I’m in Ukraine now. In case you weren’t aware, Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday that’s celebrated much outside of North America. I spent Thanksgiving day in the exact same way that I spend most Thursdays this semester, with the exception that I spent my morning with a friend learning how to bake pumpkin pie. The other missionaries here and I celebrated on Saturday. Our meal was somewhat non-traditional because the majority of our normal Thanksgiving dishes are difficult or impossible to find or make in Ukraine, but still we had a good time relaxing and spending time with friends.

Something I’ve been learning this season is that there is always something to be thankful for if you look. Our pastor read 1 Thess. 5:16-18 last week. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Sasha reminded us of this verse the very next day in our staff meeting. I had read the verse not long before in my personal quiet time. I don’t know about you, but when God brings the same verse up several times in a short span of time, I take it as a sign to shape up and start paying attention to what He’s trying to tell me. The fact that this was right before Thanksgiving just reinforced the idea. “In everything give thanks.” There is something to be thankful for in EVERY circumstance. With this in mind, I began to look for something to be thankful for in some of the situations that aren’t my favorite. Here’s a sampling of what I came up with.

Situation: I was away from my family on a major family holiday. Thankful for: good friends who are becoming like family. Technology that lets me communicate with my family quickly and easily. Creative friends who managed to come up with pumpkin pie, turkey, and stuffing to make the holiday seem more homey in a place where none of those things are common or easy to make.

Situation: I spent Thanksgiving afternoon “teaching” a dozen wild and misbehaving orphans who wouldn’t listen to me and carried off the majority of my pens and markers. Thankful for: a warm classroom (not something to be taken for granted there). The realization that there are so many who have bigger problems than I do. Two new helpers in my class, one of whom speaks Russian well.

Situation: my apartment STILL doesn’t have heat or hot water. Thankful for: running water in general. An electric heater that takes the chill out of the bedroom. Warmer than usual weather right now.

My point in all this is that God wasn’t demanding the impossible when He told us to give thanks in everything. In every situation there is something to be thankful for if we can only put away our complaining for a few minutes and look for it. I know, it’s not a new revelation to any of you, but it’s one that I’m apt to forget and needed to be reminded of this year. Maybe you’ve forgotten, too? I want to encourage you to look at those situations that are unpleasant to you and find something in it for which you are thankful. Our God is always faithful and always good.

Share This

I’ve been reading a book lately that has lots of good things to say in the area of marriage, but the one that stands out to me so far is the need to give our spouse praise and encouragement. They need to be encouraged and praised and we feel good when we give it out. I think this need exists in everyone including spouses, children, friends, co-workers and so on.

Have you ever been around a person who always has a since positive encouraging word for everyone they meet? I often think I want to be like that, but I’m afraid I often fall short. God has been showing me how important it is to give my family praise. Now I need to make it happen. I don’t know why it is so much easier to pick on the people we love than it is to give an encouraging word. I guess it is that sin nature that automatically sees the bad, but we are to lazy to work at seeing and commenting on the good. Someone once said it takes 10 positive comments to overcome one negative comment. I don’t know if that is true, but it sure gives me something to think about!!!

The Bible has a lot to say on the topic.

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Pr. 16:24

"An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up." Pr. 12:25

I don’t think that I am a negative person, but I don’t want to be neutral either. So I am going to start asking the Lord for positive words to say to people. I want to be one of those people that I have so long admired.

Share This

Following the 7.9 earthquake in August, the Lord put it in our executive director’s heart to start a mission outreach in Peru. I, along with our director, Mary Alice Isleib, and Bill Gibson, COI Operations director,  visited and saw firsthand the many ministry opportunities to help the people and to expand God’s Kingdom. The Lord blessed us with strong connections there to partner with and develop ministries for this disaster relief.  COI now has ministry in Peru!

The main areas where we’ll be working are the towns of Pisco and Ica, which were most affected by the earthquake.  Right now some shelter homes are being built for the people who lost everything. 

 
One of the most important ministries that we could have here is with the children, because they’re very affected by the destruction and loss.  Some of them lost one or more members of their family, along with everything they had. 

 Also, most of the churches were destroyed or damaged and need to be repaired or rebuilt.  Many pastors are struggling without their churches, and most of their members lost their homes too.  Right now is the perfect time to go and bring the gospel because people are open and hungry to hear what God has to tell them. 

Even with all the disaster and destruction surrounding them, you can see that the people are willing to go on, they have hope that one day they’ll have a home again and are ready to work. It is a great blessing that COI can be part of what the Lord will do in this nation.

YOU CAN BE PART OF THE PLAN OF GOD FOR PERU!  

Share This

Just recently I have learned that we are no longer advertising to take a group to Peru after Christmas because there hasn’t been enough interest. Because of that now as I give out information about our Holiday trips I have to leave out the info on Peru - a place that desperately needs our help.

Do you know that we have partnerships with pastors over there who are in charge of 3 different refugee camps with hundreds of families who have lost everything they owned? Do you know that they are waiting and asking when people will come to not only meet physical needs but spiritual, and emotional needs as well? Do you know that we have access to children and families who are devastated and need the love and knowledge of our savior more than ever before? And yet there is not enough interest.

If Christmas isn’t the time to get away by yourself or with your family to serve others and give, then when is a good time? Maybe it is too late to go to Peru this year. Maybe it is not. We only need 10 people to take a trip. I beseech you to pray about where God may want you this New Year? What better way to start the year than being Jesus hands and feet to a hurting world.

Share This

People sometimes wonder how teaching English as a Second Language can be missions. Isn’t missions shouting the Good News from urban street corners or eating grubs with natives in some South American rain forest? Where does teaching fit in?

Teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) meets a felt need. Christ ministered to the tangible as well as spiritual needs of those around him. A major need in many countries is for English teachers. English is quickly becoming a globally-spoken language and is often a requirement or at least a huge plus for getting a good job.

Teaching English opens doors of friendship. As you get to know your students in the non-threatening atmosphere of a classroom, trust and friendships are developed, which lead to more opportunities to share the gospel with them. People listen more closely when their friend or someone they trust is speaking than when a total stranger is talking to them.

Teaching ESL also puts you immediately in a position of knowing people you can talk to before you become fluent in a foreign language. When I first came to Ukraine I didn’t speak any Ukrainian or Russian, yet teaching English immediately gave me a circle of people I could communicate with. While it’s still important to try to learn the foreign language, teaching ESL lets you have friends and people to minister to in that learning period – you don’t have to wait two years in language school before you can start to minister effectively.

I came to Ukraine nearly 4 years ago as a first-time English teacher. I was 18, spoke absolutely no Ukrainian or Russian, and had no teaching experience. I hadn’t even wanted to try teaching when I had taken my short ESL training – it was just part of the required course work for the mission training school I was attending. Hardly amazing qualifications. Yet it’s where God was leading, and I’ve come to see what an incredible opportunity teaching ESL can be. I love teaching, and I love my students. Rest assured, teaching can be every bit as much missions as ministering to natives in South American tribes. (And though you might not recognize everything you eat, you wont’ have to eat grubs! At least not in Ukraine.)

If you’re considering missions but aren’t sure exactly where you fit in, don’t forget to consider teaching English as a Second Language.

Share This