Hey All,
This will probably be our last post from Kharkov. In a few moments we'll begin our second "Oasis". The youth from Pastor Vitally's church have been inviting friends. Please pray for the evening. Worship will take place in several languages: English, Russian and Swahili. Our friends from Africa are going to show us a traditional worship song and dance. Bill is going to be bringing the Word. Pray for a special bond to form between the Ukrainian students and the International students. Though they worship in the same building, I think this is the first week they've spent so much time together. One of our goals at the beginning of our trip was to bring the very diverse cultures together. We pray that the friendships that were formed will last.
Last night we sat out on the roof of our building for our last official debriefing. Each member of the team shared 5 things that we had learned the past week. Though we each had our own thoughts, we could all say that we learned the following:
1) WE ARE SO BLESSED in America. It has been so hot here. (A major heat wave came through this week.) We've been walking everywhere. And we've been melting away in very warm building that lack a/c. We are now very, very grateful for our homes and churches with a/c. I know I will never complain again when I walk 10 feet from my cool house to my hot car (hot until the a/c kicks in) and then another 10 feet to another cool building. I will never complain that I'm freezing in church. :-)
2) The favorite part for many of us was Worship on Sunday. Going through many different churches and styles of worship was wonderful. On top of that, being able to worship in so many languages was AWESOME!
3) We also learned that prejudice still exists. I've never seen it so clearly before. We spent a lot of time with both Ukrainians and Africans and Indians. Like I mentioned earlier, I think this was the first time that they'd really spent time together. We wanted to build bridges and we pray that those bridges last for a long time. I know that the Lord can use this new "Oasis" ministry to bring university students of every race together to worship and serve Him.
4) Women are women everywhere we go. Being a girl you know we like to talk about girl things...it's the same here. Pat had several meetings with the women of this church and they have the same needs women at home do. And us girls...well, let's just say we had some good "girl chat".
5) And finally, we realized that 13 was the PERFECT number for our group. If there had been one more there would've been many days we didn't fit on the bus. If there had been one less we may have needed someone to fill in a gap. We have not had one conflict in the 10 days we've spent together. The Lord orchestrated everything perfectly! And we're very grateful for the time we've spent together, not only serving, but fellowshipping and having fun!
Speaking of fun...we leave Kharkov tomorrow morning for Kiev. We'll be on the train for 6 hours. In case you haven't been following the World Cup, you should know that Ukraine is in the tournament for the first time ever...and they've advanced to the third round! So we'll arrive in Kiev tomorrow just in time to see a few important places and settle into our hotel...which overlooks the square where the biggest soccer party in the country will be taking place! And we are ready to jump right in! We all bought Ukraine soccer jerseys and a couple Ukraine flags so that we blend right in and experience a real soccer celebration! Now that is something we'll never be able to do in America! We are so EXCITED!
Well, I better get going. Please pray for our safety as we'll be traveling a lot over the next few days. We'll see you all in a few!
Love from all of us...
Rebecca
Hey Everybody! This is Scott, I finally get my turn on the blog. Today was the last day of our VBS and what a success! We all met at the church in the morning with the Ukrainian students and walked over to this park in the middle of these huge old and ratty (is that a word?) apartment buildings. When we showed up all the kids from the surrounding area flocked in to play soccer, work on crafts and learn english. We also had most of the kids from the previous two days return and with their friends. The soccer games were my favorite part of the day. Soccer is such a popular sport around here these days with Ukraine doing so well in the World Cup. We were able to draw a lot of kids into the games. At the end we called all the kids into a big group and presented the gospel to them. Natasha, one of the Ukrainian college students, and Posha (I think that is how it is spelled) one of the volunteers at the church did a great job of presenting the gospel to the children in their native language of Russian. Natasha is studying children's ministry in school and it was exciting to see her minister to the children and connect with them. I think that the
children where very receptive to the gospel and seemed very intent in their listening. There were occasional distractions such as concerned parents calling their kids to go home but overall I thought the VBS was a great success. I think that we (us Americans and New Hope Church members) have found a great way to reach the Ukraine for Jesus, through the children. I was speaking with Natasha and she said that programs for children like this are very rare; I think this is why our VBS
went to well. This is something that New Hope can continue to do long after we are gone. Thanks for the prayers from back home.
