Football with Americans

Written by Matthew Madsen

At 5:00 pm after our last blog, the whole group went back to the soccer field we visited earlier that day. We sent a couple groups out to the hostels, which surrounded the field, to invite people to our praise session. Joel Nolette and Mary (an international student) started the meeting with some praise songs. We were a little discouraged by the low number of students who turned up, but the hope of reaching just one person kept us going. A group of drunk Ukrainians tried to disrupt our meeting by shouting and screaming at us. However, the Lord answered our prayers and the drunken Ukrainians were arrested. Joey shared the Gospel and Caleb shared his testimony. We walked to a pizza place where we got our own room in the back of the restaurant. We ate 12 pizzas as a team. With the boy’s table eating 5 pizzas by themselves. We walked home from the pizza place and we reached home at 11:30pm. In debriefing we said our goodbyes to Faith because she is leaving today. Today we left for the church at 9:30 and we reached the church by 10:30. At 11:00 we went to a close by park where we played games and made balloon animals for the locals. We had a wheelbarrow race with the kids as well as a relay race with a bat. These games helped us draw a crowd of young children and we were able to invite them to our Sunday school ministries. The kids were receptive to our interaction with them and we are hoping for a good turnout on Sunday. After that we went to lunch where we ate beef and potatoes. After lunch we all went upstairs to practice our skits for the upcoming JAM session. Lucas directs these skits as if he is directing a highly priced film. Tonight we are going out to another University hostel where we will be sharing the Word of God through our praise and skits. Please pray for the unity of the team and for Faith’s safe travel home to the US. Please also pray for the upcoming JAM session tomorrow night. We will be seeing you all soon.

Posted by Faith Wilson:

I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your prayers and support. We continually saw the effects of these prayers and I can’t describe to you just how much they made our trip.

God has done and is doing amazing things in Ukraine, and it has been my honor to be a small part of that. He has stretched us, grown us, and revealed Himself to us in ways unimaginable. I am grateful for the leader He provided us with, and for Pastor Vitale and his heart to serve this country in need.

These team members have gone beyond my wildest dreams, and they blessed me and challenged me in ways I never expected. I am extremely proud to have had the opportunity to even work with these wonderful students, not to mention lead them.

Lucas: Your enthusiasm and heart for the Lord was contagious. Thanks for helping us all keep our focus where it needed to be and for being sensitive to whatever it was the Lord had for you next. You truly have a servant’s heart.

Caleb: You have grown miles on this trip and it has been wonderful to see you step up and lead those around you. Your desire to put meaning into what you do is evident to everyone around.

Tyler: You constantly desire to help those around you and you really want what will benefit others more than what will benefit yourself. Thanks for stepping up and being willing to go outside of your comfort zone to do what was needed.

Matt: Your encouraging nature and your strong desire to protect those around you was a vital part of this trip. Thanks for watching out for my girls and for insisting on carrying someone’s bag when it was too heavy for them, or rallying a group of people together to get a job done.

Joey: You absolutely floored me this trip with your leadership and your sensitivity to those around you (amongst a million other things you floored me with). You have completely gained my trust and I appreciate what you have done for each team member. This team could not have come close to completing all that they did without you.

To my girls:

Tori: It has been a great honor to see how God has stretched you and brought you out of your comfort zone. You are always willing to serve and step in when needed. Even though you were the youngest on this trip, you never let that get in your way of you doing what God called you to do. Keep that up.

Melissa: I can’t believe I had to suffer so long not knowing you! It was a privilege to laugh, cry and share life with you. Continue using your encouraging nature to impact those around you, and allow God to keep working in your life.

Jenn: I am so proud of how you have stepped up during this trip in ways most people don’t even know about. Your constant prayer over every task has made a huge difference and has challenged me. Continue to rely on God in every aspect of your life.

To the leaders:

Joel: I am so glad I had a chance to get to know you. Your honesty and strong desire to grow others in the Lord is evident and I appreciate how you are not afraid to take a step of faith. Stay strong, keep studying, and keep using the fabulous gifts God has given you for Him.

Jeff: Your passion is evident in everything you do, and I am grateful that God has brought you on this trip. Thank you for your boldness in sharing with strangers and thank you for showing me how you can truly impact someone without letting the language barrier get in the way.

Pastor James: It has been such an honor to serve alongside of you. Thank you for constantly staying strong even when things didn’t always go according to plan, and for demonstrating to me what it truly means to lead a group of students to serve. I have learned so much from you and I hope we will be able to do this again!

I apologize for the lengthy comments, but I am truly grateful to the Lord for how he has worked in each person’s life. As I head home tomorrow, I will not forget this country that holds not only my heritage, but also my heart.

Press on,

Faith

Oh yeah…“What fun would it be if everything went smoothly?”