This last week has been so busy! We started the weekend with some friends our age, who invited us over for tea. Andy and Jaimee met them through local believers, and they are both professional interpreters. (It’s a blessing to have friends who speak English!) We ended up spending all evening with them, discussing theological issues, playing card games, and eating pizza. Of note, it was on our way to their apartment that we saw recycling in Ukraine for first time—there were containers constructed of chicken-wire on the sidewalks for depositing glass and plastic bottles (Yay!!).
Sunday, the 8th, was Women’s Day, and Jaimee and I woke up to flowers and chocolates from our wonderful husbands! Later, we participated in worship services with a local church, which all of our kids were eager to join us for. In fact, several of them called Andy about six times double checking that we were meeting them at McDonald’s so we could all walk to the worship service together. We’re so blessed that the kids have a desire to come with us on Sundays; they’ve never been asked to come, they just want to. In fact, on Wednesday night, Vanya told us that his goal is to feel like he feels during worship services all the time. While our kids are rough around the edges, they want to know God more personally and desire genuine relationships, they just don’t quite know how to obtain either. Even Nastya, who came to worship service this week with the distinct smell of booze on her breath, impatiently waits for us at McDonald’s every Sunday.
Monday is our Sabbath—we take the day to rest and be rejuvenated in the Lord. And since this Monday was the day observed for Women’s Day, Jaimee and I were invited to a ladies’ luncheon at the home of a local believer. This was my first introduction to “sala.” I saw this unusual looking dish on the table and asked our friend Tanya what it was. She replied with a laugh, “If I tell you, you won’t eat it!” She was right. “Sala” is seasoned pig fat, with the skin left on. I didn’t even try it—suddenly I realized the value of a kosher meal! Aside from the sala, the rest of the afternoon was lovely. These ladies are so great—they’re filled with JOY! Even with a huge language barrier, they’re more than happy to welcome me into their circle and laugh with me about my terrible Russian accent and their broken English. When there are no words, a smile and sign language will get you a long way!
Wednesday night we had our second family night of the year and Jared made it a big hit with a bilingual game of charades! It was actually a good way to help us with our Russian! How do you say “human contortionist?” We had an awesome time, and after all the craziness, got an opportunity to sit down with our four main disciples and talk with them about how they want to grow spiritually. (One of our bilingual friends, Tanya, interpreted for us.) This conversation was a blessing, not only because Tanya was there to help, but also because we have been seeking the Lord about how to effectively help these kids grow in their relationship with God. They are all new believers, and they’re bombarded everyday with the temptations of sex, materialism, drugs, and alcohol. While they can’t be protected from everything and need healing in some huge ways, we believe they will grow in the freedom of Christ, and we are praying for the wisdom to help guide them there.
Finally, we had our first English lesson today, and it went great! We had three students today, and they all worked hard. Their desire to learn makes teaching that much easier! We’re taking an approach of submersion, meaning we’re trying to use as little Russian as possible to communicate. They did an awesome job, and by the end of the lesson we had them all pronouncing “th” like pros (The “th” sound doesn’t exist in Russian or Ukrainian). Andy & Jaimee had some ESL books & materials donated, so we’re using those to teach the kids. We even have workbooks for them to do homework! It feels good to be on the giving rather than receiving end of homework!
Sunday, the 8th, was Women’s Day, and Jaimee and I woke up to flowers and chocolates from our wonderful husbands! Later, we participated in worship services with a local church, which all of our kids were eager to join us for. In fact, several of them called Andy about six times double checking that we were meeting them at McDonald’s so we could all walk to the worship service together. We’re so blessed that the kids have a desire to come with us on Sundays; they’ve never been asked to come, they just want to. In fact, on Wednesday night, Vanya told us that his goal is to feel like he feels during worship services all the time. While our kids are rough around the edges, they want to know God more personally and desire genuine relationships, they just don’t quite know how to obtain either. Even Nastya, who came to worship service this week with the distinct smell of booze on her breath, impatiently waits for us at McDonald’s every Sunday.
Monday is our Sabbath—we take the day to rest and be rejuvenated in the Lord. And since this Monday was the day observed for Women’s Day, Jaimee and I were invited to a ladies’ luncheon at the home of a local believer. This was my first introduction to “sala.” I saw this unusual looking dish on the table and asked our friend Tanya what it was. She replied with a laugh, “If I tell you, you won’t eat it!” She was right. “Sala” is seasoned pig fat, with the skin left on. I didn’t even try it—suddenly I realized the value of a kosher meal! Aside from the sala, the rest of the afternoon was lovely. These ladies are so great—they’re filled with JOY! Even with a huge language barrier, they’re more than happy to welcome me into their circle and laugh with me about my terrible Russian accent and their broken English. When there are no words, a smile and sign language will get you a long way!
Wednesday night we had our second family night of the year and Jared made it a big hit with a bilingual game of charades! It was actually a good way to help us with our Russian! How do you say “human contortionist?” We had an awesome time, and after all the craziness, got an opportunity to sit down with our four main disciples and talk with them about how they want to grow spiritually. (One of our bilingual friends, Tanya, interpreted for us.) This conversation was a blessing, not only because Tanya was there to help, but also because we have been seeking the Lord about how to effectively help these kids grow in their relationship with God. They are all new believers, and they’re bombarded everyday with the temptations of sex, materialism, drugs, and alcohol. While they can’t be protected from everything and need healing in some huge ways, we believe they will grow in the freedom of Christ, and we are praying for the wisdom to help guide them there.
Finally, we had our first English lesson today, and it went great! We had three students today, and they all worked hard. Their desire to learn makes teaching that much easier! We’re taking an approach of submersion, meaning we’re trying to use as little Russian as possible to communicate. They did an awesome job, and by the end of the lesson we had them all pronouncing “th” like pros (The “th” sound doesn’t exist in Russian or Ukrainian). Andy & Jaimee had some ESL books & materials donated, so we’re using those to teach the kids. We even have workbooks for them to do homework! It feels good to be on the giving rather than receiving end of homework!
Watch Amanda teach English at the following link:
Thank you for reading our blogs and for all your previous feedback! We value your prayers and encouragement. Please seek the Lord with us for wisdom on how to help the kids grow spiritually. The language barrier limits our conversation, but we know that God is bigger than our Russian vocabulary! “May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Liberating King, infuse your life with His Spirit, brothers and sisters!” (Galatians 6:18)
If you want to watch more videos of life in Ukraine, you can visit our YouTube page at the following link:
Yep. Don't think for a minute that my commitment to reading your blog was some quirky reflex. I'm in it until I have a thoudand yard stare, bro.
ReplyDeleteTell Amanda that Starbucks has now gone to seed now that she's gone.
-R
Oh, and I know how to spell "thousand," thank you, despite the horrific syntax sin above. Tell Amanda that I've got a decent grip on the language. I won't need lessons.
ReplyDelete-R