A quick post to update everyone until we return tomorrow night...
Today was fantastic! An incredible last full day in L'viv- we certainly made the most of it! VBS was a huge success today and a success overall- we had 23 children here to learn about "God Sending Us" through painting pictures, games, and 'sink or float' science excercises- and lots of smiles during snack time with apple smiles made out of apples (well we accidentally bought nectarines, woops!) and peanut butter and marshmallows.Many of the childrens' parents told us about what a great ministry the VBS program was, and hearing that was very rewarding to know that we had made such a difference for these children and the community!
Next was cleaning the student center- sweeping, organizing the slipper closet (Ukrainians are big on wearing slippers!) cleaning the stove (go Charlie!) and other various chores to help out. The cleaning eventually turned into a dance party, however the cleaning was successful and they are very appreciative of our efforts...despite the fact that the city turned off the water so we had an extremely litmited supply of water to clean with!!!
Following cleaning, we went to the home of one of our English Camp students, Marta, because her mother invited us over for some of the best food we've had all week!
After lunch, the group split and half went to the market for some last minute shopping and the other half went back to the Hostel to get ready for our evening out- after getting ready we left for the L'viv Opera House, which is 115 years old...
We took some photos outside the Opera House (all dolled up) and then walked around inside too. The entire place was absolutely exquisite! After walking up and down the stairs- we finally got to our seats at the top and center of the theater. All 16 of us (the team, Yura, Maryanna, and Betty) were in one row and we sat patiently (starting to sweat in the lack of AC ) until the orchestra started. As the lights dimmed I (Camille) was busting at the seams with excitement and the rest of the team was pretty excited too!
The ballet was Giselle and according to Yura, it was performed by a local ballet company. After the opening, the story began and I look over... Glen was fast asleep, but to my astonishment... Charlie was actually awake! The first Act was not too impressive (in my opinion), but the girl who danced the role of Giselle did a phenominal job! She was the perfect size and she had incredible feet. Albert (the main male) looked JUST like Yura and the supporting male lead looked like Ilya. The male leads were not very impressive, but they did alright. Giselle kind of sorta looked like me and her main solo in Act I was just like the one I learned 2 years ago! At intermission- we all walked around to stretch our legs before the lights in the opera house started to blink (a sign to get back to our seats). The second act... wow! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time- it was incredible, and everything I had hoped for! The clapping at the end of the ballet was good... until it turned into this obnoxious clapping on beat (some kind of European tradition). I could not stop smiling when we left the theater and I certainly enjoyed explaining different "ballet-isms" to those in our team that were completely lost. It was nice to see some of the locals in a performance!
The Gorans were waiting right outside of the theater and we walked down to order some dinner (chicken or beef wraps). We ate them accompanied by a light beverage (coke, fanta, sprite, or water) in front of the outdoor stage. Fortunate for us- a silent film was being played (Charlie Chaplin hehehe). We slowly walked back to the student center/ hostel. Some of us stayed at the hostel in order to pack and get some rest but the rest of us went on an adventure! Julie, Kjersti, Charlie, Perry, Rhys, Yura, Volodya, Eric, and I went out in the park (in our fancy clothes). We got some ice cream and walked around the park (including the children's playground).
Overall- it was a good day to finish up Kid's Club (VBS), have an amazing meal, and watch a ballet. We will all miss this place so much, but it's nice to know that we have created friendships that will most certainly last a lifetime.
Thank you all for following us-
(by Julie and Camille)
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
July 13, 2010
Well, first off, Happy Birthday to Julie! We were all running around getting things ready for Julie's surprise party throughout the day. Yura brought three different chocolate cakes, chocolate, chocolate with honey, and chocolate with cherries. It was a very busy day for the Ukraine Mission Team!
We had 18 kids com to Kids' Camp today, 6 new faces showed up, so we had 25 individuals show up so far in the past two days. The theme for today was God guides us so our activities for today centered around that idea. For the projects today, the half the kids went into the prayer room in the Student Center and made God's eyes which look like stars that you're supposed to follow or, like well, God's eye. The other half stayed in the main room and did activities that emphasized that it is hard to do two things at once such as, rubbing your belly and patting your head, and trying to draw circles when moving your hand in a circle. Though when asked if doing two things at once, most kids said "Nooooo!" Charlie then taught the kids Simon Say's, which was a big hit!
