“April Flowers Bring May … Grass?” (May 2013 Update)
Okay. I know that sounds strange to most American. We all know that “April Showers bring May Flowers.” But in the Ukrainian calendar (as well as most Eastern European countries), the first budding of flowers is in April (beautiful cherry and apricot blossoms). That gives way to the coming of green grass everywhere by May. So April is Квітень (“flowers”) and May is appropriately named Травень or “Grass.” For us, it means the cold is gone for this year and the flowers and warm weather have returned!
April and May are also times of high pollen co
unt. So I have been battling sinus infections much of the month. But that seems a small price to pay for some warm weather!
Teaching
In April, I taught Pneumatology and Eschatology. It was a great class with lots of very interesting and helpful discussion about practical applications of the theological ideas we were learning. Now, I’m working on grading papers from the class and getting ready for teaching my next two classes. I will be teaching every day during the month of May and into the first week of June. That means no break until just before we get ready to head back to the states for the summer. I’m looking forward to the summer but also to these two classes. They are both research and critical thinking classes and they are very helpful and challenging for the students. The first class, I will co-teach with Natalie Tereschenko. The second class, I will be teaching on my own. Pray for us as we prepare and as we try to make this challenging material helpful for the ministries of these students!
Also, we continue to lead our small group every Wednesday night. Last night, we celebrated the Passover/Last Supper together and we talked about the Messianic symbols in the Passover meal (Easter is May 5th in the orthodox world). In a couple of weeks, we will be having our annual “Key to the Heart” retreat. This year, we will have seminars for married couples as well as for our singles. In the past couple of years, we have had many couples get married and so we decided to add seminars for our young marrieds also. Be praying that these seminars will help believers to have godly relationships that will honor Christ, married or un-married!
Summer Plans
For me, May also means that time to be home in the states visiting family and friends is not far away! This summer will be an especially busy time for us. In July, Joy and her family are planning to move to New York state and so we will spend June packing up and preparing the house for renters. Our hope is to see as many people as possible in June and July while we are in Arkansas. We might take a week to camp and maybe another week to visit some friends in Florida before heading back to Ukraine in August.
Russian
Russian continues to be a priority for me. It is amazing how inefficient I feel without being able to speak the language! I’m seeing more and more improvement but I know I still have a long, long way to go. I’ve been especially grateful for my Russian teacher this year, Natasha Bochko. She has worked really hard to make my lessons practical even though my time for study is limited. I’m trying not to add any new classes again next year (there are still some unmet needed that I am praying about) so that I can concentrate more on Russian.
Thank you again for all of your support! I have always heard missionaries say how much they depended on the prayers and support of people back in the states. Having been a missionary here for nearly 3 years now, I can tell you that I know exactly how they felt. What a blessing to be able to serve the Lord because of your graciousness!!!
By His Grace,
Jim and Katya
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