Politely Ask People To Pay For Their Own Meal

It is so amazing to see His answers to some of the simplest prayers!


Hi there! I know it’s been a while since I’ve written anything, and
as a result there is a lot to catch you up on! So be patient as I do
my best to bring you up to speed on this past month! As you may

know, for the last month I have been helping to lead 2 Evangelistic English Language camps. So let me tell you how they went.

The first camp was really great! As far as camps go it was not as exhausting! I helped lead a small group with some people from the American team, but didn’t have to teach an English class, so that
really freed me up to be able to do other things during that time, since I had other responsibilities as local staff.
There were a few specific people that the Lord really laid on my
heart to reach out to. A girl that I got to know really well last
year, Lera, brought a group of her friends this year to the camp, and
I was able to spend time with and get to know them! It was so cool
to see her again and then that opened the door to get to know her
friends very quickly! They were all the “super cool girls” and very
quickly got the nickname of the “Beauty Salon Girls”. They are
typical Odessa city girls, and they brought all their needed beauty
items to this camp, and since they all stayed in the same room, this
nickname for their group caught on very quickly. At first they
seemed uninterested in anything other than having fun and practicing
their English (which they were really good at). But it didn’t take
long for them to realize that they were learning some things that
they had no idea they would be so affected by. There were a couple
of the girls in particular that really started thinking and asking
questions about God. I had the really cool opportunity to talk to
one girl very in depth about God and explain the gospel to her. She
had many questions and was really considering everything throughout
the whole camp. By the end of the camp she said she couldn’t make
such a life changing decision as believing in Jesus at that time, she
said she needed to talk to her mom. She has a really good
relationship with her mom, but her mom is into a lot of stuff in the
area of Hinduism etc. But she also asked if she could come to church
even if she didn’t repent first! I quickly clarified for her that of
course she could come and that it would be great if she did! Since
the camps have ended, I have been able to see her a few times and she
is coming to our youth meetings and church! She is still very
interested and has permission from her mom to keep looking into this
“whole idea”. I am praising the Lord that her mom has given her this
freedom! It is not uncommon at all for parents to prevent their kids
from going to church or things connected with it. This was a huge
answer to prayer! Her name is Zhanna, so I will keep you updated
more about her later. This is only one example of God’s work in the
hearts of the young people at that camp.

As for the second camp, it was a totally different experience!!! At
this camp we had a group of 10 Romanians who came in addition to the
local Ukrainians! This was a whole new experience, but it turned out
really great! And there were also more guys than girls, which is a
first time for these camps here! I was super, super busy at this
camp! Normally there should be AT LEAST 8 Americans to run a camp
the size of this one, but there was only 1 who was going to be at
this camp! Two other Americans who were going to be at a different
camp were willing to come help us at this camp, so we ended up with
3! Jenn and I ended up having to fill the gap in teaching and
leading the small groups. We didn’t have enough people to have 2 lead
in every group, so I ended up leading the small group Bible study and
conversation time group alone, but then it turned out that we had a
very large beginner level English group so we worked it out to have a
larger group and Jenn and I taught that class together!

I was also leading worship with my guitar. I am so thankful though
that I didn’t have to lead alone! God provided another guy to play
the keyboard with me! That worked out great, but it was a huge
challenge at the same time! All the English worship songs had a
Ukrainian flare, which made it pretty difficult to play! Everyday we
would practice for the evening program! Between having to prepare
English lessons everyday, practice guitar, and take a nap sometimes
(I was super tired at this camp!) I didn’t have as much free time to
spend with the students. That was hard, especially because I wanted
to be able to not only build relationships for the sake of the camp,
but also build relationships that would carry on once I returned to
Odessa. But the Lord had plans that were very different from
anything I would have thought! The Lord somehow enabled Jenn and I
to get to know a group of young guys some of whom were in our small
groups. The Lord gave us such a huge burden for them! We prayed for
them and had different opportunities to talk with them. We could see
God working in their hearts in such a strong way, some more than
others, but all of them to a degree! My heart breaks for some of
them especially as I can see they have some very deep pain in their
lives! Since the camps have ended, some of them have come to church
or have expressed the desire to when they can! I’m going to ask here
that you pray earnestly for God to provide someone to minister here
to all these guys that are ripe for the harvest!!! It is SO
important that we ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into
this specific field that is just waiting! Arkadiy, another
missionary here, ministers to the guys, but there are simply too many
for him to reach!