For snack time, we introduced the kids s'mores in which we served around a "camp fire" (really just a round plastic table cloth that we made the kids sit in). Afterwards we switched group and Kjersti introduced a new game in which you find the leader where one person goes out of the room and the group picks a leader. Everyone in the group follows what the leader does (clapping their knees, sticking your tongue out, etc...) while the person who left the room has 3 guesses to find out who the leader was. This was done while a third of the group went and painted stars on the other half of the mural that was started yesterday.
After lunch, the team then headed out to the special needs center which was about 40 minutes, walking/mashutka ride, from the Student Center. The people there made amazing and beautiful handmade crafts and jewlery, such candles, necklaces, butterflies, pysanky, and icons. Most of what they made had been shipped off to France so that they can be sold to support the center when we got there, but the examples they had were excellent. One of the women had an ingenious and quick way of tying off the beads of the necklaces.
Volodya from the special needs center then saw us off as we boarded the mashutka back into the center of town, where we went back to the hostel and went off to the art market. This was one of the few places in L'viv where you have to haggle with the sellers and you cannot accept the first price they give you, well unless it has a price tag of course. Perry got this fancy black with red embroidery Ukrainian shirt that he's going to try to wear our last day here, with Yura, and maybe to the Opera House too tomorrow. I'm sure many of the souvenirs for back home were bought today in the art market.
Dinner food was from a place called big burger where they stuff shredded cabbage, carrots, corn, mayonnaise, and ketchup, with either a hot dog, burger, or super hot dog, or super burger. It was a collegiate experience because there were no seats at the place, basically just looked like a hole in the wall, and most of the students from Ivana-Franko University go there for eats. It was very delicious and very filling for most of the team, though Perry and I wanted more. Hannah and Julie were the messiest eaters out of the bunch, Hannah spilled a bunch on the ground and Julie had some on her leg.
Then came English club, which are Tuesday nights at 7 in the Student Center, where a bunch of people from around the community came in to practice their English. Micheal led the group by telling us both Ukrainians and Americans, what topics to talk about in English. Topics ranged from what pets you have to who is the most influential older person to you.
A bunch of us then ended the night by going on a late night excursion into L'viv to find us some churches that changed colors at night. Charlie was especially excited about going to McDonald's in Ukraine! In which he got scrumptious potato wedges. L'viv seemed much more livelier at night with the street music playing, the lights on the trees, people mostly walking about, it was nice. Kjersti and Julie were very excited about chocolate milk in a triangle and even made a whole dance and song about it, which start with "chicken in a box" and will probably end with "yogurt in a bag!"
It was a very busy day today and we are all looking forward to the last day of Kids' Club and the ballet at the Opera House tomorrow.
God Bless,
Eric Virakone
We had 18 kids com to Kids' Camp today, 6 new faces showed up, so we had 25 individuals show up so far in the past two days. The theme for today was God guides us so our activities for today centered around that idea. For the projects today, the half the kids went into the prayer room in the Student Center and made God's eyes which look like stars that you're supposed to follow or, like well, God's eye. The other half stayed in the main room and did activities that emphasized that it is hard to do two things at once such as, rubbing your belly and patting your head, and trying to draw circles when moving your hand in a circle. Though when asked if doing two things at once, most kids said "Nooooo!" Charlie then taught the kids Simon Say's, which was a big hit!
For snack time, we introduced the kids s'mores in which we served around a "camp fire" (really just a round plastic table cloth that we made the kids sit in). Afterwards we switched group and Kjersti introduced a new game in which you find the leader where one person goes out of the room and the group picks a leader. Everyone in the group follows what the leader does (clapping their knees, sticking your tongue out, etc...) while the person who left the room has 3 guesses to find out who the leader was. This was done while a third of the group went and painted stars on the other half of the mural that was started yesterday.
After lunch, the team then headed out to the special needs center which was about 40 minutes, walking/mashutka ride, from the Student Center. The people there made amazing and beautiful handmade crafts and jewlery, such candles, necklaces, butterflies, pysanky, and icons. Most of what they made had been shipped off to France so that they can be sold to support the center when we got there, but the examples they had were excellent. One of the women had an ingenious and quick way of tying off the beads of the necklaces.
