Education and Culture... Odessa, Ukraine

What does Christian education look like in Odessa, Ukraine? Well, in many ways it looks a lot like it does here, and in other ways it looks very different.

This past week I traveled to Odessa, Ukraine to put on a conference for the faculty and staff of a small Christian school in Odessa, Dawn Christian School. Our school's chaplain came with me, and together we put on a two day conference on what we do at Westminster Christian Academy.

We spoke on such topics as vision and mission, student placement and three dimensional teaching. What we found is that the cultural struggles of our country are also their struggles as well. Far and away, the most frequent question topic asked was about student discipline.

Dawn Christian School (DCS) is provided space by a local Catholic school. The school struggles to survive as the economy in Ukraine is in poorer shape that ours. It is currently support mostly by donations from our country, but it is growing as this year they had to turn away many families from the kindergarten due to a lack of space. The faculty and staff are a dedicated bunch as evidenced by two female faculty who ride a bus for almost two hours one way just to work at DCS.

The city and country are beautiful, but the people are even more beautiful. The pace of life is slower because relationships are important. Conversations are very much a part of the culture and beauty is considered important too. Walking the streets of Odessa, I tried to imagine what this city looked like prior to communism... it must have been a sight to behold because it is slowly becoming beautiful once again. Each street is lined with buildings built with a unique touch. Each building is different aesthetically yet they all fit together to form one building. The roof lines are home to gables, carvings and some of the most beautiful woodwork I have seen. Streets range from cobblestone to pavement and are lined with trees and bushes. Odessa is home to many parks each full of flowers, green grass and statutes.

Education and culture in Odessa, Ukraine will be an interesting study as one intersects with the other in the coming years. As churches and Christian schools grow, the impact each this culture will be a testimony to the power of the gospel.  Join me in praying for Ukraine and other countries like it as God breaks into their reality to bring more to Him. Blessings!