Best of Both Worlds: Great Stories from Auburn 2010

We had a great week with Auburn Group 2010. They were fantastic in the classrooms and did a stand-up job in the evening programs (Mardi Gras, Game Night, and Coffee House/Conversation Night). The students loved spending time with them, and they have done a lot of path-paving for future groups and projects. There were some great stories from this week, that I'd like to share:

1. There were 7 project participants who were returning folks from last year. This goes a long way with the students: continuity. Steve, Renee, Rachel, Allison, Courtney, Rachel, and Priscilla all came last year and then again this year. They ran into many students and faculty who remembered them and were excited to see them.

Melanie, Courtney, Rachel, Allison, and Priscilla

2. Micah joined us this year; his brother, Nathan, was here last year and the guys loved him. Micah also became extremely beloved and has quite a following of boys. It was neat for them to see a family that loves Ukraine.

Micah and Andrei

3. Rachel (Kauffman) came with the group last year. Over the past year, she developed a Facebook friendship with Dasha. They've kept in touch and were able to spend some quality time together this week.

Rachel, Dasha, and Lesya

4. Like Micah, Josh followed in his brother's, Justin, footsteps. He wasn't originally planning to come, but because of a last-minute cancellation, he willingly stepped up and filled the position. He spent gobs of time talking to new Ukrainian friends and investing in them.

Josh, talking with Vitaly and Ivan.

5. The new folks on the trip- Austin, Josh, Micah, Brian, Hannah, and Melanie- did a great job jumping in and adapting to the classroom setting. They were all very encouraged by the story of Sergei. Sergei met Micah's brother, Nathan, last year and came to every event that we held. Since that week, Sergei has become incredibly involved in the church and its activities. This week, he tagged along to many of our classes and post-class activities, just because.

Sergei, hanging out with Austin.

6. "Is that boy Ukrainian?" From day 1, I had Ukrainians talking to me about Brian- asking if he was Ukrainian. He just has that Ukrainian guy look, and he plunged into Ukrainian culture headfirst, including eating salo (pig fat). He was a huge hit, and they loved him.

Brian playing a violent game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Pushkin.

7. Rachel returned! Rachel served here for 4 months last year and made plenty of relationship of her own. The Ukrainians were THRILLED to see her again. So was I!