Volodya from the special needs center then saw us off as we boarded the mashutka back into the center of town, where we went back to the hostel and went off to the art market. This was one of the few places in L'viv where you have to haggle with the sellers and you cannot accept the first price they give you, well unless it has a price tag of course. Perry got this fancy black with red embroidery Ukrainian shirt that he's going to try to wear our last day here, with Yura, and maybe to the Opera House too tomorrow. I'm sure many of the souvenirs for back home were bought today in the art market.
Dinner food was from a place called big burger where they stuff shredded cabbage, carrots, corn, mayonnaise, and ketchup, with either a hot dog, burger, or super hot dog, or super burger. It was a collegiate experience because there were no seats at the place, basically just looked like a hole in the wall, and most of the students from Ivana-Franko University go there for eats. It was very delicious and very filling for most of the team, though Perry and I wanted more. Hannah and Julie were the messiest eaters out of the bunch, Hannah spilled a bunch on the ground and Julie had some on her leg.
Then came English club, which are Tuesday nights at 7 in the Student Center, where a bunch of people from around the community came in to practice their English. Micheal led the group by telling us both Ukrainians and Americans, what topics to talk about in English. Topics ranged from what pets you have to who is the most influential older person to you.
A bunch of us then ended the night by going on a late night excursion into L'viv to find us some churches that changed colors at night. Charlie was especially excited about going to McDonald's in Ukraine! In which he got scrumptious potato wedges. L'viv seemed much more livelier at night with the street music playing, the lights on the trees, people mostly walking about, it was nice. Kjersti and Julie were very excited about chocolate milk in a triangle and even made a whole dance and song about it, which start with "chicken in a box" and will probably end with "yogurt in a bag!"
It was a very busy day today and we are all looking forward to the last day of Kids' Club and the ballet at the Opera House tomorrow.
God Bless,
Eric Virakone
Monday, July 12, 2010
July 12, 2010
July 12, 2010 L'viv
Wow, what a day! This was definitely the day that the Lord had made and we all rejoiced and were glad! We began at 8:45 in the Student Center to make the final preparations for Kids Camp. At 9:15, some of us went down the four flights of stairs to direct the children , some wore sandwich boards to advertise our camp. Others were ready at the top of the stairs to register our campers, while still others were in the Students Center to greet them. Our recruiting walks through the parks the previous day paid off, sixteen children came!! We began with singing, then to our Bible study on Joshua. Our theme for the day was "God is with me. I will stay close to God." As Julie told the story, Rhys and Max, an interpretor, acted it out. Next we had our science center on seeds and our craft center of sit-upons. Our snack was gold fish, a new food, cookies and juice. The campers then worked on a mural on today's them of walking with God and played games. It was an incredible morning.
After lunch, we were off to pick up trash at a park,. The director of the park was so pleased, he invited us to tea. From the trash pick up, we walked to the highest point in the city, Castle Hill, a 14th Century stone fort that was L'viv's birth place. Shannon had told us how Ukrainian women dress up. We saw excellent examples as we walked up the steep steps and winding cobblestone incline. Many women wore high heel sandals, compared to us in our tennis shoes. On our return to the hostel, some stopped to shop for great bargains at an outdoor book market.
For dinner, we had a banquet prepared by students from the Student Center, especially Olya and Maryanna. We began with a vegetable beef soup, then parsley potatoes and finally wrapped zucchini with garlic mayo and tomatoes. Delicious! Olya said that the reason it was so good was because of the many hands that prepared it. After cleaning up, thanks to Charlie, Eric and Rhys, we went to the center of the city for coffee. The rain added a little excitement! Glen and I returned by tram. Everyday we see God at work. What a joy for Glen and me to be a part of this incredible team. I cannot say enough about the young adults. They are awesome!
Blessings,
Suzanne Bottoms
Wow, what a day! This was definitely the day that the Lord had made and we all rejoiced and were glad! We began at 8:45 in the Student Center to make the final preparations for Kids Camp. At 9:15, some of us went down the four flights of stairs to direct the children , some wore sandwich boards to advertise our camp. Others were ready at the top of the stairs to register our campers, while still others were in the Students Center to greet them. Our recruiting walks through the parks the previous day paid off, sixteen children came!! We began with singing, then to our Bible study on Joshua. Our theme for the day was "God is with me. I will stay close to God." As Julie told the story, Rhys and Max, an interpretor, acted it out. Next we had our science center on seeds and our craft center of sit-upons. Our snack was gold fish, a new food, cookies and juice. The campers then worked on a mural on today's them of walking with God and played games. It was an incredible morning.
