(to answer that question...Nashville, but going to Ukraine in a couple months)
Hello Friends and Fam-
It has been an awfully long time since I was a blogger. I guess since my year in Russia when I wanted to keep y'all updated. Back then, I never said y'all. But, now I live in Nashville, Tennessee and I really love the phrase (and the place), so I've adopted it proudly.
Well, since spending time in Russia in 2005-2006, I have gone back to that part of the world once. I was in Ukraine for two weeks during July of 2008. I went to be a part of a camp called Radooga, where we taught English to Ukrainian youth. Seven of us from Midtown Fellowship church went to be a part of this unique ministry. Radooga, driven by the vision to strengthen the church through camps, has been at work in the country since 1994.
The summer of 2008 was also the first year that Radooga started orphan camps in Ukraine. There are over 100,000 orphans in the country and the future for these children is desperate. Radooga's vision to build relationships with these children, to love them, and to share the hope they have in Jesus was something that Midtown Fellowship wanted to be a part of. During the summers of 2009 and 2010, 12 Midtowners went to spend two weeks of the summer to be with some of the kids in Kharkov, Ukraine.
I was not able to go on either trip because of work and graduate school However, I felt like I was almost a part of the trips because I intentionally met with several of the people after both of their trips to hear all about it (also, my husband led the trips...so I got to hear from him too). Hearing about these trips has moved me. Moved my heart, and my spirit. I can tell you each person who has gone on this trip that I have talked to has spoken in such a contagiously enthusiastic way, I couldn't help but wish I was a part of it.
In 2009 the team went into the camp and were met with skeptical gazes and attitudes from the orphans. The kids have been abandoned, and hurt in ways emotionally and psychologically I can never pretend to imagine, and so this self-defensive mechanism is not only expected, but it healthy for them. Who can keep themselves open to endless broken promises and relationships? Anyway, I digress. What I heard from the team was how in a few short days, the kids opened up in ways no one expected. They desired relationships and the love and time of the team. People told me that when they first went to camp, they wanted to help "orphans" but within days it was not about the idea of orphans...it was about each specific child. The team became connected and friends with the Ukrainian kids. And all of them felt the strong desire to go back. To these very kids. This past summer it meant more than we can imagine to see the same people come back to them. The team couldn't wait until the summer of 2011 to see these kids again. So.....
They planned a trip to the orphanage
THIS COMING JANUARY!!! And I GET TO GO!!!
I want to update you all on this because the we need your prayers. There are a lot of things up in the air concerning details. Please join me in praying for this trip, for the kids, and for wisdom on how Midtown Fellowship will continue to be connected to this ministry and these children.
If you would like to financially support our trip, Radooga, or Missions Development International...please click the donate button on this page. MDI is the organization that my husband Russ works for. They have had an ongoing relationship with Radooga from the beginning. Please visit MDI's website to learn more about what all MDI does: http://www.mdiweb.org/default.aspx
Love, Lindsay
