Published: April 07, 2009 12:32 pm         

Mayer spends year teaching in Ukraine

Monticello — Reading, writing, and arithmetic...pencils, paper, books. The basics of

the 2008-09 school year were pretty much the same for Katie Mayer as they

were for other teachers, but that is where the similarities end for the

25-year-old Wayne County resident. Mayer has spent this school year teaching

missionaries' children in a Christian school in Ukraine, a country in

eastern Europe.

Most of her students know three languages, and yet, they depend on Mayer

to teach them the same basics that other third-graders are learning. She had

taught third grade prior to going to Ukraine, but this experience brought

with it a whole new challenge.

Mayer, the daughter of Dr. Richard and Cindy Mayer, knew that she wanted

to spend a year teaching in Ukraine after visiting the country for three

weeks in 2002 with a native Ukrainian friend from college.

"It was from then on that I always wanted to come back for a year,"

Mayer said, as she told her story via email.

At that point, Mayer didn't even know there was a school in Ukraine. She

had been searching for a couple of years off and on and never saw an

opportunity in Ukraine, let alone a Christian school. She started looking

into various organizations and one day looked under a different tab on the

Association of Christian School International web site. That is when she

found the information she had been looking for, and the answer to her

prayer.

"God showed me that there was a Christian school (Kiev Christian

Academy) in Kiev, Ukraine, the capital. I emailed (the Headmaster), and

behold there was a third grade opening, a grade I had already taught before.

I kept corresponding with them, and found out that I had to raise all of my

support in order to come here," noted Mayer. "I left it in God's hands, and

He did provide the money and donors each month to get me over here and

sustain me through the year. It was such a miracle because all of the money

came in about three months."

So, with God having provided her financial support, Mayer arrived in

Ukraine in August 2008, and prepared to teach the third grade students of

the missionaries who were spreading the Gospel and reaching out to the

Ukrainians.

Mayer has eight students in her classroom: one American, one

Mexican-Russian, one Russian, one Russian adopted to an American family, one

Nigerian, and three Korean.

"Quite a diverse class, I must say," Mayer said, as she talked about

her students.

"The language barrier is frustrating, but at school, we totally speak

English. So, I don't really feel foreign until I walk out of the school or

apartment doors! When I'm out and about, I don't understand hardly anything

that people are saying. I can just pick up a few words here and there. I can

go places by myself, of course, and I know all the basics, but sometimes

it's very frustrating," she added.

Mayer said it has been both fun and challenging teaching a small class,

but she has had a lot of support from the other teachers at the school. The

school year may have provided its own unique blend of fun and challenges,

but it has been so rewarding for Mayer, who knows how blessed she has been

that God used her in this way.

"It's been rewarding to know that I have helped so many people (though

sometimes I feel like I'm not doing anything substantial at all). Most of

these kids' parents are out working with the natives, trying to bring them

to Christ. It is up to teachers to teach their children while they are doing

that. Without us teachers, the kids would either have to be home schooled or

the parents just simply wouldn't be here. So, though my job as a teacher at

the school isn't Œworking out in the village,' I'm helping those that are by

teaching their children," said Mayer.

Through her job, Mayer said she is "investing in the greater work that

is happening all around Ukraine."

She noted that the time she has spent teaching in Ukraine has been "such

a God-ordained experience...so rewarding in my own faith-walk with Jesus!"

Knowing that she has been a part of helping spread the Gospel in Ukraine

is just one of what Mayer refers to as "the rewarding treasures that I will

take back to the States with me."

When Mayer returns to the United States in June, she will bring with her

a stronger faith in God and more confidence in herself. She will also bring

back a realization of just how important support is...not just from family

and friends, but from the church‹the body of Christ‹as well.

"It's been amazing to see how much support that I have gotten from

friends and family. I'm not just talking about financial support, I'm

talking about real, emotional, and spiritual support. I know I have people

praying for me, and because of that, I am able to keep going on those hard

days or those homesick days. I know that I can call and cry to someone if

I'm just not feeling the greatest, and that it's perfectly fine!" Mayer

said.

"So, as I've just noticed how much support I get from people on and off

the field, I begin to think of the role that the church is supposed to have

in people's lives. How much are we just praying for someone, encouraging

them, supporting them in whatever area we can? Because the reality is, each

of us (even non-Christians at times) are in their ŒUkraine' at least at some

point in their lives. That is, they are at a place in their lives where they

feel out-of-sorts, out of comfort, away from family, in need of love. They

might not even know why they are at that point in their lives, but the thing

is...God does! And how encouraging that is! So, from the support I've

received here as an example, I just think the church needs to be even more

supportive of each other," she continued.

Mayer said that Christian support and prayer are key elements in helping

other believers: "I believe if people had more support and prayer in

whatever they are doing, they will be pushed to do more, to be more, to hold

the tongue, to fix their bad habits, etc. It's the power of God, the power

of prayer, and the power of each other's love," she added.

Mayer will forever treasure the memories she has from the year that she

spent teaching in Ukraine.

"This experience is one I will never forget. It's God's, mine, and

everyone that has been in my life and has participated in this experience

with me," Mayer said.

The school year will soon be coming to an end and Mayer will return to

the United States. She has been planning a wedding this semester from

Ukraine, and she and her fiance', Chad Nichols, will be getting married in

July. The two became engaged while Mayer was home during the Christmas

break. The couple plans to reside in Georgia, and are both looking for

teaching jobs.

As Mayer counts down the final weeks of her stay in Ukraine, she asks

that everyone pray for the country she has come to love so much.

"Please pray for the people here in Ukraine. It's a hard place to

explain, yet a place that needs the love of Jesus to wrap it up! Coming out

of the communism lifestyle has been good and bad at the same time. They have

begun to think more freely and independently. It will be interesting to see

how this nation continues to evolve."

These months in Ukraine will be forever embedded in Mayer's heart: "It's

been wonderful to be able to experience this culture, to help the

missionaries out by teaching their children, and just seeing how God works

in other places."

     

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