Well, we're halfway through! Less than two months left and I'll be done with DTS. Can you hear the joy in my voice? Honestly, I'll be sorry for this time to be over, but at the same time today I am ready to be done. But, God is my strength and He has called me here for now, so here I will stay!

Our team started our 'official' schedule last week. Tuesday and Thursday is Street Kids, Friday is Kid's Club, and Wednesday is College group. Lot's of youth. You might think, "Kids, kids, kids!" However, the difference between the street kids and the village kids that we do Kid's Club is astronomical. The street kids here are super smart, fast, and rough. If you get their attention for 5 minutes consider yourself lucky. On the other hand, the kids in the village of Agarakhi where we do Kid's Club are sweet, quiet and obedient and totally innocent. It's a brain switch to go from one ministry to the other. Different games, songs, skits, everything! I love doing both of these ministries though.

IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students) is really great too. It's a bit of a break for us- no kids songs or games! I met a guy there last week. Quite a few guys actually (Georgian guys are pretty bold)! However, this particular guy was interested in my iPod so we got in to a conversation about music.

"Do you have any Celine Dion?" he asked me.

"No, not really," I said, "Do you like her?"

"Oh my God, I looooooove her! Celine Dion is GOD!" he passionately replied.

I'm sorry to say, but I burst out laughing in his face. I couldn't help myself! I don't know how people are about gay/lesbian lifestyles here (I don't think it's widely accepted) but that was one of the gay-est things I've ever heard! Literally! However, I pulled myself together, put my hand over my mouth to keep my giggles in, and said something about liking Celine Dion every once in a while too. What a night.

Besides him, no real prospects, though. I'm not too worried about it, though our whole team likes to tease each other when we see a cute guy/girl on the street or somewhere. The weather is still great here, sunny and in the 40's most days. Tell Albany that it better be warm again by the time I get back! Love you all, thanks for reading!

Adjustments, changes, and being stretched

Here I am, at Elvis Restaurant again, sitting on the Internet for what seems like all day. Hey, what can you do when there's one place in the whole city that has consistent and free Wifi?? Sing along to "Blue Suede Shoes" that's what!

Anyways, we're all adjusting to our new apartment. It's warmed up a bit in there, or maybe we're just getting used to being cold, but I'm pretty sure it's the former. Next week starts our 'schedule'. It's crazy to think we've been here for a month already and have barely done any consistent ministry, but that's what happens when you live in a country that has a month-long holiday season. Next week we begin working with the street kids ministry 2 times a week, the college student ministry on Wednesdays (why are all student things always on a Wednesday???), and our Kid's Club up in the village continues on Fridays after school. Things are shaping up!

This past week we helped out at a YWAM conference making lunches, dinners, and watching the babies. Let me tell you, babies are heavy! There was one little girl who refused to be put down, and even when I was holding her she still cried. I watched Wheels on the Bus and Old McDonald till I thought I would scream. Needless to say we were all glad for Friday to come. And needless to say, we're all still singing those songs!

Please continue to keep our team in our prayers. Our team is strong, but a lot of us have been sick (not me, thank goodness!) and that has the ability to chip away at people. We have a great unity and a love for each other, and I want it to stay that way!

Speaking of love, God has been teaching me a lot about how to love people, especially those you live with. It's surprised me just how much I have that I'm-American-so-I'm-always-right mentality ingrained in my mind. It turns out that just because I've been raised in a certain society and culture doesn't make it right for everyone and it definitely doesn't mean I have the right to push it on other people. Soooo, I eat that humble pie, and ask God to make me more like Him. That verse from James has been my banner flag the last few weeks: "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." Such wise words and so hard to put in to practice! If at the end of these next 2 months I am just a little bit more patient and just a little bit less selfish I will be able to say that God moved in a mighty way in my life.

Well, that's it for now. Hope you all are doing well. I'm loving it here, but I miss you all and I'm looking forward to seeing you again in just a few months! Love from Tbilisi!

Tbilisi, here I am!

Hey all, sorry for taking so long but moving into a new country is a little crazy. Also, I only get internet about once a week here so it's a little harder to keep up to date with "the real world". Sorry.

My team just got in to our own apartment the other day (we were staying at the YWAM base here, but it's way out in the country so a little inconvenient). Apartments here are like nothing I'm used to. You've got your basic rooms like everywhere else, but then there's only 1 heater in 1 room for the whole place, and water is shut off for 5 hours in the middle of every day. This is absolutely normal for Georgians, but I am not a Georgian!!! Oh, adjustment. I'll get used to it by the end of these 2 months.

