Week 3, Bring It On

Another week down. Classes were really hard. I think there were 2 days where I absolutely felt like I had taken a step forward and 3 back. As I write, I have finished my homework for the weekend, but I really need to re-write it one more time and I need to review. It definitely is not getting any easier.

One of my fears in beginning language school was that I would just simply be afraid to "practice"; to go out there and just start talking to people. So far that has proven true. I think I need to arrange to "hire" a language partner/tutor this week.

The highlights of the week included getting to eat at TGIFriday's not once, but twice! It wouldn't take long to blow my meal budget doing that. An acquaintance from Birmingham was in town earlier in the week finalizing an adoption and I got to meet him on Tuesday night for Blackened Chicken Pasta!! Then on Friday night my friend Lori (from FL but living in Poltava- about 4 hours away and working with a church and with orphans) was in town and we had dinner...Blackened Chicken Salad this time.

Another highlight was hearing from one of my fellow World Racers. Stephanie Fisk is doing an amazing job leading one of the current World Race Squads. I should get to see her in just over a month as she a few others will be in Ukraine to survey possible April/May sites for the squad.

Yesterday began as a bummer for reasons I won't go into here...but I definitely felt "attacked". Satan only needs an inch to take a mile and he worked me hard most of the day. Last night Lori and some other friends here- Oleg and Oksana- invited me to go to Metro (think Sam's Club) with them which allowed me to stock up on some staples (more Ramen Noodle!) and more importantly to get out of the apartment a little bit. I needed it.

Today I met the Hathcock's at church and spent the whole day with them. Kimberly washed my clothes for me this evening and I watched "Ever After" with them (I cried, but it was dark and no one knew!) In the morning I'm meeting Darrel and we're gonna try and find a frame for my mattress...and of course...more school in the afternoon.

There's a book I read just after arriving here- John Eldredge's "Waking the Dead". There's a prayer in the back that I've been 'reading/praying' in the mornings...part of it says, "Thank you for those who pray for me; I confess I need their prayers, and I ask you to send forth your Spirit and rouse them, unite them, raising up the full canopy of prayer and intercession for me . . . ."

Not even during The World Race have I been so aware of my need for prayer covering. Keep it coming.

Week 2 Begins

Quite a week.  Quite a roller-coaster.

I wrote already about my first day of class.  It was terrifying.  The rest of the week wasn't much better but what can you do?  You have to have a good attitude. . . and a sense of humor.  Of course I'm going to be completely lost.  It's RUSSIAN for crying out loud!  I now have a total of 10 hours of classroom instruction.  Give me a Russian dictionary and I can probably figure things out. Is that amazing or what?  I'm like a first grader. . .at the beginning of the year no less . . . but I can sort of read and write in Russian.  Crazy.

This past Wednesday (my day off from school) I joined most of the IMB guys here for their weekly prayer breakfast and I stuck around for a training session they were doing comparing Catholicism and the Orthodox Church here.  There are about a dozen college-aged short term (4 months) and 2 year missionaries here right now; most of them just getting ready to start their ministry.  So it was fun to meet them and some other ministry leaders.

Friday after class, one of my classmates and his wife (Mark and Charlene) treated me to dinner at a local restaurant and homemade Apple Pie at their flat afterwards.

Oh, and I got to visit with my friend Lori for a few minutes on Thursday I think.  I've known here since my trip here in 2006.  She's in Poltava working with orphans and was in town for a bit the other day.  I  might get to see her again this coming weekend.

Yesterday and today I slept late.  I skipped church this morning, but I did have a really good devotional time and worship time of my own (I bought a guitar yesterday!).  Today I ventured out into the beautiful snowy day to get some groceries.  So far, eating has been cheaper than I originally budgeted for.  I've probably not spent more than $40.00 since I got here.  And my guitar was less than $90.00 too.

Sigh.  The roller coaster.  It has been.  Thanks to those of you that have emailed me, facebooked me or commented on the blog to encourage me, and thanks for your continued prayers.  I need prayers to be disciplined in my homework and to have an eager and good attitude in class.  I need prayers to be bold enough to start trying to actually speak the language (this is really hard for me.  I can write a mean blog but I can also go a few months without talking to anyone without really trying- I'd make a good hermit).  I still have some issues back home that are ... not far from my thoughts.  I'm not here to run from them; I'm here to keep moving forward rather than sitting still and waiting.  I appreciate your prayers for my unspoken prayer request.

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO LOST

First day of class.

Pretty much all in Russian; very little English.

I was only vaguely familiar with the Russian alphabet and what I was familiar with were ALL CAPS, not the lowercase.  

The teacher started writing on the board in Cursive...and cursive, both the large caps and the lowercase are different in many cases from the ALLCAP BLOCK LETTERS I thought I knew already.

