Christmas/New Year's Party

Tonight I hosted a Christmas/New Year’s party at my house, and 24 people showed up. It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun. We had a feast, then played some games. It was a mix of people, adults, teens and children, so the logistics were kind of interesting, but it was great to have so many of my favorite people in one place! After the meal we played a few games together. One game was to fill a pair of pantyhose with gloves and scarves, then someone had to wear it on their head, looking something like a strange reindeer. They had a good laugh out of it. Later we split up and the teens played Dutch Blitz and Monopoly in the kitchen, while the little ones played a game in the great room. While we adults were talking, one of the mothers asked me, “How can you stand this noise?” To be honest, I didn’t even notice; my house is always loud when the kids are here. As they were leaving that mother blessed me all the way to the gate! I was really worried last night, that maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew, but God just helped everything to work together, and gave me strength to get through the day.

Dima D & Dima G in a hard-fought game of Monopoly My friend Katya

Tolic & Varduye

Of course we had to take some time for goofy self photos!

Dima, Artyom, & I Polina, Mirey, Lilia, Liza
Mila, Maria, Yanna, Katya
Artyom, Dima B, Maxim, Diana
The reindeer game

Let It Stop, Let It Stop, Let It Stop!

It has been snowing here since Tuesday, a soft, gentle, but continuous snow. For a girl from southern Kansas, this is more snow than I’ve ever seen in my life! Before I started shoveling today, it was over the tops of my boots. A couple days ago, I felt very humbled because some kids came over and helped me shovel snow. Today they came again, and brought another recruit. We shoveled the driveway and sidewalks and paths in about an hour. And of course, we had to play a little! The snow is so powdery it wouldn’t pack for snowballs, so we resorted to throwing shovels full of snow at each other. It was actually fun. Wait a minute… do you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth? What happened to me? I thought I was impervious to the effects of snowmania. (Don’t bother looking it up. It’s a poor attempt at humor.) Anyway, here are some pictures for all of you who actually fall into the category of snowmaniacs.Andre & Natasha

Christmas Peace

My halls are officially decked! Four of my neighborhood kiddos came over tonight and we decorated for Christmas. It was a lot of fun decorating, but afterward, we turned on the Christmas lights and just sat for a bit and chatted. It was quiet and peaceful and no one wanted to break the peacefulness that surrounded us. One of the boys often tells me that there is a 'good aura' at my house. For most of these kids, every day is just survival, so to have a moment of pure joy is rare. We talked about how the birth of one small child could bring such peace to the world year after year, and how He can bring peace to our hearts day after day. Maxim, Igor, Artyom, & Maxim


Maxim took some time to baby the cat, which she thoroughly enjoyed!

My Friend

My best friend in Nova Odessa, Alla. She has such a gentle, sweet spirit, you just can't help but love her! I'm so thankful that I have a friend like her.

A New Take on an Old Market

All I can say right now is, “Wow, what a day!” Okay, that’s not actually all I can say, and I’m going to say quite a bit more right now…. So buckle your seatbelts while I take you through my day…. It started early. One of my kid’s moms wanted to teach me how to cook some Ukrainian food. She has been saying for a couple months that she was going to teach me this, that, and another dish. Well, she decided today was the day. Saturday, of all days. Anyone in any form of ministry knows how difficult it is to schedule things on Saturday, because there are already a myriad of tasks to get done before Sunday. Well, I picked her up at 8 AM and we went to the bazaar to get all the necessaries. Going to the bazaar with a no-nonsense Ukrainian is certainly different than my usual wandering around. She taught me a lot about our little bazaar in just a matter of minutes. I mean, who knew there was a whole building of meat vendors? Or that you could buy lungs, heart, and kidneys of pigs? Or that not-yet-sour sour cream had so many different tastes. (We probably tasted 6 or 7 before she decided which was the tastiest.) It was quite an interesting excursion! Seven hours and I don’t know how many dishes later, we had cooked enough to feed an army. According to her, I’m supposed to eat that all week! I suddenly feel a dinner party coming on! On the menu: cabbage rolls, chicken-pork-bacon kabobs, meat-filled bread, cheese-filled bread, borscht, carrot salad, pelmeni, cream-poppy seed rolls. It was really fun to learn to cook some of these things, and I hope, when I am on my own, that I can actually replicate them. Hmmm. We’ll see.

