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
posted by BRCC Missions @ 7:58 AM
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