Pages

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Children's Bible Quizzing--in Ukraine

Many years ago, one of the missionary families told Iryna from Kyiv First Church about Children's Bible Quizzing.  One of the men from the church made quiz boxes, but the program never got off the ground.

The most recent Children's World Bible Quiz was held in June 2009 at the General Assembly in Florida.  Here, Iryna saw Bible quizzing -- and had the dream of starting Bible quizzing in Ukraine.

A few weeks ago, I met with Iryna and Andriy (another pastor in the city) to begin with logistics and general information about quizzing.  We discussed some general rules and ideas about quizzing.  Later, Tanya arrived and we divided the book of Matthew into sections for individual lessons that will be taught at weekly Kids' Clubs throughout the district.  We parted ways that night, with tasks to complete -- I was to read through the rules posted online and consolidate them for easy translating.  Not only this, but I was to find some sample questions and materials to give Iryna ideas.

Thanks to my friends Patsy and her son Billy @ the Wolly church, I was able to get a few sample pages from the student and leader books from this year's study (1 and 2 Samuel).  These proved very helpful, as I was reminded that questions could have "All of the above" as an answer option.

Just a week later, about twelve of us gathered at church to discuss the philosophy and begin writing questions.  Because quizzing material does not yet exist in Russian, we have to make our own questions We agreed that the material would be written in Russian, based on the Russian Synodal Version of the Bible, rather than Ukrainian, to make it more available across the CIS Field.

Imagine:  Children's Bible quizzing starts in Kyiv and the rest of the Ukraine district, then radiates throughout the rest of the former Soviet Union into central Asia as more and more children dig deeply into the study of God's Word.  Through this, they learn that God cares for them and that they can have a relationship with Him.

Pastor Vova translated for me while I listened at first, and then after a while he stopped.  This was fine with me, except for when I needed the occasional word translated, because I understood about half of what was said because I knew the context.  The leaders listened and asked questions, and occasionally I chimed in -- sometimes clarifying the differences between children's and teen quizzing, and sometimes just explaining some of the rules/procedures.  One time I even answered one of Phillip's questions--he asked in Russian (to the whole group) and I answered in English!

I'm glad that God can use even my experience as a quizzer to help Ukrainians start new ministries for their churches.  I'm excited to see what happens!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Careful what you wish for...

Sometime last fall, I had an idea. 

Each month, as you may know, I teach English at one of our churches in Obolon and have a Ukrainian lady named Svetlana helping me.  Last spring when I began helping with these lessons, I planned and prepared the lessons on my own, with Svetlana unaware of what my plan was. 

While riding in the van with Bob and Colleen (some of our Nazarene missionaries here) after a soccer game in October, I mentioned to Colleen an idea/thought I'd had.  "I want to get together with Svetlana at least once between our English lessons, not necessarily to plan, but to get to know her.  She's interested in improving her English, and I want to practice Russian, so we can work on those together."

A few moments later, Bob was on his phone with a Natasha, speaking Russian.  I had no idea which Natasha he had called, so I didn't pay attention--then I heard my name mentioned.  Turns out he had called the pastor's wife from Obolon to get Svetlana's phone number for me!


Because he had made this phone call and spoken my idea to others, this idea came closer to reality--and now Svetlana and I meet together to plan our lessons and talk with each other.  One of my quotes on my other blog says the following:  "Once things and thoughts are expressed and described they acquire a new reality, as though by giving them words we give them part of ourselves. After that, they will not allow us to leave them behind" (Under a Cruel Star, page 42).  


On the Sunday after Ukrainian Christmas, I had another idea.


At this point in my Russian language learning, I can sound out and read most words.  Comprehension is another matter, and also sounding close to fluent, especially with the sounds /kh/ and /sh/ and /ch/ and /shch/ in one word.  I've memorized the fruits of the Spirit in Russian--I haven't even done that in my second language (Spanish).  I can follow along with the 4 lectionary readings every Sunday at church, since I know generally what the passage says in English.  Last spring, I introduced myself and my dad and stepmom in front of the church in Vapnyarka (half the group were Americans).

During one of the basketball games last weekend, I turned to Bob and reminded him of what he had done last fall.  "I've had another idea, Bob, but I know when I mention it to you, you will talk to the necessary people and make it happen."  He asked me what it was, and I told him. 

"I can sound out Russian words.  Even if I don't sound fluent or somewhat fluent at the first try, I can practice until I sound better.  Perhaps one Sunday I could read Scripture in front of the church, if I had 6 days' head start to practice reading the passage and pronouncing the words correctly."



Last night when I arrived at church for a meeting to discuss Children's Quizzing, Pastor Vova asked, "Do you want to read at church on Sunday?"  Hmm....I wonder who talked to him?!  He showed me the four passages, and I considered reading 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, but there were way too many ridiculously long words that I didn't understand.  That was the shortest passage.  I chose John 1:29-42 because it had more dialogue and action (verbs).


This means that on Sunday morning, I will be reading John 1:29-42 in front of at least 60 people who are native Russian speakers (plus a few Americans who may or may not understand what I'm reading).  