I've never felt like such an idiot.  I was so lost that it was just hilarious.  Nevermind the fact that she was already hitting verb tenses and such or that I really couldn't read her handwriting all that well which made if really difficult to take notes.  I guess I'm gonna have to translate my notes before I can do anything.

I know what I'll be doing tonight and tomorrow before class!

Kyiv is a long way from Detroit...further still from Mississippi!

It was a long day of traveling.   I woke up about 5:15 am after not sleeping much the night before.  Stik drove me to the airport.  After spending most the day before packing, I realized the largest suitcase I owned was too small for the job so we stopped one last time at Walmart to grab a bigger case.  Too big I guess, because it held a solid 65 pounds which was 15 pounds over the limit.  However, I was allowed 2 bags for an overseas flight, so I redistributed everything between the new bag and the old bag and made it just fine.

This lake is right across the highway from my apartment building; it's frozen...see the people ice fishing and walking on it?

My apartment building is probably the only Periwinkle colored building in the former Soviet Union!  I could probably get completely lost anywhere in the city and show a taxi driver a picture of the building and make it home alright.

Here's a shot of my room.  My mattress is on the floor to the far right.  I'm a little short on furniture right now...but that's ok.

ARRIVED

I am in Kyiv.  It's a world covered with snow and slush.  It was 28 degrees today before sunset and I'm told it was absolutely harsh a few days ago.  Right now the days are really short.  It doesn't get light until around 9 or later and it gets dark just after 4.

I have a nice room in an apartment that Radooga uses for their Office.  Residential space is cheaper I think than Commerical space so they use an apartment for their offices.    Radooga, by the way, is a Camp/Conference Ministry here in Ukraine very similiar to StudentLife.  In fact, they're using StudentLife's Conference Tour as their own this Winter and Spring.  The Founder/President- Oleg- took me to the METRO (think "Sam's Club") and I bought a mattress and some storage solutions.  Then we bought bread and rotissiere chicken and ate here in the office before he went home for the night.

I'm about 3 blocks from McDonalds, the market and the Metro Station (subway).  I think I'm pretty close to the SEND (Language) Center.  I think there's at least one Baptist church close by. And... I have wireless internet in the apartment.  There's a Gym nearby but I don't know what it cost yet.  I'd love to be a member of a gym!

I don't have a TV and I don't know if I'll get one.  Don't think my budget will allow for it right now but you never know.  I can't understand anything on tv right now anyway, but I brought my PS2 with me for entertainment.  I have a ton of books (hyperbole), actually I probably have 40 pounds of books.  My luggage was overweight but I was allowed 2 check bags so I split the 65 pounds of stuff into 2 bags.

Keep praying...I was pretty bummed on the way here... just thinking about how 3 weeks ago I was on top of the world, like I was coming over here all victorious and everything because of how successful my support raising had been going...but here I am, unable to use that support for the moment and not affiliated with anyone and not sure of the future...

yet... right now I can say that I'm really excited to be here.  I'm ready to unpack.  I'm ready to put my storage thing together.  I'm ready for a hot bath!! and I'm ready for nap.

Tomorrow I'll get out and start exploring and prayerwalking the neighborhood.

Up, Up and Away

I am in the airport in Jackson, MS.  My flights today (and tomorrow) take me to Memphis I think, then Detroit.  I leave Detroit about 4 pm today and fly to Amsterdam and then on to Kiev, Ukraine.  I should be there at 1:30 pm local time Friday.  I have a place to stay and school starts on Monday.

Appreciate everyone's prayers and support and I'm looking forward to writing about my discoveries these next few months.

Update- An 11th Hour God

It is 3:42 Eastern Time as I write this.  That means it's 12:42 am in Ukraine where the lady that runs the SEND International Language Center JUST NOW emailed me with the answer to a really crucial question.  Thank God she's a night owl because if I hadn't received a reply from her by 3:59 pm today then I was going to cancel my flight to Ukraine.

The question was:  Can I enroll and attend the language center if I'm not affiliated with a sending agency.

The answer is: Yes.

So I'm outa here at 8:55 am this Thursday morning.  I'll be in Kiev by 1:30 PM the following day.

It sounds trite and it's oftentimes hard to trust but here it is: I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.

I wish I could share with everyone what all is going on.  As George HW Bush (the elder) used to say: "Wouldn't Be Prudent".

I am at one of my lowest points ever.  The situation with Global Outreach has nothing really to do with them and everything to do with me.  I just need a lot of people to pray with me and for me.  Just pray that the matter will be resolved favorably for me.  I should know something in a few months.

You can also begin praying for me to acquire the language.  Pray for my finances.  I'm am borrowing money from my Retirement and have sold most of my Stocks (at a loss of course!) in order to fund this trip.  I think I can make it until my scheduled return in May.  Some of my friends have offered to support me directly but I'd rather not do that because it wouldn't be deductible or accountable right now.