Ukraine 2008: A Brief Summary of Children's Ministry, Compassion, and Reconciliation

Dear family and friends,
I have recently returned from a Youth in Mission trip to Ukraine, and it was a wonderful time of playing with children, leading and helping with Vacation Bible Schools, and otherwise seeing God’s hand at work in the lives of Ukrainians. Thank you for your financial and/or prayer support that enabled my team and I to participate in this; you have played a part in ministry to others around the world! This letter will give you an overview of the two months I spent in Ukraine and will introduce you to some of the people we met, though it is impossible to fit all the stories from that time into these few pages.

INTRODUCTION TO UKRAINE
Ukrainians have been influenced by three major events/societal structures: World War II, Communism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. Everyone in the Soviet Union lost somebody in the war, and nearly every village/town/city has a war memorial and an Orthodox church. Whenever we were in downtown Kyiv (the capital city) on weekends, we would usually see wedding parties walking or driving around to the various war memorials and churches for photos in honor of their family members who served in the war. Ukraine only recently became independent, and it is mind-boggling that people I met or passed in the streets have lived what I learned about in history classes.

During our first week in Kyiv, we met a Canadian girl about our age, Charly, who had been teaching churches how to use puppets in children’s ministry. It was wonderful getting to know her! Later that week, we joined her for a Puppetry Seminar at Kyiv First Church, which gave us skills and puppets to use throughout the rest of our time in Ukraine. We also met Irina (the children’s director) and Deena, who later joined us in Zaporozhe.

CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE IN UKRAINE
The work of the Church of the Nazarene began just after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, when a missionary couple returned to the country and began hosting home Bible studies. Their translator was Vova (Vladimir), who is now the pastor of Kyiv First Church.

I found that the passage of 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 about Christians being given the ministry of reconciliation really relates to how the church is working and growing in Ukraine. Currently there are a number of churches and drug/alcohol rehab centers throughout the country (mostly in the western part) and 2-3 children’s homes. We were also able to visit 2 men’s rehab centers, one women’s rehab center, 2 children’s homes, and a halfway house for men who have been released from prison.

We also helped transfer banana boxes of humanitarian aid from the Kyiv Ministry Center to a truck that would then transfer it to Vira in Chernovtsy. As you will soon read, we had worked with her and met some of the children who would receive that aid, so it was really neat to see the banana boxes travel full-circle and have a personal connection. Also, at our last location, there was a boy who wore t-shirts with names of small towns that are on my district. That gives me reason to think that I have truly seen the final destination of banana boxes from my district.

CHERNOVTSY
On our way to Chernovtsy, we met Vica (our translator/interpreter) and Tiffany (a volunteer in Ukraine), who traveled with us for the rest of our time in Ukraine. It was wonderful having them with us -- to learn from their experiences, have some companions , and have fun with them!

In Chernovtsy, we worked with Vira Kushnir, who is passionate about helping children with special needs and their families. She says, “Compassion is my lifestyle,” and challenged us by saying that compassion is more than simply feeling sorry for a cause or a person – it means DOING something about it!

We met Sveta, who is 30 years old and has Down’s Syndrome. We helped teach her how to tie her shoes, practicing by using toy shoes. We also organized boxes of toys, occupational therapy supplies, personal care items, and school supplies for Vira to distribute.

One of the highlights (for me) of our time in Ukraine was getting to know Katya and her mom and to encourage them. Katya is 18 and has cerebral palsy, and we went to her apartment twice to sing songs, talk to her, play with her (bubbles and “soccer”), and chat with her mom. Life is difficult for her mother, because in Ukraine, very little assistance is given to those with disabilities. Her husband left her a number of years ago, she is a single mom raising 2 children, and she devotes much of her time to caring for Katya. She says that it has been wonderful knowing Vira and joining her children’s clubs, so that she can meet others in a similar situation.

TULCHIN
In the town of Tulchin, we worked with Pastor Victor to host a backyard Vacation Bible School (VBS). For about 4 mornings, we would meet with around 4 children to play games, share a Bible story and lesson, sing some songs, and share a snack. In the evenings, we would simply play with Victor and Olga’s own twin boys after they returned from daycare.

Pastor Victor is one of many Nazarene pastors in Ukraine that has come out of the drug/alcohol culture. He is now sharing that same hope, love, and new life found in Christ with others in Tulchin. He and his wife also shared with us the story of the biggest miracle they’d witnessed: he and Olga were told they would never be able to have children, and now God has given them three young boys!

