Ukraine 2006

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

posted by BRCC Missions @ 4:36 AM