Also, since it's still the holiday season here we don't have a set ministry schedule yet. Next week we're cooking lunches and dinners for a YWAM conference they're having here so that will keep us busy and by the week after that we should be connected with the ministries we'll be working with the rest of our time here. We started a Kid's Club in the village where the YWAM base is. It's only been 2 weeks, but it's been going really well! We had 18 kids come last week and 13 this week, not including parents who sit in the back and drink tea the whole time. Our whole team is excited for this ministry that we started from scratch and that we will continue to set up while we're here. The other ministries we're planning on working with is with the street kids of Tbilisi, a college group called IFES, Teen Challenge (probably teaching English classes at a rehab center), and possibly helping YWAM start another base in a village a few hours outside of Tbilisi. We're going to be visiting other cities in the future as well and doing work there.

Our team is made up of 4 girls and 1 lonely sad little boy. The'res Kate, our leader (from Michigan), me, Sevinch (a girl from Azerbaijan who also acts as our translator), Elya (a 17 year old from Ukraine), and Ruslan (the one boy, also from Ukraine). We have had some difficulty communicating across cultures, languages, and personalities so prayer for that would be appreciated. Overall however, we are doing really well and I can see us fighting for unity with one another rather than just letting issues build up.

That's about it for now. Thanks for being patient, thanks for loving me (I hope, haha), and thanks for reading! Love and miss you all!

Last week

Last week in Kyiv, that is! I leave for Georgia on Monday morning. Since it's only Friday evening I have a ton of time to pack all my stuff up, right? Right.

Since next week begins almost a month of holidays for Georgia (25th of December Christmas, New Years, Orthodox Christmas on January 6th, then Old New Years on the 14th) we're starting our outreach with a bunch of parties! There are better ways to be introduced to a new country and culture, but I can't think of them at the moment. The first week or so my team (our leader Kate, Sevinch from Azerbaijan, Elya and Ruslan from Ukraine) will be staying with a family that works with YWAM in Georgia. That's only until we find our own place to stay, hopefully near the center of the city, but a lot of that depends on money.

I've really enjoyed my time in Kyiv. It's a beautiful, unique city with some of the kindest people you'll ever meet. I've gotten to see some awesome sights (feel free to check out my pictures on facebook), gotten to meet some amazing people, learned some valuable lessons, and have had a great 3 months. It's hard to believe that my DTS is half-way over. When I started 6 months seemed like forever, and now I look back and have a very hard time believing that I still don't have 6 months to go- it seems like I'm still just getting started.

Thank you all for coming this far with me, now we're starting a new leg of the journey! Please pray for safe travels and an easy adjustment in Georgia. Love you all, hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in Georgia!

Oh man, I'm sorry I'm so bad at blogging. I just can't keep up.

Next week is my last in Kyiv until I get back from Georgia in March. I'm sad to leave this city that I was just really getting to know. I am getting excited for the outreach to Georgia, though! We leave December 20th, me and my 4 other teammates. We will originally be staying outside of the capitol city of Tblisi until we find an apartment. By January we should be in our own place. I've googled and wiki-ed Tblisi and it looks like a really cool city as well. Poor, though, from my understanding. There are a lot of street children and the YWAM base there works with them very often. There is also another ministry that works with university students that we;ll probably hook up with at some point. We are required to do 50 hours of ministry every week, which means 6 days 'on', 1 day 'off'. It's going to be a long 3 months.

And I never thought I'd say this, but I prefer snow to rain! It was cold and snowy the last week or 2 but suddenly a few days ago the weather warmed up (which I don't mind at all) and now it's pouring buckets (which I mind quite a bit). Turns out that my rain boots aren't rain-proof after all, and that does NOT make me happy. I hate wet feet.

We're finishing up our lecture phase. This week is Bible overview being taught by a couple from the School of Biblical Studies. They are young with 2 toddlers that they bring to class so we can keep an eye on them...or be distracted...I'm not sure. Either way, they are an awesome teaching team and are doing a very creative job of giving us an overview of the Bible.

Speaking of learning, in preparation for our outreach, my team leader Kate has asked us all to learn the Georgian alphabet. Have you ever seen the Georgian alphabet, let alone tried to pronounce it!??! Draw a few scribbles on the page in front of you, make a French phlegm sound combined with a Russian chka sound and you've got it about right. This language is unlike anything any of us have seen. Hoo boy. I just want to be able to tell the bus driver to stop and let me off, that's all. Really. I've got 3 months, right?

Well, dinner is about to start. Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season! One of the YWAM staff was once asked what Christmas is like here. His response? "Like Tuesday," and he got it right! There's not much hype over the holidays here. We have to make our own...which I will be doing Saturday by attempting to bake cookies in our Soviet oven. Wish me luck!

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!)