ZAPOROZHE
Our time in Zaporozhe was a time of really getting to know the kids in the community surrounding the church, and then helping to host a cowboy-themed VBS during our second week. The first week included simply being at the church in the mornings for any children that might stop by to play, and so Nadine and I played basketball, ran around, and played games with them, along with letting them show us tricks they could do. Since we also needed to prepare for the VBS, a number of the kids wanted to help us decorate and advertise, so we welcomed their help in creating a cardboard street front, wall decorations, and flyers.

I got to know 7 year old Vladik throughout the course of the week, as we played basketball. He, of course, would talk to me and I would have next to no idea what he was saying; likewise, I’m sure he had no idea what I was saying either. Once he figured out that my camera could record short videos, he would ask if I could record him jumping off of a small awning, or if he could record someone else saying or doing something. His younger sister Ivana also came to play at the church, and during the VBS I helped her make an origami flower.

For VBS, we were joined by youth teams from Kyiv and Vinnytsa, as well as another American girl named Ree. The Ukraine teams primarily lead the VBS, whether it was with songs, games, crafts, origami, or Bible studies with each age group. Our role at this time became one of support, filling in wherever someone was needed. As we walked to and from lunch and the games area, we were able to talk to some of the children who also enjoyed practicing their English.

The theme for this summer’s VBS was “God’s Love Changes Everything,” and it is my hope and prayer that what the children learned and saw that week will have an eternal impact on their hearts. I hope that Anya and Marina, two teenage girls who became Christians during that week, will continue to walk with Christ. I hope that Vladik and Ivana will continue attending church, and will find that the love shown there is actually Christ’s love for them.

GORODKIVKA
Our final destination was the small village of Gorodkivka, where we would help Pastor Oleg with a 3 day VBS. This was the first one that we had completely planned ourselves, so we used ideas that we had learned from the other teams at Zaporozhe. “A vot morye” (There’s a Sea, roughly translated) was a big hit with these kids, and we had spent a few hours learning the song ourselves. Roughly translated, the song is “There’s an eye, on the fish, on the pole, in the hand, of the fisherman, on the boat, on the sea of Galilee,” and its repetition helped us to sing most of the words instead of mumbling them like we had in Zaporozhe!

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
During our time in Ukraine, we experienced new foods, traveled on trains, and saw God’s hand of protection at work. God kept us safe as we traveled with a “maniac” driver—I call him that because he was driving far too fast in a thunderstorm for my comfort—to an overnight camp in Chernovtsy. God protected us from any more trouble as we returned from a wedding in Vapnyarka; we had run over some debris in the road that damaged our fuel and oil lines, and we had to sit on the side of the road in the middle of the night for two hours. We also saw God’s provision, as we worked with some wonderful people like Charly, the Kiev/Vinnytsa teams, and Pastor Andriy at Zaporozhe.

CLOSING
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and thank you once again for providing support this summer. It was a time of learning to trust God as well as seeing God’s hand at work within the country of Ukraine.

In Christ,
Jessica

I sing for joy at the work of Your hands

Right now I am sitting in my room and I can hear a bird singing outside. Perhaps spring IS finally reaching the Boston area.

I was in Maryland Friday and Saturday for my district missions convention, and the weather was AMAZING! Sunny, upwards of 70 degrees, not much rain...and the grass was green and the trees were blossoming. It was also great to see friends from all places, whether they were teens that I've known from camp, people from my old church that I haven't seen in a good number of years, my own family, or missionaries that happen to know other people that I know.

I went to share some about my trip this summer to Ukraine, and that (at that time) I still needed to raise $2200. Bob (our missions president) gave me the chance to set up a display with photos/stories from last summer, as well as information about my trip this year and a place for people to leave contributions if they so desired.

Once I got back to ENC and started adding the checks along with what has already come in over the website, I saw that the balance was at $2,445, leaving me with only $1,355 to go! (That's not even counting the money from our YIM bake sale that I haven't deposited yet.) God is still providing! (Of course :). ) Next weekend I am going to Worcester, MA to share about last summer and also this summer, and the pastor at Denton, MD has asked me to come visit in May during their monthly missions luncheon. Man. It's like I'm on deputation/home assignment or something. :P

God's provision

I just want to take a couple minutes and talk about how God's providing for my trip, in some somewhat-unexpected ways.

Last year, besides doing letters, I shared at my home church during the service, and also was invited to set up a display at district NMI convention and share during that. Also, my college church allocated a portion of their Faith Promise funds to another ENC YIM student and myself.

