Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Dear readers,

We wanted to give you an update on ministry and how our Thanksgiving went, even though it's already been over a week since Thanksgiving. The last couple weeks, we've been busy hosting friends from America, following current events regarding the protests and rioting in Ukraine, and working out details for our visa renewal...

Right now, the air in Ukraine is very heavy. We want to talk about what's been going on in Ukraine lately, but we also don't want to miss out on the opportunity to give God the glory for the Thanksgiving celebration we were able to participate in... So, we have decided that today's post is for Thanksgiving, and Monday's is for Ukraine. 

Regardless of what we blog about on here, we do want to ask you to pray for Ukraine. Pray for justice, pray for peace, and most importantly, pray that in this time of distress, people would turn to Jesus. 

Now, onto Thanksgiving!

Last Thanksgiving, we posted about our time in Hungary. We had to go to Budapest to apply for our first Ukrainian visa, and while we were waiting for our visas, we had the opportunity to go to a conference at Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe in Vajta, Hungary. Of course, you might also remember that I came down with the flu during this trip and we got lost on the train and the Lord had to save us (If you missed out on the posts about this, click here and here!)!

Only one year ago, we really only knew a few people in Ternopil, Ukraine, and if we hadn't been at a conference, we probably would have spent Thanksgiving alone. So, as you can imagine, last year we often talked about "next Thanksgiving," and how we'd be in Ternopil and would hopefully have lots of friends, and that we'd invite them all over for Thanksgiving. But, as you know, the Lord asked us to move to Donetsk after spending a year in Ternopil, and we found ourselves in the same situation as the previous year, but a little more drastic. In Ternopil, we at least had a church to attend and coworkers to socialize with. But in Donetsk, when we first moved here, we only knew two people, and it started to look like we'd be having a lonely Thanksgiving, despite our hopes. 

Something that Byron knows well is that Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday of the year. Growing up, it was just the best! I got to spend time with my family, many of which I didn't get to see very often, eat my favorite foods (pie, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc.), and celebrate my dad's, my uncle's, and my birthday (We're all November babies!) all at the same time. I do love Christmas, but Thanksgiving has always held a special place in my heart. 

To me, Thanksgiving is a time to be surrounded by your family and remember what's really important. Now that I'm an adult (I just turned 25 - yikes!), Thanksgiving has morphed into a time to look back at who I was, and who I am now in Christ.

Byron and I have been living in Donetsk for roughly two months now, and I can say with confidence, that every person we have met here, the Lord sent them to us. Much to my astonishment, we have met quite a few people here in Donetsk, and we have been able to build relationships with many. So, as November rolled around, I started to think about the previous Thanksgiving and the Thanksgivings from my childhood. Before long, I found myself dreaming of a kitchen full of food and an apartment packed with people. Byron and I began to pray about Thanksgiving, and we both felt like the Lord wanted us to invite all of our new friends to a Thanksgiving celebration.

Throughout November, whenever I would see one of my friends, I told them about Thanksgiving and invited them over. As I continued thinking about Thanksgiving, I decided that even though Ukrainians don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I didn't want anyone to be alone on Thanksgiving. So, after inviting all of my friends, I started inviting my neighbors to Thanksgiving, and I even invited our Russian teacher! I figured that probably only a few people would come over for Thanksgiving, and so when the day before Thanksgiving arrived, I bought a conservative amount of food, as to not be wasteful. 

Well, little did I know that everyone would accept my invitation except for four people! Many of the RSVPs came in the day of Thanksgiving, so we knew we wouldn't be able to prepare more food, so, we just prayed over the food, prayed for the time of fellowship, and waited for our doorbell to ring.

As people started to arrive, I really felt my heart fill with joy. Quickly, our apartment became what I had imagined - people brought tons of food with them, making the kitchen full, and seeing as our apartment isn't huge, it was packed with people before long. 

The highlight of my Thanksgiving was when we all stood/sat in a circle, all squished in the living room, and talked about what we were the most thankful for. Some of us spoke in Russian, some of us spoke in English, and one of my sweet friends translated for everyone. Most everyone that came to the Thanksgiving celebration has a relationship with Jesus, so one after another, people said how they were the most Thankful for the grace of God, for salvation, and for Jesus. It really was such a special time for me, and I felt so blessed by all of the people there.

The Lord provided abundantly for Thanksgiving. He multiplied the food, He multiplied the guests, and He certainly multiplied our joy. 

So, with all of that being said, we had a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving this year, and I hope you did as well. And if you didn't, you're welcome to join us for Thanksgiving next year in Ukraine :)

Blessings,

Emily

Happy Thanksgiving from Donetsk! from Byron Johnson on Vimeo.
P.S.

Honorable mentions go out to Holly and Erik, our guests from America, who helped cook and pray for Thanksgiving!