SMILING CELL GROUP

This is my cell group that meets at our apartment every thursday night for a meal of some sort (we never really know what will be for dinner until about an hour beforehand), and then sharing about our week, singing, discussing a passage or idea from the Bible, and then praying together - a time I will dearly miss during my time at home.

DELIVERING THE FEAST

Scott Owings, visiting for several days with his wife Lisa, from Otter Creek Church in Nashville, is about to drop the only green vegetables I had seen in about five months. Luckily, he hangs on, and i get to grow up big and strong.

"A JOYFUL NOISE" STRIKES AGAIN

Eight of us brave souls, formed an "ensemble" near the beginning of the semester, and this was our second concert. Feeling much less prepared this time around, we still pulled off a Christmas spectacular for the combined meeting of the church's two assemblies. Afterwards, to make sure everyone would say it was a good concert, we threw confetti into the crowd.

SAYING GOODBYE, MEXICAN STYLE

Monica Moreland, the assistant director of the UEC returned home for a six month sabbatical at the end of december, but before she left she treated the workers of the UEC to a rare treat - dinner at the only Mexican restaurant in Kyiv, the Tequila House.

A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

Oleg, my rommate, and Lera pore carefully over the papers of my students, as i learned that i needed a little help grading the somewhat complicated exams i gave out. I told them to be nice, though.

TRAFFIC, KYIV STYLE

The first of my many trips to the airport this december (see the home page if this confuses you), was to pick up Scott and Lisa. It took roughly three hours, two hours longer than planned, for obvious reasons above. I learned that in Kyiv, lanes and lights are meaningless, and sidewalks are also acceptable "shortcuts."

NO, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS BEFORE

On what I thought was my last day in Kyiv, I walked around in the ancient part of the city, buying souvenirs and presents, and enjoying the city. St. Sophia Cathedral, first built in the 11th century, struck me with its majesty, and I could not resist whipping out the camera for yet another shot of it.

THE GUY IN THE BAG

This fun photo of mine, taken as a suggestion for the UEC newsletter to accompany my article about our Harvest of Books, was unfortunately rejected by the "editors." Dema, the same on as on the right, enjoyed the confines of the "M-bag," though.

ME AND DEMA WITHOUT THE BAG

The smooth tenor section, Dema and I at least had fun singing, even if we were not sure all the time exactly what we were supposed to be singing. Carol of the Bells, or "Shedryck," which we sung in Ukrainian (it's origninal language) showed our true talent, though.

THE MASTERS OF THE KITCHEN

Scott discovered a heretofor unknown talent for frying chicken (which Lisa was happy about) and Oleg struggled with a creative recipe for cornbread as they prepared our Thanksgiving feast for the cell leaders as a thank you for their semester of hard work.

CALL ME "TOLSTY"

Eating a McDonald's pie, with a Big Mac Extra Value Meal in my jacked to keep it warm for Sergiy, I lived up to my nickname of "tolsty," which means chubby.

"INDEPENDENCE SQUARE"

The main downtown square, Maidan Nezalesna, which means Lady of Independence, is always bustling, especially at night, with throngs of people enoying the mall behind the monument, or just the evening view.

MY SECOND HOME

This is a view of my room in our apartment after five months of inhabitance. Obviously, I chose a strategic time to take this clean picture. To the left is my desk where my computer and pictures are all hanging, except for the "travel photos" i keep above my bed, which can also be made into a couch for our cell group. An enormous towel I purchased at the grocery store, unaware of its Antean nature, covers our lone arm chair, and the TV is directly below the plant in the foreground. I've grown quite fond of this place.

THEY CAME BEARING GIFTS

Scott and Lisa came in early December lugging four enormous bags of books, videos and CD's for the UEC library. These materials are still keeping the UEC staff busy trying to process them for the library. While they were here, Scott and Lisa helped us cook our Thanksgiving feast for the cell leaders, and spent time talking to several different groups and individuals.

I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M SMILING

Also for our feast, Chris holds the chicken (our turkey subsitute) in the appropriate position, while I stuff them. A new experience for me, and one I am not sure I want to repeat any time soon.

LET'S EAT

Sergey and Oleg dismantle the chickens while a crowd gathers around the feast spread before them. This was definitely one of the best meals I have eaten here. Although not quite my mom's thanksgiving dinner, it helped me not miss it so much.

DID YOU SEE THAT STAR?

Vanya, who enjoys pantomime, delivers a monologue from the perspective of one of the shepherds during our christmas spectacular at church.

DON'T KNOW WHY THIS IS HERE

I took this picture for the money section of our internship handbook, a project that consumed my last few days in Kyiv. I don't know why I decided to put it here, but maybe you will enjoy seeing what money looks like here. These are "grieven" bills. One "grieven" is worth about $.19.

SINGING IN SCARVES AND HATS

For our christmas concert we abandoned our old style of black and white and decided to be a bit more colorful. We united ourselves by the presence of scarves and gloves, which are a must for everyone anyway, but we wore them inside.

THE SPOT FOR SUNDAY DINNER

This is the center of the downtown, western-type of mall, "Globus." On the bottom floor is a food court, where Chris, Lena, Oleg and I usually eat on Sunday evenings.

A LITTLE MORE HELP

Lena also helped me grade my papers, although she seemed to find something funny about it. I will not say which student's paper she is grading, for protection purposes.