Back to the camp…. There were also a couple girls who had a room
right next to Jenn and I and we were able to get to know them. They
are really open to learn more about God, and we are planning to meet
with them on a regular basis as soon as we can work it all out! All
in all this camp ended up being really great, it was so cool to see
God at work in hearts!

Since I’ve been back there has been a lot going on! We have already
met with some of the youth from the camps a couple times, and there
is also a wedding in our church that has taken a bit of time to help
prepare for! I am excited to see my first wedding here in Ukraine!
Another surprise since I’ve been back is that I was asked/told that I
get to lead worship with my guitar since the regular leader is
getting married! So again I am stretched even more than I’ve been in
this area! This time I am really leading, not just playing along
with! And if leading worship in church and at our youth meetings
isn’t a big enough challenge, IT OF COURSE IS ALL IN RUSSIAN! It
might be somewhat easier if I knew the songs in English, but I have
found that that is not really even true! Even if I know the song in
English, it is still a little different! So I have to not only
relearn how to play songs that I knew in English, but I also am
learning to play songs that I don’t know in English and do my best to
catch on from the couple times I’ve heard them sung! I played this
last Sunday and am supposed to play next week also at the wedding!
Okay stretch, stretch stretch! I’m thankful that I can depend on the
Lord for this though because otherwise I couldn’t do it!

So that is as much of a nutshell I can give for now to describe all
that has happened in the last month! Right now it is SOOOOOO hot and
really humid! The air is so heavy! It is quite an experience to sit
in a Marshrutka (little bus) for a half hour when there is nearly no
air besides everyone breathing! It is pretty comical to feel myself
just start to stick together and drip sweat! The other night Jenn
and I finally had to go buy a little fan for our bedroom because we
couldn’t sleep well at night it was so hot, and we have to share a
bed which makes it even hotter! I really appreciate things like a
cheap little fan so much more now! “What’s air conditioning, just
move some of this air!” ? It’s great, I’m thankful that the Lord
has given me a content and cheerful attitude about such things that
normally wouldn’t be so pleasant.

I know I’m being a little random now, but before I say goodbye for
now I just have to say how much I’ve learned about prayer! It is so
essential! I KNOW people are praying for me, and it sure makes all
the difference! God has answered so many prayers! I can’t even begin
to name them all! I have come to rely more and more on prayer just
in order to go through a day! It is so amazing to see His answers to
some of the simplest prayers!

Pray, Pray, Pray:

1. Continue to pray that I will keep an eternal perspective in
everything and that I will see things and people through Jesus’ eyes.


2. Pray that the Lord would lead and guide me as I seek to continue
reaching out to those whom I’ve built relationships with from the
camps.

3. Pray for God’s continued saving work in Zhanna and the other
“Beauty Salon Girls”; the young guys from the second camp, especially
Kirill who was in my group.

4. Please pray for me as I continue to adjust to life here and that
God would enable me to pick up on the language quickly especially as
I start Russian lessons soon.

5. Pray that I will be able to improve in my ability to play the
guitar and that I can pick up on the Russian songs.

6. Pray that we as a team of local staff missionaries would be
unified in the love of the Lord.


Thank you all SOOOOOOOOOO much for all your prayers and support! I
know that you are praying, and it makes all the difference! I can
tell you God answers prayer for sure!

I would love to hear from you any time and hear what is going on in
your life these days!
I and appreciate you so much!
Lots of love,
Avery

Avery from the IM local team Odessa, Ukraine, graceabounding@bigvalley.net