Once again The World Race was in Ukraine. I wasn't sure it would work out this time. Their logistics people were a little behind the 8 ball in contacting me this time, giving me only about 10 days' notice and then once I agreed to take a team they upped the ante to 2 teams!
At the end of July looking at August I didn't think I could take even one team for the month. Four or five weeks ago I anticipated having a lot of time off in August. Boy was I wrong about that!
So I contacted my friends at Nehemiah International and fortunately they were able and willing to take both World Race teams. Not only did they need the teams to help with their ongoing Day Camps, but they were willing to house and feed them as well.
So for the month one team worked everyday at the Day Camp (which in August included not only the Day Camp, but a week-long residential camp for Foster Familes). The other team did a wide variety of work that included cleaning a flooded church basement, working with a couple different Roma (gypsy) outreach ministries, working at an Orphan Camp, speaking in some churches and holding abandoned babies!
The month didn't work out quite like I thought it would. I figured the two teams would sort of "blend" and the folks that craved "routine" would work at the camp and the ones that wanted variety would do all the other stuff. Instead, they maintained their "team" structure and one team had routine and the other didn't. I suspect there was some frustration in both teams because of that.
Since I basically handed them off to Nehemiah shortly after their arrival I didn't spend as much time with either team as I would have liked to but I sure enjoyed the time I did have. They were both "2nd Month" teams from H Squad, having just launched in Ireland the month before. It was fun to observe such "fresh" Racers!
I'm happy to report that I think they all enjoyed their time here in Ukraine and in Uzhgorod. I especially enjoyed seeing them build relationships with our translators and spending time with them outside of "work". That's one of the values of having teams here whether it's World Race or a church group- you build relationships and you model your walk with Christ...that's a huge part of discipleship and that time is not wasted!
By the way, you can check out the Racers' blogs at www.theworldrace.org. Go down to the lower right side of the page and select blogs from Ukraine. The two teams that were in Uzhgorod were Aletheia and Cologne of Christ.
At the end of July looking at August I didn't think I could take even one team for the month. Four or five weeks ago I anticipated having a lot of time off in August. Boy was I wrong about that!
So I contacted my friends at Nehemiah International and fortunately they were able and willing to take both World Race teams. Not only did they need the teams to help with their ongoing Day Camps, but they were willing to house and feed them as well.
So for the month one team worked everyday at the Day Camp (which in August included not only the Day Camp, but a week-long residential camp for Foster Familes). The other team did a wide variety of work that included cleaning a flooded church basement, working with a couple different Roma (gypsy) outreach ministries, working at an Orphan Camp, speaking in some churches and holding abandoned babies!
The month didn't work out quite like I thought it would. I figured the two teams would sort of "blend" and the folks that craved "routine" would work at the camp and the ones that wanted variety would do all the other stuff. Instead, they maintained their "team" structure and one team had routine and the other didn't. I suspect there was some frustration in both teams because of that.
Since I basically handed them off to Nehemiah shortly after their arrival I didn't spend as much time with either team as I would have liked to but I sure enjoyed the time I did have. They were both "2nd Month" teams from H Squad, having just launched in Ireland the month before. It was fun to observe such "fresh" Racers!
I'm happy to report that I think they all enjoyed their time here in Ukraine and in Uzhgorod. I especially enjoyed seeing them build relationships with our translators and spending time with them outside of "work". That's one of the values of having teams here whether it's World Race or a church group- you build relationships and you model your walk with Christ...that's a huge part of discipleship and that time is not wasted!
By the way, you can check out the Racers' blogs at www.theworldrace.org. Go down to the lower right side of the page and select blogs from Ukraine. The two teams that were in Uzhgorod were Aletheia and Cologne of Christ.
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