This year, I knew I had to trust God to provide for my trip. There was otherwise no way I could afford the trip along with gas money, car insurance payments, and a cell phone bill each month. So it became a matter of knowing that I was somehow going to go on this trip, but it was going to be totally God providing. I've sent out many letters, and a few emails, so now it's up to God.

Well, within the past couple weeks, I've definitely seen God providing, even if they are small bits at a time. (Hey, however God provides, that's fine with me!) A few people who I weren't expecting to contribute did, especially when I called one up specifically one day.

I hadn't thought that I'd be able to go to my NMI convention (being as I hadn't heard anything), but ran into my district president today quite by surprise. After talking with him for a little bit, we determined that I could do something similar this year--setting up a display and then sharing in front of everyone--because I had a way down there (and yes, I'd only miss one day of class, but whatever).

Then, tonight, was something really neat. I went over to Wolly to see one of my quizzers and get something from her (turned out to be a box of Thin Mints--yum!), and stopped to talk to a few other people. A woman that I have become acquainted with came up to me and asked, "How do you plan on financing your trip?" I told her, "Well, I hope that people will help me out." She replied, "My husband and I would like to contribute/help." They gave me $200!!!

Of the $3800 that my trip costs (that figure includes my airfare to and from Training and Reentry camps), God has provided--through the help of my friends--$485!! Yeah!

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)....Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

(In the Message translation....) Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.

a sneaking suspicion....

Thoughts after reading Oswald Chambers for Thursday:
I'd like to make an impact on these youth, but more importantly, I want Christ to be in their lives. Doesn't matter what I do.
It's not about what I do or how well I can connect with people. What's important is that I am giving them opportunities to encounter Christ and His love, and that I am someone God could use. The rest is up to Him.
It's not important what I can do for or with youth/people I minister to. It's important that I am following Christ, that I am encountering His grace and love and learning His word. God will take it from there. That's all I have to be concerned with.

Then, chapel with Bob Skinner, missionary to the Ukraine:
"Ok, God, you want football? I want You."
"Send me!" --he said yes to where God was sending him
God needs to know we want Him more than anything else in this world

My devotional for today was titled, "The Method of Missions" (also Oswald Chambers).
"Yet you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself."
" 'Don't rejoice in successful service--the great secret of joy is that you have the right relationship with Me' " (in essence what Jesus said, Luke 10:17-20)
"His one and only purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus."
challenge to the missionary: Do we believe that Christ is able to do this? (Mt 9:28)

So what I'm thinking here is, is God trying to tell me something? i.e., is He calling me to be a missionary, get involved in ministry somehow for the rest of my life? Yeah, teaching middle schoolers (and doing it well) is a form of ministry/missions, and we are all called to reach out to those in our own communities, but could God be calling me to something bigger?

I don't want to overthink or underthink this, nor do I want to say something decisive too soon and face the possibility of going back on it.

little later....
I was working on my math homework, and the song Alive by Rebecca St James started playing on my iTunes. This line caught my attention: "It's only when I let go of what I want in this life." Could God maybe actually want me to do YIM next summer? I don't know. What I do know, is I need to take Adolescent Development next summer otherwise I don't graduate on time. Unless they'll let me walk the stage (is that the phrase) and take the course later. Cuz graduating with my class is pretty important to me. This just opens a whole new can of worms...

the future

Okay, so here's what I've been thinking lately. Anything I say here is still up in the air, because God might change me/my mind, and I've got one more year anyway.

I don't know that I'll stay in Massachusetts after I graduate. Real estate is high--that's one reason. But I think after 4 years, I'll have had my fill of the state. If I leave, I will definitely miss the people that have made this "home". My SACK family, my quizzing family (those that excitedly greet me after a summer apart, those that have helped me step up into leadership roles, those that have just laughed with-or at-me, those that have taught me by example, those that have made me step out of my comfort zone), my ENC family (professors that have helped me when I had questions, friends that I could talk to, my CAS workplace, various other members in the ENC community), and those that I have babysat for.

I don't know that I'll go back to Maryland. The Eastern Shore can be uninteresting at times. Plus I don't want to be there for the rest of my life. Yes, I have my family there, and I love them to death. Especially my brother, but come 2009, he'll be gone too. I would like to step into some leadership roles at my church, but I feel like I'm still the overgrown kid sometimes. I've thought about leading the youth group, or helping coordinate a missions trip (they have not done one since I was 16), but that is a lot.