I've printed the passage so I can mark where to split words into syllables and remind myself of pronunciation, and so that I can readily practice with friends over the next 3 days (half as much time as I would've liked).  


Yikes. 


So maybe the title of this post should be "Careful what you wish for...and who hears your idea...because they might just make it happen"!

Monday, January 10, 2011

December 2010/Holiday Update

Hello all -- С Рождеством!

That means "Merry Christmas" in Russian, and I'm using the phrase as much as I can since it's such a tongue twister!

A few days ago I returned to Kiev after about 2 and a half weeks in the US.  On Friday, I celebrated Christmas with my Ukrainian church family (I felt like I was in a time warp).  Read more below about the past month of life and ministry in Ukraine and America.

2011-2012 School Year Decision
And now, the decision you've all been wondering about...*drum roll*
I've decided to stay for ONE MORE year of teaching/ministry at KCA and in the local Nazarene churches!  I'm looking forward to digging deeper in my friendships, getting to know the students better, becoming a better teacher, and learning more Russian.

Sixth Grade Party
A couple weeks before I returned to the US for Christmas, I hosted the 6th grade class in my home for a party.  Besides 8 of the 9 that I usually have in class, I invited along 2 home-schooled students.  It was a rambunctious evening, filled with games, movies, hide and seek, food (even olives straight from the can), and enjoying each other's company!

Enjoying pizza together
Click here to read more about the evening, and my reflections on taking care of 10 kids in my own house.

Holidays in America
While in America, I was able to see just about all of my family for the various Christmas festivities.  I saw a few friends -- celebrated New Year's with a couple of them also -- and was able to catch up via telephone with a handful of others that I don't get to see very often.  On one Sunday evening, I shared with the Chestertown COTN ways that they could pray for me, organized according to a typical day in my life (there also was a pop quiz -- with candy prizes -- about my classes and students!).
Being on vacation also included time to read fun books (I read 5 novels while I was at home), and to reflect on all kinds of life topics.

Christmas in Ukraine: January 7
In Ukraine (as well as other former Soviet Union countries), gifts are exchanged on New Year's Eve.  Hence, holiday trees are known as "New Year's trees" instead of "Christmas trees."  I returned to Ukraine just in time to celebrate Christmas with my Ukrainian church family.


Click here to read about our church's celebration of Christmas and see more photos.  Part of our service included Pastor Vova reviewing the Advent candle meanings for the kids from the four weeks of Advent.  The Sunday before I left for Christmas, I understood enough of what was being said so that I could explain/translate for my roommate Amy!

Even though I had no translation for the Christmas service, which meant my attention span for the sermon was only about 15 minutes, I was glad to be back with my church family.  Little Katya and Anya were happy to see me, and hugged me before service.  Anya asked me something like, "So you only understand English?" I told her, "I understand English, Spanish, and a little Russian."  The above link also includes a video of Oksana and Lena singing "Mary, Did You Know?"--in Russian, of course.

In the evening, I traveled downtown to check out all the holiday lights, and then stopped by the home of one of our KCA families.  We sat and talked for a while, and then played a game together.


Prayer Requests
*Provision of needed funds for Nazarene Youth Conference opportunity as well as this next school year
*Good time management this semester, as I will be taking an online course through Nazarene Theological Seminary in addition to all my other school/ministry activities
*Continued language learning -- that I will work hard and not give up
*English lesson @ Obolon on the 16th of this month

Praises
*Christ's birth on earth -- that He walked among us and knows what it's like to be human
*Safe (and uneventful) travels to, from, and in America over the holidays
*A restful vacation where I was able to see family and friends

In Christ,
Jessica

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Christmas lights downtown

As promised, here is part 2 of my blog about Ukrainian Christmas.

In the evening, I took bus #18 to Maidan Nezalezhnosti.  Independence Square is where the Orange Revolution took place a few years ago.  My plan was to walk through Maidan, down Khreschatyk, and then up the next road to end up by Zoloti Vorota (Golden Gate).  From there, I would visit one of our KCA families and hang out with them for a bit before catching the bus home again.




They had about 20 of these kiosks, where you could buy anything from shashlik (grilled meat) to Orthodox icons to toys


Central post office building

I started my walk between the third and fourth buildings

Lovely lights...plus a scary hippo

Nesquik bunny!
You could get your photo taken with these characters...I chose to just take photos of them with random other people.
New Year's Tree -- because gifts are exchanged on New Year's Eve and not Christmas
Looking down Khreschatyk
Christmas greetings from a Kyiv city official
New Year's greetings from president Victor Yanukovych
Coke advertisement!  I've also seen lots of billboards for Oreos since I've been back.
Looking back toward Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Zoloti Vorota, one of the ancient city gates
Thanks for joining me on this tour of downtown!  Merry Christmas!

PS If you want to see more of my photos, visit my Facebook page and look at the album titled, "Ukrainian Christmas 2011."

Friday, January 7, 2011

С рождеством!

