Well I made it! Luggage and all. And I managed to slide through my evening bought of flu the night before I left relatively unscathed. It really is great to be in Ukraine!

As I mentioned before, I am here with my mentor, friend, and colleague in ministry John Frye to do some teaching in Ukraine, but mostly just learn what it means and how it looks to do cross-cultural ministry. Because it is Chrismas time for the first 2 weeks of January (how would you like to celebrate Christmas for 15 days? move to Ukraine!) there isn’t as much planned for official gatherings for training as there might during other times of the year. What I do know is that John and I will most likely be teaching each sunday we are here in a few churches. I will be joining a larger church’s youth group/college age for their New Years eve all nighter (til like 4am!), while John is off on his own gathering with adults. We are almost set to get to a prison to teach. And we’ll have many smaller gatherings with pastors and families to chat during this Christmas time.

I think what I am most excited about despite these few opportunities is the chance to stay in the home of Sacha Savich. He is a 33 year old Ukrainian pastor of a 5 year old church in Lutsk, the town we are in. I am excited to learn from him and also talk with him about what it looks like to contextualize the gospel in Ukraine and how it looks to be the UKRAINIAN church, not the American Church in Ukraine. That last sentence might sound wierd, but an interaction has already got me thinking about how we the American Church export American Christianity into other lands. I’ve written about this elsewhere (see my posts on Post-Colonial Christianity) and being in another country where I’ve seen America everywhere (like Britney Spear’s “Oops I Did It Again” song sung by a Ukrainian in a Ukraine move on my van ride from Kiev to Lutsk!) I am trying to be aware of how the American Church exports herself. For instance, Sacha is using a study of DVD’s and workbook by Bill Gathered that was done in the 1980’s with 12 young adults in his church in Ukraine. It is a study on christian living and I’m sure it has some good things to say, but I really do wonder how an American pastor’s sermons on Christian living in America (1980’s America!) connect to 21st century living in Lutsk, Ukraine. Maybe they do, but thats the type of conversation I’m looking forward to having with Sacha, as well as myself as I consider cross-cultural teaching and ministry.

Well, there’s a quick note about my time in Ukraine. So happy I am able to be here to learn and so thankful for the safety God has provided so far. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement and look for some more updates daily or everyother day.

-jeremy