After lunch, we were off to pick up trash at a park,. The director of the park was so pleased, he invited us to tea. From the trash pick up, we walked to the highest point in the city, Castle Hill, a 14th Century stone fort that was L'viv's birth place. Shannon had told us how Ukrainian women dress up. We saw excellent examples as we walked up the steep steps and winding cobblestone incline. Many women wore high heel sandals, compared to us in our tennis shoes. On our return to the hostel, some stopped to shop for great bargains at an outdoor book market.
For dinner, we had a banquet prepared by students from the Student Center, especially Olya and Maryanna. We began with a vegetable beef soup, then parsley potatoes and finally wrapped zucchini with garlic mayo and tomatoes. Delicious! Olya said that the reason it was so good was because of the many hands that prepared it. After cleaning up, thanks to Charlie, Eric and Rhys, we went to the center of the city for coffee. The rain added a little excitement! Glen and I returned by tram. Everyday we see God at work. What a joy for Glen and me to be a part of this incredible team. I cannot say enough about the young adults. They are awesome!
Blessings,
Suzanne Bottoms
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Weekend Journeys and Excursions
Saturday July 10 and Sunday July 11 by Meredith
Saturday morning, we finished up English Camp with card-making, conversation, and more out-of-the-park meals. Mmmmmm. When your breakfast has a dessert to go with it, you know you're in the right place... We began the reverse process to get our luggage and ourselves off the mountain and back to the mahtshutka station, and we hiked down to the "willage". (Ukrainians learning English often have trouble with the letter V, despite having a multitude of "v" sounds in their own language... No longer "Wisiting willages" is one of the fine points of language that we helped our advanced students appreciate.)
Bus 1 had a rough go of it, I understand, packed in to every seat and then some. Bus 2, where I was riding, was thoroughly pleasant. An hour and twenty minutes brought us safely into Ivano-Frankivsk, where we all met up and went exploring in the city with our Ukrainian friends from English camp. Eric, the Nixons, the Bottomses and I went with some of the girls to a restaurant (selected after some of the group assured themselves that it wasn't a sushi place, despite all appearances. Sushi is really big here in Ukraine, and--not to slight sushi--no one knows why. There are no Italian, Chinese, etc. restaurants, but sushi on every corner of the cities...) The Americans ordered slow-cooking food, and we dashed back to the train station to meet the group rendezvous time.
The train was another adventure. It was just a three hour ride, and we wanted to save money for our team and for the Ukrainian students, so we traveled on the lowest class tickets. Seats were assigned, but roundly ignored, so we all crammed ourselves into various open seats. More and more people got on the train, and we had a slightly rough start to our area as the babucya (older woman) sitting next to me got very angry when we protested adding two more sleeping people above our heads. It looked like it was going to be a tense ride, when she opened up her big shopping bag and pulled a packet of cookies out and insisted that we eat them. After that, she and David, the missionary pastor, had a great conversation in Ukrainian, and she left the train with happy "bye-byes" and a reasonably serious promise to come visit the Methodist church service sometime. God turns things upside-down and always has a "twist" to the story!
Today, we woke up back at our hostel--'back home' to us, now!--and went for a big brunch at the traditional Ukrainian restaurant that has franchises all over the country. Yum! One of the girls from the student center took us sightseeing in L'viv and taught us just the right amount about what we were seeing. Highlights for me included the Armenian Orthodox church built in 1363 with beautiful murals (and painted lambs circling the domed ceiling at the entrance!) and the statue dedicated to the first printer in Ukraine--complete with a huge book fair filling the square at his feet.
Most of the team climbed the tower in L'viv's city hall to see the city from up high...but a few of us hung out down below and people-watched as tourists from Ukraine and Poland (and Buffalo, NY) wandered around and read the history displays in the square.
Church was at 5:00, and we heard a good sermon from Pastor Ludomir about Mary and Martha--Mary the disciple chose the 'best dish' at the banquet table that Christ offered! Dinner was pizza again, and then we got ready for VBS tomorrow.
