Friday, September 2, 2005
Greetings to all! Well, it has been almost 3 weeks since I left Lubbock, and things are moving right along here. When I first got here, it was somewhat frustrating because I was ready to jump into things. I was so used to having a schedule that kept me busy from sun up to sun down, and I found myself sleeping later and having to make my own schedule. It took some getting used to, and I am still adjusting. But things are going much better, I know that I have to take initiative and make things happen. So, the first couple of days I just messaged people on their phones. Everyone I thought I remembered from last summer I sent a message to and said I wanted to see them.
Most of you know that I love to cook and bake, so I just used that. We started inviting people over for dinner, we have people over about 4 nights a week. I started baking and have been trying a new recipe each Saturday and taking it to English Club. I spend much of my time just meeting up with students and hanging out with them. It has taken some to time to adjust to a different schedule and to adjust to relational ministry, but I am learning a lot and having a great time.
Although we call it a university ministry, we minister to a lot of people, not just university students. There is an older woman, Lubov, who comes to English Club faithfully and occasionally Pilgrims. Lubov was very taken back by the fact that I like to cook and bake. One Saturday she told me that I am not lazy because I like to cook. She is always interested in what I bake and wants to know the recipe. She wanted to teach me to make some traditional Ukrainian dishes, so we set up a time to meet. She came over and taught me to make Varenyky, and Rohalnek. We had a great time and decided that we would meet each week and teach each other new recipes.
Lubov is an amazing woman with quite a history. She shared stories with me about when Ukraine was under communism. She told me about fleeing to America and living there for a year. I am so excited about this relationship and hope that it will continue to grow!
As well as beginning new relationships I have had a chance to get reacquainted with old friends. My friend Julia and I really hit it off when I was here last summer. She and I have kept in touch while I was away, so when I arrived she was the first person I asked about. I kept asking, ¡§When will I get to see Julia?¡¨ Finally, she called and we met up. I was so excited to see her, and here how things are going in her life. Last summer she made a new commitment to Christ, so I really wanted to ask how things have changed in her life and how things are going. We were both so excited to see each other! She is doing well; we see each other almost every day. She works in the city center so she comes by and we go for long walks. I am looking forward to spending more time with her as well.
The ministry has grown and some of the faces have changed since I was here last, so I thought it might be fun to have a tea for all of the girls. This would give me a chance to meet some of the girls that I don¡¦t know and spend time with those that I do. So, this past Tuesday I spent the whole morning and early afternoon in the kitchen baking every kind of treat that you can imagine. At 4:00 the girls came over and we had a great time of talking, laughing, and just spending time together. About 15 girls ended up coming, and it was so much fun. I think they all enjoyed it as well. We are now planning an outing for the guys, because they felt left out. ?º One friend, Olia Tyshkovetz asked me one afternoon if I would teach her to dance. I asked around and found out that there were several students interested, so we will have our first practice this Saturday for the dance ministry. I am planning to teach them interpretive dance to worship songs, and hopefully we can use them in worship at pilgrims and at UM Worship once a month. It should be exciting.
Well, I think I have made this email plenty long for now. I am so excited about what God is doing here in L¡¦viv. Please pray for the Vandewerfs as they welcomed Madden Garrick into the world on August 30th. Please continue to pray for all of those touched by the horror of hurricane Katrina. I can¡¦t imagine being in the middle of such a catastrophe. Pray for all of those students that God will use Amanda and me to reach. I pray that He is able to work through me to reach His children that do not yet know Him.
Some people have asked for pictures, well I am down with technology¡Ksort of. You can visit my space and see photos and read random thoughts from me at http://spaces.msn.com/members/ggran/
