Bolash Sabbatical 2019 | Purpose & Practices | Rev. Eric J. Bolash

Bolash Sabbatical 2019
Purpose & Practices 
Rev. Eric J. Bolash

Church Family,
My family and I have been given the opportunity to take an eight-week sabbatical this summer after seventeen years of serving at Church of the Apostles, nine years as an ordained priest. We’re fairly excited!

As we enter this time, I want to share with you the purpose of it, and the practices that I will take up while I’m away.

Dates
Start Date: May 28
Return Date: August 5
These dates include two additional weeks of vacation time.

Travel & Fun
Robin, Mila, Risa and I will travel to Iceland, London and Scotland during the first month to have fun, develop our relationships, and for me to begin to keep some of the practices I will describe below.

Sabbatical Purpose
My overarching purpose is to rest. To practice the Sabbath part of Sabbatical. I will keep some spiritual practices that will enable physical, spiritual and emotional restoration. I will rest from work, pray, read, write, exercise and enjoy family.

I plan to engage in practices that help me live out what Jesus cites as the Greatest Commandment, from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Mark 12:30. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

“...with all your heart…”
The heart in the Bible is the seat of the will. What we want. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4.23

My expectation is that as I follow the practices listed below, what I want or desire will become more aligned with what God wants. My prayer is that I will grow to more humbly pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” 

“...with all your soul...”
As a soul-care practice, I will stop working as a recognition that it is God who cares for his Church, not me.

Another soul-care practice will be to follow a weekly Rule of Life that will include Solitude, Silence and Prayer. Three times a week, I will spend full mornings in solitude, outside, listening to the Lord through Scripture and in prayer.

A third soul-care practice will be to take two overnight personal retreats. One in May, one in July. This will allow for more extended time in solitude, silence, Scripture and prayer.

And another soul-care practice will be to meet with a Spiritual Director. This is a practice I already follow, but I plan to meet with him as usual in order to process what the Lord seems to be speaking.

“...with all your mind…”
Words mean a lot to me. And they are the tool of a pastor. In his book, The Contemplative Pastor, Eugene Peterson writes, “The way a pastor uses the language is a critical element in the work. The Christian gospel is rooted in language: God spoke creation into being; our Savior was the Word made flesh. The poet is the person who uses words not primarily to convey information but to make a relationship, shape beauty, form truth. This is St John’s work. It is every pastor’s work.”

So, following Peterson’s lead, I plan to read poetry each day. I also plan to write at least one poem each day during this sabbatical. No one should ever trust my math, but that should mean 60 or 70 poems when all’s said and done.

I expect that as I read and write, the Lord will speak to me in new ways, and also help me to become a pastor who uses language more skillfully for God’s kingdom purposes. If they aren’t terrible, I might even share some of those poems with you all when I return. We’ll see!

“...with all your strength.”
Our bodies matter to God. He formed Adam and Eve from the ground and stood back, calling them “very good.” And rest includes physical restoration. So routine, rigorous exercise will be part of my sabbatical as well. I already enjoy physical exercise, so this will be a fixture in my time away.

I know that as we take time away, our church is in the hands of our sovereign Lord and King. He is always good and faithful. Always. I anticipate rich time with him over these next few weeks, and I trust that he will continue to care for and shepherd his church while I am away.

And when my family and I return, we will look forward to continuing with you in Christ, loving him with all of our hearts, souls, minds and strength.

In the care of Christ,
Eric+ with Robin, Mila and Risa

Ukraine Team Update ~ 07/10/18

We returned to Raleigh Tuesday afternoon at 2pm after being gone for 16 days. Upon reflection, many thoughts have run through our minds as we journeyed homeward on Sunday by train from Lviv to Kiev, where we spent the night in a hostel. Monday morning Terri had the blessed opportunity to visit a dear Ukrainian friend who she had not seen since 1995. Not only a great time together, but made even better when Terri discovered her friend had become a Christian in 1997.  Breakfast followed her visit as we were joined by Yevgen, Development Director, and Yulia, Executive Director for CCX Ukraine, before a brief walking tour which lasted until we left for the airport and a flight to London.  We left London Tuesday for RDU, a not so short 7.5 hour flight.

(Our team with Yulia and Yevgen, overlooking the Dnipro River in Kiev)

We have been blessed beyond description in many ways. The dedication of the Ukrainian staff, their love for Jesus, their desire to make Him known, their love for each other and the students, and their desire to consistently present to the students what awaits them when they become brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

As we all observed, Ukrainian students like to discuss, reflect and consider the Truth before making decisions.  Many have come to summer and/or winter camps for several years. We are certain that they have been given much to think about in the days and weeks that follow.

 

God’s love for them, His Word explained and shared with them, and a true picture of what life can be when one accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior were consistently and lovingly presented to them.  Many have significant doubts and deep questions.  

 

We left many new friends as we departed from Ukraine.  We left certain that God’s Word will not return void.  We feel that we were privileged to “plant seeds” that others will water and see mature. God knows when that will occur, we do not, but we have full assurance and faith that it will happen.

