February 2011 KCA Update

Greetings from Kyiv, Ukraine!

It seems as though February has flown past, and last week too!  Here’s a glimpse into the past month in life and ministry in Ukraine.

English Language Ministries
Teaching the Kids at Obolon:  Last week my class had 14 kids, quite a jump from the average amount of 9!  Everyone crowded around the table.  This was a difficult group to teach, because there were multiple levels of language ability, kids that hadn’t come in a while, and so many conversations (mostly in Russian) happening at once!  The story for this week was Daniel in the Lions’ Den, and the kids did a matching game of emotion words and facial expressions.

Students working on a matching game

Youth Group at First Church:  Today (the 6th) we had about 7-8 high schoolers from “The City” youth group join us to lead worship in English and meet our youth.  “The City” is from International Christian Assembly, consisting of English-speaking youth (Ukrainians too).  Eric, a fellow teacher, shared a message about the power of words, challenging the youth to recognize what is in their hearts and also to build others up.

Be a Part of My Team
During the past few weeks, I have started looking for churches where I might be able to share about life and ministry in Ukraine.  So far, I am officially scheduled at 2 churches in Maryland/Pennsylvania.
For this next school year, I will need to raise $12,000 to cover all my expenses:  rent, utilities, transportation (airfare to/from Ukraine, plus public transport here), food, insurance, and our Regional Conference in October.  This seems like a lot – because it is – but it doesn’t seem so great when you (along with 47 others) could sponsor me for $25 each month that I am in Ukraine.  Many have already committed to such a sponsorship for this year, and I thank you.

KCA Life
My days have been busy with teaching duties and attending weekly basketball games.  On Friday, my roommate wore an eagle costume to the games to encourage more team spirit – and all 3 of our teams (JV boys, varsity boys, varsity girls) won!
Also, for the past month, I have had a student teacher in my 6th grade math class.  She leaves this week for the US, which means that I have resumed teaching all 4 of my classes instead of just 3.
Click here to read more about springtime here in Ukraine.

Cultural Note:
Tuesday, March 8 is International Women’s Day (and we get the day off).  Don’t worry, I never heard of it either until I came to Ukraine.  According to Wikipedia, it began as a Socialist political event, but today, it is celebrated similar to Mother’s Day.  Women (whether or not they are mothers) receive flowers – within the past few days, I have seen many bouquets – or small gifts.

Upcoming Dates:
March 12:  My brother arrives for a week-long visit!
March 20: English lesson at Obolon
March 22-23: Ukraine District Assembly
March 26-April 2: KCA Spring Break

Prayer Requests
*CIS Field leadership -- our new field strategy coordinator begins June 1.
*KCA staffing needs
*For God to provide the funds I need for next year in Ukraine, plus a summer job in MD
*Language skills -- I am learning in my Russian class, but need to put my skills into use!

Praises
*I get to see my brother soon!
*More kids coming to the Obolon church!
*My seniors who have been accepted into colleges (pray for wisdom for these kiddos as they decide, and as they set out on their own in the fall)

Thanks so much for all of your support and prayers!  I appreciate you!
In Christ,
Jessica

Spring is in the Air!

If you talk to any Ukrainian, they will tell you that March 1 was the first day of spring.

My friend Zee tried to prove it to me:

There are four seasons, each of which takes 3 months.  December - February = winter.  March - May = spring.  June - August = summer.  September - November = fall (autumn).  Therefore, March 1 is the first day of spring, regardless of the vernal equinox taking place around the 20th of the month.

Today temperatures were right about 39*F, whereas in the past few weeks they've been in the 20s.  The icicles have melted, the snow is melting, sidewalks are clearer -- soon there will be GREEN plants and colorful blossoms!  As I rode the bus this afternoon, I saw a group of men playing football (aka soccer) down the road from us.

Temperatures have been slightly warmer the past few days, and I'm finding that I don't want to hear any songs about winter or think about cold weather any more!  If anything, this idea that spring started on the 1st of the month is a morale booster!


Women's Day
Tuesday, March 8, is International Women's Day.  I had never heard of this holiday until I came to Ukraine.

This holiday is about as big as Mother's Day in the US, but all women are honored.  Last year, our headmaster gave us flowers (and the day off).  This year, I think I am having a movie night with some friends, then a brunch with a few folks from the Bible study I attend (through the international church).

Rising Fuel Costs
A few days ago, one of my friends asked me if gas prices were rising in Ukraine.  I told him I didn't know, because I don't have a car and don't pay attention to the costs.  The reality is that everyone is being affected, even those who don't have a car.

In late January, my roommate and I found out that bus #464 had increased its fare from 2 грн to 2.50грн.  This was understandable, because it is such a long route -- it goes from Lukyanivs'ka metro, past our house, to Mins'ka metro (near the Obolon church).  We just didn't like pulling out a coin to hand the driver along with our 2грн bill.