When we got back to the church we had a great late lunch (Ukrainian) cooked by some of the local ladies. The cuisine here customarily encompasses lots of fresh vegetables, bread, soup, and an interesting form of salad similar to colslaw. It was great, we all ate in the basement where it was nice and cool while the sun was blazing hot outside (around 88 degress). I think I prefer these traditional Ukrainian meals to McDonalds....our other staple meal on this trip.
The culture is amazing. It is soo different from France, where we were for the first couple of days. Everyone here (on the bus, subway or streets, etc.) is so quiet and reserved and rarely smiles. Several times a day in public one of us has to remind the others to quiet down as our conversations tend to excalate in volume to low roars very easily. In contrast, France was completely different. People were more personable, they smiled more and generally were more trusting of us. Another difference was the cost of our general expenses. I can see why we only spent two days in Paris. Everything we bought seemed to be three times more than what it would be in Florida. In contrast, the Ukraine is much different. Food and other costs of living here is much more affordable. I can see why thousands of international students come to get their educations here in the Ukraine. Paris though, had it's amazing beauty (see pictures). Ukraine is a beautiful country but does not have the amount of beautiful national monuments that Paris has.
So as you can see, we have had two starkly different experiences on our trip. By far the most rewarding for me though, has been here in the Ukraine, connecting with the local brothers and sisters in Christ and ministering to the locals.
In Christ,
Scott
Hey!!! What's up? This is Rach. Everything is going good. Yesterday our awesome new friends from church took us all over Kharkov after the VBS. We went to see Mother Ukraine. We went on a bucket ride....uh...we're trying to decide what it's called. It's kinda got the feel of a ski-lift at Disney world. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little scared the that bottom my drop out of the ricketty thing. But it was really fun, and most of us rode with one of the church kids so we got to know them better. The cool thing about spending the afternoons with Vitaly's church kids is that we get a chance to encourage them and talk to on a one-one basis. Then they took us to a freshwater spring. There were people everywhere. Some bathing, some gathering water. They would walk really far with empty bottles, fill them up and trek them back. It is so far from what we are used to. We again enjoyed a funky Ukranian buffet dinner. Even though we don't always pick things that taste good, it's pretty fun. At night we watched Ukraine beat the Swiss. OH YEAH! We got in trouble for cheering to loud after they won. The old guy in the room next to the boys came out onto the balcony and called over, "Come here all of you." (Only Gabe the Brave went over.) "If you make one more cry I will call you the police!" We didnt' think the popo would care that much about a group of Americans cheering because their team won...but we were respectful and went to bed.
We did our second day of VBS in the park. We were a little more prepared for the unpreparedness of the group. We got to the park set up our stuff and started playing football (soccer,) basketball, and american football. There is the cutest kid here named Dima (he's in the picture with me) who doesn't want to play soccer or basketball all he wants to play is American Football...and that kid has a little NFL player trapped inside. Anyways...we had a great time making friends, doing crafts and playing games. After about an hour we got everyone together, with the promise of candy and water, to sit down for a Bible lesson. I think it went really well. The kids got a little antsy after a while, but, the good thing about doing something a couple days in a row is that you can improve with each new day. So, we discussed what to do to make tomorrow better, and with God's help, we will leave a lasting impression on the kids we come in contact with.
