Mid-Week Excitement

Written by Caleb Lee

Privet! Hello again! The time since our last update on the blog has been filled with a multitude of events and experiences. After watching our daily evangelism videos at around 3:00 p,m, Ukrainian time we headed towards a hostel community where a majority of the residents were university students. With the leadership of Pastor Vitali we headed towards the community by way of the downtown trolley and metro system. We were fearful of the potential rain that seemed inevitable and as we were riding the subway down towards our destination we prayed that when we emerged from the subway the rain would cease because if it did not our program for the evening would be cut short. The faithful prayers and hope prevailed as when we emerged from the station the rain had indeed ended. We walked for about a mile to several “stops” that might be potential places for gathering and along the way many Ukrainians glanced and stared at our large entourage of people with backpacks and guitars. We stopped in front of one hostel where we were given permission to worship and give praise. The hostels in these locations were high rise buildings and as we started to sing praises many residents of the buildings looked onward in curiosity. Pastor Vitali and others from New Hope church called out to them to come downstairs and join us. Many passerbys often stopped to see what was happening. We drew in about 20 people, including our group of about 25, totaling around 45 people. As you can imagine 45 people standing in a circle drew a lot of attention. After praise and worship our group did a doctor skit where we portrayed a man receiving everyone’s sickness and one part involved a man who had a syndrome where he acted like a chicken. This part was played out by Pastor James Nolette and if you know Pastor Nolette he can be loud. Despite the amazing comedy and reaction from the Ukrainians the manager of the hostel we were performing in front of told us to leave. This however did not stop us from evangelizing and it just made us want to perform even more and draw an even greater crowd. We transitioned across the street so that those that were watching us from the street and in the apartments could continue to enjoy what we had to offer. Across the street we decided to sing more praise and worship and our first song involved walking in a circle like a train. Our loud singing and noises drew even more attention and cars driving by slowed down and stopped just to watch us. Tyler Jett then shared his testimony while Lyosha our good friend translated. After his very personal and powerful message we decided to give the spectators another one of our funny skits. It involved a mock tennis match where someone was hurt and the ambulance was called. This skit drew SO much attention and laughter from the crowd! The crowd loved us and more and more people stopped to see us. Pastor Vitali then shared his personal childhood and testimony and then after the international group from New Hope church also performed a skit. We remained for about another 15 minutes after that just to congregate and introduce ourselves.

We then said goodbye and took the subway to our restaurant for dinner. Upon arriving at the place we were to eat, it turned out that they did not have anymore food. So instead we went to McDonalds. Before entering McDonalds may I note that Joey decided to pet a stray dog that was in the street. After a deliciously healthy and nourishing meal at McDonalds we headed home.=) As we exited the restaurant we started to walk down the street when out of nowhere we see the dog Joey had petted run onto a main intersection just to chase a taxi. The dog survived and followed us until the subway station. All along the way we had food with us for some members of our team back at the dorm and the dog kept following us. The dog had its episodes where it would run straight into the intersection just to chase taxis and cars. A total of three times, the dog came to within inches of being crushed but instinctively dodged the car. Mr. Borick I quote said that “It’s not as dumb as you think, its street smart.” I was surely convinced though that the dog had multiple car accidents under its belt. Well as we approached the subway station which was the hub center of Kharkov, the dog finally lost our scent and could not find us. As we walked and snuck the other direction, we noticed the dog walking down the steps towards the busy underground station. We finally returned to our dormitory and after debriefing we went to bed.

The morning ran as usual. As we arrived at church, we were told we would not be evangelizing in the park as usual because of the rain. So instead we watched Pirates of the Caribbean. After lunch we continued to watch Kirk Cameron’s The Way of the Master video series. All is going well and we’ve enjoyed the rest that we’ve received today. Please continue to pray for us as we head out to another dormitory.