To get to/from school, we can take the 6K, 25, or 587, all of which cost 2 грн.  A couple weeks ago, I discovered that the 6K had also gone up to 2.50.  Today, bus 25 was 2.50 too!!  Also, I noted that the exchange rate had gone from 7.93 грн = US$1 down to 7.90грн.

Connecting over Chai

Many of you might have picked up along the way that "chai" is a type of tea. Starbucks sells "Chai Tea" on their menu.

After I began learning Russian, I learned that the word "chai" (чай) actually means tea. Hence, I find it redundant to talk about chai tea.

The following is taken from Michelle's blog, another missionary in Kyiv. (emphases mine)

Then I was asked if I would like hot tea. I said yes automatically and immediately hot water appeared from an electric kettle and I quickly dunked a tea bag in my mug and began to drink the tea without thinking. I made no connection whatsoever that the hot drink was going to make me even more uncomfortable than I already felt. I didn’t even think about asking for cold water which would have been much more refreshing. You see, I live in Ukraine and in Ukraine tea is not just a drink, it’s a ritual that nurtures relationships. And if you want relationships with Ukrainians, you drink tea....

Tea in Ukraine is another concept entirely. If you are invited to drink tea with someone, you are being invited into a relationship. A mandatory mutual experience to get to know each other or if already friends, a way to catch up on each other’s lives and get to know each other even better.

By assimilation, I quickly picked up the tea ritual without too many difficulties. I learned that wherever I went, tea would most likely be served. Friends would offer it in their homes and I needed to have a supply of different teas on hand in mine to offer when friends came to visit as well.....

To prepare tea for a friend and know exactly how they like it made, big cup, small cup, green tea or black, weak or strong, how many spoons of sugar, well, that is a sign of true friendship.

So if you are visiting Ukraine, and someone offers to share a cup of tea with you, don’t wrinkle your nose and suggest McDonald’s. You just missed the point. You were invited into a relationship and no matter how hot it is, drink your tea and make a friend.

Every Sunday after the morning service, tea and cookies are available at church. Often people mill about the hallway, chatting with one another. As I think about this custom, it has held true at every church I've visited in Kyiv (all 3 of them).  Whenever we are at Obolon, we sit and drink tea with the people there, before we leave for lunch or home.  So many times during my trip in summer 2008 we'd sit and drink tea and talk with the pastors.

Side cultural note:  I've never seen anyone carrying a travel-type mug for coffee/tea on the streets or on public transport.  I do see people buying small cups (about 200 mL) of steaming hot coffee/tea from kiosks on the street.


Sometimes I gladly accept the offer of hot tea because I've just come inside from the FREEZING COLD outdoors!  When my roommate and I were in Vinnitsa in November, we drank 4 cups of tea in one day (before 7pm) -- one was at breakfast with Natasha, another was to warm up after walking, another was at House of James with Vitalik and his wife, and our last cup was back at the church. 

Truthfully, sometimes I decline the offer of tea. Because the tea is hot, the drinker must sip it slowly, and that requires more time.  If I'm thirsty, or if my throat is dry, I want to drink something right down and not wait for it to cool.

One Sunday I was offered tea, but we were leaving before I could finish it. I felt terrible not being able to finish it and having to pour it down the drain. (I'm not sure why carrying it with me wasn't a viable option...) More often than not, my friends and I will head out as soon as church is over for lunch at McDonald's or some other place.

Yet, this time that is required for drinking the hot tea is time that is spent savoring conversations with others. I may not understand 100% of what people say to me, but what is important is that I am there with them, being invited into their lives, and that I am willing to listen and to allow them to enter into my life.  I suspect that this will be a cultural habit that I will continue even after I leave Ukraine.

Photo credit: drowsywater.com

Things to do in Ukraine...

The following is a list I made in fall 2008, of what I would do if I ever returned to Ukraine....Here it is:

~visit Katya and her mom in Chernovtsy
~go inside St Sofia's Monastery -- done! (May 2010)
~explore more around Andrevsky church -- done!
~take photos at Babiy Yar -- does it count that I took some photos when we got slightly lost last night?
~visit Hillsong church for Sunday service -- done (but on a Saturday night)!
~visit Chernobyl museum -- done!
~go to Odessa and see the Potemkin Stairs -- DONE!
~go ice skating -- done!
~explore more of the city -- DONE and doing! haha
~visit the Botanical garden

My Day (February 11)

7am:  Wake up, get ready for school
8am:  Leave the house and get Amanda (fellow volunteer) on a bus headed toward the church, for her meetings with all the other CIS Field missionaries today.
8:30am:  Arrive at school.
Morning:  Listen to chapel from my classroom rather than disrupting it (again).  Observe my student teacher.  Enter grades in gradebook.  Make photocopies.  Supervise study hall.  Eat lunch.

12pm:  Leave school, go to the grocery store, go home.
Afternoon:  Bake cookies.  Sing and dance along to my music.  Bake a coffee cake that looked deformed.  Wash dishes.  Fetch many more dishes from the highest cabinets.  Listen to podcasts.
Buy sugar at our local produkti.
Clean my room.  Refill sugar container.

