Today's Thursday. Thursday, means cleaning house, meeting one on one with ladies from my prayer group, and on Thursday evening we have our small groups for couples. This group is actually not lead by us, but by one of our local pastors. We meet in his apartment which is located on the fifth floor of a still underconstruction apartment building. Which means no working elevator. You have to climb five flights of stairs to attend small group. You have to want to attend small group.
At the small group, Andrey and I are the entertainment. I don't mean wisecracks and jokes, although there is plenty of that coming from Andrey's side of the room. What I mean is that, when forming this small group we were asked to facilitate activities outside of the usual small groups meetings. We're the party planners! Which is usually what we do best, and what we do throughout most of this year. We help plan banquets, church picnics, Christmas parties, retreats, family nights, camps etc. And yet, here it is, almost an entire year as gone by and we haven't done any bonding as a group.
Last spring we planned a small group picnic, that fell through, so we postponed it to fall. That never panned out. When we mentioned Christmas party, threre were no takers.Yes, I admit, we did not even have a small group Christmas part!!!. We have a group here that is not bonding! And it's hard to figure out why. To generalize and sterotype Ukrainians, Ukrainians are very socialable. They love socializing! Dropping in for tea, can last three to four hours. Last week we had a family over for lunch after church, they stayed still supper. Usually when we invite someone over for dinner, I go ahead an make up the guest bed. That's one of the things I love best about Ukraine. It's easy, for the most part, to bond with these guys. Which is why it's a mystery to me, why this group isn't clicking.
Not to say the group isn't successful. We've already seen fruit in this group, so far we have had three professions of faith. The group is growing and interested. But there is still a bit of a barrier, we don't feel like family. Maybe socializing it too overrated. I certainly don't think it should ever take the place of spiritual growth or indepth Bible study, but it does have it's place in the unity of the body of Christ.
So tonight we meet once again. We're studying how to become an effective parent in a deffective world. There will be tea, sandwhiches, cookies, and fellowship. Then we will all go home, and not visit with one another until next Thursday, when we climb the five flights of stairs once again, with new hope that maybe soon, this group will bond.
At the small group, Andrey and I are the entertainment. I don't mean wisecracks and jokes, although there is plenty of that coming from Andrey's side of the room. What I mean is that, when forming this small group we were asked to facilitate activities outside of the usual small groups meetings. We're the party planners! Which is usually what we do best, and what we do throughout most of this year. We help plan banquets, church picnics, Christmas parties, retreats, family nights, camps etc. And yet, here it is, almost an entire year as gone by and we haven't done any bonding as a group.
Last spring we planned a small group picnic, that fell through, so we postponed it to fall. That never panned out. When we mentioned Christmas party, threre were no takers.Yes, I admit, we did not even have a small group Christmas part!!!. We have a group here that is not bonding! And it's hard to figure out why. To generalize and sterotype Ukrainians, Ukrainians are very socialable. They love socializing! Dropping in for tea, can last three to four hours. Last week we had a family over for lunch after church, they stayed still supper. Usually when we invite someone over for dinner, I go ahead an make up the guest bed. That's one of the things I love best about Ukraine. It's easy, for the most part, to bond with these guys. Which is why it's a mystery to me, why this group isn't clicking.
Not to say the group isn't successful. We've already seen fruit in this group, so far we have had three professions of faith. The group is growing and interested. But there is still a bit of a barrier, we don't feel like family. Maybe socializing it too overrated. I certainly don't think it should ever take the place of spiritual growth or indepth Bible study, but it does have it's place in the unity of the body of Christ.
So tonight we meet once again. We're studying how to become an effective parent in a deffective world. There will be tea, sandwhiches, cookies, and fellowship. Then we will all go home, and not visit with one another until next Thursday, when we climb the five flights of stairs once again, with new hope that maybe soon, this group will bond.
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