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Saturday, May 28, 2011

Cultivating Time(s) of Rest

This summer, I will be in America for 2 months during KCA's summer vacation.  However, this time in America is not really a vacation for me, since I will be super busy.

What does my summer include?
*Speaking at 9-10 different churches, plus a camp in RI, in order to find monthly sponsors to provide my support for next year
*Nazarene Youth Conference in Kentucky, as a sponsor for the MK district
*Jon and Allie's wedding in MA
*Re-applying for my visa (2 trips to DC)
*Going to District Family Camp!
*Replenish supplies that I will need in Ukraine, and go through my belongings at home to see what I don't need anymore
*Time with family
*Visiting friends that I don't get to see very often, plus spending some time with my new pastor's family to get to know them (and having that support base from my home church)
*Possibly doing some study on the New Testament as preparation for teaching 6th grade Bible again next year


Beyond the initial culture shock of being in a foreign country, there is a certain level of culture stress that never goes away.  Living day in and day out in a culture with different values, beliefs, and language than your own can create a certain amount of stress.  You can never fully identify or understand the people around you, nor they you.


When I was in Ireland in the spring, I felt like I had a TRUE vacation.  Among other things, I was in an English speaking country, the environment was completely different from Ukraine, and there was nothing required of me.


As you can see from my list, I have a lot to do within the course of 2 months -- enough so that it's not much like a vacation.  The question now becomes, how will I cultivate times of rest during this time in America?

Here's how I anticipate being able to find times of rest this summer:
*One weekend I will be near the beach, speaking at a church.  I plan to find some time to hit the beach, go swimming, and just listen to the crashing of the waves.
*At the youth conference, some of my co-sponsors are friends I've known for 4 years (and I've seen them almost every year since then).  Besides this, there will be youth pastors and youth from around the country that I will know, and I really look forward to seeing these old friends in person.
*I greatly enjoy reading, and will be reading as many books from the library as I can.
*Going to my friends' wedding will give me the chance to see old college friends (yes, I've only been out for 2 years), and also see my "twin."

I challenge you, in the busyness of your own lives, to find ways to rest and to take a "Sabbath" even if it's not on Sunday.  Don't get so caught up in DOING things that you forget you are a human BEING.  Take time out of your schedule and focus on God and what He has to say to you.  Be open to allowing him to shape your life and change you to make you more like Jesus.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Two week countdown

Tonight at dinner with the NNU team and Kiev team missionaries, I realized that I have exactly 2 weeks left in Ukraine.  First reaction:  ACK!  Here's what my calendar looks like, and also my to-do list.

Friday May 27 and Sat May 28:  Track Meet.  I've been helping with the middle school track team, and this is the second and final meet of the season.

May 27: Dinner with Cliff and Heike.  The last time I will have dinner with them at their home here in Kiev before they move.  The meal will include one of Cliff's notorious peanut butter, banana, and mayo sandwiches -- I promised him in fall 2008 that if I ever came back to Ukraine, I'd try one.  Now, I have to uphold that dumb promise.  We're also going to play Scrabble, and they're going to talk to me about a possible ministry opportunity for next year.

Sun May 29:  possibly going to the baptism of 4 KCA students, 3 of whom I've taught.  I just found out about this tonight via Facebook.

Tues May 31:  ICA small group Bible study?  I haven't decided about this one, but I know I should go to say goodbye to people I know I won't see again next year.  (Part of being a missionary means you have to say goodbye a LOT more frequently, and you have to learn to do this in healthy ways.)

June 1, June 2:  Administer semester exams to my classes:  6th gr math, 6th gr Bible, geometry (76 questions, but they are multiple choice!), pre-calculus

Friday June 3:  My brother's birthday!!! Also, the last day of school and graduation.  Cry because I will not see these seniors (whom I have taught both years) again for a long time.  Say goodbye for the summer to the rest of the students.

Sunday June 5:  Last Sunday at Kiev First Church.  Say goodbye for the summer to everyone there (Zena, etc.), plus this will most likely be my last time to see Heike.  :(

June 6: My roommate flies back to "the America."

