Nov 18: Worship in a different language

11/18/08: Outside of finding our son in Ukraine, I think one of the best things we got to do during our 33 day trip was going to church with the Powell’s. On Sunday morning, we had breakfast and then we all bundled up and walked to church. The service lasted for about 2 hours. We sat on the back row so that Jonathan could periodically lean over and translate. We recognized many of the hymns, so as the congregation sang in Russian/Ukrainian we would just sing the same song in English. The music was beautiful, and it was really exciting to experience a church service in a different language and cultural setting. The people were incredibly kind and welcoming. The love of God definitely transcended the language barrier!

We walked back to the apartment and had lunch. Then Zack and I went with Jonathan to the next village over to attend a church service there. It was made up of about 15 or 20 people meeting in a music school building. It was a very simple service, but we really enjoyed it. While we’d seen a lot of poverty throughout Ukraine, it was obvious that this village was especially poor. We got to hear Jonathan teach in Russian, which was really cool. At the end, there was a time to share prayer requests. Many of these people had endured severe damage to their homes in the prior week’s storms. Yet their first request was our adoption of Stanislav. How awesome to join in prayer with fellow believers, and know that God understands each and every voice, regardless of the tongue.


We went back to the house and played with the girls for a while, then had dinner (spaghetti - Heather is such a great cook!). It had been a wonderful weekend, and just what we needed to combat the homesickness we’d been feeling. We were so thankful that God "just happened" to place our son an hour or so away from the only 2 people we knew in the entire country of Ukraine. Even in the small stuff, God is always there. How awesome He is!