Sarah's last post of the Vroeges and I preparing for the conference was perhaps a little misleading. It was definitely more spontaneous fun than preparation. Specifically, we were creating spoof Kuyperian love songs and turning praise songs into heavy metal ballads. There you have it. The truth.
Preparation for the conference in Mukachevo begins in earnest today, as tomorrow is the conference. Dave and I have our sessions prepared and Angi, our translator, is finishing work on our handouts. (I always feel sorry for anyone translating me...) Now we need to finalize song selection. There are a whole host of Western hymns and praise songs translated into Russian and Ukrainian, so I'm confident we'll find some common ground. We'll probably also teach a few new simple songs in English, and maybe even get adventurous and lead some worship songs written by Ukrainian songwriters.
What continues to impress me is the amount of cultural baggage that goes along with ideas that are relatively neutral in our North American culture. For example, in the US "Reformed" is a theological framework. The Grand Rapids/CRC version of it has a bit of Dutch culture attached to it, but it's nothing a hip Louisville Christian couldn't get over. Here, "Reformed" is connected with Hungarian Reformed, which carries a lot of cultural weight: Hungarian ethnicity, historical conflicts, specific worship practices. (The fact is that I've only been here three days, so I'm no expert. I only know that when I sat down with George and Angi to work on the translation, a lot of surprising words were red flagged.) So I'm hoping Dave and I can navigate this unfamiliar territory successfully.
Another thing that has me thinking is the differences between the Christian life in the US and Ukraine, both "Christian" countries. At a men's breakfast yesterday morning at the Mukachevo church, we talked about what living out our faith looked like. The men talked about being ostracized for not observing Orthodox saint days, having difficulty getting things done because they're unwilling to take and give bribes, and having their families consider their desire for a personal faith in Jesus as belonging to a sect. My description of the dangers of complacency and the temptations of wealth seemed pretty petty in comparison.
Obviously, there is a lot of work to be done, which is, of course, also true in my own culture. I sometimes feel as if my contribution--music and worship--is insignificant in comparison to the larger task at hand. Is teaching a song really going to make Mukachevo a better place? On the other hand, God has used stranger things. So I'll simply offer what I have and trust that God will use it.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Worship Rehearsal
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
We're in the Dark ... and That's Normal
Well, we made it to Ukraine. We landed in Budapest, with Greg's flight landing just after ours. Then we sped through Hungary at 130 - 140 km/h (about 85 - 90 mph). Hungary looks blurry. Carrie accidentally referred to Hungary as Romania a couple of times. Note: if you're ever at the Hungarian border, do not refer to Hungary as Romania.
By the time we crossed into Ukraine, it was dark. I remarked to George that with it being dark, and in our jet-lagged state, it was like looking at the country in a dream - can't quite make out anything. George explained that that is an excellent way to approach a cross-cultural experience like this. That it's all too easy to think that once you've been in a new culture for a short while that you understand it. For instance, Carrie, Lian, and I were in downtown Frankfurt for an hour or two on the way here, and almost said things like, "In Frankfurt, everyone [fill in the blank]." But what do we really know about Frankfurt? For you Haligonian friends of mine reading this, imagine two people dropped into Halifax - one spending an hour on Barrington street and the other spending an hour in Clayton Park. They'd have pretty different descriptions of Halifax, with neither of them being complete. Additionally, all their interpretive comments would be subject to their own perspective - for instance, I'm here in Ukraine and want to say things like, "It's strange how they [plug things in, design apartments, drive, etc]." But the words, "it's strange," come "from somewhere" - comes from my own experience.
So, culturally, we're in the dark in Ukraine, and that's to be expected.
The de Vuysts are awesome. Not only do they know Ukrainian, Russian, and Hungarian better than us, I think they know English better than us.
Well, we're about to walk to see their church building, stop by a music store so Greg can get new strings for Sarah's guitar, go out for coffee, and get to an ATM for some hryvna. We're beginning some wonderful liturgical and theological conversations.
God is good!
Dave
PS. My blogger dashboard is in cyrillic script, and I have no idea why. I'm pretty sure I'm posting a blog right now.
By the time we crossed into Ukraine, it was dark. I remarked to George that with it being dark, and in our jet-lagged state, it was like looking at the country in a dream - can't quite make out anything. George explained that that is an excellent way to approach a cross-cultural experience like this. That it's all too easy to think that once you've been in a new culture for a short while that you understand it. For instance, Carrie, Lian, and I were in downtown Frankfurt for an hour or two on the way here, and almost said things like, "In Frankfurt, everyone [fill in the blank]." But what do we really know about Frankfurt? For you Haligonian friends of mine reading this, imagine two people dropped into Halifax - one spending an hour on Barrington street and the other spending an hour in Clayton Park. They'd have pretty different descriptions of Halifax, with neither of them being complete. Additionally, all their interpretive comments would be subject to their own perspective - for instance, I'm here in Ukraine and want to say things like, "It's strange how they [plug things in, design apartments, drive, etc]." But the words, "it's strange," come "from somewhere" - comes from my own experience.
