Hey! So I know I've been bad with communicating and updating people back home about my life (historically, I've always been bad at this), but I think it's so cool that so many of you are supporting me in prayer and I just wanted to say thank you and to encourage you to keep praying for me! Here are some specific ways:
1.) Pray for my roommates, Valya and Tanya: Valya's a believer in Jesus, but Tanya is not. Pray that Valya would be encouraged daily by the Word and that she would seek a place to serve within the body of Christ, even though she thinks she's too old to be used by God (not true). Pray that Tanya would see her need for Christ and see that the things of this world lead only to disappointment and pain, but that the things of the Lord are forever. Pray that I would be a good steward of the time that I have with them and that I would be intentional in encouraging and challenging them with God's truth.
2.) Pray for relationships with unbelievers: Friendship in Ukrainian culture is a slower, deeper, longer process than in the States, so I hesitate to use the word 'friend' with people before they're ready, but the Lord has given me the opportunity to get to know some awesome girls who don't know Him (yet), and I'm so glad to be able to spend time with them. I go walking with some girls every Sunday afternoon/evening, go to coffee with others, and just spend time together getting to know each other better and hopefully scattering seeds of the Gospel as I go. As a believer in Christ, Christ and I are a package deal- He goes with me. So when I go hang out with these girls, He's there too, and I pray that His presence in me is evident to them. If you want names to pray specifically, comment to this post and I'll send them your way so you can be praying for them.
3.) Pray for my impact at Erudit school: Some days it feels like I'm just controlling chaos, not even teaching English, or even working for the Lord. But again, JC and I are a package deal, and when I go to teach, He comes with me. His presence with me at school has been evident to me (and definitely my students) since day 1, mostly because there's a lot I can't do, and He helps me do it. With literally everything. Pray for my students, that the Lord would be working in their lives and that the way I teach, discipline, and relate with the students and teachers would be honoring to the Lord and point people to Him.
4.) Pray for deeper relationships with believers: One of the things I'm doing here at the church is discipling, which has proven a bit more difficult that I had imagined. Knowing that relationships take more time here, and also knowing that I'm only here for a short time, it's been tough for me to develop a discipling relationship when I feel in some many ways that I am just getting started here. But the Lord's been working with my view of discipleship through various resources and conversations and it's been and interesting journey. Pray for faithfulness in meeting and real depth of relationship as discipling relationships are established.
1.) Pray for my roommates, Valya and Tanya: Valya's a believer in Jesus, but Tanya is not. Pray that Valya would be encouraged daily by the Word and that she would seek a place to serve within the body of Christ, even though she thinks she's too old to be used by God (not true). Pray that Tanya would see her need for Christ and see that the things of this world lead only to disappointment and pain, but that the things of the Lord are forever. Pray that I would be a good steward of the time that I have with them and that I would be intentional in encouraging and challenging them with God's truth.
2.) Pray for relationships with unbelievers: Friendship in Ukrainian culture is a slower, deeper, longer process than in the States, so I hesitate to use the word 'friend' with people before they're ready, but the Lord has given me the opportunity to get to know some awesome girls who don't know Him (yet), and I'm so glad to be able to spend time with them. I go walking with some girls every Sunday afternoon/evening, go to coffee with others, and just spend time together getting to know each other better and hopefully scattering seeds of the Gospel as I go. As a believer in Christ, Christ and I are a package deal- He goes with me. So when I go hang out with these girls, He's there too, and I pray that His presence in me is evident to them. If you want names to pray specifically, comment to this post and I'll send them your way so you can be praying for them.
3.) Pray for my impact at Erudit school: Some days it feels like I'm just controlling chaos, not even teaching English, or even working for the Lord. But again, JC and I are a package deal, and when I go to teach, He comes with me. His presence with me at school has been evident to me (and definitely my students) since day 1, mostly because there's a lot I can't do, and He helps me do it. With literally everything. Pray for my students, that the Lord would be working in their lives and that the way I teach, discipline, and relate with the students and teachers would be honoring to the Lord and point people to Him.
4.) Pray for deeper relationships with believers: One of the things I'm doing here at the church is discipling, which has proven a bit more difficult that I had imagined. Knowing that relationships take more time here, and also knowing that I'm only here for a short time, it's been tough for me to develop a discipling relationship when I feel in some many ways that I am just getting started here. But the Lord's been working with my view of discipleship through various resources and conversations and it's been and interesting journey. Pray for faithfulness in meeting and real depth of relationship as discipling relationships are established.