I have
decided to become a sponge. After wading through the aftermath of
an ill-timed airport strike in London, I eventually arrived in Kyiv
two days tardy. Attempting to communicate to the baggage employee
that my enormous black duffel bag did not appear, as expected, with
the baggage from our flight, glimpsing the blurs of Russian and Ukrainian
neon signs, and hearing the taxi driver converse with Lena, Chris’
wife, quickly taught me the stark reality of a foreign, non-English
speaking land.
“Wholly
humbling” is the phrase that best encapsulates the initial experience
for me. From that moment, my one constant truth has been that I have
an enormous amount to learn. Language, culture, history, and new people
have confronted me daily, and I have endeavored only to soak up as
much as possible. Luckily, my arrival coincided with a lapse in activity
at the UEC; so Chris, Lena, Sergiy, Joshua and Maurie Hanauer, and
others have graciously and patiently donated their free time to ease
my transition.
I have
definitely fallen in love with the city: huge sidewalks and wide streets,
monstrous statues and cathedrals, subways (metros) that literally
plunge hundreds of feet underground (you ride escalators about fifteen
minutes to get to their underground lair), and of course, the markets.
On every corner, there are lively markets selling fresh fruits, vegetables,
illegally made CD's and videos, untold varieties of flowers, clothing,
batteries, raw meat, and just about anything else imaginable. And
then there are the elevators, which are about two feet by two feet
and groan severely each time they are forced to rise, many times just
flat out refusing to go anywhere.
The
overflowing activity and life have invigorated my daily experience
so far. I realized early on that my natural tendency to take in new
stimuli carefully and fully analyze every detail would be impossible.
While grappling with one aspect or activity, I would erect a barricade
to the hundreds of others occurring simultaneously. Therefore, I have
chosen to become entirely permeable. Presently, I analyze nothing,
assign value to nothing, and, in actuality, understand nothing. I
am just attempting to capture as much information as possible, so
that I can slowly piece it all together and reconstruct a coherent
self.
However, the more and more saturated I grow to be, the more excited
I become for my time here.
Chris
and I have had the opportunity to spend hours discussing his missiological
approach and my upcoming role in his and the UEC’s work in Kyiv.
Along with a member of the Nivky church, Chris has decided to create
a Christian institute to instruct and encourage young believers and
assist them in excavating the depths of Christianity and engaging
it with the present world and popular culture. One of my chief responsibilities
this fall will be teaching two courses in this charter semester. One
course will study and discuss the issues raised in two fictional books
by C.S. Lewis: The Great Divorce and Screwtape Letters. The other,
following up on one of my passions in school, will investigate the
relationship of science and religion within the scope of history,
epistemology, cosmology, and current astrophysics. This fall, I will
also be working with the UEC manager, Sergiy, to prepare a course
for the spring, “winter,” semester, surveying world religions
and the many offshoots and branches of Christianity.
In addition
to these responsibilities, I will be assisting the outreach of the
UEC to the university students by hosting such events as “movie
nights,” by planning weekly sporting activities such as ultimate
Frisbee (another passion) or basketball, and by working at the UEC
library and fellowshipping with its visitors. Furthermore, the fall
will include follow up with individuals from this past summer’s
Let’s Start Talking mission, which might include individual
study/discussion meetings and/or a group grammar class, as well as
co-leading and hosting (read “cooking for”) a weekly cell
group meeting of the Nivky church.
As
you can see, the fall holds a great deal of activity and exciting
opportunities, which is why I am so thankful for the “soaking”
time I have at the present. I am absolutely certain that I will learn
more in the next year, spiritual lessons of faith and Godly life as
well as practical lessons of cooking, budgeting, language, cultural
studies, and even website creation, than I have ever imagined learning
in a single year’s time. My only hope is that God will make
me absorbent enough to contain all of it.