So, culturally, we're in the dark in Ukraine, and that's to be expected.
The de Vuysts are awesome. Not only do they know Ukrainian, Russian, and Hungarian better than us, I think they know English better than us.
Well, we're about to walk to see their church building, stop by a music store so Greg can get new strings for Sarah's guitar, go out for coffee, and get to an ATM for some hryvna. We're beginning some wonderful liturgical and theological conversations.
God is good!
Dave
PS. My blogger dashboard is in cyrillic script, and I have no idea why. I'm pretty sure I'm posting a blog right now.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Worship, Culture, and Over-thinking One's Wardrobe
As I packed my suitcases tonight, I finally figured it out: I'm over-thinking this trip!
Each piece of clothing I surveyed for possible inclusion in the suitcase was accompanied by an inner dialogue: "Kind of frumpy--what does *that* communicate about worshiping a holy God?" "A tie? Really? Are you trying to establish yourself as The MAN?" "White running shoes? Why don't you just wear a sign that says 'I'm American'?"
Clothing choices can certainly communicate volumes, but the fact is that I'm obsessing about what goes in the suitcase because I'm obsessing about worship and culture.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all about worship and culture. In fact, one of the sessions I'll be leading in Kyiv is on the fully awesome Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture. But in my attempts to be a sensitive outsider I'm losing sight of the fact that I'm still an outsider. I can present the biblical foundations of worship as I understand them, but I can't release myself from the way I interpret them in my culture and I can't do much to help Ukrainian churches work them out in their culture.
I have to let go of all my second guessing--"will the contemporary folk hear this as hopelessly traditional?" will the traditional folk be scared off?" "will everyone be freaked out by this sounding vaguely Orthodox?"--and simply trust that even as a translator will be translating our words, the Spirit will be translating the ideas, and will be inspiring participants to new levels of faithfulness in their own community's worship culture.
Peace,
Greg
Each piece of clothing I surveyed for possible inclusion in the suitcase was accompanied by an inner dialogue: "Kind of frumpy--what does *that* communicate about worshiping a holy God?" "A tie? Really? Are you trying to establish yourself as The MAN?" "White running shoes? Why don't you just wear a sign that says 'I'm American'?"
Clothing choices can certainly communicate volumes, but the fact is that I'm obsessing about what goes in the suitcase because I'm obsessing about worship and culture.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all about worship and culture. In fact, one of the sessions I'll be leading in Kyiv is on the fully awesome Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture. But in my attempts to be a sensitive outsider I'm losing sight of the fact that I'm still an outsider. I can present the biblical foundations of worship as I understand them, but I can't release myself from the way I interpret them in my culture and I can't do much to help Ukrainian churches work them out in their culture.
I have to let go of all my second guessing--"will the contemporary folk hear this as hopelessly traditional?" will the traditional folk be scared off?" "will everyone be freaked out by this sounding vaguely Orthodox?"--and simply trust that even as a translator will be translating our words, the Spirit will be translating the ideas, and will be inspiring participants to new levels of faithfulness in their own community's worship culture.
Peace,
Greg
Jonah Goes to Ukraine?
Hi Everyone,
No, Ukraine isn't the next place Jonah flees to from the Lord. Though if he'd thought of it I bet he would have.
But this trip to Ukraine has me thinking about worship, and I've just finished a 4-week series on Jonah. It strikes me that one could think of Jonah as a book about worship. Think of chapter 1 as an extended "call to worship" (just who is it that's worshiping Yahweh in verse 16? Not the Israelite prophet!). Chapter 2 is about prayer ... because it is one. Think of chapter 3 as big, wide assurance of pardon ("there's a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea"). And chapter 4 is a commissioning - a call to share God's large concern for all people and his creation.
It might have been nice to develop some of this for Ukraine. Maybe it'll show up somewhere along the way anyhow.
Here's a prayer of confession that I led my congregation (All Nations Church) in this morning; I adapted it from a marvelous book of poems on Jonah by Thomas John Carlisle:
Peace,
Dave
No, Ukraine isn't the next place Jonah flees to from the Lord. Though if he'd thought of it I bet he would have.
