Russia Finale

All in all, it was an excellent trip.  This was so different from my other missions trips because this time, I was in the leadership position. I appreciated more the aspect of being able to consider the team to be my ministry charge.  Watching the students stretch themselves and have all sorts of lightbulb moments was really cool.  I was very proud of them. The kids were cute and fun, our Russian friends were interesting: the classic European who sort of believes in God and yet got to tell the Gospel through us and then ask questions.  I think my friends had some new thoughts as they spoke for me when I asked the kids if they wanted to believe in Jesus.  

Also, our day in Moscow was great.  Seeing the Kremlin, Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral was really cool and tickled my history bone quite a bit.  Then leading the team back through the airports and maze of international travel went well. 

It's things like this that make me love what I'm doing.  I'm not always super enthused about my classes this semester but when I look back on leading the Foundations Discussion group this fall, hall directing in J-Term and leading this trip, I know I could do this for the rest of my life.

Journal Excerpt: March 26

"Today was our tourist day in Moscow and our last (full) day in Russia.  We spent the morning in a great little souvenir land (in which most things were probably over priced, but oh well) and had some amazing roast lamb for lunch.  We then braved the Metro to see Red Square.  I was in awe of the history present in this place as I saw the Kremlin, Lenin's Tomb (not open on Saturdays unfortunately), and the 500 year old St. Basil's Cathedral.  It was all really amazing.
The evening held even more wonders as we went to the Russian circus.  They had some really incredible acrobatic, juggling, and high wire acts, but some of the animal acts were kind of sad because you knew the animals were drugged or mistreated.  But overall, it was some pretty cool stuff to see.
Our hotel in Moscow was much nicer than the one in Vladimir, so I have picture of each room, to compare the difference.  Russia's Daylight Savings Time came during the night before our departure so it was kind of inconvenient to lose an hour and have to worry about having the clocks right to make it to the airport on time. But we made it fine and are now travelling home!"

Journal Excerpt: March 25

"Our last day at Barskoye began with the Bible lesson on the Cross, Resurrection, and the basic salvation message.  The kids were actually responsive and as I explained that we were all sinners, but had to ask for forgiveness then asked if they wanted to ask Jesus to forgive them, they said, "Da!"  It was so great.
We had a typical day after that except at about 4:15 the kids left for tea earlier than usual.  They never came back and we missed saying goodbye when we left at 5.  We saw only tow of them as we left, so it was sad to miss out on the farewells.
This evening's meeting was great.  I was so proud of my team, how they have grown and they way they have spiritually matured.  Something extraordinary happened this week and I love it."

Journal Excerpt: March 24

"A typical day at Barskoye... but the signature event of that day was our night out in local Russian homes.  Many of my team went with their interpreters but Amanda and I went to the home of some friends of the Boaz Project named Natasha and Ivan.  They were a sweet young couple (Natasha was my age, Ivan only a few older) who were very hospitable.  Over an enormous meal we chatted in broken English about sports, music, film, books, travel, current events, and nearly every other small topic.  They were so genial and fun.  When we declined their offer to drink with them, we told them that our school did not allow it.  In curiosity, the questioned what else our school disallows and we were able to explain that we don't drink, smoke, or do drugs so that we can focus on our studies and on our relationships around us.  They were impressed with this as well as the fact that we came to Russia just to help with orphans.  After many cups of tea, we ended the night by going to an interactive movie: the kind where your chair moves with the on-screen action.  It was an amusing end to a very fun night."

Journal Excerpt: March 23

"The schedule for today was very much different.  We went to a concert put on by disabled children at the invitation of the Barskoye director.  It was really fun and folksy, centering heavily on Russian national pride.  One act was a blind boy who sang about being able to see and feel the music.  It was a touching song.  He got the loudest and longest applause to which he gave the most enormous smile.
We spent the rest of our afternoon trekking through rain to see downtown Vladimir.  We saw the Golden Gates, an 11th century fortress and the Cathedral of the Assumption.  ...  Finally, we joined the teams who worked at the Vladimir Children's Home for their afternoon session.  I got to go with the three year olds who were very cute.  Knowing I had only a couple of hours, I just threw myself into playing with them.  We drew pictures, tickled, I carried them around, and delighted them by dramatically losing at tug-o-war over and over again.
The walk back to our hotel was a major slush-fest.  I remarked to one of our local friends that when I heard the kids in the concert this morning singing about the mighty rivers of Russia, I had no idea that they were talking about Vladimir's sidewalks."

Journal Excerpt: March 22

"Another good day at Barskoye: we played lots of games and bonded well with the kids. ...  We were sad to see that one of the boys, Max, would be gone for the rest of the week but got to play a bit of soccer with Arkasha.  We threw snowballs and went sledding for a while until we were all exhausted.  During the rest of the day, I made friends with Vika (the little grinning one) and tried to understand Anya and her spoiled ways: she would always cry and bite when she didn't get what she wanted.  I taught her some patience by playing War slowly and she laughed and got the hang of it.
Our team meetings each night are always incredible (despite sitting on the floor).  We always have a chance to have a few people talk about their day, then each person encourages another whom they've been assigned to for that day (which always encourages tears) and then we pray.  Those three agenda items always take two hours and it makes for some very important and appreciated team bonding time."

Pictures!