Throughout the day, we stretched ourselves in getting ready for VBS, or, as it's called here, 'Kid's Club'. (VBS is a very American thing...and so very foreign to Ukrainians!) In the morning, afternoon and evening, we went out in small groups with interpreters to invite kids/parents to come to Kid's Club this week. I haven't done a lot of one-to-one cold-call evangelism in my life in America, let alone in a foreign culture, and that seemed to be true for all of us. We did our best to be inviting and reassuring--but it was tough going sometimes when people would dismiss us as being some kind of 'sect'--which to most Ukrainians means 'cult'. David and Yura told us that, really, it's mostly just the Jehovah's Witnesses, fundamentalists and the LDS folks who walk up to strangers and invite them to church-oriented events, and those groups are very much disliked by the vast majority of the population (who are Greek Catholic or Orthodox). Our teams worked really hard, though, and ended up having some great conversations with people who seemed excited to bring their kids tomorrow. We'll see!!
We're eager to get started with 'Kids Club', and all the other things planned for tomorrow. The youngest members of our team and some of the student center young people went out to the Fan Zone tonight. It's a big screen in the local park for the World Cup, with games to play all day today, and a strict no-alcohol policy tonight during the game--as our Ukrainian friends tell us, it's the nicest place in town to watch the game without hooligans and with a HUGE screen! I see on the computer that the score is still 0-0, and I will have to wait till morning to hear the final...
Thanks for reading and thanks for keeping our team in your prayers. We're having a great experience, doing good work, and growing as a team. I would apologize for the double (and extra-long) post, but surely you were forewarned when you saw that it was the pastor's day to write?? :)
Saturday morning, we finished up English Camp with card-making, conversation, and more out-of-the-park meals. Mmmmmm. When your breakfast has a dessert to go with it, you know you're in the right place... We began the reverse process to get our luggage and ourselves off the mountain and back to the mahtshutka station, and we hiked down to the "willage". (Ukrainians learning English often have trouble with the letter V, despite having a multitude of "v" sounds in their own language... No longer "Wisiting willages" is one of the fine points of language that we helped our advanced students appreciate.)
Bus 1 had a rough go of it, I understand, packed in to every seat and then some. Bus 2, where I was riding, was thoroughly pleasant. An hour and twenty minutes brought us safely into Ivano-Frankivsk, where we all met up and went exploring in the city with our Ukrainian friends from English camp. Eric, the Nixons, the Bottomses and I went with some of the girls to a restaurant (selected after some of the group assured themselves that it wasn't a sushi place, despite all appearances. Sushi is really big here in Ukraine, and--not to slight sushi--no one knows why. There are no Italian, Chinese, etc. restaurants, but sushi on every corner of the cities...) The Americans ordered slow-cooking food, and we dashed back to the train station to meet the group rendezvous time.
The train was another adventure. It was just a three hour ride, and we wanted to save money for our team and for the Ukrainian students, so we traveled on the lowest class tickets. Seats were assigned, but roundly ignored, so we all crammed ourselves into various open seats. More and more people got on the train, and we had a slightly rough start to our area as the babucya (older woman) sitting next to me got very angry when we protested adding two more sleeping people above our heads. It looked like it was going to be a tense ride, when she opened up her big shopping bag and pulled a packet of cookies out and insisted that we eat them. After that, she and David, the missionary pastor, had a great conversation in Ukrainian, and she left the train with happy "bye-byes" and a reasonably serious promise to come visit the Methodist church service sometime. God turns things upside-down and always has a "twist" to the story!
Today, we woke up back at our hostel--'back home' to us, now!--and went for a big brunch at the traditional Ukrainian restaurant that has franchises all over the country. Yum! One of the girls from the student center took us sightseeing in L'viv and taught us just the right amount about what we were seeing. Highlights for me included the Armenian Orthodox church built in 1363 with beautiful murals (and painted lambs circling the domed ceiling at the entrance!) and the statue dedicated to the first printer in Ukraine--complete with a huge book fair filling the square at his feet.
Most of the team climbed the tower in L'viv's city hall to see the city from up high...but a few of us hung out down below and people-watched as tourists from Ukraine and Poland (and Buffalo, NY) wandered around and read the history displays in the square.
