I want to talk about my friend Oksana today. Oksana is 17 years old and has lived in the Kyiv region her whole life. Before DTS she finished trade school learning to sew and wants to learn to be a hairdresser when we finish. She is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. She makes friends with everyone around her and almost literally lights up a room when she walks in to it.

Oksana is a social orphan, which means that she has at least one living parent but that they were unable to take care of her. Both of her parents are alcoholics and her mother used to beat her. When her father tried to tell her to stop, Oksana’s older brother would begin to hit her father to stop him from yelling. Oksana told me that she would often end up in a corner crying while everyone around her yelled and beat each other. There were several times Oksana ran away from home because she couldn’t take the violence anymore. Policemen would find her on the streets and accuse her of prostitution and harass her.

Her mother was put into a mental hospital when she was eight or nine and it was during that time that Oksana’s father decided he couldn’t take care of her and her brother alone and sent them to an orphanage. Even here Oksana was still unhappy. She ran away with a friend and they lived on the streets together, sleeping in train stations or in cellars. Oksana said that her first thought when she woke up in the morning was how she was going to get something to eat for the day.

Her friend died on the streets and it was then Oksana realized the choice she had. She went back to the orphanage and stayed there. About three or four years ago she was ‘adopted’ by a wonderful couple that she calls her aunt and uncle (it was not a legal adoption since the process here takes so long Oksana would have been 18 by the time all the paperwork would have been finished).

I had the privilege of going to their house with Oksana last weekend and you could immediately feel the peace of God when you walked in the door. Her aunt and uncle are on the worship team in their church, and have a beautiful home in the country by a large lake. You can see the love that this family has for one another.

Looking at Oksana today you would think she was raised her whole life in a loving and healthy family. Her passion for God and her love of life is evident as soon as you meet her. When I asked her why she was so happy, why she had this joy, she simply answered me with, “It’s God.”

Today Oksana shared a little more of her story in prayer with our class. She encouraged us to pray for the orphans of Ukraine, and also to not forget to thank God for our parents. She told us about sleeping on the streets, and at the end said, “I don’t blame my parents for what happened. I thank God for them. They are the angels who gave me life and that God sent to me.”

Needless to say, we were all in tears. I am so amazed by this young woman. She is so genuine, so transparent, such a delight and treasure to be around. She has been through complete hell in her life and continues to deal with the pain and anxiety her family gives her (she is in touch with her mother, brother, and other relatives). Yet she does not lay the blame at anyone’s door even when some might say she is right in doing so. Instead she chooses to forgive on a daily basis, and to not hold on to bitterness.

I genuinely love this girl; she has been a joy to get to know the last two months. I was so blessed to go home with her last weekend, I’m so grateful to share an apartment with her, and I love watching her learn and grow in our classes. I wish all of you could get to know Oksana personally, but since you can’t be here with us I wanted to give you a small snapshot of her life. I hope she inspires you as much as she has inspired me.

I'm going to Georgia!

The country that is, not the state. For our 3-month outreach (which starts mid December) I and 4 other people will travel to the country of Georgia. I'm excited to experience a new culture, though I'm sad that I won't be with the whole DTS team. I don't have a lot of details right now, but when I do I'll let you all know!

Classes have been going really well. Last week Kelly, the director of YWAM Eastern Europe spoke about Biblical worldview. I was ready for a "stay in the church, think more about Jesus" talk and would have shut him out, but instead he talked about what the Gospel really means, about what Christianity is, not religion. Religion is separating the world into 2 parts- the spiritual and the physical and saying the spiritual is good and the physical is bad. However, God created it all (government, environment, arts, family, etc.) and we are called to live in every sphere and live well. To me, that is what it means to be a Christian- to live life well as God has shown us. It's not about who prays the most or who spends the most time in church (though obviously those are good things and we should pray and fellowship) but it's about living life as God called us to live it.

This week's teaching is cross-cultural communication. Tomorrow we have to give a presentation to the class about something (holiday, song, book, art) that represents our culture. I'm going to do 4th of July since it's my favorite holiday and come on, what's more American than fireworks and barbeque? I'll dress in red white and blue and act as obnoxiously American as I possibly can. All. Day. Long. Yessss....

Speaking of cultural differences, I really miss American food. Yeah, we have McDonald's here, but what I love about the States is the variety of food available. Right now the only green vegetable I can find at a reasonable price is cabbage. And to me, cabbage just doesn't count. I want peppers, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, hummus and pita chips, guacamole, salsa.... the list goes on but my mouth is starting to water. I generally try not to think about what I'm missing too much since there's not much I can do. So let's hear it for meat and potatoes!

And speaking of meat and potatoes, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. It doesn't feel like it since it's not celebrated here. However, I saw a few Christmas decorations in the store the other day, and the base here is planning on celebrating Thanksgiving together- complete with turkey, pumpkin pie, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on the screen! I'm kinda excited.

This post turned out to be mostly about food. Can you tell I'm hungry? I should go find a snack. Hope that fall is treating you all well...snow's coming soon! (OR it's already there for you New Yorkers, hahhahahahahaha!)