WE ARE IN UKRAINE!!
After spending 14 hours in one airport, 13 hours on 2 different flights, and almost 5 hours taking buses in between, we finally arrived at our ministry location last Thursday!
Travel is hard on the brain and harder on the body. You never know what day it is. Or what time it is. Or if I should take a nap right now because I'm really tired but it's the middle of the day at our next stop so maybe it's not the best idea but my brain feels like mush so is it worth it at this point?? (keep an eye out for my next blog about my problem with overthinking). But don't worry, we got some good rest and found a delicious local pizza place and have all recovered.
We finally arrived at our home for the month and started ministry at a summer camp in Uzhhorod. Carson (my Squad Leader) and I are teachers for a wild group of 8-10 year olds. Most of them don't speak any English, and we know about three phrases in Ukrainian. This means that about 90% of our conversations are, "Hello. How are you? Good." And that's it. This was a huge struggle for me at first - I mean, come on... I got my degree in communication. But even in the one week I've spent at this ministry, I have learned sooo much about communication.
You don't have to speak the same language to exchange a smile, hold hands, play rock-paper-scissors, play musical chairs, kick around a soccer ball, play Uno (the kids here have some interesting rules and Uno gets a little intense), or DANCE!
On our first day at this camp, the teachers (who speak very little English) said "time to go to forest." We all looked at each other and asked, "Did they just say we are going into the forest?" But we decided to follow them anyway, and what do you know - we walked down the street and right into the forest. And for about two hours every day they let the kids play and be outside and just be kids. It is b-e-a-utiful outside in the shade of the tall trees and it has become my favorite part of the day.
Sometimes I'll just make random eye contact with a kid and smile, and their face just lights up. Isn't the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you insane?
Life has been pretty crazy here working 9-hour days at the summer camp, but when things slow down I'll fill y'all in on what it's like living with 7 near-strangers, navigating public transportation, and everything in between! Love y'all.
Em
