We just returned from the ski trip men’s retreat.
We were eight; we skied about 25 km. There was one unbeliever. We had Communion right there Thursday night.The weather was mostly bad, windy and snowing. But anyway, we had great time together. We could serve each other and we could share our faith with the non-Christian.
Next week I’m starting small groups again – in Murmansk, Olenegorsk and Nickel.
The following blog entry, by Brian Schroller, was prompted by a meeting Yura Belonozhkin had with some men when he was recently in the States. I think you’ll appreciate the message:
“What we find in our heroes and martyrs is a living witness to the fact that the true life of faith can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if one takes it on bravely and gallantly, as something of a grand adventure in which we set out into an unknown country to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle.” — Alan Hirsch
He was not what I expected at all. He was humble, of average height, and had pretty long hair. The iconic images I had of Russian men, fashioned from far too many movies, would have given him well over 6 feet, a crew cut, and a steely resolved Communist jaw. He was none of those things. I wrestled for a few minutes with unbelief given the stories I had heard of this man.
And then he started to speak. Politely answering questions at first and then his masculine heart for leading other men started to rise. Hailing from northernmost Russia, he does similar men’s ministry to mine in the most inhospitable climate you could imagine; culturally, spiritually, and even meteorologically. He is a fierce lion among lambs who have lost their shepherd.
His target is generations of Russian men ravaged by fatherlessness and the hopelessness that Communism has wrought. You essentially exterminate a generation of fathers and then rob every other man of the ability to choose his future, his means, his way of life, and even what he believes…rob him of his ability to lead…and what you find is a country full of passive and discouraged men. That is the current state of Mother Russia.
In both Spring and Winter he leads groups of men toward the Arctic circle with the restoration of their masculine identity as their only quarry. He is a freedom fighter for hope, healing, and establishing an intimate relationship with the Wild One whose image we bear. He is tireless, impassioned, and startlingly humble.
If I hiked men toward the top of the world, drilled holes in ice, caught fresh salmon, and then ceremonially shared raw bites of the catch with men I had led there to introduce to Jesus, you couldn’t shut me up about it. If I sat on [a ship] in the exact chair of my chaplain father, chaplain for Communism by the way, and introduced men to life, I’d be working on the screenplay. Yura, however, seems almost embarrassed that God has chosen him for such a story.
Check out his story and images here.
http://www.stoneworksinternational.com/programs/far-northern-russia/
His life and story have been incredibly disruptive to mine through our brief engagement.
(. . . Me and my mates are endeavoring to bring he and his ministry partner back for a boot camp (men’s ministry) in the Fall and some of us are hoping to join him for one of his.)
Since the ground has thawed in the city, workers have sprung to life, finishing projects that had been delayed all winter. In our building, this involved repainting the stairwell. I’m not sure why this had to occur in the spring, but it did. I often wonder what the system is as to prioritization.
So for a week or two we had the paint fumes, and we tried to do as much airing out of the flat as possible, without freezing ourselves and/or David.
When they were finished, they painted the elevator. The elevator is a tiny space with one dim lightbulb, so dark brown seemed like a strange paint color, although it did cover up graffiti nicely.
I tried summoning the elevator the other day when I was leaving for a meeting. It didn’t come, and on my way home I found that it had been repainted a gray color, probably due to complaints about the dark brown. It smelled again, but there was hope that these projects were done.
The next afternoon, we came home from church and found the elevator stopped at the first floor, with the doors open. It struck me as strange that the doors were open, as they usually shut automatically. But we squeezed in anyway with the stroller, took a few minutes to count and figure out which button was ours (the numbers had been painted over), and pressed it carefully. The doors closed, and I was relieved that the elevator worked, as I was not in the mood to trudge up to the seventh floor. However, the doors closed, and we didn’t go anywhere, and they didn’t open again. Read more →
We have a 9-month old! After a summer in the U.S., we arrived back in St. Petersburg in the end of August. David was almost 8 weeks old upon our arrival, but a month later we had to go to Estonia to get him a new visa. So we had sort of a parenting trial by fire as we were adjusting not only to being parents but to navigating our way in a strange country. In the end we emerged triumphant with a 3-yr visa, Praise the Lord!
Home, sweet home: In the spring of 2012 we purchased a spacious (by Russian standards) apartment in a residential area of St. Petersburg. Our Bible study meets here every week. We even had our first house guest (my mother!) recently.
Last year, I taught Business English for several months. The Lord really softened my heart towards the students as He often does when I teach. But as usual there were restrictions on sharing my faith. Even though I had email addresses, I decided it wouldn’t really be appropriate to contact the students after my departure. However, I did leave some doors open for them to contact ME. One student eventually found me on Facebook, and out of the blue asked me, “I’ve read your blog and I want to know…do you have some sort of mission here in Russia?” I shared the Gospel with him and some of the story of how I came to be in Russia. He is not a Christian currently, but said he is sort of searching. I still think of those students often, but I leave it up to God as to whether or not we will ever meet again.
