A Report on Income, Church, and My Birthday

I have been in Ukraine for a month now! Time flies when you are busy! :) 

School has been going well. In fact, the administration is apparently so confident in my juggling abilities that they asked if I could take another class from a teacher who is overloaded. It will probably be for just a few weeks until the teacher who is supposed to be teaching it comes back from America. You could pray that her family gets the support that they need!

Here's a huge answer to prayer -- I got a tutoring job that actually pays real money! :) A Korean father in the school asked me to help his 2nd grade daughter with English acquisition and homework. He also wanted me to help him with his English! So, I meet with this dad for an hour and his daughter for an hour and a half four days a week! So that's a 10 hr/week job -- at least for now, we might scale back soon if she's doing well. 

The coolest part about meeting with this little girl is that I've had some awesome God-conversations with her! I got to tell her the Creation story the first day we met and she had never heard it before! And, last week, I just briefly mentioned that we should go over her memory verse (Rom. 3:23) and she knew it. Then I asked if she knew what to “fall short” means. She demonstrated that she knew what to “fall” is! :) I drew her a picture of a man shooting arrows at a target, but they just hit the ground. Then I showed how God gets a bullseye! She totally got it and started asking all these questions! I told her that Jesus came to pick up our arrows and stick 'em in the target. He wants to help us. She told me that she prayed once for her family when they were in Korea but He didn’t answer. She thought he was maybe too “buezzy” (she wrote it because she couldn’t quite remember how to say it!). I said, “No! God is so much bigger than that! He can do anything! He is everywhere all the time!” Then, my personal favorite, “Does Jesus have 100 hands?” It was so exciting to be able to tell her a little bit about how big God is and how much he loves his people. She was really getting it and it was so fun to hear all her questions!

This weekend I went to the varsity soccer games. It was just a classic fall weekend! Sunny skies, crisp air... someone brought a grill and we had hamburgers and hotdogs. I wore my pink hat. :) It was great to be outside and socializing with new friends and cheering on our high school athletes! 

I have been going to an international church here the past few weeks. The paster and his wife are part of Assemblies of God and their kids go to KCA. The church has a pretty fun environment and the worship is familiar. Every week I have some friend to sit by. I might still try out some other churches here in Kiev, but I thought I should let you know that I am going to a good church and not becoming some heathen! :) ha.

Oh, by the way, my birthday last week was awesome! :D As soon as I stepped into school Tuesday morning I was barraged with hugs, cards, chocolates, and cakes! We had several of the teachers over for dinner at our house that night, I got presents and even blew out one pseudo-candle (a match) in an amazing handmade carrot cake! Thanks for all of the facebook birthday notes -- it was really a special day! (I just love birthdays!)

Well, thanks for all the prayers! God hears them... He's taking good care of me! I pray that he blesses each of you! 

Jesus tells us that in the last days "the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved." This week I've been reading these chapters toward the end of Matthew and I just have gotten another wave of urgency in regards to people being ready. Don't lose hope just because the world is hopeless. These things "must take place" and things will even get worse. But that just means we are getting closer to the day when sufferings cease and we can live without the distractions and just be with God. Knowing that my destiny is with Jesus is a huge encouragement to me (understatement, right?), but, everyday I realize that there are so many people that don't know what their destiny is. I don't really know what I'm trying to say here but these are just the thoughts that have been in my head this week... here you go! :) 

Each of these photos are from the our street! That door is our apartment building. Oh, the rooster is from a nearby pet market, however. And, yes, that yellow and red thing in the bottom picture is a TRAM. ha.