Creation Vs. Evolution. That was the topic for our English Club Outreach this week. Every week, me and a few other team members head out to a local Kyiv church, where there is an English Club held every Wednesday night. Russian and Ukranian speakers come to learn English and develop relationships, and native English speakers, (as well as people that can speak both languages), work together to coordinate the meetings.
Every week there is a topic that everyone is to discuss. There are different groups....the groups are split into how well everyone can speak English. Group 0 is the lowest level, group 6 is the highest. Our DTS team splits into 4 different groups, and I am in group 5. We were told in the beginning that though we could be open with the fact that we are christian, we would have to be patient to directly share the gospel, because the people are coming to learn English.
The topic of Creation Vs. Evolution is complicated enough on its own. After an introduction and a game, the discussion began. The conversation in my group started off a little slowly, but me and the person I was working with to run the group (she was from the church) pushed to get it started, and we got a pretty good discussion going. So we're sitting there discussing how we see evidence for creation or evolution in nature (most of the people at our table believed in some kind of creation) and there is a two second pause in the conversation. It wasn't even like the conversation ended, there was just a slight pause where everyone was catching their breath. That's when the man sitting next to me turned to me and shocked me by simply asking:
"So what do you think about the end of the world?"
So, I was kind of taken aback, but I did my best to cover it up. After all, I figured it wasn't a huge deal. I'd just give him one of my automatic Christianese answers, and we'd move on with the discussion. But then, while the rest of the group was laughing at the randomness of the question, I realized, "Oh wait. This is the kind of opportunities I should be looking for, and we're learning about desiring the Holy Spirit to fill us up and move through us....I should probably try that here." So I just sat back and asked God what He wanted to do and asked the Holy Spirit to fill me up and work through me.
So right away God starts speaking to me. Without thinking, I simply ask the guy, "Well, what do you think?" This caught him completely off guard. "What? Uhh..." Again without really thinking, just reacting and obeying, I go: "Well, are you ready?"
Then...boom. My brain kicks in. I start to freak out. And yet, it didn't really affect me, because at the same time, I was too excited that I was hearing from God this clearly and had this incredible opportunity. He's laughing the whole time. He answers my question by saying, "Well, you tell me!" Again, listen to God, obey. Completely terrified I look at him and go, "Well, what's your relationship with God? Be honest with me." He then basically throws open the door for evangelism. "I don't know. Who is God to you?" Wow. And I realize more and more that this is an incredible opportunity because this guy is super open to what I'm saying. "Well," I said, "He's my Father and my Savior. And I believe that He loves you, and I know that He wants you." So then he nods thoughtfully and looks down for a second. Then he looks me right in the eye and asks, "Do you believe God can change people?" I knew the answer for this one and replied, "I know He can." After this, I focused on developing a relationship with him and building trust. He was incredibly interested (the fact that I'm American helped) in everything about me. Where I'm from, why I'm here, what I do at home...tons of questions. Also, another thing that has helped start conversations for me here....evidently, I look like a Ukranian. To the point where I have had people try to argue with me that I'm not American!
At the end of the night, he looked at me and said very excitedly, "Ok, I come every week now, you tell me about Jesus, ok?" "Ok," I said, "let's do it!"
In that moment, it literally took all of my concentration to not start doing fist pumps and yelling about how awesome Jesus is. I didn't put pressure on myself to give a Yoda answer, I just was obedient and natural, and God took care of the supernatural part. Please be in prayer for this situation guys. This is an incredible opportunity for me, and I am excited to see what God does!
I can't believe this, but we just finished up our eighth week of school here in Kyiv. What does that mean? There is 4 weeks until we leave for our 10 week outreach in Moldova and Romania! We will spend a few weeks in Moldova before heading to Romania. It's been an incredible 8 weeks so far. God has stretched me and moved in my life so much, and He is preparing our team to come together and go out and change the world. Here's a recap of what we've been studying so far:)
Week 1: Character And Nature of God
Week 2: Father Heart Of God
Week 3: Identity In Christ
Week 4: Cross Cultural Communication and Creating With God
Week 5: Worldview
Week 6: Relationships
Week 7: Evangelism
Week 8: Holy Spirit and Spiritual Warfare
Here's what we have left in the next 4 weeks:
Week 9: Inner Healing
Week 10: Discipleship
Week 11: Bible Overview
Week 12: Outreach Preparation
I love Kyiv so much. It's been an incredible place to call home for two months, and I'm going to enjoy this last month. I am desiring more of God every day, and I love it. I'm ready to be natural and see God do some incredible supernatural things:)
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