There are more interesting connections that have developed recently due to my blog. Read more →
I led a men’s retreat in Norway last month. Here is a video of our trip.
I didn’t mention it in the video, but I want to express my heart-felt appreciation to Vestre Jacobselv Camping leaders, and especially to Oyvind Kjelling and Siren Jankila, the folks who helped us all the way through the retreat and were a great blessing for all of us.
I want to clarify about the title of this post. From a human perspective, everything feels “too hard.” People we love often lose their lives “too early.” There is “too much” tragedy around us…doesn’t it seem like more than our fair ration?
Although God is compassionate and allows us to grieve, I also think of Psalm 139, verse 16: “…all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (NIV)
He knows exactly what we are going through, and He has perfect, albeit mysterious, reasons, for allowing our loved ones to suffer and even die. So even though I grieve, I still affirm the perfect sovereignty of God’s will.
The Accident
A lot of you know what happened to the orphanage recently, but I will do a quick recap.
The orphanage that I visited for something like 8 years in a row had sent a group to another city for an excursion, during school vacation week.
On the way back, the bus was in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer. I got the news that 6 people had been killed, but I didn’t know which ones. It felt like one of those school shootings where you don’t know at first who survived and who didn’t. And you don’t have any contact.
I got online, gathering information really quickly. A few of the orphans/staff already had posted about grieving. Everyone was in shock. I found a few news reports, including one with a list of all those injured/dead. But which were which? The next thing I found out was that all those who had been killed were adults: of the orphanage group, 2 drivers and 2 other chaperones. It wasn’t until a few days later that I saw some photos and matched the names with the faces. I recognized them all. Read more →
Well, I got nominated for a blog award in which I am supposed to share some details about myself. I am also supposed to pass it on to someone else. I checked back to a post I wrote about the blogs I follow, and I think about 90% of them are now defunct, though there are still a few of you hanging in there!
Anyway, I do want to give a shout out to a new blog, authored by my sister, where she writes about “balancing family life and art.” Lots of ideas for parenting toddlers. Check it out: Seeking to Create.
So, here are the questions from the blog award, with my answers.
And here are the new questions that Stephanie chose for me: Read more →
Peace and grace to all who are involved in ministry Heart for Orphans.
Under our ministry we have celebrated birthdays of kids – special and fun time. We are happy to share pictures of this event!
Prayer requests:
When a non-believing friend visited our women’s group lately and had some questions, I was moved listening to other women share their stories. They spoke of their faith, and the Word of God flowed out of their mouths so naturally. I don’t really know how to describe it, but it wasn’t a “Quote the Bible” moment where everyone recites their favorite verse. It was a time for some healed sinners to share the words they had personally stored up in their hearts; words that were appropriate to the specific questions being asked.
I was blessed to listen to them. That’s what I did; I listened. I didn’t resent not being able to keep up, but I did wish the words would fly off my tongue like that. There are so many parts of Scripture imprinted in my memory from childhood: hymns and spiritual songs, psalms, memory verses I have purposefully set out to learn. The problem is, they’re in English.
On a few occasions I have set out to learn Russian memory verses. But they just don’t stick. You hear of missions organizations debating over what an “unreached people group” is. Do they need the Bible in their OWN language, or is it enough to translate it into the most accessible major language? (Why translate if they learn English/French in school, right?) Read more →
We’re getting more news about the bus accident and the children from #8:
From Sergei Tovstopyat:
Today at 10 am, I talked to the director Tatyana Alexeyevna.
At the moment, three children are in serious condition at a hospital in Cherepovets. Five children have already been delivered to the orphanage and ten children arrive tomorrow.
At this point in the orphanage there are round the clock, psychologists and doctors. The Ministry of Education is providing psychological support. All expenses are being covered by the administration of the Vyborg district of St. Petersburg.
Tatiana is very grateful for all the prayers and words of support and offered to keep in touch, just in case they ever need it.
Tomorrow I find out which day of the funeral, Tatiana invited everyone who knew the workers who died.
From Liz Sukhovskaya:
Galina Nikolaevna (#8 counselor) just called me. She and another counselor (Irina Grigorievna) traveled to the hospital to be with the injured. Some have been sent back to St. P. but others are still in Cherepovetz. The injured are in all different emotional/physical states.
Galina said the hospital is taking good care of them, Praise the Lord. I told her we’re praying. And she wanted to make sure any friends of #8 knew what was going on.
I haven’t heard of any specific needs. As you know, the driver lost his life as well. I recognized him from some photos people posted. Another beloved member of the orphanage family.
Justin Mosely:
There’s more news now. it wasn’t the freight truck’s fault. there was another car that hit the truck, which sent the truck into an on-coming lane and hit the bus. they say that the driver of the smaller car was a police worker who was going on a meeting somewhere in vologda. he is still alive with minor bruising and a few broken bones.
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