But this trip to Ukraine has me thinking about worship, and I've just finished a 4-week series on Jonah. It strikes me that one could think of Jonah as a book about worship. Think of chapter 1 as an extended "call to worship" (just who is it that's worshiping Yahweh in verse 16? Not the Israelite prophet!). Chapter 2 is about prayer ... because it is one. Think of chapter 3 as big, wide assurance of pardon ("there's a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea"). And chapter 4 is a commissioning - a call to share God's large concern for all people and his creation.
It might have been nice to develop some of this for Ukraine. Maybe it'll show up somewhere along the way anyhow.
Here's a prayer of confession that I led my congregation (All Nations Church) in this morning; I adapted it from a marvelous book of poems on Jonah by Thomas John Carlisle:
Lord God of heaven,
when we review
our many shows of disrespect to you,
our bitter judgments,
our pride,
our arrogant assumptions,
our brittle allegiance,
our strategies to outwit you,
and our mountain of excuses for all these,
we condemn ourselves.
O God have mercy;
O Christ have mercy,
on the pitiable
and on the pitiless
and on the pitifully petty
...like Jonah
...like us.
We condemn ourselves.
But we are saved by your grace.
Peace,
Dave
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Ukraine and Meat
No, I'm not talking about kielbasa ("kovbasa" in Ukrainian, I believe). Though I do hope to run into one. Not to mention perogies, cabbage rolls, and halushki. Ah, just like mother-in-law used to make it.... (Yes, there's a lot of Ukrainian on Carrie's side of the family!)
No, I'm talking about what we'll be doing there. What the leaders of the growing evangelical church in Ukraine (Baptists, Pentecostal, Reformed, etc.) would like is to help their people enter more fully into the worship they faithfully offer each week. So George de Vuyst, along with Michael Cherenkov, Rachel Schupack, and others have organized a worship conference in Kiev from October 5-7. We'll explore a biblical theology of worship, listening and speaking to God, the Psalms in worship, worship and culture, and leading worship. Additionally, we'll make presentations at George and Sarah's church on Saturday, October 1.
If there's one thing that comes to mind when it comes to prayer, it is this: all of Greg's and my presentations will need to be translated into Ukrainian or Russian. Would you please pray that our ministry is effective through the translation? That at these events we can become a community of learners together? This is always possible when God's people get together!
Thanks,
Dave
No, I'm talking about what we'll be doing there. What the leaders of the growing evangelical church in Ukraine (Baptists, Pentecostal, Reformed, etc.) would like is to help their people enter more fully into the worship they faithfully offer each week. So George de Vuyst, along with Michael Cherenkov, Rachel Schupack, and others have organized a worship conference in Kiev from October 5-7. We'll explore a biblical theology of worship, listening and speaking to God, the Psalms in worship, worship and culture, and leading worship. Additionally, we'll make presentations at George and Sarah's church on Saturday, October 1.
If there's one thing that comes to mind when it comes to prayer, it is this: all of Greg's and my presentations will need to be translated into Ukrainian or Russian. Would you please pray that our ministry is effective through the translation? That at these events we can become a community of learners together? This is always possible when God's people get together!
Thanks,
Dave
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Countdown to Ukraine
This is the first time I’ve ever blogged. I get to go to Ukraine and I can blog. Just when I thought life couldn’t get any better.
So why am I blogging, you ask? And what’s this about Ukraine?
I am indeed going to Ukraine, and one of the first things I learned about it is that it’s “Ukraine,” not “the Ukraine.” Reason being is that it’s a country, not a region in another country (i.e., the Soviet Union).
Back to the point - the reason I’m going to Ukraine.... It all started with me checking out this page on Christian Reformed World Missions' site, amazed that there was such a thing as a foreign opportunity to teach on the subject I love the most at a relatively minimal expense, the Calvin Institute of Worship being awfully generous financially, with their biggest gift being their Music Associate, Greg Scheer. That's all.
Of course, things go further back than that. As if it all started with me. It starts with George and Sarah de Vuyst, serving in Ukraine for some 13 years with the goal of witnessing to Christ's gospel of transformation by developing healthy congregations and leadership training in post-Soviet Ukraine. Whew, these de Vuysts think big. And clearly God has blessed their efforts - there's now a Reformed congregation in Mukachevo! You can learn more about their ministry at their web page. Sarah's got her own blog, too. Please support them in prayer!
So Greg and I will be teaching on the subject of worship to church leaders in both Mukachevo and Kiev. And then blogging about it. A simple one-two combination to change the world.
Myself, I'm getting pretty excited to leave for Ukraine. We leave Monday, September 26. We get there Tuesday. Should be fun.
Of course, we've spent a lot of time preparing. Why, thanks to John Barnstead, friend and master of all things lingual, I can almost say, "My hovercraft is full of eels" in Ukrainian. Useful, no?
So, keep tuning in: soon Greg will no doubt post a successful blog.
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