Lately I've been thinking about moving to El Paso and teaching in the school district there. Yeah, it's really far away, but it became my home this summer. I could see my "family" there (Marco's family, Esme's family, the various missionaries, my friends in Mexico like Gedeon, Fabiola, etc) and I could probably be an encouragement to them. Plus, I would LOVE the weather there, and the fact that Spanish is so prevalent.

I was kind of offered a job to teach for a year or two in an international school in Bulgaria, but I would like to be in the States while I iron out the "new teacher" wrinkles for at least a year. I think it would be pretty cool to teach overseas, and travel.

Whether that means being a missionary, I don't know. I think it would be cool to be a missionary, to have adventures (though, after this summer, I know that it is not thrilling all the time. tedious at times) If that's what God has for me, excellent! If not, excellent too. Wherever God wants me, wherever God can use me, I'm alright with. I am in general excited about missions. Next weekend I am chaperoning for a kids' missions jamboree in Weymouth. I love meeting missionaries, and even staying in contact with a number of them.

This is what I wrote on the "Wall of Hope" at YIM training camp, for what my dreams are.
"to be all that God has for me. to do all that God has for me. obedience. trusting and not relying on 'my' strengths. to follow God. love others. LOVE GOD. to put God first in everything and not get distracted. to see where You are working and recognize it. to do whatever God has for me."

things I've learned lately

1. Never do one of those AOL "free trials."
2. Quizmastering all day while you're sick is not good for your throat/voice.
3. Catholic mass was not in as high a style as I thought it'd be, nor was Mary overemphasized--at least at this parish anyway.
4. If in a large group of people, I will not easily talk to the whole group, but if there is someone that knows someone I do, I will go and talk to them, once somebody points them out to me.

"Body Piercing..." quotes part two

I have TONS of quotes to put up, and I don't want to force you to read them at once. So here's installment #2.

" 'The biggest category of God's word' in the Psalms, [Kaiser] says, 'has to do with pain, struggle suffering...God doesn't answer every one of our prayers; nor should He." (32) Reminds me of when Michael Card came to ENC and talked about laments.

a cliche: "Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable."(49)

"Some people, they have a kind of narrow focus that usually widens later on. But I think Christians don't have a monopoly on truth. You can learn about truth from any other religion...pull truth from various sources." (52-DvP) The part about a narrow focus becoming wider is what has been happening to me since going to college, I think. But as far as the truth thing, you can find things that are true, you can also find things that reflect the Truth.

"In focusing on individual belief, evangelicals have necessarily focused on individuals....Poverty, hunger, abortion, drug abuse, and other such issues are approached as personal failings rather than social problems. Systemic elements simply aren't included in the equation" (65 from the book Apostles of Rock)

(Mark Driscoll) "In the Bible, we are told to be culturally relevant, love people who disagree with our Christian beliefs, and have friends and fun like Jesus did. Jesus was often invited to parties by scandalous people, was surrounded with large crowds who liked hanging with him, and was accused by stuffed shirt religious types of eating too much, drinking too much, and having the wronge kind of friends. But, Jesus never sinned. For example, he drank alcohol but did not get drunk, ate a lot but was not a glutton, and had some messed-up friends but never shagged any of the loose women who considered him a friend." (110) This is interesting considering one of my youth leaders once advised our teens to not hang out with their friends anymore if they started smoking or something. I've never been in that situation exactly, but I talk to friends that cuss and I don't cuss. Granted, maybe, in high school, I never let myself get close enough to people that I thought were too "out there" for my tastes, and maybe I could have, and not done the same things they did.

Ballmer about "dispensational premillenialism" (about end times): "this idea 'relieved evangelicals of the obligation to labor for the amelioration of social ills' and that they 'increasingly stood in judgement of culture and awaited its destruction, which would follow their translation into heaven.' In other words, all is not lost for unbelievers, but their salvation, much like their socioeconomic status, is their own responsibility." (122)
Sounds like they just sat there. And waited and twiddled their thumbs and waited some more. Interesting that the Nazarene denomination had such a great emphasis on helping the people on the streets (I think so anyway), and so much of the focus now is on international aid. Not a problem, mind you, but it seems at my church that if we just put some money in the offering plate we are making a REAL difference. Sometimes that's all we can do, but what if we took more of an interest in helping our neighbors....the ones that need help watching their kids, or need help learning to read, or to know English, or tutoring, or opening our homes to disconnected individuals? Instead of keeping in our own little Christian circles, and having people come to us, we should take the initiative and look in our own backyards.

"'As far as I'm aware, drink is mentioned in the Gospels three times,' Stockman replied--none of them having to do with prohibition. Social justice, on the other hand, is something Jesus talks about a lot." (135)