Wednesday, July 04, 2012

::Thank You, America::

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, 
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and 
justice for all."

I currently live in a place where the 4th of July is simply that...July 4, 2012, a day like any other. Even our American-style Independence Day party has been delayed until the 7th of July (crazy, I know!) for our Ukrainian friends and contacts.But the significance of the day is not lost on me. This is the second Independence Day that I have spent as an "expat;" an American living abroad. And I hope it's not my last.

If I was given the choice to live anywhere in the world, I wouldn't pick the United States. My dreams involve living abroad as much as possible. God has given me a heart for missions, and more specifically foreign missions. I want to live abroad, whether its full-time missions or vocational ministry. I would love to live in the United Kingdom, in a jungle in Nicaragua, on an island in the Pacific, in New Zealand, in a hut in Ghana, in the mountains of Tibet, everywhere in the EU, and all over the world.

I really don't plan on living the rest of my life in the US. In fact, I pray for God to give me opportunities not to live in the US.

The fact that I currently live in Ukraine qualifies me as an "expatriot," by the literal sense of the word: a person living in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing. And most likely, I will be an "expat" again in the future. However, I've never liked the term "expatriot," because it sounds like I've renounced my allegiance. My allegiance has not changed. Despite things I don't like about America, there are more things I am grateful for including freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble. I can travel around the world and know that the US government will do what it can to protect me as a citizen.

I am proud to be an American.

Traveling opens my eyes to make me that much more grateful for freedom. So, as I celebrate this 4th of July while living in a country that only recently gained its own freedom, I want to say thank you.

Thank you, America, for all who have ever fought for my freedom, especially my own friends and family.

Thank you, America, for giving me freedom so that I can live all over the world. 

Thank you, America, for giving me the opportunity to live in Ukraine. I am so grateful to live here.

Thank you, America, for giving me opportunities in the past to travel to Nicaragua, Mexico, England, Ghana and Italy. Places I dream about seeing again.

Thank you, America, for fueling my dream to live and travel all over the world.

But most of all, thank you, America, for always welcoming me back home.

(credit to Bethany B)
Happy 4th of July.




Monday, July 02, 2012

::Three Days in Donetsk::

"A group is a bunch of people in an elevator. A team is also a bunch of people in an elevator, but the elevator is broken!" ::Bonnie Edelstein::

Last week, the five of us AIMers had to make a trip to Donetsk to fulfill part of our visa process. In order for us to remain in Ukraine, we must be registered. We were hopeful that all would be smooth sailing, but this is, after all, Ukraine. Instead of a quick one day trip, we were there for 3 days and on the third day we actually had to start the process over. We are still waiting to hear the final word on our registration.

The trip was at times very frustrating, because we never knew when we would get the ok to go home. We didn't take much stuff with us, so we made do with the little we had. We also had a whole lot of down time. In this case though, boredom bred creativity!

And so, without further ado, I present to you the world premiere of "Three Days in Donetsk"!
(I highly recommend you watch it full-screen!)



Please comment and let us know what you think! :)

-ej