This evening Maxim and Dima B. came over for a Bible study and to pray together. They shared with me some of their struggles and how the devil is fighting them. Please pray for these 2 especially. They have a lot of temptations, a big one being smoking. It seems the majority of people in this area smoke, and these boys, although only 18 and 19 years old, have already been smoking for maybe 5 years. It is not going to be an easy habit to break. I shared some scriptures with them, and we talked about some concrete ways they can motivate themselves not to smoke. They are holding each other accountable, and they are encouraging each other. They are still so new in the faith that they are a little afraid to pray out loud, but before they left, we each prayed and I felt that God really met with us. Keep praying for us in Nova Odessa. God has good things going on!

Ukrainian Wedding

Saturday I went to my friend Vera's wedding in Mykolayiv. It was a lovely, traditional Ukrainian event. Here are a few pictures.

The weddings in Ukraine can last up to three days. This one started at 10 AM and was still going strong at 7 PM. I don't know when it ended, because I copped out.

Prayer List

This past week was one of those where I was almost too busy to keep my head above water. To top it off, I got a virus or food poisoning or something because I was sick for about 4 days. I had no choice but to keep going, and God helped me through everything this week. Tuesday I had a service in Ulanivka, and Maxim, who repented a few weeks ago, and his friend Dima, went with me. Wednesday was church in Nova Odessa, and the Lord helped a lot. Thursday I had promised a couple that I would drive them to a nearby village to look at a house they were thinking of buying. This of course, upon arrival home, meant tea together, which I’ve already said means more than a 15 minute conversation. In the evening I went to have Bible study and prayer with a small group. Friday night was youth night, and I was feeling so sick, but God really helped with me with an object lesson on anger. Saturday I found out that Dima B. Maxim’s friend, repented. He said he couldn’t sleep and he just kept thinking about hell. So, he finally got up and read a tract he had, and prayed. He said then he went to bed and immediately fell asleep, because he had so much peace. So, here in Nova Odessa there is much rejoicing, but also much need for prayer.

Please pray for:
Maxim 18yrs.-He said the devil is fighting him a little harder every day, but he’s not going to give up.
Dima B.17 yrs.-He is just a baby in the faith.
Artyom 18 yrs.-He is back in Nova Odessa and the temptations here are strong. I know God is stronger!
Dima D. 12 yrs.-He repented the week before Thanksgiving and told me this week that his biggest struggle is being nice to people. He doesn’t have much patience.
Miha 18 yrs.-He has only been coming to church this week, and he’s asking a lot of questions.
Varduye 18 yrs.-She wants to come to church, but her father won’t allow it. She stops to see me some afternoons on her way home from school.
Dima G. 16 yrs.-He repented at youth camp, but has many struggles at home.

There are many, many more, but these (except for Dima D.) have no Christian influences in the home. Some of their home situations are almost unimaginable, and range from being beaten by alcoholic parents, to being so poor they are working instead of going to school.

“Lord, my dangerous prayer is for you to put broken-hearted people in my life, and fill me with Your love, so that I can lead them to the healing that only You can give.”

Nicknames

Nicknames are so much fun in a foreign language! One boy came over tonight, and his nickname in Russian is 'Miha' which sounds suspeciously just like the abreviated version of Spanish, meaning 'my daughter.' My name, although derived from a Russian name, Ekaterina, produces an interesting variety of nicknames... Katya, Katerin, Katrine, Katyush, Katushka, Kartena... Then there are other nicknames as well, Sonichka, Daragaya, Pupichka, Seepichka, Lubimaya... I'll answer to just about anything anymore!

Baby Steps

Tonight, as with most evenings, I had a houseful. One boy, maybe 19 years old, told his friends a few weeks ago that they should not come to our services because we are a 'sect.' He came over a couple weeks ago with a friend and decided I wasn't too weird or crazy, (no comments :~) so he came to service last night. I was encouraged that he came, but then found out after church he went to the disco. Ok, reminder to self, baby steps. Tonight he was back again, this time with questions, deep ones. It is obvious he has given God and truth a good deal of thought. I realized again the importance of a Christian's calling. People all around us are seeking answers. They will find answers, albeit truth or lie. How prepared are we to give a defense, with love, for the Gospel?

Darkness and Light

You know what it’s like when you are down, when your mood is black? I don’t mean just a murky grey black, but the blackest of black. The black hole of Calcutta black. The kind of blackness you find when you are deep in the bowels of a cave. The kind of blackness that envelops your soul and it seems you can’t even find God in it. That kind of blackness has been shrouding me the past couple weeks. It began creeping in one day, and before I knew it, I had allowed it to take control.

