Thursday, July 26, 2012

Finally in Ukraine!!

After 2 long red eye flights, our team arrived in Ukraine on Friday afternoon, July 20th.  I am just now getting to post on here because we have very little internet access and we are very busy doing the Lord's work.


We're playing with orphans every day but also doing pretty heavy construction for the orphanage.  We are building a bicycle track for the kids (basically we dug the path, filled with dirt, put in the forms, filled with gravel and laid metal nets down)  Tomorrow we will lay concrete and then later remove the forms to reveal the finished product!  I have never worked this hard in the last year at least.  Every day there is a multitude of back-breaking work to be done.  I constantly stop and pray for strength, because I am not used to this kind of work and I need God's strength to continue in my joy while we work so hard, sweat, bleed (I've had a few cuts), get really dirty, and really sore all over. We have a week left of this and we need God's strength!  Every day we are exhausted, yet everybody works so hard and is so joyful.  It is amazing to see what God is doing in our hearts as we work!  


In addition to the character growth because of all the work, we have also had the opportunity to evangelize to many of the locals, who stop by and wonder what we're doing!  We visited a woman and shared the gospel with her and she repented.  We also committed to bring her food every morning because she is very poor and doesn't have much to eat every day.


We will continue to meet with her and read the Bible to her every day while we're here in this village, because she is almost blind and can not read.


More updates to come later, but please pray for strength and joy for our team!
Thank you Lord for all the work you have accomplished this week!!



Saturday, July 14, 2012

Do not be anxious about anything...


Philippians 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."



Today I spent time with two of my friends who I met last summer through Young Life and church. 


I met with the each individually to spend some one on one time, catch up and talk about the future (as well as how we will keep in touch).  I was so glad to see them, and it was a little hard to say goodbye, because they are amazing women of Christ, and I value their companionship so much!  


It was also a little surreal because the time is closely approaching when I'll be leaving, but it doesn't feel like I'm about to do something that radical, and in a way it doesn't even feel like I'm going to be leaving behind anything, just moving into a new stage in life.  I guess that's a good thing!


I've been praying about this mission for so long that it has finally sunk in as, this is where I'm supposed to be, otherwise, I think I wouldn't be as calm as I am leaving behind everything I know here in the states for such a long period of time.  Don't get me wrong, 3 months isn't really that long, but it's the longest mission trip I've taken so far, and it's the longest I'll be in a foreign country up to this point.  


The unfamiliar and uncertain things used to make me feel a little worried, but thanks to a lot of prayer and preparation, I finally feel ready to go out and serve in Ukraine.


I know there will be a lot of hard things about being there, especially because my Russian is still so bad ;).  However, I am incredibly encouraged by my friends in the church in Kiev, and I know that I have plenty of people back here in the states, and over in Ukraine who are praying for my time in Ukraine.  


I am so thankful for all my friends and family who have supported me financially, and who will be praying for me while I'm in Ukraine.  Your prayers mean so much to me!!


Desires of your heart

It's 5 days out from leaving for Ukraine, and I have all sorts of strange feelings.  Mostly revolving around the fact that I'll be leaving my family for such a long period of time, and I'm not sure when I'll see them again.  Why am I not sure? Well it all depends on what God does in my life over the next 3 months.


I've been praying for a long time about whether I should stay in Ukraine to find a job there and continue volunteering at the orphanage in my free time, eventually to transition into some type of more permanent missionary work.  We'll see, it all depends on where God leads me.


Something else I've been reflecting on is what the desires of my heart are.
When I think about this verse:  Psalm 37:4
"Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart."



A lot of people read this verse and are thrilled with it!  They may think that whatever I want, God will give me!  But I don;t think that's the way god intended us to look at this verse.  Why?  Well, when you read Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" we learn that the human heart, naturally, is in a bad condition.  If our hearts are deceitful, doesn't that mean that our heart's desires are also deceitful?


So looking back to Psalm 37, what does it mean to me when it says, God will give you the desires of your heart?  Well, the earlier part of the verse says "delight your self in the Lord"


"Delight" means "To take great pleasure or joy."  So if I take delight in the Lord, I am taking great pleasure in Him and who He is.  If I delight myself in the Lord, I can also understand Him better, and know the desires of His heart for my life.  If I delight myself in the Lord, I will desire to do what pleases Him!  So, His desires then become my desires, and these are the kind of desires that He will be very pleased to grant me!  (It's hard to explain, but that's the way I think about it based on Scripture) 

So if I constantly delight myself in my God, then He will give me the desires of my heart, because they are His desires, and His desires are always good "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

So now I need to seek out the desires of my heart, assuming that these are really God's desires.  So what do I do? I pray often and ask God to make His desires the desires of my heart and I pray for His wisdom so that i may be able to see the next step I should take in my life.   Everyday I look to God's word, and that, and prayer, and the more reliable ways to seek wisdom from God.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105




Thursday, July 12, 2012

Radical

The last few days have been busy preparing for Ukraine and saying goodbyes here in the US.  My family is excited but also sad that I am leaving for so long.  However, I believe they are mostly excited about this new step in my life.  My mom especially, is very happy to see all the work God has done in my life and how much we all, as a family have grown closer to God.  She attributes this growth to me and my evangelical efforts aimed at my family, but I know who's responsible ;)  The Holy Spirit!  He's been working inside of me fiercely over the last 3 years to bring me to a point where I am ready to make radical changes in my life.