June 8:  I leave for America

To Do List:
*Show Amy what's packed up from my old apartment, so she knows what we'll have
*Pack things that we won't need till next year and get some help to take it to the new place
*Pack things for America
*Clean the house one last time, rearrange things as needed
*Finish the books I'm borrowing from people
*I'm sure there are other things, but my brain is going to fry if I keep thinking about what still needs to be done and how I have so many goodbyes ahead of me.

PART TWO....will be in another post.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Longer Days!

I'm at a loss for why Ukraine already has longer days than Maryland, and it's not even the summer solstice yet.

Kiev, Ukraine
Sunrise: 5:02am
Sunset: 8:48pm

Crumpton, MD
Sunrise: 5:46am
Sunset: 8:15pm

During the winter, the days are EXTREMELY short, and there is not much sun.  If there's any sunshine in the day, it's hidden behind the clouds.

To give you an idea of how little sunshine I've expected here, I'll tell you how much sunscreen I packed: 0.85 ounces, all in sample size packets.  My roommate and I will use it tomorrow at the church picnic in Obolon.

April/May 2011 Update

Hello all,

This will be the last email posting from Ukraine for this school year.  I will try to post once during the summer, and then continue again in the fall when I return to Ukraine.

Quick points about the past two months:

*April 24 was Easter Sunday here in Ukraine.  I observed some Orthodox Easter celebrations at a nearby Orthodox church, which you can read about here (at this link I also wrote some about the Nazarene sunrise service).  At this link, you can read about the traditions of Holy Week and watch some videos demonstrating how to make Ukrainian Easter Eggs.

Nazarene sunrise service overlooking the Dnieper River
*On May 7, I finished my Cultural Anthropology course through NTS!  I was so relieved to finish my term paper (due on April 30), and also relieved when I got an A on the paper I wrote about children and families in Ukraine!  I'm still waiting for my final grade, though.

*May 9 is Victory Day, which commemorates the surrender of the Nazis to the Soviet Army.  Click here to read some of the history and see some video footage from 1945 (thanks to Youtube).

*A team from Northwest Nazarene University has been here since the 11th, and will stay until the 26th.  They are helping various churches around the city, and also came to KCA on Wednesday.  As one of the track coaches, it was wonderful to have them teaching some of our kids more skills that we are not necessarily knowledgeable about (shotput and triple jump).

They held Kids' Club activities on the other side of the city, and I was able to join them last weekend.  Click here to read about the first Kids' Club I went to, and NNU's assistance to Andriy and Marina in the church plant.

Relay games
*On Thursday, the 6th grade Bible class and I led chapel for the elementary students.  We talked about trusting God -- that it means we fully rely on God (FROG).  The kids did a puppet skit and acted out the story of Peter walking on the water, then asked the elementary students questions based on the story.  Upon reflection after the chapel time, I realized that although we told stories of trusting God, we didn't give the kids concrete ways to apply this lesson to their own lives -- to obey God when He asks us to trust Him.  In this, I have to simply trust God (ha!) that seeds were planted or watered, and that God will be the one to make their faith grow despite times of difficulty.  I even found that I needed to listen to my own chapel message, and allow God to shape my own thinking -- to trust that God will fulfill his purposes in our lives.

Discussion time
*Friday was the Senior Send-off chapel at school, complete with photo slideshows of each senior.  I will miss these students, most of whom I have taught for two years, and the rest of whom I have gotten to know otherwise.

Summer Plans
Many churches have asked invited me to speak in their churches while I am in America, and my schedule is filling up!  Click here to see if I will be at a church near you.  I'm looking forward to seeing many of you, and attempting to also have a vacation at some point! :)  If you are interested in helping sponsor me monthly, please visit http://web.nazarene.org/goto/ukrainejh.

The district coordinator for the MK district at Nazarene Youth Conference has been emailing us more info, and I've learned a little bit about many of the participants.  They will be coming from all around the world, and they are sure to be a fun bunch!  Some of my fellow sponsors are folks I've known from my time with Youth in Mission, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Praises:
*My online course is finished!
*God's provision of churches for me to speak during Sunday services
*How God has been working in my life, and revealing the ways in which I need to continue to grow

Prayer Requests:
*Transitions these seniors make as they move to college or begin work in the fall.
*Many of my students are returning to their passport countries for the summer.  Pray for smooth adjustments.  One student I know is going to the US for the first time in 3 years.
*For the MKs as they prepare for the youth conference -- pray that they will be open to what God has to say to them

Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement.  I couldn't have made it through year #2 without your support!

