Hello! Winter greetings to you all. Weather here in Kiev is "brisk." The recent snow at least makes it feel more fitting! So far I am enjoying winter, though I think I am together with most of the city in anticipating spring already!
Visa Status
Challenges don't come and go with the weather. It is time to begin tackling Visa issues again. The temporary solution that enabled me to return from Poland to Ukraine at the end of December will reach its end in late March. $250 of traveling, $150 of visa application, $75 for required paperwork to present with this application, and two week's worth of hostel stay and food doesn't make for a cheap three month's stay!
Hopefully by now the government has sorted out the new laws (Visa laws have gone through three revisions since August) and will be ready to accept the religious paperwork that they could not be bothered with in December. A missionary couple that I had become friends with had to give up ministry after seven years here and leave the country on Wednesday because of many complications that arose out of the government's lack of information and consistency on how to apply the new laws. After one agency granted them extended stay while they sorted things out, another found an issue with the extension and deemed them illegal in the country unless they payed $2500 to turn eyes the other way.
Prayer Requests Regarding My Future
There are some big questions I am facing and would greatly appreciate prayer over. For those of you who don't know, I came to Ukraine on a one year commitment but with the knowledge that I might stay here long past the first twelve months. God has shown me that anything I do requires a calling. The calling is what gives the location or job or ministry purpose and value and success. I came to understand about six months into my time here that returning to Nashville would require a calling. My ministry is here for the time being. God can change that in an instant, but it is here for now. I can't go until He says go. So where will He call me to next?
Through partnership with New Life Church and with an established self-supported missionary who also volunteers with the church, I have gotten to have a unique place in shaping the lives of students. I get to help create the environments and activities that lead young people into relationships with Jesus and then keep them connected and growing with other believers. The main "faces" this ministry has taken so far are camps, English discussion groups, church services, Bible studies, guitar playing and hanging out. One of the biggest encouragements I experience is to have someone approach me and say, "Can we find time this week to meet and talk and hang out?"
What forms will ministry take place in when my initial year here comes to an end after March? I really don't know yet. And that's where I need lots of prayer. I know I have the tendency to write lots of words and drop lots of information all at once, so I think I'll save something for later in the weekend. I am looking forward to "discussing" the openings and options I have and I ask for your prayer through all of the decisions that are coming up.
Wrapping Up For Now
As always, thank you for your support and vision for me and for God's kingdom around the world--that is truly what has gotten me this far. God's work has been going on in Ukraine through many dedicated individuals. Of course, it will go on if my time here ends. But I tell you with confidence that your support has played a close role in the salvation of multiple students this summer and in their growth this winter. These guys are standing up in church and sharing their testimonies, writing songs and forming worship bands in the church, and witnessing to friends and family who don't yet understand their desire for Christ.
God is with them powerfully and their lives are a reminder of how powerfully God is with us. Be blessed in that knowledge!