Church was at 5:00, and we heard a good sermon from Pastor Ludomir about Mary and Martha--Mary the disciple chose the 'best dish' at the banquet table that Christ offered! Dinner was pizza again, and then we got ready for VBS tomorrow.
Throughout the day, we stretched ourselves in getting ready for VBS, or, as it's called here, 'Kid's Club'. (VBS is a very American thing...and so very foreign to Ukrainians!) In the morning, afternoon and evening, we went out in small groups with interpreters to invite kids/parents to come to Kid's Club this week. I haven't done a lot of one-to-one cold-call evangelism in my life in America, let alone in a foreign culture, and that seemed to be true for all of us. We did our best to be inviting and reassuring--but it was tough going sometimes when people would dismiss us as being some kind of 'sect'--which to most Ukrainians means 'cult'. David and Yura told us that, really, it's mostly just the Jehovah's Witnesses, fundamentalists and the LDS folks who walk up to strangers and invite them to church-oriented events, and those groups are very much disliked by the vast majority of the population (who are Greek Catholic or Orthodox). Our teams worked really hard, though, and ended up having some great conversations with people who seemed excited to bring their kids tomorrow. We'll see!!
We're eager to get started with 'Kids Club', and all the other things planned for tomorrow. The youngest members of our team and some of the student center young people went out to the Fan Zone tonight. It's a big screen in the local park for the World Cup, with games to play all day today, and a strict no-alcohol policy tonight during the game--as our Ukrainian friends tell us, it's the nicest place in town to watch the game without hooligans and with a HUGE screen! I see on the computer that the score is still 0-0, and I will have to wait till morning to hear the final...
Thanks for reading and thanks for keeping our team in your prayers. We're having a great experience, doing good work, and growing as a team. I would apologize for the double (and extra-long) post, but surely you were forewarned when you saw that it was the pastor's day to write?? :)
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thursday- Blog Entry
Today we woke up to more rain, however, this did not seem to dampen the spirits of either the English students or our team- Breakfast was a real surprise, FISH and RICE! Charlie ate lots of bread...
After our morning class we played board games, made special cards (that we cannot wait to show you all!) and several of the guys hiked down to the waterfalls again. They were curious to see what they looked like after the rain.
I find that the students are certainly more at ease with our team members now and we have lots of fun talking and learning together. It amazes me to see how eager they are to learn to speak English.
The house where the adults are staying has no hot water again. We are hoping that it can get fixed soon because we are all pretty muddy from the rain. Thank goodness most of us brought at least on long sleeved shirt! wqe need them today as it is quite coool. After lunch and afternoon English class we hiked up to a small zoo. The hike was very muddy but fun for all.
Back to the water situation, as of now there is no water anywhere in the village! The tremendous rain storms have flooded the water supply house and no one has water. The bathroom situation should be interesting, not to mention our muddy bodies. This has not dampened anyone's spirits. Our team has no WHINERS!!! Yea Grace Team!
Supper time was a new dish to us- it resembled cheese grits and it was really good. After a team meetings we all met for worship. Pastor Meredith is doing such a great job with her sermons and Rhys is doing super time leading us in songs! Looking forward to another wonderful day of sharing God's love with each other!
Written by Hannah
PS: Today was also an exciting day for Charlie which I am sure you may here about in the near future....
After our morning class we played board games, made special cards (that we cannot wait to show you all!) and several of the guys hiked down to the waterfalls again. They were curious to see what they looked like after the rain.
I find that the students are certainly more at ease with our team members now and we have lots of fun talking and learning together. It amazes me to see how eager they are to learn to speak English.
The house where the adults are staying has no hot water again. We are hoping that it can get fixed soon because we are all pretty muddy from the rain. Thank goodness most of us brought at least on long sleeved shirt! wqe need them today as it is quite coool. After lunch and afternoon English class we hiked up to a small zoo. The hike was very muddy but fun for all.
Back to the water situation, as of now there is no water anywhere in the village! The tremendous rain storms have flooded the water supply house and no one has water. The bathroom situation should be interesting, not to mention our muddy bodies. This has not dampened anyone's spirits. Our team has no WHINERS!!! Yea Grace Team!
