23
December
[lang_ru]Week 10 :)[/lang_ru]
Sorry, this entry is only available in Russian.
20
December
Week 10 DTS
Week 10
Students heard from Alyona Spis this week on the topic of cross-cultural communication. Learning to acknowledge and respect the cultural backgrounds within the group alone was fundamentally challenging but well worth the endeavor. The students learned that despite many diverse cultures and subcultures, there are two basic categories that people fall into: those who come from warm climates and those from cold climates.
People from “cold climate cultures” tend to be very individualistic, event oriented, private, punctual, organized and generally more conservative. Whereas people from warm climates tend to identify with groups, are relationship oriented and flexible. These revelations allowed for some very interesting insights among the students and their roommates and lead to fascinating discussions both in and out of the classroom. The hand-to-forehead contact increased daily as did the head scratching, but at the end of the week, students were relieved to understand their classmates a bit better than they did before. Their refrain: “Why couldn’t this week have come sooner?!”
9
December
Weeks 8 + 9
Week 8:
This week, students had the privilege of hearing Kelly Hoodikoff speak on the topic of Biblical Worldview. He taught about the dangers of dualistic thinking, explaining how Christians often rule out logic when addressing the problems of the world. Our spiritual and physical natures are of equal importance. For example, Kelly explained, “We don’t need to pray for the elections, we need to vote. We should already be praying for our governments.” When the world rolls their eyes at Christians, it’s usually got something to do with the fact that we have dubbed thinking as unspiritual, and have sought to answer difficult questions by simply praying about them, instead of going to scripture for solutions.
Teaching out of Deuteronomy, Kelly explained how the Old Testament is meant to be a foundational tool we use as a model for society as a whole. This eye-opening teaching challenged students to think “wide” in addition to thinking “deep.”
On Thursday, students enjoyed an honest-to-goodness hoedown East of the Atlantic, celebrating family night with a southwestern celebration complete with folk music, dancing, cowboy (and girl) hats and games. And of course, what hootenanny would be complete without a generous helping of chili for all?
As the week ended, Kelly encouraged the students to consider spending a year or two on the mission field, especially those who were unsure of the calling God has on their lives.
Week 9:
Students began this week by writing their own obituaries, an activity that required them to take on the mindset of an outsider. Many obituaries illustrated lives dedicated to serving in missions, and almost all students expressed a desire to have a family. This exercise was pivotal in understanding both the beauty and the necessity of creating with God.
“Creation starts when we come close to God, asking Him what change He wants us to bring,” Explained Vicki. She described the beauty we find in nature and expressed to the students the importance of learning to marvel at people. They, too are part of God’s awesome creation, she added.
The students spent the majority of the week working with their outreach teams on projects designed to reflect both their individual gifts and talents and bless the people they are to encounter on outreach. The groups introduced their ideas on Friday, one team lead a skit about the dangers of smoking. Another launched a slideshow presentation titled, “If You Could See the Germs, You’d Wash Your Hands.” Still another group acted out a skit that targeted young people by illustrating the attractiveness of sin and the bondage it leads to.
This week formed a sense of awareness among the students and stressed the responsibility we have as Christians dedicated to discipleship. The opportunity to create for the purpose of glorifying God through blessing others has found many a DTS student eagerly anticipating outreach.
1
December
DTS Weeks 6 + 7
Week 6, our halfway mark for lecture phase was “Father Heart of God.” Steve Ryan, resident YWAMer taught us on the subject. He shared how he doesn’t have any biological children but God has given him 20 “spiritual children.” The week started with learning what a father’s love should be. Another point that was important that since we are God’s children we are His heirs. The definition of an heir that Steve gave was: receive something as a result of a promise but you don’t receive the promise until you are of age. A simple statement that struck the heart of many students was “wake up hopeful, go to be thankful.” This week also started our next book which has the same title as the lecture “Father, Heart of God” written by Floyd McClung, Jr. This book we are reading in groups based upon what language you speak. Reading a book this way adds a new dynamic and the teams have great fellowship time. After we are done with the book each team will perform a skit. During ministry time with the speaker, Steve invited the whole class over to his apartment. There we enjoyed beautiful views of Kyiv and watch a film “The Island.”