Actually, one of my favorite things today was talking with an old Ukranian man. He was kinda drunk, kinda smelly and very talkative. Pastor Andrew was there and he started translating for us. The man told me that he respected everyone, respected every language, trees and animals. He went on for a while. I told him I respected him and asked him if he respected God. It was good to have a Pastor translating for me, cause he put the extra pastoral "oomph" into it all. But when I brought up God, the old man got very worked up. "I dont' believe in God," he said. "I only believe in myself." We discussed back in forth. "If there was no God," I said, "Where did everythign come from? Who made all the beautiful people, the trees, the sky?" He said he didn't know, but he did not believe in God. "But," he said "I believe in angels." (Go figure!) I was like, "Well, then where do the angels come from?" He said I got him there. We spoke for a few more minutes. I told him that I had something I wanted to tell him and asked if he would listen. I told him (while fielding his outbursts of disagreement) that God created him, loved him and wanted to know him. He said he didn't believe in God, and that he was always right. So I asked, "But what if you're wrong this time?" "I'm never wrong. I'm always right." I knew that the conversation coudl go on forever with no earth-shattering changes of heart, so I asked him if I could take a picture with him. He agreed, then tried to kiss me on the cheek. I was like "NIET! NIET! NIET!"
Anyways, as much as I enjoyed talking to him, just for the sheer entertainment of talking to a semi-drunk, kinda crazy old man, it is sad and sobering. So many of these people have been fed the lie that God doesn't exist there entire lives. They don't know that He loves them and wants to have a relationship with them. They don't know that he created them, the heavens or the earth. Not only do they not know, they cannot be convinced otherwise. Pray for that man. I don't know his name, but, he's one of those ones you don't forget. In America, most people atleast believe that a God-figure does exist, this man did not. PRAY FOR THESE PEOPLE. Our God is bigger than the lies communism spread for so many years. Pray that there eyes will be opened, that seeds will be planted and that they will desire more.
Love you guys! Miss you. LEAVE US MORE COMMENTS!!!
PS. Mrs. C, this is for you! Muah!
Privyetstweu!!
Since you last heard from us Jaqcui locked Rebecca and Rachel out of their room because she was sleeping. The college youth group on Saturday night went great!! Aileen, Scott, Greg, and Jaqui gave their testimonies and Aileen and Scott helped lead in worship. There were about 52 students there, which is AMAZING!! It's soo cool to see how God works!
Sunday: We woke up at 7:30 to get ready and sweaty to go to church. We got to church around 9:00 and went to the first of 3 services.
The first service, which Pastor Louis spoke at, was the traditional Russian service where Drew gave his testimony. This service is usually led by Pastor Andrew. Lilly and Aileen also sang a HILARIOUS childrens song about fruit! :) The second service we attended was the contemporary Russian service where Rachel gave her testimony and Pastor Bill spoke. This is the service that is usually led by Pastor Vitaly. While this service was in progress the rest of us went around to the different youth Bible studies and spoke. This is where Lilly, Rebecca, Gabe, Scott, and Jacqui all gave their testimonies.
The third and final service was the African praise service. The worship that Pastor Alex led was AMAZING!! We all really enjoyed it a lot. Pastor Bill spoke again at this service, and Billy gave his testimony.
The entire day of services from start to finish took around 7 hours. It is soo cool to see how God speaks to us in so many different ways, and even though we couldn't understand the words, we understood the worship and what God had to say to us.
That night we all went out with the youth from New Hope Church and had some great traditional Ukrainian food. Pastor Louis, Pastor Bill, Mrs. Kelly, and Jacqui went out with Pastor Vitaly, his wife Anna, and his daughter Veronica. We all had a great time and got back to the hotel around 9:00.
Monday: We got up around 8:00 and went to the church at 9:00. When we got to the church we had a quick meeting about VBS and what we would do there. We left for the park where we were going to have VBS at around 10:00. When we got there we all spread out and found kids to attend. We did crafts, games, Bible lesson, and English lessons. We all had fun interacting with all of the Ukrainian kids and playing soccer with them.
VBS ended around 1:00 and then we went back to the church and had some Ukrainian soup. This afternoon we will be hanging out with some of the youth from the church and walking around the streets of Kharkov.
Please keep all of us in your prayers and continue posting blogs, we love to hear what you have to say.
Love,
Jacqui, Aileen, and Drew
Hey Everyone! This is Lilly giving you a quick update. The picnic went great yesterday (Friday)! We went to a little island in the middle of a lake where a lot of the locals spend time. We had a good turn out and some of them were new friends that students brought with them. This was great because Pastor Vitaly wanted the picnic to be an outreach event. This was our second day interacting with the youth of New Hope church and it could not have gone better! Pat observed as they played volleyball - people are basically the same. Once the barriers have been broken down they tend to enjoy each other and let loose - even if there is a language barrier.