I feel rather domestic.

Tonight all the CIS Field missionaries are coming over for pizza (that's being delivered) around 5:45pm, then having tea/coffee/desserts with us.

Because I'm a volunteer, and I teach at KCA, I'm not required to be at all of these meetings.  In fact, I'm not really sure how many I'm required to attend.  This year, I live in a great big house, with plenty of room (but it's not my Father's house), and I've enjoyed hosting people.  I convinced Cliff to let me have everyone over at some point, especially as I see my role on the mission team as an "encourager."

In all my preparations, I've got a glimpse for what it's like for Heike and Colleen when they host visiting teams in their homes.  (Granted, this is a small glimpse, because I don't have to prepare a full meal.)

I'm looking forward to having everyone over, and helping in this way.

January 2011 Update

Dear family and friends,

The past month has been a busy time in my life and ministry here in Ukraine.

Fresh Starts
In mid-January, we began the second semester of classes at KCA.  Most of the courses stay the same, except for a few junior/senior classes (juniors take economics then government; seniors study world religions then senior seminar/life skills).  Besides this, basketball season gets into full swing with six different teams for middle and high schoolers (middle, JV, and varsity).  For many middle and high school students, this is a welcome time as it means a fresh start in the grade book.  Even as a teacher, I know that the second semester of geometry means less time grading assignments since there aren't as many proofs to check!

Helping one of my pre-calc students (photo by Nadia)

Pray for Our Children
In my home church in Maryland, my cousin always says, "Pray for our children" during our congregational prayer time.  Pray for the students at KCA--missionary kids and other expat kids.  Just like teenagers in America,  these students (whom I love dearly) are faced with the same temptations and struggles of identity, making the right choices, and choosing who or what they will allow to influence them.  Pray that these students will find their identity in Christ, as a child of God, and will allow this to influence their outlook on life.  Pray that my KCA kids will make good decisions, including being aware of how they are influenced and how they can influence others for Christ.

Cast and crew of the comical Middle School play:  "This is a Test"

A look towards the summer (while everything is frigid here)
From June 8 to August 15, I will be on the America's east coast to visit family and raise support for this next school year.  In order to teach another year, I must raise close to $12,000 through monthly sponsorships or one-time donations.
I will primarily be in the mid-Atlantic region during the summer, but will be visiting a few other places.  I would LOVE to come see you!  If you are interested in having me come to your church or small group and share about how God is working in Ukraine, please contact me.  My schedule can be found at this page.

Russian Language Practice
Every Sunday at my church, we read Scripture passages from that Sunday's section (?) of the lectionary.  Four different individuals will come to the front and read, and sometimes Pastor Vova will say a few words between each reading.  Just a couple weeks ago, I was one of those readers!  Click here to read the backstory of how this happened.  I know I made mistakes while I was reading, but was encouraged by some words from a friend:  "Still, God brought you through it, and if nobody else enjoyed it, God loved it."  Besides this, "God knows every language."
This experience reminded me that my life is not about what I can do, or how I can impress or win over others.  It's about living in a way that brings glory and honor to God and allowing myself to be shaped more into the image of Christ.

Children's Bible Quizzing in Ukraine
Within the past few weeks, I have been meeting with Iryna and Andriy from church to begin a children's quizzing ministry in Ukraine in the fall.  We have discussed ideas, how people can help, organized lessons (dividing the book of Matthew into individual lessons), and begun creating our own questions in Russian.  None of the Publishing House material has ever been in Russian before, so we are building from scratch.  We are also doing this well in advance of the release of the new Matthew material, so anything that is on the website is for 1+2 Samuel.

Let me amend that last statement.  I have called different people in America who have offered (or been willing) to help with quizzing materials, whether to remind me of ideas from when I was a kid, or to send sample materials from other quizzing years so that we have ideas for lesson plans and questions.  Thank you for those who have helped in this way, and for those who are praying for this ministry!

Upcoming Dates
Feb. 10-13 CIS Field missionary meetings in Kyiv
Feb. 20 English language youth group service @ Kyiv First Church
Feb 27 English lessons @ Obolon

Praises:
*Just as KCA's students get a fresh start at the beginning of second semester, we can be thankful that God gives us a re-start in life through His Son, Jesus Christ.
*Praise God for children's ministries in Ukraine that can help children and families learn more about God and how to have a relationship with God.
*Praise God for providing a loving supporting network of missionary families here in Ukraine, who support each other, the students, and volunteers like myself.  :)

Prayer Requests:
*Pray for my students as many of them travel to Budapest for a basketball tournament this weekend.  Pray for good sportsmanship, safe travel, and no injuries!
*Pray that God will provide my finances for the next school year, including the Nazarene Youth Conference this summer and the Eurasia Regional Conference in the fall.
*Pray that God will continue shaping me into who God has called me to be, and that God will use me even if I am not aware of it, and ESPECIALLY when I am not aware!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement during my time here in Ukraine!  I really appreciate YOU!

In Christ,
Jessica

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!