Blessings

An Eternal God

2 Peter 3:8 “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years is like a day.”

Growing up I heard this verse many times, used in many ways. I never exactly understood it. While in college my Old Testament professor discussed this verse and gave me a new perspective of time and prayer.

How can a day be like a thousand years? How can a thousand years be like a day? It is a difficult task for humans to wrap their minds around such an idea. It doesn’t make sense. We have days. We have weeks. We have years. A thousand years seems like forever. But God, was there at the beginning of time. He is present now. And he will continue to be present in the future. God is not bound by time. It has no power over Him. He is eternal.

The evidence of God’s eternal presence lies in my prayer life. There have been times when I’ve prayed for something and God answers right away other times I must wait years. I have found that my prayers were often answered before I even spoke them. I have prayed and asked God for many things and time after time I have seen God do great works that He began before I had a need. This past week I witnessed this again.

I recently asked you to pray with me for a little girl named Kotia that needed a bed. Kotia prayed. A children’s Sunday school class in Holland joined us and lifted their voices to their father on Kotia’s behalf. Once again God’s people came together and prayed to Him for a need. Once again God answered.

Over two years ago, a donation of just over and 2,000.00 was made to Aquila Foundation. This donation was lost in the mail. Vera received a phone call a few days ago. The money was found and waiting for her in Kiev. This money will go to help buy Kotia’s bed. Had the money come two years ago, it would have been used to meet other needs. Had it come much later it may have been used for something else or been too late to help Kotia. Some may say it is a coincidence that the money was found at this moment, but I say it was a miracle. God is not bound by time.

Rain, Rain, Rain!

It has been nothing but wet since I have arrived back in Vapnyarka. The weather is cold. I am told we will have a “Grandma Summer”, meaning it will stay cold for a little bit but then become warm again. For now, I trudge through the mud everyday to the children’s center, looking like a Christmas tree with bags of stuff hanging off of me. I have discovered in this rainy weather another cultural custom. In North America, opening an umbrella indoors is considered to be bad look by the superstitious. Here on the contrary, opening an umbrella indoors is a common practice. When people come in from the rain in Ukraine, they open their umbrellas in doors and leave them to dry.

English! English! English!
Every day, I help children with their English homework. I must admit that I do not like homework now any more than when I was in school. It is my goal as their tutor that they not only get their homework finished but that they understand it. Many of them have just gotten by and now are behind in comprehension. Vocabulary is key, therefore each of them now have a notebook containing a page for every letter of the English alphabet. Every day we look up words in the English to Russian Dictionary, they do not understand in their homework. The children then write the words in English and in Russian. I also have a notebook. It has a page for every Russian letter. When they write down words in their dictionary I write them in mine. Children earn stickers when they know three new words from their notebook well. They also earn stickers when they spend extra time learning English. When they earn five stickers they will be able to pick something from a prize box.

In addition to being the English tutor, I will also be teaching lessons. The first will be about strangers and safety tools to use around them. This is a subject talked about frequently in North American schools but is not discussed in Ukraine. I will then be teaching lessons about identity from the Life Skills curriculum I attended classes for when I first arrived. Tolik, the oldest boy who is currently attending College to become a social worker is living at the children’s center and working as an intern. I will working with him to teach some of the material and also to help him understand the lessons and skills being taught. Please pray that as we teach these lessons the children would understand and nothing will be lost in translation. Vitalic will be doing much of the translation. It is frightening for him. Please pray that he would be confident. Thank you for your partnership in praying. God is doing amazing things.

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a truly American holiday that is older than Americans. This past Sunday the Nazarene church in Vapnyarka celebrated Thanksgiving. A table at the front of the church was filled with fruits, vegetables and nuts to signify the abundant harvest. The service was focused on giving praise and thanks to God for His provisions and blessings. The children at the children’s center participated in the service by singing a song and acting out a story from the Bible. The song said “Thank You” to God, for his creation, for the joy he gives, for the comfort, “Thank You”. The skit painted a picture of the rich man who decided to have a banquet and share with all of his friends. When his friends were all too busy to come, he sent his servants out to invite whoever they found. Who did they find? -The poor, the lame, and the lowly. After the service the entire church joined together in fellowship over tea, cookies, fruits, and vegetables. It was truly thanksgiving- no turkey, no big meal but a time of reflecting on the blessings God has given and the opportunity to say thank you.