For week 7 our lecture topic was Evangelism and Missions. It was taught by Pastor Rich from Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle located in New York, USA. His friend Jim accompanied him on the trip and shared about the persecuted church. Pastor Rich’s life has been all about missions. His parents were missionaries to Mexico and Pastor Rich and his wife Esther were missionaries to Africa for over 30 years. His teaching was taken right out of the book of Acts. Pastor Rich titled it “Missionary principles from the book of Acts.” We learned about the different types of baptism and the role of the Holy Spirit in missions. At one point during lectures we read the scriptures where God gives the command to go and reach the nations. For ministry time with the speaker, Jim talked about the persecuted church and closed nations. We also had a time of prayer and intercession for our students from these nations and the presence of God was there.
14
November
Week 5 : Phil Yeoman
Week 5:
Week 5 introduced students to newly appointed YWAM, Kyiv base leader Phil Yeoman, who spoke about being a disciple of Christ. Phil started the week by defining the integral characteristics a disciple possesses, such as humility and grace. He challenged students to examine the concept of grace as our God-given ability to obey Him in any circumstance, rather than the mercy He grants us when we choose not to. Students wrote thankful letters to those who had positive influences in their lives, and the topic of forgiveness was revisited with a discipleship overtone. “Forgiveness is a choice we make to break free from hurt,” Phil explained how our relationship with God can remain locked in a stalemate, if we choose to walk in sin, specifically unforgiveness.
Students prepared for outreach with their teams, this week, by telling personal testimonies of how they came to know Christ. Many chose to share about the struggles they faced as a nonbeliever and how God broke through seemingly hopeless sin with compassion. Others described circumstances in which difficulty drove them closer to God.
On Friday students celebrated the birthday of a classmate and the ripeness of the harvest season with a fun, festive costume party. Some students broke out the playing cards while others told jokes, ate, and even danced. After vacuuming up the last few leaves and piles of glitter the students stacked the last few chairs, and walked back to their apartments together.
Several students spent their Saturday helping out at the U of N property, while others invested their time with ministry groups that interested them, such as working with children at the hospital through Mother’s Care. Another group of students enjoyed their Saturday at a football game (soccer-for the Americans). Dynamo Kyiv beat Karpaty 4-0 as the students cheered, flailing their foam Dynamo paraphernalia and lassoing their blue and white scarves into the chilly fog.
31
October
Inductive Bible Study Week
Week 4 introduced DTS students to the benefits of inductive Bible study. The School of Biblical Studies staff taught on Titus and Philemon. Students learned to dissect the text in order to meet the ultimate goal of application of Biblical principles in daily life. Breaking down individual passages from the two books, students gained more insight by reading intently and engaging in discussion, than perhaps they would by simply reading the God’s word without meditating on it.
First, the students observed and gained insight based upon who the author was addressing and when and where it was written. Considered secondly were the historical backgrounds of the passages studied, the author’s concerns and what they were trying to convey to the original readers. The final step, learning to apply the timeless truths personally, came after the first two steps were thoroughly completed. Studying these two books, both penned by Paul, proved a very worthwhile endeavor. On Friday, students gave short oral summaries of what they took away from either of the books. Speaking about foundational Christian principles and discussing the simple beauty of God’s grace, the students took turns teaching the SBS staff what they had learned from their week of inductive Bible study.
Students participated in “Angels and Mortals,” this week. Choosing names at random, DTS students and staff secretly blessed each other with favourite candies, notes, flowers, socks, baked goods, and even an occasional cryptic message from a mysterious e-mail! The sources of the heavenly gifts were revealed on Friday during the DTS secret angel party, during which the mortals made wings and even halo’s for their angelic messengers. A good time was had by both students and staff who eagerly anticipate the next “Angels and Mortals” week.