Answer to prayer!

We're down to two weeks until the next Discipleship Training School starts. Even though I'm not staffing this school with Torben, I still feel like a part of it. They have 10-13 students and a lot to do to prepare for them coming.

One of the big things that has weighed heavily on Torben for weeks is the issue of finding a translator. We've been involved in two DTSes here in Kyiv. The first one had a translator who definitely saw it as just a job. She stayed at arms length from the students and the subject material she was translating. She was fine in English, but according to our Russian speaking staff who also understand English, she would add things to what the speaker was saying, slanting it to be in line with her views.
In the second school, the translator was a friend of Torben's. He lived in America for a while, so his English was excellent. He made friends with all the students, saw the job as a ministry, actually translated what the speaker said, and it was clear that God was touching his heart through the teaching.

With that contrast in mind, we set to work looking for a translator for this school. We could see so clearly that the translator has a great influence on the school. Torben's friend couldn't do it again this fall, so we started making calls. It looked pretty grim for weeks. We were down to calling a friend of a friend of a staff member who couldn't even understand Torben when he called her. Everyone good already had jobs, so we thought we would have to go with someone a lot more like the first translator. We were praying like crazy.

Then came Yulia. We got her number from a staff member and met with her the other day. During our half hour meeting, she said every one of the things we had been praying about. She knows English really well, looks forward to getting to know the students, sees this as a ministry and is eager to learn for herself as well as helping the students learn. I left that meeting so excited!! I'm embarrassed to say it, but I was so surprised God answered our prayers. I was sure we would have to settle for a not-so-great translator. How cool that I was wrong!!