The young adult team that I work with will be leading worship for this week's Wednesday night service at New Life Church. This service begins at 11:30 AM EST / 10:30 AM CST and is viewable live. If you miss the beginning of the service but will be around an hour or so later, I expect that the worship team's closing set will begin around 1:15-1:30 into the service.
http://www.nlc.kiev.ua/105410851083107210811085.html
I also play two weeks per month with one of the adult teams for Wednesday and Sunday services. But the young adult team is the one I am most involved in and encouraged by.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
How Things Are Going
This blog is long overdue for an update. I apologize for that. There are a lot of things worth talking about and I will try to get to a few of them here.
First of all, I have started taking Russian lessons. This was the plan from the beginning. The part that wasn't exactly planned was taking them four days a week. But it looks like that's what it's going to take so that's what I'm doing. My teacher is excellent. My head gets foggy in class but she answers as many questions as I need to ask and overall it stays enjoyable. The classes are 2.5 hours per day and the travel time round trip is approximately the same. Add about two hours of homework per lesson and this is eating up some substantial time. The best part: these lessons are costing me about $4/hour. Can you believe that? We're talking about good lessons from a native Russian speaker in a class of exactly two people. Wow.
And the time is worth it. The biggest thing holding me back in the ministries I'm already involved in here is definitely the language barrier. Even when there is someone present who speaks English, it is impossible to translate every prayer and every discussion. Knowing the language will greatly aid my role as the music leader in the young adult worship team. One or two musicians who are able and willing to translate have been an invaluable resource but some Russian language skills will certainly streamline the process and allow me to get more involved on a personal level with my team.
I do have one prayer request in regards to the young adult worship team that I serve as musical director for: I am running into some difficulties with another guitar player. I have not completely negated myself from being part of the problem (ego can be a tricky little bugger) so I am trying to stay open to where I need to grow in this situation. The difficult part is that making him happy detracts from the team spirit and also musical integrity of the band. So far he seems too busy telling me what to do to realize that he could benefit from listening. I don't think he means things personally, but his quickness to become adamant about things without taking time to perceive a situation causes conflict. Anyway, that's some of what I see so far. I need God's help in accurately and patiently perceiving all the ins and outs of this situation and in knowing how to address it.
But aside from that, I am very pleased and encouraged with the way things are going with the worship team. We have some amazing co-leadership happening. One girl is the worship leader and main singer and another guy (a missionary from New Zealand) is overseeing the spiritual development of the team. The youth pastors and people in the congregation have had very supportive feedback and are excited about the atmosphere and sincerity of worship that has been present in the last month. I am very encouraged to be a part of this and it is spurring and motivating challenges for spiritual growth in my own life. God is good to allow me to feel this connection with him and with others in the work here.
And in general, life is going very well here. I enjoy it. I like the city. I am learning to get around from place to place rather than just from my apartment to a couple of church-related locations (separate office and meeting spaces). I still don't see all the reasons, but God has put me where he wants me and is undoubtedly blessing the support of all of you who are supporting me.
First of all, I have started taking Russian lessons. This was the plan from the beginning. The part that wasn't exactly planned was taking them four days a week. But it looks like that's what it's going to take so that's what I'm doing. My teacher is excellent. My head gets foggy in class but she answers as many questions as I need to ask and overall it stays enjoyable. The classes are 2.5 hours per day and the travel time round trip is approximately the same. Add about two hours of homework per lesson and this is eating up some substantial time. The best part: these lessons are costing me about $4/hour. Can you believe that? We're talking about good lessons from a native Russian speaker in a class of exactly two people. Wow.
And the time is worth it. The biggest thing holding me back in the ministries I'm already involved in here is definitely the language barrier. Even when there is someone present who speaks English, it is impossible to translate every prayer and every discussion. Knowing the language will greatly aid my role as the music leader in the young adult worship team. One or two musicians who are able and willing to translate have been an invaluable resource but some Russian language skills will certainly streamline the process and allow me to get more involved on a personal level with my team.
