I have the privilege of going on a teaching-type missions trip to Ukraine with my friend, mentor, and colleague in ministry John Frye. We leave today for three weeks and will return January 15. The vision of this trip is to help train and counsel local pastors, teach in churches, and help lead a youth rally. John and I will have a unique opportunity to help invest in both the pastors and congregations of local church plants in this hub of evangelicalism in Eastern Europe, while getting credit for a semester of seminary internship, as well. I am very excited about this adventure and can’t wait to share with you what happens on the trip when I return!

Another reason I am excited to go is to remember how the rest of the world lived outside my comfy USAmerican white suburbia. When I went to Romania over three years ago, I valued getting a glimpse into the lives of the rest of the world. I am anticipating a similar experience during my time in Ukraine and look forward to sharing that experience with you. My goal is to blog as much as I can during this experience so you can follow along on my journey, but we’ll see. If I’m not able to blog through the trip definitely look for a recap of my trip upon my return.

Thanks for your support and prayer during this time. I am coming off of a night of the flu and think I’ve kicked it, but between 16 hours of travel, a foreign country, and different foods I hope Mr. Flu stays away for good! You can also pray that I will spend most of my time just learning from my Ukrainian brothers and sisters, rather than think I need to produce something or go in an teach them all something radically new. While I am excited about the teaching opportunities I’ll have, I’m really looking forward to hearing the perspectives on the gospel and kingdom-life from them.

I look forward to sharing what I learn from this experience with you all. Should be an exciting time!