(Eric with Maxym, a rather large Ukrainian college student from his small group)

We felt your prayers, as well as prayers from friends and relatives and churches across our country, throughout our trip.  With thankful hearts we thank each one of you for sustaining us, in every way.  

    

To God be the glory, great things He has done and will do in the lives of these precious students.

 

Because He Lives!!

 

John (on behalf of Eric, Terri, Catherine, Austin)

Ukraine Team Update ~ 07/06/18

Today was a lot of fun for us as a team. The whole group (maybe 150 staff and students) from the CCX Camp we are helping to facilitate traveled into the city of Lviv with the challenge of a scavenger hunt, collecting as many photos as we could of bizarre activities around the city. Retro clothing in stores. Human train on the trolley tracks. Befriending someone and their dog and a photo with the dog. And all kinds of other humorous and fun moments.

Laughter, cultural conversations and friendly joking in my group is helping to make us comfortable for deeper conversations about Jesus. This morning we studied John 9, and a few students stated plainly that Jesus must not be God because he does God’s works rather than his own works. Then we were able to talk about the fact that eventually the blind man who is healed by Jesus says “Lord, I believe,” and worships him—actions reserved only for God. These are the kinds of seeds the Lord is planting in the lives of these young, bright students for whom Jesus gave his life. 

Please pray for continued openness in these gospel conversations, and for our endurance as we walk with them this week. And pray that some would enter the Kingdom even this week!

We miss and love you!

For God’s glory,

Eric, on behalf of Austin, Catherine, Terri and John

Ukraine Team Update ~ 07/05/18

Dear friends,

As I write this, our Ukrainian students and British and American teams are dancing the night away in traditional Ukrainian style. It's the end of our second full day of camp, and the Ukrainian students have put on an amazing event celebrating Ukrainian culture with skits, songs, poetry, and, of course, dancing. Lots and lots of dancing. 

The students arrived at camp on Sunday morning, and over the last two and a half days, we've been getting to know them in Bible study and discussion, over silly games, and in casual conversations. We have been impressed by the thoughtfulness and intelligence of the students. In my group, there are several agnostic students who approach Scripture with a significant amount of skepticism, but they continue to participate in Bible study (for some, this is their 4th CCX camp!) and ask perceptive questions about things like human nature and Biblical history. We've also had some great informal conversations with students. This afternoon, for instance, one student asked to chat during our free time and shared his thoughts and concerns about the war in Eastern Ukraine and his hopes for Ukraine's future. 

Please pray that in the second half of this week of camp, the Lord will show us how to love these students well and will make our actions and our conversation winsome. Please also pray that the Lord will provide good, natural opportunities for us to have conversations with the students about Jesus, and that He will give us the words to speak. The days are really full, so please continue to pray for rest and stamina for the members of our team, as well as for good opportunities to make contact with loved ones at home. 

We are so grateful to know that you are lifting us up in prayer!

Catherine Wood

Ukraine Team Update ~ 06/28/18

Hello Apostles family,

Today our team has spent much of the day in preparation for the arrival of Ukrainian students. We are preparing bible studies , workshops and outdoor challenges (think ropes course type activities — yikes).  The desire is to have many different contexts in which to interact with and get to know these students. We partner in this with a team of students from the UK.  Our team has been so impressed with these students and really enjoyed interacting with them.  They love Jesus, are warm and funny and curious about us and life in the States.  (The picture shows a few of them over dinner.)

Today, many of us on the team are feeling the intensity of the schedule. Continue to pray that the Lord will give us lots of stamina and will use brief breaks in the day to restore us. 

Thanks for your prayers. 

Terri Shell

Preparing for Reaching Ukrainian Students

Our group has arrived in the city of Lviv and are staying at a Catholic seminary outside the city. After flying through London, we flew into Kiev, then took a four-hour (or more?) train to Lviv, and arrived feeling REALLY tired, but thankful to be on time with no travel difficulties!

There are about 20 college students and staff from the UK, about 15 local Ukrainian ministry staff, and the five of us on our team from Apostles. We’ve been spending the first full day learning about Ukrainian culture and preparing to lead the Ukrainian students who will be coming next week.

Please pray for stamina! And also that we will be well prepared to love, listen to and show Christ’s love to these students who will be joining us!

(Our Team with Yevgen, one of the Ukrainian staff who has spoken to us at Apostles)

Ukrainian Team Launched!

Monday, June 25, 2018

We've made it through security and are sitting at the gate. We've been discussing concerns. "What did I forget to pack?" We've laughed about how many times we checked to make sure the Passport was in hand. We've talked about the prospects of bumps and snags that inevitably come with travel. 

But the thing that puts us at ease is the fact that there is a group of young, energetic, lively Ukrainian university students we are about to meet who probably have little to know church background or awareness of who Jesus is. And we are joining the Lord in his effort to reveal himself to them. 

Our flight leaves at 6pm tonight, and we'll touch down in Kiev at 1:30pm local time (6:00am Raleigh time). 

Please pray for us as we go, that we will humbly step into all that God has for us.

-Ukraine Team {Catherine Wood, Terri Shell, Austin Harris, John Creasy, Eric Bolash}