This year has been a good year, though with a lot of transition. From moving back to Lviv from Czechia at the end of last year, to moving our family from there in late–summer this year, to joining a new church in Lviv, to Katya starting a new study program at the seminary–backed school of leadership, to myself (David) switching seminary programs—saying that there have been a few changes in 2023 is an understatement. However, this past month has been a good one, and we are thankful to feel at home with friends in our new church.
Thanksgiving and Christmas
Katya and I had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving with family here in Lviv. We went all–out on American traditions from my childhood, even though I was the only American in the group! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade pumpkin pie, homemade egg nog, and a few other family favorites.
One of the coolest parts was something my family did at the beginning of every Thanksgiving meal in Texas: we would take five corn kernels and separate them, remembering the famine that the pilgrims endured at the beginning of their time in America (Ukrainians had their own famine caused by the USSR in the 1930’s, so the tradition carries over well) and thanked God for the abundance He has given since then. After that, we went around the table and shared what we are thankful for over the past year while everyone was getting their food. Lastly, we sang Christmas carols, as Thanksgiving was always the official start of the Christmas season for my family back in the USA.
It was really cool to feel connected to my roots and to share these American Christian traditions with my family here. We will do a completely Ukrainian Christmas celebration on the 25th, having twelve different dishes for our “Holy Night” dinner the evening before. (If you would like to learn more about Ukrainian Christmas traditions, you can click here to check out my book about that.)
Katya and the Leadership Course “Beyond Suffering”
Katya began studying this year at a local leadership school. The course she is taking is called “Beyond Suffering” and teaches how to serve wounded and disabled veterans coming back from the war. It has been interesting to get to know the teachers, as some of them are former SF operatives from the United States.
One of the more recent teachers is a Paralympic athlete that has the Ukrainian record for lifting the most weight with one arm. He and his wife have ten foster children, and they are a living example that disabilities do not have to stop your development as a person.
David’s Seminary Studies
I (David) am in the process of moving from one seminary program to another, switching from a masters in local church growth to a masters in theological studies. This will better equip me to teach local, indigenous ministers, giving them the tools they need to serve in a wartime and postbellum context. They need teachers that can both speak their language and be in their context, but most of the materials needed to teach those things are in English—very little is written or translated into Ukrainian. This means that Katya and I are uniquely placed to help them and to be a bridge between the English–speaking world (where are the materials are) and everyday Ukrainian life (where we live, work, go to church, etc.). If you would like to see more about how we serve indigenous ministers here in Ukraine, please click here to read our vision statement.
The main reason I’m switching programs is because I’m seeing my calling as a teacher more and more—in the spring, I’m going to teach a class at seminary about worship. I’ll be talking about four different types of worship in that class…
- Life worship (Romans 12:1–2)
- Gathered worship (Hebrews 10:25, 1 Timothy 4:13)
- Musical worship (Colossians 3:16–17, Ephesians 5:17–21)
- Inner worship (Psalm 42:11)
Please pray for my students, as they prepare for the class (they actually do most of the homework before coming to Lviv and listening to my lectures). Please also pray for me as their teacher—that I could truly lead them to worship from the heart in a way that honors God and glorifies Him, both inwardly and outwardly.
Even though I’m really excited about moving on to a new masters degree program, I’m still really going to miss my old seminary group (see the picture below). Several of those men have been with me in the same classes since 2018—we’ve been through a lot together, and I will continue to pray for them, their ministries, and their families.
Conclusion
Thank you all again for praying for us and being there for us as we continue this adventure in Lviv, Ukraine. If any of you would like to connect with us more often, we try to send out a newsletter about every 1-2 months, and you can sign up for that here. Also, you can become a regular supporter or do a special gift for the end of the year on this page. However, please be sure to send us a message once you get that set up, as we like to send out weekly iMessage and SMS updates with pictures and prayer requests to our regular supporters.
God bless you all! Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Links:
Every once in a while, God sends someone along in your life that is more than just someone to hang out with, more than just a friend to say “Hi” to when you see in church… I’m talking about those people that God uses to help you dig deeper in your heart, see what He is doing, and follow Him more closely. Our friend, Pam Nelson, is like that for us.
David & Katya 