Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The Update Series: A New Team Member

Blythe and Emily in Vienna
We have been looking forward to the month of February for a long time and we are so excited that it is finally here! Why? Because our new team member for the ministry has arrived!

Blythe (Byron's sister), who is currently in her gap year between high school and college, decided to spend this semester in Vienna and Donetsk. She spent most of January in Vienna and towards the end of her time there we visted and then took her back to Ukraine with us! She will be here with us, participating in the ministry, for about 2 months before she goes back to the USA. We are excited to not only spend tons of time with her, but to have some extra hands for the ministry here.

We think that this is a great chance for us to prepare for future short-term teams and/or long-term missionaries joining our team. We don't know what God has in store for the future, but we do know that we are hoping and praying for God to raise up servants that are sold out for Jesus. 

Our time with Blythe has been great so far. The first couple of days we were able to "test" out our new briefing materials on her that covered our calling, vision, and ministry. Emily also created her own packet that covered the culture and history of Ukraine as well as what a short-term teammate's roles and responsibilities are while here. It was an exciting time for Emily and I as we look forward to how God is going to use Blythe here and how He might use future teams.

Vienna
We are wanting Blythe to write a few posts on our blog, so that our blog can have a fresh, new perspective of the ministry here. Because of that, I don't want to spend too much time talking about what she has been, and will be, involved with here. So, stay in tune for that, hopefully in a couple weeks.

But, what I will say is that it has been a huge blessing to Emily and I to have a third person here, doing ministry and living life together. It's been encouraging to see Blythe noticing things in the culture and city with a fresh pair of eyes. After being here for sometime, it's hard to notice the things I first noticed about Ukraine when we first came. 

Blythe has been an awesome part of things, bringing a lively attitude to our services, being a part of our prayer and deco times, and even teaching her own English classes at the orphanage! It's just an exciting thing to see God using other people in the ministry and giving them a heart and vision to serve the people here in Donetsk.

Blessings,
Byron

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