It is a blessing from God that a lot of Pastor Vitaly's students can speak pretty good English. The picnic was a lot of fun, we brought lunch as well as soccer balls, footballs, frisbees, and volleyballs with us. At the picnic we invited all the students to come to an Oasis type of outreach tonight (Saturday). Most of them sounded excited so we are hoping for a good turn out tonight.
Today we were invited to join New Hope at the lake for a baptism. Around 20 members of New Hope Church were baptized today! It was really exciting to watch and participate in. We even got to watch some of the students we just met get baptized. It was a great outreach event also because a lot of people were around swimming and watching. Pray that this event might have sparked questions in their minds about what the hole baptisim even was about.
Pray also for the Oasis type youth event we are doing tonight. It is the first one for this church. One of our goals for the trip is to try and help establish a weekly event here at New Hope similar to the Oasis college meeting that we have at BRCC. Pray for the Boca team and the students of New Hope as we work together tonight.
Thank you for all your prayers!
Lilly
We left Paris Wednesday morning and arrived safely in Ukriane on Wednesday afternoon. Pastor Vitally met us at the Kyiv airport and rushed us to the train station. It was a miracle that we even made the train because the plane we were originally supposed to be on broke down. We ended up going on a different plane and left over an hour late. Once we made it on the train it was easy going from there. It was nice to chat with Vitally and take naps while enjoying the beautiful countryside fly by.
These past 2 days have been filled with a lot of sightseeing in downtown Kharkov and a little bit of getting lost. Let me tell you, Russian is not the easiest language to read! :-) We've also spent time getting to know the youth in Vitally's church. We're looking forward to seeing how God can help us with the language barrier in order to minister to these Russian speaking Christian brothers and sister.
Sorry this is so short but we're off to an outreach picnic with the youth from Vitally's church. Please pray as these next few days will be very, very busy.
Thanks!
Greg and Rebecca
All I can say is WOW!! It's our last night in Paris. We're leaving our hotel at 5:30 tomorrmw morning so we need to sleep soon. I don't know how but I'm not that tired. We've literally been going non-stop since we got off the plane yesterday.
Thankfully, travel went very smothly. We left Miami at 5:30 pm on Sunday evening and were downtown Paris by 3:00 pm the next day! (8:00 Monday morning in Boca!)
We've seen everything one could possibly see in Paris. Our 2 short days have seemed like a whole week. Yesterday we started at the Louve, walked to the Arc de Triomphe, up 284 steps to see the beautiful 360 degree view of the city. Then we took a boat ride on the Seine River...some of us dozed off and some snapped a zillion pictures of the beautiful bridges and buildings going by. We had a picnic...bagettes and cheese..at the base of the twinkling Eiffel Tozer at twilight. (By the way the sun sets around 10pm!) Then it was up the tower for the city view by night!
Today we got up refreshed and very thankful that we were finally able to stretch out! We had breakfast by the Opera House and headed downtown. We saw several churches including Notre Dame. As we walked through the churches we each saw different spiritual analogies come alive. The first thing I noticed was that the church was absolutely beautiful...the architecture, the stained glass and sculptures were amazing! However, as we entered the church, instead of people worshipping they were taking pictures, talking and laughing, and wandering around. There were very few people that had actuqlly stopped to worship or pray. It reminded me of my own life...I may look like I have it together on the outside, but it's really my heart that matters. What are my priorities? Is my heart focused on worshipping God or on everything else?
We ended the night wandering around cute little streets shopping and eating. A perfect ending to a wonderful 2 days!
Tomorrow we're off to the real, exciting part of our trip! We'll be on planes, trains, buses and taxis before we finally settle in our hotel in Kharkov. Please pray for safe travel and good rest so that we can be ready to go and serve with Vitally and Anna.
For the rest of the team...
Rebecca
