Report #12 | 2024 Spring Trip

Featured Photo: One of the school classes that our team is visiting and teaching each day. The interest is high and enthusiasm about our team’s presence is bubbly! The interest, cooperation and encouragement from the staff and administration have been exceptional.

As the trip progresses so do the good reports continue to eclipse previous reports. Thanks to “the team” (Jared, Whitney, Avery) and “the coordinator” (Gif), there has been constant activity and a good impact. The team’s energy and efforts have allowed the trip’s objectives to be multiplied. We are able to go in a number of different directions and focus on multiple objectives.

Today’s report records the news that Jared, Avery, and Whitney send about their activities.

One recurring query, asked everywhere we go and by multiple voices, “Is Perry here? Did he return with you?” Especially the school students were interested in Perry’s whereabouts. I’m not sure if we said “Yes, he’s here” if those asking would run for shelter! 😊 So, Perry! Your are missed!

Jared

Today was another great day at the school, we spoke in two classes of 15-year-old students. The first class was very talkative and asked us a lot of questions. The students were not as advanced in English, but they made a strong effort to speak with us. The students are very open with us and are happy that we love Ukraine and its people. The Church is leaving a good impression on them.

At night our classes at the school have been really successful. We had 21 students last night, which is significant since none of them are required to go. Last night we talked about what it means to have true success in life. I was able to teach them the Christian principle, that success is about positively impacting the lives of others, and not just serving yourself. The students were happy to discuss the topic and were attentive. We play games every night as well to help them with their English and get to know them better. Tonight, we had less students because the school forgot to put our class on the schedule. I’m amazed on how willing these students are to discuss the topic and answer my questions. In tonight’s discussion we talked about what biblical leadership looks like as opposed to worldly leadership. We have a strong core group now that is excited to come every night!

Avery

We had a wonderful day at the school today! We had some of the biggest and most interactive classes yet! Getting to know the teachers and students is so encouraging and opens the door for potential growth of the church here. Tonight’s Bible class, at the Church building, we covered 1 Corinthians 7-9. We had many great questions and comments and I look forward to continuing our study tomorrow evening!

Whitney

Report 4/16 Today was my first full day out and about. I have been sick since I got here on Saturday, but I’m feeling much better today! I had breakfast at our hotel where I ate my favorite Ukrainian food, Salo. Then I went to teach at the school. I taught four lessons on biology and also spoke about what school in America is like compared to here. The students found that very interesting. In between classes we had lunch in the cafeteria and ate borsch. After lunch, we went back to the hotel and I rested before our evening activities. Tonight we had a group of over 20 students from the school meet us in the auditorium and play games, eat snacks, and hear a lesson on what it means to live a truly successful life, it went well and several students stayed with us way past our time as they wanted to continue talking. Afterwards we had dinner to the hotel after ten. I am very tired, but it was a good day!

4/17 This morning I slept very hard and well which means I’m probably over my jet lag! I got ready and went downstairs for another great breakfast and more Salo. For the readers at home, Salo is pork fat that is cured like bacon. The only differences being Salo does not have meat between the fat marbling and Salo is not cooked like bacon. Regardless, I think it is pretty tasty. The group loaded up and went to the school. Today I taught two lessons on ecology and conservation! The students learned so much and had no idea about many of the concepts I taught about. I also learned that some of our scientific words we use are relatively difficult to translate. However, the students really appreciated the new information and they were very excited to learn about all of this and many came up to thank me after class. After class, my colleague, and the teacher of this class, Oleg, gifted me Salo made by his family from his family farm. I was so so excited! Now I just have to find a way to either eat all of this Salo or bring it back to America. We had our activities with the students tonight and there was a miscommunication because they did not know we were coming, but we still had a good number of students and a teacher! We had a great time playing games and then talking about leadership and how a good leader is like a shepherd. We wrapped up the night at Gifs apartment and now I am going to bed.