I do have one prayer request in regards to the young adult worship team that I serve as musical director for: I am running into some difficulties with another guitar player. I have not completely negated myself from being part of the problem (ego can be a tricky little bugger) so I am trying to stay open to where I need to grow in this situation. The difficult part is that making him happy detracts from the team spirit and also musical integrity of the band. So far he seems too busy telling me what to do to realize that he could benefit from listening. I don't think he means things personally, but his quickness to become adamant about things without taking time to perceive a situation causes conflict. Anyway, that's some of what I see so far. I need God's help in accurately and patiently perceiving all the ins and outs of this situation and in knowing how to address it.
But aside from that, I am very pleased and encouraged with the way things are going with the worship team. We have some amazing co-leadership happening. One girl is the worship leader and main singer and another guy (a missionary from New Zealand) is overseeing the spiritual development of the team. The youth pastors and people in the congregation have had very supportive feedback and are excited about the atmosphere and sincerity of worship that has been present in the last month. I am very encouraged to be a part of this and it is spurring and motivating challenges for spiritual growth in my own life. God is good to allow me to feel this connection with him and with others in the work here.
And in general, life is going very well here. I enjoy it. I like the city. I am learning to get around from place to place rather than just from my apartment to a couple of church-related locations (separate office and meeting spaces). I still don't see all the reasons, but God has put me where he wants me and is undoubtedly blessing the support of all of you who are supporting me.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Random Kiev Factoid
Crossing the street in Ukraine (even at a crosswalk) is strongly reminiscent of the arcade game Frogger.
In other news, this week has gone well so far. I am filling in on guitar for the teen worship service this Sunday so that has given me more songs to learn and rehearsals to attend and has helped keep me busy. Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to help the teen and young adult teams with running the sound equipment and that has helped make a nice difference in the overall sound of the worship teams and assisted in making the environment more supportive of worship.
I will be attending a training camp Sunday through Tuesday for volunteers working with Radooga this summer. That is the ministry my church partnered with when I came to Ukraine the first time to work with orphans. I will be able to go to the same camp again this year (and it will only cost me about $100 instead of $2400)! I had hoped to also work with one of Radooga's English Language Camps this summer but it looks like New Life's camp schedule will have an overlapping issue.
Well that's the news for the moment. Thanks to all who have helped to put me here.
In other news, this week has gone well so far. I am filling in on guitar for the teen worship service this Sunday so that has given me more songs to learn and rehearsals to attend and has helped keep me busy. Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to help the teen and young adult teams with running the sound equipment and that has helped make a nice difference in the overall sound of the worship teams and assisted in making the environment more supportive of worship.
I will be attending a training camp Sunday through Tuesday for volunteers working with Radooga this summer. That is the ministry my church partnered with when I came to Ukraine the first time to work with orphans. I will be able to go to the same camp again this year (and it will only cost me about $100 instead of $2400)! I had hoped to also work with one of Radooga's English Language Camps this summer but it looks like New Life's camp schedule will have an overlapping issue.
Well that's the news for the moment. Thanks to all who have helped to put me here.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Update and Prayer Needed for This Week
Things have been going quite well so far. Home here is great. My roommates continue to be amazing and helpful friends. They both just left tonight to go to a nine day conference though so I could use some prayers over the next week or so. I have not been lonely yet but a lot of that has been because of them being around. This week will be harder.
I'm still finding where exactly I fit in here. There are lots of opportunities with the worship teams but I think I need to focus on one or two teams to apply myself the most intentionally with those and to leave time for other opportunities. The English language small group is still taking shape but looks like it will be a valuable thing for missionary kids and others whose English/American parents work in Ukraine. I met one of the teens a week ago and I realized that he has nowhere to fit in. He hasn't lived here long enough to fit it with Ukrainian kids and he doesn't seem to have enough other people like himself. The other intern and I are talking about how we can create a community for him and others in similar situations.
I am at the point where I realize I'm not sure what I'm doing and that's a little scary. But I can fall back on knowing confidently that I was supposed to come here, though I haven't figured out all the reasons yet. I need to apply myself diligently but be patient knowing that I may not see an impact for a good number of months. The other thing I am having to remind myself is that if I don't make this trip be all about God, then it just will not work.
