This is a picture from last year's backpacking trip in the Carpathians (oh the memories...)
Thanks to the plethora of holidays this week in Ukraine and Eastern Europe (Labor Day- May 1, Orthodox Easter- May 5, and Victory Day- May 9 ) I have off of school all week!! Hooray for holidays!!
To catch you all up on the happenings with me here, last week I taught all of my classes about the real meaning of Easter (no, not the Easter bunny- though we did talk a little about different cultural traditions of Easter). I got to ask the question that Jesus asked Peter: "Who do you say that I am?". It is my joy and privilege to be able to ask that same questions of the kids in my classes- who do YOU say Jesus is? A nice guy with a beard? A real person who lived and died, or a mysterious collective, like some people think about Shakespeare? Did he really die? Did he really rise from the dead?
If Jesus never lived and died and rose again, how would our world be different? How would your life be different?
Asking these questions has been a great way to get to know my students even better and to really understand more of where they're coming from. It's just another way that I can bring glory to God here on earth- to bring the things of God into my every day conversations and to be a witness of who my God is and what he can do.
Another opportunity for bringing glory to God is an upcoming Living Hope church backpacking trip to Crimea. We'll be spending roughly 4 days in the mountains hiking around and sleeping in tents and having a blast. I am so excited to go and see the great outdoors!! (Odessa is great, but the city is starting to wear on me. Maybe it's my Yoder blood... I miss seeing grass and farms and cows and Amish people!!) More than that, though, I have the opportunity to hang out for 4 days with some of my middle and high school friends who don't know Jesus yet.
If you're of the praying persuasion, get on it. This is an amazing way that you can join in with what God's doing here in Ukraine- PRAY. Thank you to all of you who have been faithfully praying for me throughout my time in Odessa- I am so very very thankful for you!! I ask that you would continue to lift up these kids that go on the backpacking trip in prayer, that we would have a good time together, we'd have good weather and safety throughout the trip, and most importantly that God is glorified in all we do and say. Thanks!
And if you're not of the praying persuasion, give it a try. It can't hurt :)
To catch you all up on the happenings with me here, last week I taught all of my classes about the real meaning of Easter (no, not the Easter bunny- though we did talk a little about different cultural traditions of Easter). I got to ask the question that Jesus asked Peter: "Who do you say that I am?". It is my joy and privilege to be able to ask that same questions of the kids in my classes- who do YOU say Jesus is? A nice guy with a beard? A real person who lived and died, or a mysterious collective, like some people think about Shakespeare? Did he really die? Did he really rise from the dead?
If Jesus never lived and died and rose again, how would our world be different? How would your life be different?
Asking these questions has been a great way to get to know my students even better and to really understand more of where they're coming from. It's just another way that I can bring glory to God here on earth- to bring the things of God into my every day conversations and to be a witness of who my God is and what he can do.
Another opportunity for bringing glory to God is an upcoming Living Hope church backpacking trip to Crimea. We'll be spending roughly 4 days in the mountains hiking around and sleeping in tents and having a blast. I am so excited to go and see the great outdoors!! (Odessa is great, but the city is starting to wear on me. Maybe it's my Yoder blood... I miss seeing grass and farms and cows and Amish people!!) More than that, though, I have the opportunity to hang out for 4 days with some of my middle and high school friends who don't know Jesus yet.
If you're of the praying persuasion, get on it. This is an amazing way that you can join in with what God's doing here in Ukraine- PRAY. Thank you to all of you who have been faithfully praying for me throughout my time in Odessa- I am so very very thankful for you!! I ask that you would continue to lift up these kids that go on the backpacking trip in prayer, that we would have a good time together, we'd have good weather and safety throughout the trip, and most importantly that God is glorified in all we do and say. Thanks!
And if you're not of the praying persuasion, give it a try. It can't hurt :)