The past two days have been busy in the village of Zelena.
On Tuesday, we spent the entirety of the day in the village. Christina and I went to the local school to teach English to the students. they seemed to thoroughly enjoy it even if several were a bit shy. There were also a few teachers that were skeptical of us, but Christina did a great job of smoothing things over. The welcome was far more positive than negative and we were invited back the next day.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to schedule a Bible study in the evening, but we are looking to do so later in the week. Instead, Bogdon was able to take us to the home of Galena who served us a delicious dinner. We mostly spent the meal on small talk, but afterward quickly transitioned to Biblical subjects. The main points were the inerrancy and depth of scripture, the role of women in the Bible, and the need to push beyond comfort zones in the quest for truth. It seemed to be a very productive discussion and one I hope to follow up on.
On Wednesday, we visited the school again. This time we worked with the English teacher and her class curriculum. When she finished her lessons, we would work on some English with the students. Most of the exercises we did were role-playing where they got a chance to practice some scenarios in English. Christina was especially helpful at walking them through each scenario.
We also noticed them using the blood pressure cuff we brought them yesterday. They expressed gratitude for our visit and asked us to return. A few students and teachers also asked about Doug. I explained the situation and they said they would pray for him and his wife.
After that, we returned to Bogdon’s house and talked Bible as we enjoyed a meal. It was also her grandson’s birthday, so we celebrated with cake and several local delicacies. Afterward, Christina, Bogdon, and I retired to the lodge to work out a strategy we hope will work and will result in some of the kids and parents visiting the lodge for a Bible Study tonight. Pray it all goes well.
Caleb Colquitt
Zelena, Ukraine
While in Ukraine, Caleb posted the video below on Facebook as part of his normal podcast he does for “Tactics”.