Joel (the American youth pastor) has been very helpful in the process of getting settled and is always available to provide moral support. He had me, the other American intern, and some other people over to his place for Easter dinner. He has also had encouraging things to say about the turn we are making with the young adult worship ministry. Things are moving forward, it's just hard to see the impact so soon.
I'm still finding where exactly I fit in here. There are lots of opportunities with the worship teams but I think I need to focus on one or two teams to apply myself the most intentionally with those and to leave time for other opportunities. The English language small group is still taking shape but looks like it will be a valuable thing for missionary kids and others whose English/American parents work in Ukraine. I met one of the teens a week ago and I realized that he has nowhere to fit in. He hasn't lived here long enough to fit it with Ukrainian kids and he doesn't seem to have enough other people like himself. The other intern and I are talking about how we can create a community for him and others in similar situations.
I am at the point where I realize I'm not sure what I'm doing and that's a little scary. But I can fall back on knowing confidently that I was supposed to come here, though I haven't figured out all the reasons yet. I need to apply myself diligently but be patient knowing that I may not see an impact for a good number of months. The other thing I am having to remind myself is that if I don't make this trip be all about God, then it just will not work.
Joel (the American youth pastor) has been very helpful in the process of getting settled and is always available to provide moral support. He had me, the other American intern, and some other people over to his place for Easter dinner. He has also had encouraging things to say about the turn we are making with the young adult worship ministry. Things are moving forward, it's just hard to see the impact so soon.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Video From My Church In Nashville
Here is a video that was shown at my home church in Nashville (Midtown Fellowship) right before I left. It tells a little about what I'm doing and why. The video was done pro bono by a guy named Josh Carter who is also involved with Midtown's missions trips to Ukraine. Check out his website at www.joshbcarter.com. If you need any work done and would like to contact him via phone, let me know and I can provide you with his number.
Meeting Midtown: Josh Ingram from Joshua Ingram on Vimeo.
Meeting Midtown: Josh Ingram from Joshua Ingram on Vimeo.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Blog Overhaul
I have given this blog site a bit of an overhaul today. I have updated information on relevant pages and added new Prayer Requests and Contact pages. Please feel free to contact me just to keep in touch or to find out more about what is going on!
Моя Квартира (My Apartment)
I have taken a few photos of the apartment where I am living. Take a look here. This residential area is a new suburb on the northeast side of Kiev. The building is a large U shape and I estimate there are well over 1500 apartments in this building alone. Identical buildings stretch down the street. In true Ukrainian style, there are many entrances to the building, each with access to only a small number of apartments on each floor.
This building is very new. It was built only about four years ago. It is a relatively nice building but the trade off is that it takes about one hour to get to any major parts of the city. Because our building is new, the hallways are comparatively well maintained. In other buildings I have been in, the mailboxes are falling off the walls, half of the flooring tiles are missing, the light bulbs are either missing altogether or sparse, dim and flickering. Many walkways and passageways are straight out of spy movies.
I have purchased a few items to make my year more comfortable. I got a desk chair which I can wheel out into the living room for additional seating and speakers to make learning tunes each week more enjoyable. I am debating whether or not to buy a new bed or mattress. The mattresses in my room are cot size and have some very defined gullies in the center. Flipping my bed frame around last night helped a lot after I discovered the bottom is made up of two pieces of plywood which met with a crown right underneath my ribs!
This building is very new. It was built only about four years ago. It is a relatively nice building but the trade off is that it takes about one hour to get to any major parts of the city. Because our building is new, the hallways are comparatively well maintained. In other buildings I have been in, the mailboxes are falling off the walls, half of the flooring tiles are missing, the light bulbs are either missing altogether or sparse, dim and flickering. Many walkways and passageways are straight out of spy movies.
I have purchased a few items to make my year more comfortable. I got a desk chair which I can wheel out into the living room for additional seating and speakers to make learning tunes each week more enjoyable. I am debating whether or not to buy a new bed or mattress. The mattresses in my room are cot size and have some very defined gullies in the center. Flipping my bed frame around last night helped a lot after I discovered the bottom is made up of two pieces of plywood which met with a crown right underneath my ribs!
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