With Christmas coming in just a few days, it's hard to believe that this will be our third Christmas spent overseas. Of course, it is difficult to be away from family and our home church during the Christmas season. But we are blessed to look back on the couple of Christmas' and the memories that we have.
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| Ternopil Christmas party (the girls) |
Our first Christmas overseas was when we were living in Ternopil, Ukraine in 2012. During that season of ministry, the Lord had us serving with Calvary Chapel Ternopil. One of the focuses of our ministry was reaching the university students within the church and community. We had a great group of friends from all over the world, including Nigeria, Ghana, Namibia, Pakistan, Ukraine, and the USA.
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| Ternopil Christmas party (the guys) |
I remember that we had a Christmas outreach for these students in our apartment. We made cookies and egg nog, played games, worshiped the Lord, and enjoyed each other's fellowship. These relationships we made during our time in Ternopil were awesome and it's always encouraging for me to look back, and see how the Lord is working in their lives. We still talk with many of these students today, hoping for the day when we will see each other again.
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| Ternopil Square |
Ternopil always has a beautiful center square at Christmas time. They put up a huge tree and decorate the whole area with lights, as well as a nativity scene. Of course, Ukraine celebrates Christmas on January 7, so December 25 was just a normal work day for the people in Ternopil. Emily and I decided to start a tradition of going out to our favorite coffee shop on Christmas morning (25th), because everyone else had to work or go to school.
Our second Christmas overseas, was last year in Donetsk, Ukraine. At this point in the ministry, our church was only a few months old. There was one special family in our fellowship, that lived near us. They wanted to hold a Christmas outreach party at their place. So, we invited everyone within our fellowship as well as everyone we ever knew in Donetsk, to celebrate Christmas with us. We had a number of Africa students in our fellowship, and they celebrate Christmas on December 25. So we decided to hold this outreach on our Christmas eve, the 24th. Again, we had tons of food (both American and Ukrainian traditional Christmas food). We enjoyed celebrating as a group of international people, all bringing our own traditions. We ended up watching the Grinch as well :)
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| Donetsk - Christmas party |
Just like in Ternopil, Donetsk has a very beautiful center square. Donetsk is a bigger city than Ternopil, so the decorations were even more elaborate. I remember walking through the square with Emily around Christmas time. It was freezing cold, so we went into the McDonald's that is there in the center and ate cheeseburgers as we enjoyed the Christmas lights and decorations across the square.
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| Donetsk Square |
On Christmas day last year, we had to leave on an evening train to renew our visas. However, we still made our coffee shop run (to our new favorite coffee shop in Donetsk) and then we left on the train. Emily had made pumpkin pie, so we enjoyed that on the train to end our celebration together.
With Ukraine celebrating Christmas on January 7th, we always felt like we got to celebrate twice!
Christmas always brings up memories. We remember how we used to celebrate with our families back in the USA. We are now remembering our Ukrainian traditions. We miss Ukraine. We miss their traditions of Christmas that began to feel like our traditions. It's always been hard to be away from the States during Christmas, but now - not only being away from the States, but also away from Ukraine - we are learning ever more to look to the one constant thing in our life, Jesus Christ.
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| Merry Christmas from Africa! |
Our Christmas will look different this year, being in Africa, but the Lord has, once again, blessed us with friends and fellow believers that are like family to us, making it a little easier to be away from home. Through it all, our relationship with Jesus is the one thing that is steadfast. I am so blessed by His constant involvement in my life. I'm blessed by His everlasting love for me and I'm thankful for the calling He has placed on my life and the calling for this season in our lives.
I pray that you guys are having a blessed holiday season, as you grow to know Him more everyday!
Blessings,
Byron
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