In Christ,
Jessica

Poznaki Kids' Club

Part One:
Some of you may remember from my trip to Ukraine in 2008 that my teammate and I worked in Zaporozhe with a pastor named Andriy and his wife Marina.  Within the past year, Andriy and Marina have moved to the Left Bank area of Kiev (not far from where we held classes during the swine flu quarantine of '09).  They have started a church plant in their apartment.

A few weeks ago, Andriy and Marina asked me to come and help them for their Saturday afternoon kids' club.  I didn't know what to expect, and nor did I know how to get there!  They said that last time they had taught basic colors to the kids, and asked if I could bring some games or activity ideas.  I decided to bring Twister, and then would "wing it" with another game idea (I think it's called Trainwreck, when the person in the middle says things like "If you are wearing blue, then you need to get up and change seats").

There were three kids there -- Liza (age 7), Masha (age 4), and Andrusha (also 7, I think).  Their moms have been to our church at Studencheskaya, and are both named Svetlana.  Marina reviewed the colors with them -- and they did well!  We started to play Twister (each child taking turns), but it soon became apparent that the kids needed to learn their left from their right in both English AND Russian!  The kids also had a chance to spin the spinner for their friends, and I joined in for a few rounds also.

Masha and Andrusha (brother and sister)

The kids and Marina
Svetlana and Marina also read the children Bible stories and showed a video (I think it was from the Beginner's Bible series) about the Last Supper and Jesus' last hours.  Then we made a craft, and I helped them with that.  Up until this point, I was doing okay with communicating in Russian -- both understanding and being understood.

While we ate a snack, the other Svetlana came and the conversation level went from being at a child's level to being for grown-ups.  Hence, my focus and comprehension level quickly dropped.  I'm convinced Svetlana #2 was speaking Ukrainian to me, because I barely understood her most of the time, except when I recognized the word "mova"which means language in Ukrainian.  Marina would translate/repeat for me from Svetlana's Ukrainian/Russian, to more simple Russian.  

About 10-15 minutes into the conversation happening at the table, Svetlana #2 asked me if I was understanding everything -- I wasn't, because at this point, I'm sure my eyes were glazed over as I thought about other things.  It's hard to stay attentive after about 20 minutes of conversation in a foreign language when it's mostly over my head.  Maybe I should stick to talking with kids.

Part Two:  NNU Team
Currently there is a short-term summer missions team here from NNU, helping at various places throughout the city.  Because I am in school, I'm not able to join them as much, though it was nice to have them at KCA on Wednesday.  Last weekend, I joined them at a nearby park for a kids' club.

As we arrived, the team members made balloon animals for the kids who were flocking to the playground.  Translators included Slavik, Dina, Anya, and also Marina's brothers and sisters who I hadn't seen since 2008!  The team dispersed, and accompanied by translators, we invited kids to the playground and schoolyard at 5.


The kids' club included a craft and relay games at one location, and sports games at the schoolyard.  I tried to talk to some of the Ukrainian kids, but alas, as far as I got with most of them was "What's your name?" and "How old are you?" just like in 2008.  I realized yet again that I am not fluent in Russian, and thus cannot completely translate things.  With this team, any little bit that I can interpret for them is helpful, but I recognize that the Ukrainians doing the translation are MUCH more equipped for the task than I am.  Plus it's more important to give these folks opportunities to practice English and help in the church, as they are rising leaders.  

Monday, May 9, 2011

Victory Day (May 9)

Today, May 9, is a day commemorating the victory over the Nazi army in World War II.  Or, as the war is called here, the Great Patriotic War.


