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| | It's about time...Hey everyone :)
I know I've been gone for way too long! Both Jonny and I sound like broken records here  I definitely want to post more and keep you informed on what's going on. Sadly facebook has drawn me away..well more people are on it..but still there's something special about xanga. I feel like I can just pour out my heart on here ..
Things are going really well for me and Jon right now! The last several months have been pretty crazy...well the first few months after we moved were just hard as I was adjusting to life here..and then we had both sides of our family visit during December and January. That was great to be with family for the holidays, but it also was really hard to get started on a schedule.
By February we finally were able to get started on things.
So let's see what's happened since my last post........
- My mom & dad came to visit the last 2 weeks of January! It was awesome to see them and show them where we live. Yeah it was a little taste of "home" for me.
- In February, Phil and Joy Metzger came from Hungary to share at our church couple's retreat. Jon and I both enjoyed having them stay with us and getting to know them better - they were a huge encouragement to us! Yeah and we attended our first marriage retreat! Woah!
- I've started going to the children's hospital with my friend Olya from church. That's been a huge blessing. It's been hard for me knowing how best to get involved here when ministries are already established and I don't know the language yet, but Olya has been a God-send! She speaks English which has helped me so much - just having someone I can talk to, and she's really helped by inviting me to get involved in different areas of ministry. She also invited me to Boradyanka (a small city an hour west of Kyiv) the other week to help her with the Sunday School. It was great to finally see the Calvary Chapel there and know how best to pray for them.
God really has been doing some amazing things here, but I can't pretend that I still don't struggle. Each day can be a battle for me emotionally. Even with the positive things I still struggle with feelings of depression, loneliness and fear. The Lord is continually teaching me to just trust Him and fully rely on HIS strength! His strength is made perfect in weakness! I really believe the Lord has so much to teach me through this time...and He needed to get me away from everything familiar and comfortable...strip all of those things away so that I can fully trust in Him ALONE. As hard as it can be here...I am truly thankful for it. When I think about all of the things that are comfortable to me..everything I was used to in the States I can begin to long for that again. To be in a place where I can....1. Speak the native language 2. Drive my own car around a much smaller town ( don't have to rely on public transport in a city of over 4 million!) 3. Shop at my grocery store Publix :) which was only a 5 minute drive from my house - here I have to walk 15 minutes to the store in the wind/rain/snow and can only buy what I can carry. Not that it's really bad..it's built-in exercise :) 4. Sit out in my backyard and enjoy nature, the water, birds, dolphins, - here we're on the 16th floor in a apt. building and once you get outside you're mostly walking on concrete, in the mud or on garbage which is over-flowing from our trash bins. We hardly have any trees or grass...pretty much the only trees in our region are cranes. Seriously from our window we can see about 20 of them. They are constantly building apt. after apt. in our region. Anyways, all that to say..I wouldn't necessarily choose to be in this place..but you know it's not about all that. If I went back to the States, to what is familiar and maybe more pleasant and comfortable..I wouldn't be happy. The minute I'd get there I'd want to come back here because this is where I know God has called us to be. I don't know for how long..but it's clear that this is where He brought us, and if He desires for us to move elsewhere He will show us. There is such peace trusting in our Sovereign Lord!
The most recent news is that I've started Russian classes at the SEND Language Center here in Kyiv! This is such an answer to prayer! I was meeting sporadically with a woman from the church, but it was hard to make a schedule for that. She works at the church office so I would probably only meet with her twice a week and around her schedule, but we never really got it going. Between us traveling around and me not being fully committed to it, it just wasn't working out. I really wanted to try a classroom setting because often times I just feel so alone in my language studies. Jon of course has known the language since he was 6..and he didn't even have to study it! Not fair!! So I've wanted to be with people who are in my same position..learning the language and learning how to adjust to life here in Ukraine. I heard about the school through a few friends and finally gave SEND a call. I knew it was already half-way through the semester so I highly doubted I could join a class, however I thought I'd just call regardless. Amazingly they had just started 3 new classes for beginners within the last month!! The director of the school said that this has never happened before. The main reason was that they had missionaries who were going to study in Russia but were denied visas. So they came to Kyiv instead to study - SEND of course had to start a class to accommodate them. It was just amazing to me that everything was coming together...that they had an opening and that it was the right fit for me! Praise the Lord! I've studied some on my own in high school and attended one semester of Russian 5 years ago...but nothing ever really stuck. I can understand a bit, but I'm praying now that I can bridge that gap between knowing and speaking. So I'll be going 4 days a week..Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri - for 2 1/2 hours a day - and the school is only 2 metro stops from us! Super convenient for this city! I would appreciate your prayers. I need boldness to get out there and start using it!
Thought I'd share some pictures!
These 3 were taken at the hospital. I attempted to make balloon animals for the kids!
Me on the left and Olya on the right
Me and my little nephew Samuel - when we were visiting Ternopil
| | | Posted 3/26/2008 10:33 PM - 4 comments
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