Hi all, I just wanted to give you a little update on some of the specifics of what I will be doing during my short trip to Ukraine in a couple of weeks. I will spend the first four days working with a film team as they shoot a documentary of some Ukrainian ministries. This will be with Missions Development International, the organization I am traveling with. During this time the film team will be meeting with and interviewing the senior pastor of New Life Church where I am considering interning.
After four days of filming in Kiev, I will be staying in the city to shadow some of New Life's workers while the film team travels six hours south to do more filming in the city of Odessa. I will spend these last four days living with an American who interns full-time at New Life church. This will be a good chance to really learn what it is like for an American to live in Ukraine.
I will also be playing guitar with the worship team for Saturday's young adult worship service and for Wednesday night's midweek service. These will also be opportunities to see what some of New Life's ministries are doing and to jump in and work with some of the people I would be working with if I returned to Ukraine long-term. Please think about praying for me as I undergo these new experiences and pray that they impact me in the way God wants them to.
Thank you!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
General Update
Friends and family!
I want to update you and let you know how your support for my trip to Ukraine this summer is continuing to play a big role in my life and in the lives of some of the children I interacted with. I have written letters to many of the children and one of my new Ukrainian friends has taken on the responsibility of translating and mailing them for me. I am excited to share a portion of a letter I received from one of the young orphans.
"Thanks a lot for your letter. I was very glad to receive it. I really like getting mail! When you had left, it was very boring, but at our discos we always had the camp song and everybody danced to it! All of us remember you guys and will NEVER forget!!! I miss all of you."
This girl carried on with the opportunity to write and responded very personally to some of the questions I had asked her in my letter. She regrets turning down an opportunity to stay in the US with a family that she was spending time with. But she shared with me the hope she has that an American family will again give her the chance to visit for at least a vacation.
I am also eager to share that I am returning to Ukraine for ten days in October to feel out the possibility of spending six months or a year serving in Ukraine. It seems that God has put a call on my heart to be a part of His movement there. I pray and expect that this trip October 11-21 will help either confirm or change this vision to become a part of the work happening in Ukraine.
I want to update you and let you know how your support for my trip to Ukraine this summer is continuing to play a big role in my life and in the lives of some of the children I interacted with. I have written letters to many of the children and one of my new Ukrainian friends has taken on the responsibility of translating and mailing them for me. I am excited to share a portion of a letter I received from one of the young orphans.
"Thanks a lot for your letter. I was very glad to receive it. I really like getting mail! When you had left, it was very boring, but at our discos we always had the camp song and everybody danced to it! All of us remember you guys and will NEVER forget!!! I miss all of you."
This girl carried on with the opportunity to write and responded very personally to some of the questions I had asked her in my letter. She regrets turning down an opportunity to stay in the US with a family that she was spending time with. But she shared with me the hope she has that an American family will again give her the chance to visit for at least a vacation.
I am also eager to share that I am returning to Ukraine for ten days in October to feel out the possibility of spending six months or a year serving in Ukraine. It seems that God has put a call on my heart to be a part of His movement there. I pray and expect that this trip October 11-21 will help either confirm or change this vision to become a part of the work happening in Ukraine.
The Specifics
A lot has been developing over the last month. I have been keeping in regular contact with a few of the Ukrainian members of the team I worked with in July. They attend New Life Church in Kiev, which is the church I had the opportunity to visit for a worship rehearsal during my previous trip to Ukraine. These friends have been filling me in on the opportunities to serve with their church. They have also been putting in good words for me with the leadership in a few of the church’s ministries that they are involved in.
First of all, if I do end up returning to Ukraine for an extended period of time, I will most likely be interning with New Life Church’s youth ministry. Of the city’s 2.75 million inhabitants, an overwhelming number are teens who need to hear about a God who loves them and is in control of the chaotic world around them. Thankfully, since all Ukrainian youth are required to study seven years of English in school, many of them are excited about opportunities to spend time with a native English speaker and try out what they are learning. This creates interesting occasions to get to know them personally.
Secondly, the bass player that I worked with on the previous trip has talked to the church’s worship teams and has opened up the opportunity for me to serve in both the adult and young adult worship services. The teams are already excited about the possibility of me coming to Ukraine and working with them! I will be playing a few services with these teams during my trip in October. This friend has also encouraged me to learn how to sing in Russian because they also have a need for a male vocalist to round out the teams of mainly female singers. I think this would be an excellent motivator and method for me in learning the language.
First of all, if I do end up returning to Ukraine for an extended period of time, I will most likely be interning with New Life Church’s youth ministry. Of the city’s 2.75 million inhabitants, an overwhelming number are teens who need to hear about a God who loves them and is in control of the chaotic world around them. Thankfully, since all Ukrainian youth are required to study seven years of English in school, many of them are excited about opportunities to spend time with a native English speaker and try out what they are learning. This creates interesting occasions to get to know them personally.
Secondly, the bass player that I worked with on the previous trip has talked to the church’s worship teams and has opened up the opportunity for me to serve in both the adult and young adult worship services. The teams are already excited about the possibility of me coming to Ukraine and working with them! I will be playing a few services with these teams during my trip in October. This friend has also encouraged me to learn how to sing in Russian because they also have a need for a male vocalist to round out the teams of mainly female singers. I think this would be an excellent motivator and method for me in learning the language.
Your Support
As usual, your prayer support is very much appreciated. I am excited about the opportunities God is opening up. But I also realize there are large decisions I will need to make soon. I would like to be very confident of God’s direction before moving to Ukraine. Please pray for me that I will continue learning how to hear from God and how to be growing in my relationship with Him in such a way that this communication becomes second nature.
A practical person by nature, I have also given much thought to the need to sustain myself financially in Ukraine. There are a lot of logistics involved but there are some promising work opportunities I may be able to use part time in order to get by while serving the church on a volunteer basis as an intern. Some of these may be an alteration of things I am doing now while others, such as teaching English, would be entirely new experiences.
There are a lot of logistics that remain to be worked out if God calls me to Ukraine. I know that these are things He will take care of if I follow His leading wherever He leads. He is steadily growing my level of trust in Him and showing me that there may be areas I simply cannot plan for as fully as I would like to for comfort's sake. These are the very same areas He intends to use to further reveal His trustworthiness and provision. God is good. Please pray that I will see that and be reminded of that daily as decisions and complications and resistance come!
A practical person by nature, I have also given much thought to the need to sustain myself financially in Ukraine. There are a lot of logistics involved but there are some promising work opportunities I may be able to use part time in order to get by while serving the church on a volunteer basis as an intern. Some of these may be an alteration of things I am doing now while others, such as teaching English, would be entirely new experiences.
There are a lot of logistics that remain to be worked out if God calls me to Ukraine. I know that these are things He will take care of if I follow His leading wherever He leads. He is steadily growing my level of trust in Him and showing me that there may be areas I simply cannot plan for as fully as I would like to for comfort's sake. These are the very same areas He intends to use to further reveal His trustworthiness and provision. God is good. Please pray that I will see that and be reminded of that daily as decisions and complications and resistance come!
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