(Merry Christmas!)

Today, January 7, is the Ukrainian celebration of Christmas (as well as for most other Orthodox churches).

Why January 7 and not December 25, you ask?  I've told many of you that I thought it had to do with Soviet times, but that is not the case.  First, we must have a short history lesson (for your benefit as well as mine--if I can explain it to you, then I can understand it myself).  The following info is taken from Wikipedia and a few other websites.

In recent centuries, we use the Gregorian calendar.  However, before there was Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, there was Julius Caesar in 45 BC.  .... I changed my mind.  I don't want to go into all this history.  Long story short:  The calendar years have different amounts of days, so December 25 on the Gregorian calendar corresponds with January 7 on the Julian calendar.  Russia continued to use the Julian calendar until 1918 (and this explains why the October Revolution happened in November).  A couple weeks from now, there will be the "Old" New Year, which is, again, based on the old Julian calendar.

How do we celebrate Ukrainian Christmas?  Glad you asked!

I woke up around 7am, thanks to jet lag, and decided to get up around 7:30 and do things around the house.  Because I knew I'd be going to church later in the morning, it felt like Sunday (and it still does).

My friend Zena came over for muffins and coffee/tea around 8:30, and we chatted (and watched Kosmo the cat) till she needed to leave for church around 9:30.  [Side note: When I baked the muffins last night, the oven was too hot at first, so the muffin bottoms are slightly burnt.  :(]  

I got ready then left around 10:20am.  As I walked to the corner to catch the bus, I noticed how QUIET it was!  Very few people, very few buses.  Of course--I thought to myself--it's a holiday!  However, our neighborhood babushka that sells fresh produce was in her place, so we waved and smiled at each other.

When I arrived at church, I greeted everyone I saw, and promptly learned how to say "Merry Christmas" -- С рождеством, which sounds like "S rozhdyestvom."  Click here to hear it.  I knew by the time I got the hang of saying it to everyone at church, Christmas would be over.

Service began around 11:15am, and lasted until close to 1pm.  Here's a rough outline of the service, including some photos and links to videos!



*Songs (including "Angels We Have Heard on High") and prayer

*Pastor Vova reviewed the 4 candles of Advent -- love, hope, peace, and joy.  He had each child help light a candle.  When he first held a lit candle toward Artyom, Artyom was going to blow out the candle!  :)

*I made Jonathan W sit with me in case I needed him to translate for me, but he was leaving with the kids anyway.  So much for that idea.

*The kids recited a poem and sang a song (in Ukrainian)

*Prayer for the kids, then they were dismissed to go upstairs for their program

*One of the ladies read Luke 2:1-7, then we sang "What Child is This?".  This was followed by verses 8-16, and then "O Holy Night."

*Pastor Vova read from Matthew 2, up until verse 18.  (I'm not sure where he started, and he was reading from a different version than I had--even in the Russian language!)

*Lena and Oksana sang "Mary, Did You Know?"--


*Pastor Vova preached a sermon that I barely understood (remember, I had no translator.  In fact, I was the only missionary/American in this service, since Jonathan was upstairs).  He talked about the wise men coming from another country, and about Herod.  "What did Herod see?"  That's what I'm wondering, since I didn't understand the sermon in Russian!  I heard the word "konkurienta" repeated, and thought maybe it meant conqueror.  Nope.  It means a rival or competitor.  Aha.  Not long after this, my attention span faltered, and I began to daydream.  Later Pastor Vova reminded us that "God redeemed us."

*Prayer

*"Придите к Иисусу" (Come to Jesus) song that I'd never heard before.

*Lev and Pastor Vova talked about House of James 1 and 2, and the children's homes, and then Lev showed some photos from some sort of outreach he had done with people I have never seen before.

*Offering

*Lena talked about something, and then prayed for the offering.

*Song:  "Любовь родилась на Рождество" (Love was born on Christmas)

*Benediction

As we began to shake hands with each other and say, "Peace to you" and "Merry Christmas," an a cappella rendition of a Christmas carol was sung throughout the sanctuary, impromptu.  It was lovely.  I greeted many people, then enjoyed tea and crackers with homemade peanut butter (!!!) with some folks downstairs.  I talked with Elizabet (the lady from France) for a little while--she asked me if I had gone to France (umm....?), or to America over the holidays.

Upstairs, the kids were just finishing their program, so I hung around and talked to Zee and friends some more.


I finally decided that it was time for me to head home and eat leftovers, and that once it got dark, I would go downtown and look at the Christmas/New Year's lights.  On the way to the bus stop, I caught up with little Katya and little Anya and their adult (I'm not sure if she's their/her mom--I need to ask her one of these days), and walked a couple blocks with them.

When I walked down my street, "our" babushka was still there, so I stopped by to say hello, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.  And buy a couple bananas, so as to help her out.  Fun fact:  2 bananas cost me 6.75 гривня, or $0.85.  

And now, it is nearly 5pm, and dark outside, which means I will be heading downtown!  Stay tuned for part two (I hope)!