Hi jordan here.
Now that we have a bit of a breather after completing the week of the English Club in Mukachevo Ukraine I think it is time to update our severly neglected blog. This past week matt and I have been staying at the home of Valeri and Augusta, members of the Church George and Sara have planted. We have be welcomed into their family like two of their own children. Although their english is practically non-existent we are able to get by communicating with the little Russian that I know and old fashioned hand motions... as well as frantic scrambling through a dictionary at times. However the hand motions are somewhat complicated by the fact that Valeri is almost entirely blind. An entire blog post about this story in-itself would likely be extremely fascinating and may be forthcoming if time permits.
We have been eating lots of Ukrainian traditional delicasies. And the food is entirely splendid. But the sheer magnitude of what they eat takes some getting used to. As we eat we are constantly encouraged by 'mom' to kushayet or eat, eat... Let me tell you that she monitors our intake very closely and will not be satisfied until we have stuffed ourselves beyond our normal capacity.
The English Club was a huge success and we had approximately 30 young people attend. Primarily girls aged 13-16. Their interest in all things american is somewhat embarassing. We are constantly being asked to make a picture with them. However, I have found that over the course of just one week very strong bonds have been formed. It was truly awesome to see God work in such a short time. It was very hard to sever these ties friday on the last day of English Club and Today on an excursion to the Mukachevo Castle with some of the people. The promise of emails and letters will be hard to fulfill as we will be meeting many more young people in the weeks to come.
Well we are off to dinner in a few minutes. I will try to keep some more posts coming this weekend with the time that I have before a voyage into the areas without internet.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
what day is it anyway?
Believe it or not, we are all pretty much adjusted to our time zone now. though we are having difficulty remembering what day it is on occasion. Currently it is sunday, and on sunday we began our day by going to church. This morning we went to church where Pastor George lead the service and we struggled through leading "this is my father's world" in Russian... thats right Russian. needless to say it was difficult for us, but I think that we can say with some certainty in powers greater than ourselves that we were successful. Seriously though it was fun. In addition to singing songs and hearing sermons in other languages, I (matthew) was asked to share my testimony with the congregation. Again, by God's continuing Grace and Power I spoke cohesively and openly.
God was seen in the message of the service today, my testimony (which pastor George had not heard) and Pastor George's sermon (which i had not heard) complemented each other quite nicely. It is affirming to see the work of the Father in "small" things like this, so Praise God. Please continue to pray for the group as we continue to work our testimony stories into something that will speak to the people we are sharing them with.
I should mention about the congregation; predominately Ukranian with some Hungarian in there if I am not mistaken. There were maybe 25 people in attendance at worship. I think that there are even fewer members, so it does not take long to pass the offering plate : ) The Church building is a somewhat small room with an LCD projector, a Cross and some speakers. Oh and fans, two of them to be exact, and these are a vital part of the operation. They keep us all from sweating off a few pounds. The weather is pretty warm right now, and by that I mean that it is hot.
Complaining aside, it has been a wonderful opportunity thus far. During devotions tonight we were remembering the goodness and provision that God has met us with at every step of the journey. We are thankful for so much already and look forward to sharing our gifts begining tommorrow.
God was seen in the message of the service today, my testimony (which pastor George had not heard) and Pastor George's sermon (which i had not heard) complemented each other quite nicely. It is affirming to see the work of the Father in "small" things like this, so Praise God. Please continue to pray for the group as we continue to work our testimony stories into something that will speak to the people we are sharing them with.
I should mention about the congregation; predominately Ukranian with some Hungarian in there if I am not mistaken. There were maybe 25 people in attendance at worship. I think that there are even fewer members, so it does not take long to pass the offering plate : ) The Church building is a somewhat small room with an LCD projector, a Cross and some speakers. Oh and fans, two of them to be exact, and these are a vital part of the operation. They keep us all from sweating off a few pounds. The weather is pretty warm right now, and by that I mean that it is hot.
Complaining aside, it has been a wonderful opportunity thus far. During devotions tonight we were remembering the goodness and provision that God has met us with at every step of the journey. We are thankful for so much already and look forward to sharing our gifts begining tommorrow.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Hello from Ukraine
Welcome to the Eastern Europe 2007 summer missions team's blog spot.
This will be our way to share with all of you our ministry and experiences as they happen. We would like to say thank you to all of you for your support; we could not have made it here without you.
That being said...
We (Matt, Charlene, Jordan, Karlynn) arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan on tuesday and began our 6 days of training with the other teams going to Mali and Mexico. During this week we spent most of the day (7:30 am- 10:30pm) developing an understanding of other cultures through fellowship and lecuture. Wednesday through friday we spent the days in lecture and discussion learning about ministry and missions work including culture shock, interpersonal relationships, our reformed faith, team building and evangelism. The Eastern Europe team spent time learning about the intricacies of Eastern European Cultures. Monday morning (bright and early) we departed for the Grand Rapids Airport and the first of our 4 flights ending in Budapest, Hungry.
We arrived safely and on time in Budapest, Hungary on tuesday morning. George De Vuyst (the local CRWM missionary) met us at the airport and we began our long trip from Hungary's capital to Mukachevo, Ukraine. After a night of much needed sleep from our 29 hours of travel, we began in-field training at George and Sarah De Vuyst's home. While battling some intense jet-lag we have spent the day learning about Ukranian culture and developing our testimonies for speaking in church congregations and youth camps.
some prayer requests: continued adjustment (including time and culture), team unity amidst stress and challenges.
The De Vuyst's request prayer for a local pastor to come and lead their congregation (Russian Speaking) and a church building to combat cultural stigma.
check back periodically for updates from the field.
This will be our way to share with all of you our ministry and experiences as they happen. We would like to say thank you to all of you for your support; we could not have made it here without you.
That being said...
We (Matt, Charlene, Jordan, Karlynn) arrived in Grand Rapids, Michigan on tuesday and began our 6 days of training with the other teams going to Mali and Mexico. During this week we spent most of the day (7:30 am- 10:30pm) developing an understanding of other cultures through fellowship and lecuture. Wednesday through friday we spent the days in lecture and discussion learning about ministry and missions work including culture shock, interpersonal relationships, our reformed faith, team building and evangelism. The Eastern Europe team spent time learning about the intricacies of Eastern European Cultures. Monday morning (bright and early) we departed for the Grand Rapids Airport and the first of our 4 flights ending in Budapest, Hungry.
We arrived safely and on time in Budapest, Hungary on tuesday morning. George De Vuyst (the local CRWM missionary) met us at the airport and we began our long trip from Hungary's capital to Mukachevo, Ukraine. After a night of much needed sleep from our 29 hours of travel, we began in-field training at George and Sarah De Vuyst's home. While battling some intense jet-lag we have spent the day learning about Ukranian culture and developing our testimonies for speaking in church congregations and youth camps.
some prayer requests: continued adjustment (including time and culture), team unity amidst stress and challenges.
The De Vuyst's request prayer for a local pastor to come and lead their congregation (Russian Speaking) and a church building to combat cultural stigma.
check back periodically for updates from the field.
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