David & Katya

I move into my apartment on Monday! I’m so excited. I’ve been living in a hostel across the street from the Pratts for a few weeks, and… basically, it’ll be really good to have my own space. I’m makin’ a list of stuff to buy for it (like sheets for my bed, blankets, pots/pans, pillows, cleaning supplies, laundry stuff, etc.) This is my first time doing this kinda thing, so I’m pretty stoked.

Today, Alex and Josh Pratt, Ryan and Eric Bellamy (a couple of missionary boys from Dnipropetrovs’k), and I went and played baseball with some other missionaries and Ukrainians from L’viv. The missionaries are hoping to use baseball as a ministry to reach Ukrainians and other people across Europe. If they can start a little league here in L’viv and get it going well, they could have the kids play in the European championship (the winner of which goes to the world championship in the U.S.A.).

Please be praying for that ministry. I’m not sure how involve I’ll be. My love for the Ol’ American Pastime is a measly 2 1/2 months old. It was about that much time ago that the Slacks (my Indiana family) taught me how to swing a bat and throw a ball, so I don’t have that much experience.

This has been a very fast-paced two weeks. After the worship conference, I got back to L’viv and had a small “church service” with the Pratt family in their house. We listened to a sermon by Charles Stanley. That was really encouraging for us (the Pratt family and myself). A lot of what Stanley was saying correlated with what I was reading in my devotions in Job. I’ve since moved on to the Psalms, but I had a really good time with Job.

I spent the week with the Pratts until Thursday, getting adjusted to jet-lag. During htat week, homesickness really hit me hard. Mike Pratt and I were out eating lunch together downtown once, and we started talking about home, and I couldn’t keep myself from crying. I’ve never felt this way during a trip that I can remember. I think it’s because I know that I’m not coming back for a long time.

After that, Alex, Josh and me were invited to help with a Volleyball Camp over the weekend outside of Kyiv, the capitol of Ukraine. After accepting the invitation, I got a phone call that told me I was going to be teaching a couple of Bible studies at the camp. That was an amazing opportunity. My topics were Salvation and Eternal Hope. We were at the camp from Friday through Sunday and took the overnight train back to L’viv, arriving on Monday.

On the train ride to Kyiv, I met a girl named Natalie. She’s from L’viv. We talked for a little while about different things. She spoke very good English, so that made it pretty easy. During the course of our conversation, I gave her this website’s address. She asked me why I was in Kyiv, and the more I explained, the more she had questions about God and the Bible. It’s funny that, once I got to explaining the Gospel, the train stopped and we had to get out. Please pray for her.

At the camp, the kids that were there were mostly teenagers from the village and orphans from the orphanage where the camp was. It was so much fun, despite temperatures of 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit. We survived by the Holy Spirit and drinking lots of water.

I only expected to teach twice, but I got to be in charge of several games and taught three different times (almost four, because we weren’t sure when or if the pastor on Sunday was going to be there). That was an awesome opportunity.

Please pray for the people of that village and orphanage. They don’t have a church there. There is a man that has a vision to do it, but there are circumstances preventing him right now. As of yet, this camp is their version of church. The Kyiv church is going to try to do it about every month. Please pray also for my involvement in that, as it is expensive for me to travel back and forth.

I immediately began again with the Pratts, looking for an apartment for me to live in. Some of that process was a little frustrating, but God had His plans. It was really cool, actually, how it worked out. Last week, I made an offer on one apartment, and the guy did not accept it, offering a lower price than what he said was non-negotiable. I called him back later, saying that I accepted the lower price, but he had talked to his wife, and the price was hiked back up.

On Tuesday, I was shown another apartment that really suited me, had almost twice the space, and had most of the same features for the price that I offered the first guy. What’s more is that I asked them to come down on the price, and they did. It’s actually a really hard time to buy an apartment for that size right now. A lot of students are moving back to the city, and they are snapping up all of the good deals, regardless of condition. It’s horrible here to try to live in the dorms of the colleges, so apartments are the best option for them.

I’ll be living pretty close to the Pratts, but also close enough to the city’s center to be able to interact with it.

I’m really excited about this. Thanks, God, for saving this one for me.

Looking for an apartment, now.

Here’s an outline of my time in Ukraine so far:

July 27th (Tuesday) – fly from Indy to Chicago and then London
Wednesday – fly from London to Kyiv, then take an overnight train with Mike from Kyiv to L’viv
Thursday – arrive in L’viv, immediately take a bus to Ternopil for the 2010 Ukraine Worship Conference
Thursday-Saturday – in Ternopil for the conference
Saturday – went to L’viv, hung out with the Pratts during the day
Sunday – church at the Pratt’s house

I’m having a great time, learning a lot already, and meeting a bunch of really cool people.  While I was in Chicago, there was a big group in the airport of students and their leaders heading for North Africa to do some missions work.  That was super cool.  They needed some guitar strings, and I happened to have some in my guitar case.  On my flight from Chicago to London, I met a family from Switzerland that was returning with their daughters who were exchange students.  I got to talk to the dad for a long time.  While in London, I met another group coming back from Africa that was there teaching some kind of youth seminars or something with Salvation Army.  A bunch of them were from Messiah College.  There was another young woman in the airport that went a similar area in Africa that just got done teaching first aid.

When I got to Kyiv, going through Customs was a total breeze, praise the LORD!  Mike Pratt picked me up, we dropped off my bags at the check-in at the train station, and then spent some time around town.  We got my cell phone up and running (which, subsequently, has had a LOT of problems… :P), had some ice cream, and talked about vision.  God’s good, and He’s showing me through those talks that I really need to grow in prayer.

Something kinda crazy happened in the train ride to L’viv.  After I fell asleep on the train, I woke up once and knew where I was, especially because the conductor lady was talking to us in Russian to wake us up.  Then, later, I woke up again and thought I was in Indiana again.  When I realized where I was, I didn’t believe it.  I honestly thought, “No… I’m in Indiana.”

I think I spent about an hour in L’viv.  Mike and I went to McDonalds, and then he dropped me off at the bus stop.  I was soon in Ternopil, worshipping the LORD with the others at the conference.  God really spoke to my heart there, confirming a lot of things and encouraging me toward more pure worship of Him, spending time with Him personally.  It was so cool.  I also met Alyosha, the pastor from Kyiv.  That was really cool.  He was very encouraging.  A few of my friends were there from my other travels in Ukraine: Nate Medlong, Levi and Nastya Brinkerhoff, Jon Markey, and a few others.  It was a really good time of worship, the Word, and fellowship.  A-mazing.

Now, I’m back in L’viv, hanging with the Pratts.  Thanks a lot for all of the prayers and encouraging messages.  God is good.

More details soon, but I just got to L’viv, and I’m with the Pratts!  Thanks a lot for everyone’s prayers!