show then we went and had coffee and lunch followed by a free concert from a christian band from the states.
It has been really great being here and I am excited for the future adventures. Everyone keeps warning me that the winters here will be a brand new thing to me because they are so cold, I guess it will be a new experience.
One observation I have made here is the Pigeons. They are everywhere, sometimes even under your feet, literally. This week I have noticed that often I am having to watch where I step when there are pigeons around so that I do not step on them because they have no fear.
Well that is all I can think of to write now thank you for reading and for praying for me. I apologize that this is very simple I have been feeling a bit under the weather due to our temperature change.
This week has felt like my first "normal" week. There was nothing extremely new, no huge cultural surprises or anything that I felt was abnormal.
Let me start with what the week looked like for me. First Monday: Monday is suppose to be my day off, but after working between 30 and 40 hours a week and classes like I have for the last year almost, and working at summer camps every summer I am still learning what a day off means. This Monday I actually did very little work on my day off, we gathered to play cards and fellowship with some other young adult missionaries we have gotten to know and then we had praise and worship with our Student Center Leadership team.
Tuesday we had English club, it was awesome, we had still 30-40 people, and the English lesson was based off of Numbers 22 with the talking donkey, so we mixed Shrek into it as well.
Wednesday I started my small group we are studying the book of Acts, there were five of us and we had a great discussion on the introduction and the first 11 verses.
Thursday was Pilgrims and it also went great, we had a guest speaker and he did extremely well. Also on Thursday I received a package from home, and it was great, I GOT LITTLE DEBBIE COOKIES!! and peanut butter and lots of other goodies.
Friday was a good day for planning for next week, we discussed the plans for English club this Tuesday and then I worked on getting ready for small group.
Saturday was yet another day off, but like I mentioned I am not good at days off, so to start Saturday we had a meeting to plan the future themes and ideas for Kids Club (Childrens Church). To this meeting I wore my sandals like I have every day almost since I have moved here, I was not expecting that the temperature would decide to stay in the 40's all day long :-(. After our meeting I hurried home and changed into wool socks boots and a nice warm jacket. From there we gathered again as a small group of American Missionaries for a day of relaxing. We did a few photos for one of the missionaries to create a slide show then we went and had coffee and lunch followed by a free concert from a christian band from the states.
It has been really great being here and I am excited for the future adventures. Everyone keeps warning me that the winters here will be a brand new thing to me because they are so cold, I guess it will be a new experience.
One observation I have made here is the Pigeons. They are everywhere, sometimes even under your feet, literally. This week I have noticed that often I am having to watch where I step when there are pigeons around so that I do not step on them because they have no fear.
Well that is all I can think of to write now thank you for reading and for praying for me. I apologize that this is very simple I have been feeling a bit under the weather due to our temperature change.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
So much in 1 month
1 Month Out of the USA. I have been living in Ukraine for a full month now and I still love it. The weather is just starting to get brisk. I have missed a week of blogging and I apologize to all my readers. We have been making adjustments and getting ready for David and Shannon to leave. And they left on Monday Sept. 26.
Since they have left things feel different. Not bad different, not good different just different. I think part of it is because I am now done being trained and I am actually working. English club last week was still at about 45 people, the week before we had 50 (that is a lot for an english club, and almost to many to fit in our student center). This Tuesday I will be leading the discussion in English club about the talking donkey in the Bible (Numbers chapter 22 I promise its there) and then show a small clip from Shrek, I'm kinda excited.
I was a little worried how Pilgrims (Thursday night worship at the student center) would got without David and Shannon, and then I was feeling below the weather. But the students and other leaders did a great job and pilgrims was great.
Yesterday I went out to start looking at a social justice out reach program we hope to get our students involved in. We had met and American Missionary and his family that came about 12 years ago and has since become a freelance missionary. One of the programs their church does is to put together a bag of groceries and every 2 weeks take them around to a few of the beggars (usually old women or disabled persons) they have built relationships with. Sometimes in these bags there are blankets, socks, or gloves as well. Not only do they deliver these bags, but as the ministry grows they have the same bags for other beggars, they do not yet know but are working towards building relationships with, that meet them at a corner near a church.
I had went to help distribute the bags, get to know a few people and to see if it would be a good ministry for our students to help with.
I received a bit more. When I showed up I was greeted warmly by Mark Blessing (the missionary) and his family. Soon others were showing up to help, including a family form Shelby North Carolina (for those of you not familiar this is only an hour or so from my home in the states). Next as we went and delivered these bags we split into groups and headed out. My group delivered 3 bags, one to a pizza shop that makes sure a lady they know needs it gets it, the second to Pani Maria (Pani means ms.) a blind elderly lady who plays the accordion on the streets to survive, and the second to Pani Maria #2 who is another blind elderly lady but she sings on the streets to survive whom we were able to pray with because she was sick. We had 2 more bags to deliver but the recipitants were not out that day.
Also from that experience I made several American friends who live around the city which is great support, it is difficult to live in a city where you are a foreigner.
Again I thank everyone for taking the time time to read this, to pray for me, and to support me in every other way possible.
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