I recently returned from Ukraine where I taught in YWAM Kyiv’s First Discipleship Training School Since the War Started
Courtesy Ocean Ng via Unsplash
70 Hours Door to Door
I’ve never traveled longer to get anywhere. It was a combination of factors — I traded time for a less convenient air itinerary, and since the Kyiv airport is closed, I could only fly as far as Poland.
Courtesy Vitaliy via Unsplash
55 Years Old
I celebrated my 55th birthday by taking trains from Warsaw to Kyiv — a 15 hour journey. Thank goodness my train seat was a bed!
The Kyiv DTS and Me
10 Students from 5 Nations
The class was made up of four women and six men. One from Canada, one from Germany, one from the Netherlands, one from the USA, and six from Ukraine.
Some classroom shenanigans…
15 Hours of Teaching
I had a three hour session each day to teach on Outreach Preparation and Evangelism. I spoke on Why Go?, Maximizing this Opportunity to Grow, Working Together, Communicating Clearly, and Telling Bible Stories to Share Your Faith. The students were super responsive and we had a whole lot of fun in class
Four Hours of Tourism
Nadia and Dima took me into downtown Kyiv and gave me a tour of the historic churches and places in the city. Of course we enjoyed some amazing coffee and even visited a chocolate shop where I picked up some gifts for the family. :)
Courtesy Nathan Dunlao via Unsplash
12ish Hours of Two-on-Ones
I met with most of the students along with their “one-on-one” staff member for at least an hour. I also met with several staff members as well. These sessions allow us to go deeper than we do in class and are unstructured so we can talk about whatever the student needs. In many of these conversations we talked about boundaries, the importance of keeping sabbath, having healthy expectations, and having ‘thick skin’ while maintaining a tender heart towards our community.
Courtesy Yulia Kens
Today, They Are on Outreach
The students and staff are preparing for the first wave of Homes of Hope to be built. They’re delivering building supplies to the sites and making everything ready. From here they’ll have two months of practical, hands-on application of what they learned in the classroom phase of the Discipleship Training School.
Courtesy Tina Hartung via Unsplash
Thank You Again
Thank you for sending me to Ukraine. It was my privilege to go, but this was our trip because you sent me. Please continue to pray for these students, and for YWAM Kyiv, and for an end to the war.