August 16, 2002

Wow, the summer is almost over. My time in Ukraine flew by. I will miss the friends I made there, but it is nice to be home. I had the privilege of seeing God work through me to do things only He can do. I want to thank all of you again for praying for me and supporting the trip financially. God worked through you, also, to accomplish what He did over those 9 weeks.

Our main ministry was children’s day camps. We worked in 6 day camps in 4 different cities during a period of 5 weeks. A typical day camp was 5 days long, from 9 am until 2 pm each day. In most camps, the children ranged in age from 4 to 16 years old. Our smallest camp averaged 30 children per day. Our largest camp averaged 80 children per day. Most of the children who attended the camps had no church background. At the end of the camp in Onaprievka, 45 of the 65 children present accepted Christ. Many of those were teenagers. I did a variety of things in these camps, but most of my time was spent working with crafts, Bible lessons, skits, and stories.

Our other ministry was teaching English as a second language. We did this for six weeks in 4 cities. Most of our English students were 11 to 18 years old. I taught the intermediate level. The classes focused on conversation skills and building relationships instead of grammar or reading and writing. Some of my student’s favorite activities were playing “Hokey Pokey” while learning body parts and playing hangman while reviewing vocabulary. During a two-week English camp in Kiev, a group of four teenage girls began attending my class. They were nervous about being in a church because of rumors the Orthodox Church spreads about what happens there (Many Ukrainians believe that evangelical Christians sacrifice babies). However, they continued to come and participate in our discussions about spiritual matters. During the last week we were in Ukraine, I learned that two of them have begun attending the church and went to youth camp with the church’s youth group.

God worked through our team to do some amazing things. However, the biggest work was probably in our hearts. I am still processing and absorbing everything I learned and experienced. The most obvious lesson I learned was flexibility. During the orientation in Farmington, our team talked a lot about flexibility. However, we didn’t realize just how flexible flexible would be in Ukraine. Part of being flexible is trusting God to take care of the details you can’t. I’ve begun to pray more and worry less. Another lesson I’m still trying to absorb is what God taught me about loving people and loving Himself. I learned a lot about what Christ-like love looks like. I may work really hard ministering to kids in a camp, but it doesn’t do any good if I am not loving them.

The day camps and English lessons are over, but Ukraine still has many needs. Please continue to pray for Ukraine. Pray for the government, which is very inefficient and corrupt. Pray for the men in Ukraine. Their life expectancy is only 56 years, due to rampant alcoholism and smoking. Churches desperately need male leadership. Pray for the children and youth of Ukraine. They are the hope in this country of hopelessness. Many, if not most, of the children and youth in evangelical churches, are from nonchristian households. They have a hard time being Christian without any parental support. However, many of their parents are converted after seeing the changes in their children’s lives. The following are some specific youth you can pray for if you’d like.

Alyona (Helen), age 18. Lives in a two bedroom apartment in Kiev with her grandmother, her two unbelieving parents, an older brother who is in the mafia, and his girlfriend. She is the president of her class at technical school. She dreams of studying English in Ukraine or the U.S. and becoming a translator for missionaries in Ukraine, but that is not possible financially. She also is a talented musician(guitar and violin), but she doesn’t own either instrument. She teaches Sunday School and sings in the choir at Hope Church. Her parents do not want her to be baptized, and she submits to their wishes, but she is saddened every Communion Sunday when she cannot participate.

Ira, age 17. Her mother accepted Christ after she did, and they were baptized together last year. She is attending technical school to become a bookkeeper. She wants to study English more and translate for missionaries in Ukraine. She also teaches Sunday School and sings in the choir at Hope Church.

Sergei. He is in the army. He is not a believer, but he is asking a lot of questions.

Andre, age 19. He will study computers at a university this year. He was rejected from several universities because he refused to pay the testers a bribe. He works with the sound equipment at New Hope Church. He is very strong in his faith, but he faces a lot of pressure from some of his unbelieving friends.