Source: eureferendum.blogspot.com
In America, we recognize D-Day on June 6, but May 9 was when the Nazi army surrendered to the Soviet army.  Today is a holiday, and everyone has the day off (even KCA!).  The above photo is of Red Square, when the soldiers threw down the German banners in a pile to be burned.  I've seen old video footage of this parade and event, and there is a feeling of great triumph.  The soldiers are yelling "Hoorah! Hoorah!"


Here is a video of the 1945 parade.  Since you probably don't understand what's going on, I will point you to specific clips.  I wish I could sit beside you and point out specific things and translate as the video plays.
1:22 Holding the Nazi flags that they've "captured"
2:30 Stalin is one of those important guys, overlooking the parade.  A few moments later is when the parade actually begins, but you can fast forward to 4:57, where there is a gun salute.  Then they all march, grouped by their "fronts" -- 1st Belorussian front, for instance. After a few moments of that, switch to the Part 2 video.



Part 2 of the 1945 Victory Day Parade:
0:59 Throwing the Nazi Germany banners in a pile (watch until 1:29)



I never realized how massive this parade was -- the clips of these videos shown in the War Museum only total about 5 minutes, if that!  I just finished fastforwarding through these videos, and I couldn't really find them yelling "Hoorah!" like in the museum's clips.  Sorry about that -- you'll just have to come here and see the clip for yourself at the museum. :)


Yesterday I walked around the National Botanical Garden with a friend, and the place was packed!  People were enjoying the sort of-nice spring weather and the holiday weekend.

Source: flyuia.livejournal.com

Monday, May 2, 2011

Serving with Eyes Wide Open

The following are some helpful tips/notes that I got from the book Serving with Eyes Wide Open:  Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence (it’s a good book; I highly recommend it).  I jotted these notes down a few years ago to share with the YIM students at ENC, so here's a condensed version.  If you need me to clarify something, let me know!

Knowledge Cultural Intelligence (CQ): our understanding about cross-cultural issues and differences
-gaining general info about how cultures vary
-How does culture affect the way people view the world?  How does that relate to the specific culture you’re about to visit?  How does it explain our own behavior?  What’s behind the common gestures used?
Areas to be aware of:
-Event time vs. Clock time
-High context (people have a lot of history together, and everyone seems to be an insider) vs. Low context (much of the information needed to participate is explicit)
-Individualism (or importance on membership in groups)
-Power distance—how “far apart” leaders and followers feel from each other (having to do with attitudes toward authority figures).
-Uncertainty avoidance—being at ease with the unknown and what lies ahead
-“Interactive learning, conversations, and readings related to cultural differences are helpful ways to gain understanding about cross-cultural differences.” [talk with your teammates]

Interpretive CQ:  the degree to which we’re mindful and aware when we interact cross-culturally
-intentionally questioning our assumptions
How to develop this area:
-stimulate your imagination by reading novels and biographies about and by people in the places where you’re going.  [I know we are all busy college students already reading hundreds of pages…]
Suggested books: Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake: A Novel (from India) and Brother Yun’s The Heavenly Man (China).
-open or close your window (your style of relating and communicating).  Adapt your communication and behavior in a way that puts the other person at ease…By adjusting your behavior to mirror theirs, they’ll automatically feel more comfortable
-JOURNAL!!! Think about the meaning behind these observations and experiences.  Describe things that make you uncomfortable.  Write down questions that come to mind.  What insights are you gaining?  What are you seeing different about yourself, others, and God?  How might your faith be different if you had grown up in this culture instead of at home?
-cross-cultural immersions within your own community/daily life

Perseverance CQ:  level of interest, drive, and motivation to adapt cross-culturally
-engagement with the culture as a whole
-understand different cultures and different ways of seeing the world
-really experiencing the culture [This can also relate to your level of connectedness with people back home.]
-“Our level of interest in connecting with the culture as a whole will directly shape how well we do our work in subtle but profound ways.”
-view the trip as one of many life experiences that impact us and others, as part of a seamless life of missional living that includes giving and receiving, and relevant to God’s call on your lives

Behavioral CQ:  changing our verbal and nonverbal actions when interacting cross-culturally
-flexibility and adjustment
-practice here in the States [Ukraine: crossing arms or speaking with hands in pockets]
-adaptability in interacting and communicating
-exposure to uncomfortable situations