You might say, “A missionary of all things, she shouldn’t allow that to happen.“ But, I’m finding in my spiritual walk that it does happen sometimes. We can show ourselves off as perfect Christians, but we still have spiritual battles to fight. As Christian as we are, we are still human. God created us with a range of emotions, and the devil wants to use that humanity in us to destroy us, discourage us, and just generally beat us down. He will use our health, our neighbors, our self-image, our stumbles, the weather, world events, and even our friends and family, to leave huge gaping wounds in our spirit. He will use words spoken in anger, or even words spoken thoughtlessly at instruments of torture and replay them continuously in our minds. He will use an unintentional slight to blindside us and make us question our relationships. When all of these things culminate in our spirit, they have the potential to sink us to that black place.

But praise God we have hope! Jesus is our lifeboat. When we are in the storm, we may be thinking more about the waves that are overwhelming us than we are about the boat that is holding us, but it doesn’t change the reality of the boat. It is still there, weathering the storm with us. And there will come a point in the storm when He sees we can’t take it anymore, and He will speak the words again, “Peace be still.” He will not give us more than we can bear. When the waves calm, we are drenched, tired, beaten, but the boat is still holding us. He will take us gently into His arms, clean our wounds, give us rest, feed us, and strengthen us.

Sunday He did that for me in a miraculous way. The thing is, it wasn’t my miracle, but I benefited from it. A young man, Artyom, who was saved at youth camp this summer, has been praying for his family. He was the only one in his family who attended church of any kind. He has prayed for them and talked to them about how his life has changed. Sunday afternoon, his brother, Maxim, called him and asked Artyom to pray with him and Maxim repented. When they called and told me their news, it was like Jesus whispered peace to my soul too. I rejoiced to see this wonderful young man come to Christ. It will not be easy for these two brothers to stand against the world, but there was one, and now there are two. With every addition, it will make the battle more bearable, and I’m praying in faith that there will soon be another Christian in their family. Praise God for the light of Jesus that chases away the darkness!

Tea Time

Tea. Chai. I never knew, until I came here, how many kinds of tea one can buy. In the large supermarkets, there is generally a whole aisle devoted to tea. Green tea, green tea with jasmine, citrus green tea, red tea, white tea, blue fruit tea, mint tea, raspberry tea, rosehip tea, Earl Grey, Indian spice, Asian tea.... These are just a few that I have tried. My personal favorites are the Indian spice and Earl Grey. Then there are a variety of ways to drink it as well; with sugar, with honey, with lemon, with milk... I have discovered that the perfect hot tea is a flavorful black tea, with a spoon of honey and a splash of milk. (Don't put milk in the citrus tea. Who knew it would curdle?)

When visiting in the homes of the kids who come to services, I have been drinking a boatload of tea. But it's more than just drinking tea. It is a way of getting to know people, to have a window into their lives. Ukrainians are incredibly hospitable people. Most of the ones I know, love to have guests. When you call for them, from outside of their gate, they will often dash out asking the question, "Have you come to be our guest?" Once you are inside, taking your shoes off at the door mind you, they are quick to put on the teapot and pull out the cups. They want to get to know you. They want you to get to know them. It seems that you go from being acquaintances to being friends all with a cup of tea. We Americans tend to want some notice if someone is coming to visit. We want an advance plan. In the States, I wouldn't even go to my closest friends' house without calling first. Here, it doesn't matter. Even if you are only planning to have a 4 minute conversation at the gate, it will generally end in an hour long conversation over a cup of tea. That's just the way it works, and I like it. Pass the honey, please.

As I was visiting this week, I found 7 of my kid's club girls having tea at one home.

As they were leaving, one girl wearing one of the protective masks to prevent swine flu. I've seen all kinds of these lately, from professionally made, to a piece of fabric with some tape and rubber bands!

Swine Flu

Oh, the craziness of panic and fear! Ukraine's prime minister has declared a national crisis because of Swine Flu in Western Ukraine. She has quarantined all the schools in Ukraine for 3 weeks to prevent it from spreading further. She also banned public gatherings and suggested closing markets. There was general fear and now pharmacies are pretty much sold out of medical masks and flu medicine. One has to wonder, with this month's upcoming elections, how much of this is for real, and how much is a political maneuver. Especially since the reports of the number who have died of this fluctuates from 11-54. Hmmmm. Today, I went up to the city center, and it was pretty quiet. I saw a few wearing the masks, and there seemed to be fewer on the buses. I'm glad I know the One who is in control of the whole situation. Here is a link to an article if you are interested.

http://www.euronews.net/2009/10/31/ukraine-goes-into-lockdown-after-swine-flu-spike/