[SENT VIA EMAIL FROM RUSSIA]
Greetings Again from Mother Russia!
It’s a little after midnight here in the Federation and I’m sitting in our dilapidated hostel listening to the distant thumping of the local disco bar playing some european dance music that sounds like a Mexican Mariache player ran straight into the lead guitarist from Prodigy. Translation: not really soothing for the soul this late at night. Well, at least the last call is around 5 a.m. It’s been a long day and I’m continually slapping myself in order to stay awake. If I come home with bruises, it’s self inflicted.
The day started off earlier than normal in order to make it to church. We were invited by the local preist to tour a beautiful Russian orthodox temple on the hillside (which required a long walk up a step hill – yet another chance for us to whine about being fat, lazy Americans). None the less, it was a stunning experience. The K2 women doned head scarves while the men made sure to wear their best jeans and button up shirts. The only exception was Ian who wore what he slept in. The preist’s wife met us at the church and spent about an hour walking us through the temple sharing about all the different icons that were represented. For those of you unfamiliar with the orthodox church, it’s customary to light a candle in front of one of many painting of different saints in order to have certain results in your prayers. These paintings are called icons. For instance, if you’re feeling a little under the weather from “too-much-in-door-smoking-which-hasn’t-been-banned-yet-in-Russia” you would light a candle in front of Saint Simon. Or if you found yourself wanting to pray on behalf of someone else you’d place one in front of Saint Peter. Since all of us were slightly uneasy about all of this… everyone made a bee-line for a huge cruxifix of Jesus and lit a candles there. It was quite funny. The entire left side of the auditorium/temple was glowing from the candles in front of Jesus while alll the other icons where hidden in the shadows. I guess there’s no mistaking who we love and value!
The rest of the day was filled with painting a fence at the orphanage, shooting video of Yurievets, playing soccer (it’s getting worse everyday – Russians 8, America 1), crafts and ending with our afternoon program time. John the Blonde passionately taught about Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethsada. He did an excellent job setting us up for our small group time. Speaking of which, there’s a group of really tough girls who routinely leave during the talk (which creates a spectacle), and then later come back in for our small group time. For some reason, they always seem to seek out me (Andy) and Eric McHenry to form a group. Today was an amazing time of planting great seeds for Christ and loving on these girls. Slowly, very slowly, I believe they’re starting to latch onto what we’re talking about. Please pray for these six girls who desparately have no hope for the future or peace for today. They’re tough, hard stone statues on the outside and completely crying out for justice and someone to love them on the inside. It’s breaks my heart. Especially in light of knowing that these precious little girls have been abandoned and rejected by their parents. It’s what we’ve come here for.
Thanks for all your prayers and continued support. The emails you’re sending are incredibly uplifting and encouraging, please keep them coming. The team is constantly asking… did I get email? Does someone back home love me? Do my creditors know I left the states? All great indicators that they love the communication.
If you’ve got about 5 minutes today, here are a few things that you can specifically pray for:
-Tomorrow we’ll have some beach time on the Volga River for 4 hours with the orphanage… pray for great conversation.
-Pray for team member, Quinn. He’s got some sort of bug that’s causing him to be consistently dizzy.
-Please for strength… folks are dog tired and that can lead to crankiness and frustration.
-Pray for Andy, Eric Lindquist and John the Blonde as they prayerfully decide the teaching schedule and discussion questions each day.
-Please continue to lift up the hearts of the kids… they really have very little concept of who Christ is and His power for their lives.
-Pray for our time with the Orphanage staff tomorrow. We’ve going to have a party with them at a local spring (no kids – adults only).
-Pray for Andy’s meeting with the town officials on Monday.
-Please pray for safety. A few of the guys on the team have had run-ins with inebriated Russians in the hostel and it’s been a little dicey at times. They like to pick fights.
-Finally, would you please pray for our translators. Pray that they would experience Christ’s love through us and understand the grace that He brings.
Alright, I’ve been slapping myself silly through this entire update!! I absolutely can’t keep my eyes open one moment longer. Thanks for hanging with us and supporting us from a distance. We feel the strength of your prayers and covet every one of them.
Until tomorrow (or should I say later today),
Andy
