The first adjustment had to be made as soon as we arrived in the apartment where Anne, Sasha, and I would be staying with Anya, and we realized we were one bag short. I don’t know how this happened, because Jonathon Furr and I both counted all the bags to be sure we had everything, but we missed one that we were bringing for John Neese to use on his mission trip next week in Sosnova. So we immediately call Vova (our dear friend and driver) who comes back and picks up Anya and I to take us back to the airport. Of course once we arrive we find the bag, but discover that it was not checked in under my name, but under Sasha’s name and she would have to bring her passport to claim the luggage. No problem, Vova agrees to make a THIRD trip to the airport with us after church on Sunday. So Anya and Sasha go to the airport to claim the luggage, but when they get there they are told that no, it was not checked under Sasha’s ticket, but under Anne’s. So Anya calls us, and Eliza (another one of our Road of Life girls who has worked as translator for us many times) takes Anne to the airport. After two more hours and countless conversations with officials at Lufthansa, Anya and Anne are informed there will be a fine of 4000 rubles (about $115). They pay the “fine” and collect the luggage. Finally we are all back home, and all bags have been secured.
Jonathon had come home with us Sunday afternoon because Anya was going to fix dinner and we were going to talk over our plans for the week. We completed our meal, talked everything through, and Anya and Sasha left to take Jonathon to the metro station so that he could return to his apartment several minutes away. When they left the metro station they walked across the street to catch the tram back to our apartment, but no tram came. It was about 10:30 pm by this time, and evidently the tram service stops early on Sunday night. So Anya had to ask some of the others who were also waiting in vain for which bus would take her to our apartment. After waiting and searching, they finally arrived home about 11:45 pm!! A trip that should have taken 40 minutes had turned into 1 ¾ hours!! They were both cold and exhausted, but glad to be home.
Luckily Monday was a pretty uneventful day. We went to Child in Danger (CID) shelter to begin our week of ministry with the 14 kids who are there at this time. It was wonderful to see Masha, the assistant director, and three of the children I had known from last year’s trip. We had a great day and returned home excited about the coming week.
Anya got a call from MIR (the charity organization here that officially registers us when we arrive) that she needed to pick up our passports on Tuesday afternoon at 1pm. I had specifically planned no morning activity on Tuesday so that we could all sleep late and recharge our batteries. After eating a late breakfast and visiting for a few minutes, Anya looked up at the clock and realized it was noon and she was to be across town at MIR at 1pm. So she begins dashing about the apartment, getting ready to leave. Luckily, as she was headed out the door she remembered that the cost of registering the passports was 900 rubles and came back in for the money. Anne, Sasha, and I ate lunch and then began getting ready to go to CID. As we were leaving, I looked on the board by the door to see if the key was there, but it wasn’t. So I told them that Anya had taken the key and we would just close the door and it would lock automatically. We had a wonderful afternoon at CID – beautiful spring weather and playing outside with the kids followed by a craft time and Sasha sharing her story of adoption from Russia when she was 9.
We left CID and headed to Vera and Vova’s family home for an evening of fellowship and Bible study (after first getting on the wrong tram and being told we had to take a bus). When we got off the bus I realized we were at the stop where my favorite bakery was – they have the greatest baguettes – so we went inside to buy some bread. As we were sitting there I told Anya that we had to leave the outside door to the apartment open when we left because she had the key. Of course she looked at me confused and said, “I don’t have the key.” After a lengthy conversation and realizing that she was NOT kidding, we knew we were locked out – and Marina, who owns the apartment, is in Kazakstan visiting her family and won’t be home until Friday. We went on to Vera/Vova’s and as we were visiting, we told them the problem. Vova said he had some old keys and maybe we could get one to fit; Katya, Vera/Vova’s adopted daughter, said to talk to the neighbors and try to get through the window leading to the balcony of our apartment. After Bible study Vova and Katya brought us home and Katya and Anya, after some fast talking, convinced a neighbor to help them break the window to the balcony so that they could get in. Another harrowing experience, but at least no one called the cops and we weren’t “homeless”!!!
During our wait to see if they could get the neighbor to cooperate, Anne said, “Boy, the devil sure is busy isn’t he?” And I said, “Yes, God must have something great planned for that old devil to be after us so.” So keep us in your prayers as we try to persevere!! We are loving our ministry at CID and look forward to dinner with the John Bull family (missionaries here for 2 years) on Thursday evening, and Bible study at the Frunzenskaya apartment where Jonathon is staying on Friday night before he returns home on Saturday. We are all healthy and happy to be experiencing all that God has in store for us!
From Russia with Love!
Nancy
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