And the river meets...

Spring has come!! For days I've gotten up from bed, looked out the window and have been overjoyed to see the Dniepr river melting more and more! And now, as of yesterday morning, the final pieces melted in the middle, making streams meet! Of course, there's still ice along the edge and the crazy ice fishermen are still there, but it's happening! And today I only had one layer of stockings on under my skirt rather than three! Yay!!!

And the weather isn't the only thing changing lately. This past Wednesday marked the beginning of the Discipleship Training School! Most of the students arrived on Wednesday, with one coming Thursday and another to come tomorrow. So, the final count is 8 staff and 15 students - 8 Belarussians, 2 Ukrainians, 1 American, 1 Moldovan, 1 girl from Uzbekistan, 1 Polish guy, and possibly a girl from Cameroon if her visa comes through tomorrow (Pray!!). So very diverse. So very Russian speaking...oh dear. The one American studied Russian in university, so she's fluent. Good times.

So, we've got quite a challenge before us. I've gone back and forth a lot this week with my feelings about it. What was God thinking bringing us here? How can I possibly be of any use? How can my gifts and abilities be used in this school? Lots of those questions swirling around in my head. And though I have so many moments of frustration and doubt, the one thing that is constant is that I know God is in this. I know He has brought us here. I know there is a purpose in it even though I can't see how there possibly could be. But it's hard. Please pray for Torben and I. God's placed us in a difficult position, but I can already feel that He's not going to leave us alone in this.

Already, He has sent us both different encouragements. Bringing verses about perseverance and depending on Him to our minds. The speaker in our base meeting Friday night was speaking about perseverance and keeping on running the race. One of the best speakers from our own DTS, Val Smith, randomly happened to be in Kiev this weekend, so we've had the chance to hang out with her a bit and be encouraged by her. God's not leaving us alone even though He's brought us to a difficult place.

Don't Afraid

Going to the dentist is never fun. Even more fun - going to the dentist when there is hardly any common language going on. Torben's having a root canal done on Friday, so we went a few days ago for the dentist to check out what's going on in there. She was very nice, but didn't really understand much of what we were saying. And she's the dentist here in Kiev who knows the most English...good times.
The best part was when Torben was trying to express his dislike for needles. She told him to lay back "Don't...afraid!" A few minutes later, this none to reassuring statement was followed by her rendition of the song "Don't worry, be happy!" Torben's on the dentist chair freaking out and his ever supportive wife is trying not to giggle at the musical dentist :)

Soon and very soon...

Countdown to DTS! After taking some serious time to pray about all of the adjustments to life here in Kiev, I've gotten past being really really nervous about the upcoming DTS and now it's down to the waiting. The current DTS just got back from outreach, reminding me of what a Discipleship Training School is like. The post-outreach excitement is almost tangible as they talk about Kirgistan and Georgia. It makes me remember all of the awesome things that God did in me and through me on my outreach in Romania and I start to get excited again...

A week or so to go before staff training starts. Since those we'll be leading with just got back, I'm excited to get to know them, though I don't think I've quite met all of them. Kind of confusing these days with all of the new faces :)

Random story from daily life - one that only people from cold places will understand - after a short warm weather tease where all the snow melted, Kiev was dumped upon again with about a foot of snow in the past week. It seems the weather can't make up it's mind (hey, like Ohio!) so it goes from freezing to slush everywhere and back again. So, Torben and I went out to eat the other night and on our way home, we had to cross the street. As usual, I was more focused on staying alive (you should see the crazy drivers in Kiev), so I only glanced at where I was stepping. Have you ever had that experience where you think you're stepping on solid ground, but lo and behold, you find yourself nearly up to your knee in freezing nasty water?? Oh yes, good times. Good news, though, I didn't get killed by the crazy cars...