Supper time was a new dish to us- it resembled cheese grits and it was really good. After a team meetings we all met for worship. Pastor Meredith is doing such a great job with her sermons and Rhys is doing super time leading us in songs! Looking forward to another wonderful day of sharing God's love with each other!
Written by Hannah
PS: Today was also an exciting day for Charlie which I am sure you may here about in the near future....
Thursday, July 8, 2010
English Camp Blog- Wednesday, July 7, 2010
We awoke to a light but steady rain (that persisted, it turns out, for the entire day and into the evening). The rain merely added to the beauty of the Carpathian Mountains and God’s majesty. After the morning devotion and a delicious breakfast of cheese blintzes with a blueberry toppings, our English Camp began afresh! Our bright, inquisitive Ukrainian students continued to maze us with their knowledge of English and their eagerness and thirst for additional learning. The morning sessions all went well, providing a number of enriching activities for students and facilitators alike. The morning sessions were followed by a variety of games designed to enhance the vocabularies of our aspiring students!! A lunch of a rich chicken broth and potato dumplings slaked our appetites and readied us for the afternoon sessions. The different teams changed stations to learn additional aspects of the English language. After the afternoon sessions, everyone was treated to a movie (w/subtitles) followed by supper (a nourishing meal of beef and potato stew and a tasty slaw salad). We are a well fed group indeed!! After a team meeting to discuss our observations and perspectives of the day’s activities, we all attended the evening worship service. We enjoyed a mixture of Ukrainian and American hymns and a superb sermon delivered by Pastor David. Pastor David adroitly brought the parable of the Good Samaritan into a contemporary setting. After the service drew to a close with prayer time, many of us decided to watch the World Cup match between Germany and Spain.
After such a day of varied and rewarding activities, we are feeling especially blessed. We know that The Lord is inspiring us in our work. This was truly a day that Lord hath made.
Written by Glen Bottoms
After such a day of varied and rewarding activities, we are feeling especially blessed. We know that The Lord is inspiring us in our work. This was truly a day that Lord hath made.
Written by Glen Bottoms
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Blog Entry July 6, 2010 Monday
English Camp HAS BEGUN
Today was the first day of English Camp. The Ukrainians were divided into six groups which will rotate throughout our group lessons in the next three days. The day started off with a hearty breakfast of pechinka (liver) and rice and then the first classes began. The first class period in the morning went well but some rough spots were discovered during the course of the class, but were hammered out afterwards. We then had free time. During this time, some trekked down to the river while others hung around camp. At 2 o’clock we then moved onto lunch which consisted of chicken and soup. After lunch, we moved onto the afternoon sessions where most of the rough spots in the classes were fixed. After the second session, we hiked the half mile or so to a place known as “the waterfall,” which is a series of rapids near the village. Spanning about an hour and a half, we went onto the rocks next to the rapids and some even went downstream to swim. We then walked back to the camp had “ragu,” which is a stew with many vegetables. We then had worship, a prayer time, and it is now 11:00 pm and we are watching the Uruguay v. Netherlands World Cup match. We are all very excited to see what tomorrow brings and to learn more about our new friends.
God bless from the Grace Mission team!
Written by Charlie Vancampen
p.s. Yes mom I ate the liver and I enjoyed it.
Today was the first day of English Camp. The Ukrainians were divided into six groups which will rotate throughout our group lessons in the next three days. The day started off with a hearty breakfast of pechinka (liver) and rice and then the first classes began. The first class period in the morning went well but some rough spots were discovered during the course of the class, but were hammered out afterwards. We then had free time. During this time, some trekked down to the river while others hung around camp. At 2 o’clock we then moved onto lunch which consisted of chicken and soup. After lunch, we moved onto the afternoon sessions where most of the rough spots in the classes were fixed. After the second session, we hiked the half mile or so to a place known as “the waterfall,” which is a series of rapids near the village. Spanning about an hour and a half, we went onto the rocks next to the rapids and some even went downstream to swim. We then walked back to the camp had “ragu,” which is a stew with many vegetables. We then had worship, a prayer time, and it is now 11:00 pm and we are watching the Uruguay v. Netherlands World Cup match. We are all very excited to see what tomorrow brings and to learn more about our new friends.
God bless from the Grace Mission team!
Written by Charlie Vancampen
p.s. Yes mom I ate the liver and I enjoyed it.
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