I have seen God work through many different experiences this summer. Some of them were ones I was excited about participating in and others were ones I had mixed feelings about. The summer started off great with getting to see some of my friends from Midtown church in Nashville and going with them to Kharkiv to work again with the orphan camp which was my first missions trip experience last year. I have already written about this a little but I want to include my reflections now that we are nearing the end of summer.
Even that camp had it's emotional struggles. My initial sense was of being overwhelmed and not knowing how we could really help this huge number of kids. God brought me through that within the first two days or so, thankfully. He also helped me figure out and adjust to the expectations and time tug involved with participating on both the American team and the Ukrainian team (as a member of the worship team). My experience was actually very much the same as last year's. For part of the trip I was concerned that I was missing something, expecting that my experience should be much different the second time around. But I believe at this point that God just chose to put me in similar roles as last year and grow my abilities within those roles by stretching them a bit.
One thing that I enjoyed seeing in myself on this trip was MUCH greater ease in interacting with the Ukrainian members of the missions team. These are the guys and girls of the coordinating, technical, drama and music teams. I enjoyed seeing the value and opportunity of being a liaison between Americans and Ukrainians and I see this being a role where I can assist and have helpful input in the future! I enjoy seeing the behind-the-scenes workings of a camp or program and looking at ways to make people more efficient, more able to communicate their needs, and more appreciated.
Through the yearly commitment of Midtown Fellowship to travel to Kharkiv and work with this same group of kids over and over again, many of the orphans at this camp now display a true knowledge of a relationship with God. The impact of God's people and God's presence is huge when comparing this same setting a few years ago during Midtown's first trip here (From what I hear. I didn't make it until the following year). What these kids really need now is a partnership with local churches who can provide more constant attention throughout the year and give them a support base as they graduate and begin lives on their own which they are desperately unprepared for. Please pray for this need.
I will follow up over the next week or two with more things from the summer. I hope to have time to track down and include some pictures to help put this summer into a more tangible form! Thanks for continued prayer even when I don't give regular updates.
Even that camp had it's emotional struggles. My initial sense was of being overwhelmed and not knowing how we could really help this huge number of kids. God brought me through that within the first two days or so, thankfully. He also helped me figure out and adjust to the expectations and time tug involved with participating on both the American team and the Ukrainian team (as a member of the worship team). My experience was actually very much the same as last year's. For part of the trip I was concerned that I was missing something, expecting that my experience should be much different the second time around. But I believe at this point that God just chose to put me in similar roles as last year and grow my abilities within those roles by stretching them a bit.
One thing that I enjoyed seeing in myself on this trip was MUCH greater ease in interacting with the Ukrainian members of the missions team. These are the guys and girls of the coordinating, technical, drama and music teams. I enjoyed seeing the value and opportunity of being a liaison between Americans and Ukrainians and I see this being a role where I can assist and have helpful input in the future! I enjoy seeing the behind-the-scenes workings of a camp or program and looking at ways to make people more efficient, more able to communicate their needs, and more appreciated.
Through the yearly commitment of Midtown Fellowship to travel to Kharkiv and work with this same group of kids over and over again, many of the orphans at this camp now display a true knowledge of a relationship with God. The impact of God's people and God's presence is huge when comparing this same setting a few years ago during Midtown's first trip here (From what I hear. I didn't make it until the following year). What these kids really need now is a partnership with local churches who can provide more constant attention throughout the year and give them a support base as they graduate and begin lives on their own which they are desperately unprepared for. Please pray for this need.
I will follow up over the next week or two with more things from the summer. I hope to have time to track down and include some pictures to help put this summer into a more tangible form! Thanks for continued prayer even when I don't give regular updates.
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