Speaking of Radical, I've been reading the book by David Platt and the insight from it is really life changing.  It's all about the American Dream and how we as Americans often shape Jesus and Christianity around our American Dream, so that we can live the most comfortable lives as possible.  There's much more the the book than that and I'm only in the second chapter, but there's a basic point that I'm seeing thus far; Jesus told us we would have to give up everything and the cost of following him would be great.


Luke 14:25 - 35 says


25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

If I had been in the place of these first century people, I'm not sure what I would have thought.  I probably wouldn't have been very excited about giving up everything to follow this guy.  Or would I?  

I've observed the radical changes God has already done in my life, and it makes me believe that the benefits of being a disciple of Christ far outweigh the earthly costs, although they are great.

I've made it my goal in life that I will be receptive and obedient to anything God wants me to do for Him and anywhere He wants me to go for Him that I may use my life to make the greatest impact I can for His kingdom and store up treasures in heaven, rather than on this earth.

That's not an easy goal, but it's God honoring and I think that's the way Jesus intended for His followers to live.

I'll post more updates as I get further into the book.  I'm hoping to finish it before I head off to Ukraine in 6 days! :)

Here's the link to the book if you're interested!

http://www.amazon.com/Radical-Taking-Faith-American-Dream/dp/1601422210/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342124100&sr=8-1&keywords=radical

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Do you speak English?

"Вы говорите по-английски? " - probably on of the most common phrases I will use when in Ukraine, as I try to figure out among the church members and other natives who will understand me if I need to speak in English.

I started learning Russian, and some Ukrainian, when I went to Ukraine last year, but I only picked up about 40 phrases and words.  Then I started work with Virginia Tech for this last year and my Russian learning plummeted for several months, only to pick back up slowly in the spring.

My friends in Ukraine reassure me that I will be fine once I get there, and I will pick up a lot just living there for so long.  However, I really want to be able to engage with the people, and not just the ones that speak my language :) So far, I have about 80 phrases and words down, it doesn't seem like a lot, but one thing I've realized is: I don't need to know everything, just enough to get by and make conversation (at least in the beginning).  I'm hoping after 3+ months living in Kiev, I should have a good handle on Russian :)  I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!

 I'm really excited to be able to teach English when I'm there.  Within the first 3 weeks I'll be working at the orphanage and setting up for an English club to begin in August.

School and work start back up in September after most people take time off in August, so it will be good to have a once a week English club for people outside of the church.  I'm hoping and praying this will be a great source of outreach and that the English club will help introduce Christ to the students.

Well, back to my studying, I've got a lot to learn in the next 2 weeks!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Preparing for the next step!

After 4 years of undergraduate, a 1 year internship and the last 7 weeks of studying I passed the Registration Exam for Dietitians and now I am officially a Registered Dietitian (As of June 30).

It is more of a relief than anything to be done, because now I can focus all my energy and prayers on preparing for ministry in Ukraine.

I'm hoping to use all my education and experience to find a way to help the children at the orphanages I'll be volunteering at.  In 2.5 weeks I'll be in Vorzel, Ukraine at an orphanage that houses many children from the age of 2-8.  A ot of these children have special needs and fortunately, God has given me some special knowledge about how to care for the nutritional needs of healthy and special needs children.  We'll see what God does!

Some of the things I am praying about over the next 2.5 weeks are:
1. For my heart to be prepared for the many challenges I will face living in another country:

  • The Russian and Ukrainian languages
  • Large transportation differences (I've only been on the Kiev metro a few times, and never had to take a bus in the city last time I was in Ukraine)
  • Differences in general living conditions - this should be the less challenging part
2. For God to help me find English students and help them to learn English and introduce them to Jesus

3. For God to help me see His will clearly, and to know if i should stay in Ukraine longer than the three months (to work) or return to the US to find a job as a Dietitian

Please pray for these things, and I will update again soon!!

The beginning



I've never had a blog before, but I’ve decided to try to maintain one since I will be abroad from July - October doing missionary work.  This blog will cover my thoughts and experiences while in Ukraine.   While I’m in Ukraine, my friends and family can use this blog to keep tabs on what I’m doing in Ukraine, and how God is working through me to accomplish his good purposes.

I'll be in California with my family for the next 2.5 weeks and then I'm off to Ukraine.
Until I leave I have much to accomplish, but through God’s power I’ll get it all done and I hope to leave for Ukraine with a prepared heart and mind so I can be effective in my ministry there.

You may wonder: What's the "root of all bliss?"
Well, it's a pretty simple truth I learned a long time ago, even before God was even a major part in my life.
The definition of "bliss" is perfect happiness; great joy.
Well that is the essence of what I feel about my relationship and faith in God.
Some scripture I think about, when I think of God as my source of joy:
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him.  Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that in inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

That's all for now! :)