thritysomething.

This past Saturday the youth asked me to speak at  their monthly "girls night".  Despite the fact that my first years here in Ukraine were focused mainly on work with children and youth, I haven't spoken at a youth event in sometime. In the last two year our ministries have switched gears. After all  Andrey and I are now "in our thirties" and we have definately started feeling the gap, between us and the teens in our church, ( maybe I shouldn't say we, no one has had the courage to explain to Andrey that he is 32) But I have certainly felt the gap.

 I don't really "hang out" with the highschool crowd anymore, and I'm afraid of being too boring.  Riding on the bus a few days ago I eavesdropped on a teenage girl's phone converstation. ( I wanted to freshen up on the slang the kiddies are using these days) And I was totally shocked to realize that all the slang I use is terribly outdated, kids don't say "ya v shoke" or "uzhas" anymore, it turns out that now everyone's  saying "ya v panike" and "pechal'"  Plus the topic I was sharing , "why we as Christians should be doing random acts of kindness", could either come off  inspiring or really dull and preachy. So I was more than  a little nervous speaking to the ladies.

26 girls came to the meeting. We meet in a Sunday school classroom and everyone sat Indian style on  the floor. I wore my coolest jeans and tucked them into my boots to make me look even cooler.  Of course I came to gig with my two preschoolers in toe, but I dressed them up in their hippest clothes as well. (Andrey was at soccer playing with guys half his age, and not feeling intimidated.) The Lord has really convicted me lately about the fact that I don't show kindness to people outside my circle of friends and acquantinces. I really wanted to pass on to them, that God calls us to love and states specifically in His word, that if we really know Him, we will activitly love other (show kindness) As a reinforcement for the lesson, I had the girls make acts of kindness books, little miniscrape books with acts of kindness written on every page. And a verse of scripture to support these acts.  Each page also had a tag on it with a Bible verse on it. When they do the act of kindness they give a little tag with a blessing on it to the person they blessed. I hope it will encoraged them to reach out to their community, and to demonstrate the love of God in an active way.

So by now you're wondering how did the evening go. Well I didn't us the new slang ( I thought it might sound to corny coming from my middleaged lips) And in the middle of the presentation, Nastia, my three year old, strectched out on the carpet  in front of me and fell asleep. So I didn't reach the preschool crowd.

Ladies night

The first Saturday of every month the youth holds a girl's only "Ladies night" they have lots of fun playing games, and being silly. It's a nice atomosphere without the guys. This evening we will be dealing with the topic of kindness, becoming a person of kindness, and making a difference in your neighborhood, so that people will se Christ. I am excited and a little nervous about this meeting. I will be speaking this evening, and I have to that in my perparation for this evening God has really convicted me about how little I show kindness to people outside my circle of freinds and aquaintances. I seem to either have a really good excuse to not reach out or even worse, don't even notice those in need around me.  God's word is very specific about what He expects from us as believers concerning kindness and reaching out to those in need. I hope not only be a hearer of the word but a doer as well.

Holodomor

This past Saturday, November 28 was the National Rememberance Day for Holodmor. Holodomor comes from the Ukrainian words hunger and plague. From 1932-33,  eight million people died of stravation due to the forced famines of the Stalin and the  Soveit Regime. Although food was plentiful during this time, as a result to punish Ukrainian nationlist, Soviet forces decreed that all food belonged to the collective state, and to be in possesion of food would be considered a crime. Troops were sent in to conviscate and punish anyone who witheld food from the governement. There are tales confiscated grains standing several stories high and rotting away. Anyone that tried to get the grain was shot. For seventy years this tragedy remained a Soviet secret. There was almost no documentation on it, people were not allowed to speak of it and the offical statement of the government was that it never happened. But it did happen, and millions of people died under one of the most frightening regimes of  modern history. Only four years ago Ukrainian finally had the political freedom to establish memorials and a national day of rememberance for those that died of starvation. The last Saturday of every month  at four o clock local time, there is a national moment of silence for the victims.  Holodmor is one of the most tragic events in Ukraine's history. And when you listen to the stories of those that survived it is always very sombering. Six years after the famine Ukraine would be invaded by Natzi Germany and suffer another five years of terror, only to be passed back into the hands of Stalin and his cult of the personality. Yet through  it all Ukrianians managed to hold on to their language and culture and the hope that one day they would be their own country again. In 2011 Ukraine will celebrate 20 years of peaceful independance. This past 20 years has given them a lot to be thankful for. One of the greatest things being the religious freedom they enjoy and the spiritual awareness of the people. I'm certain that the Ukrainian people have not been forgotten, God has a great work in store for them.