HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY - TO RUSSIA WITH LOVE

“You must love me twice as much!”

Vera and Valodia (Vova) Simonova were married February 12, 1997 in Saratov, Siberia, Russia. Vova bought her a gold wedding band that to him looked so terribly small – unfortunately Vera’s finger was still smaller, so the ring he put on her finger that day could easily slide over the knuckle.

In April they traveled to Vera’s family home in another area of Siberia. While there, she went out to the strawberry patch at the back corner of her brother’s home to pick berries. Later that same day she realized that her ring was gone! Everyone searched through the strawberry patch, in the trash, everywhere they could think that she had been. But the ring was gone.

Ten years later, in 2007, Vera’s brother had to pull up all the strawberry plants in order to lay new water pipes for his home. While doing the work, he searched for the ring that had been lost so long ago, but was unable to find it. Then, in the summer of 2010, he decided to add on to the back of the house and began digging a deep hole to put the pilings for the new foundation. He dug deeper and deeper, and suddenly saw the wedding band that had been lost 13 years earlier. He ran to his sister’s house and she called Vera and said, “You will never guess what lucky thing happened today!” Of course Vera could not even guess what had happened, and her sister told her that her ring had been found.

When Vova’s sister came to visit this past New Year 2011, she brought the ring to St. Petersburg. During a ceremony to renew their vows Vova put the ring back on Vera’s finger and told her, “Now, you must love me twice as much because you have two wedding rings.”

This is truly a story of a miracle, but let me share one more Vera/Vova miracle story. When they were married the doctors told Vera that because of a hereditary problem she would never be able to bear children. They continued to hope that the doctors were wrong, but it seemed that they would be just a family of two. Then Vera and Vova both accepted Jesus as their Savior and began to dedicate their lives to Him to be used in His plan in His time. Shortly after becoming Christians they received a miracle, when Nakita was born on October 31, 2000. Their second son, Sasha, was later born on June 10, 2004. So God’s miracle to His new children was to give them two wonderful boys of their own. And God continues to bless them as he adds one foster girl after another to their blessed home.

Please pray for Vera and Vova as they continue to minister to orphans in St. Petersburg, and as God continues to grow their family (even growing it through their hospitality to American missionaries like myself).

To My Family in Russia with Love,

Nancy

FINDING TRACTION

We’ve all seen snow and ice – well granted, in Louisiana (LA) we haven’t seen much of it, but what we have seen we quickly learned has a great potential for danger. Walking in snow in the past for me has been a pretty slushy endeavor, but here in St. Petersburg (StP), it’s kind of like walking in grey sand. Of course it’s dirty (that accounts for the grey), but when you step on it, it’s like sand because you just kind of sink down and it shifts around your feet – of course that provides for a good cardio-workout. But beware, underneath that “shifting sand” is the greatest danger – black ice!

When I walk in LA I take nice, long, swift strides – my students used to complain all the time that I was walking too fast. But here, I’ve learned to do what I call the Penguin Shuffle. No more long strides, pushing off each step with my toe, but instead, flat-footed, small plods – just pick ‘em up and put ‘em down – don’t try to push off on anything! I also quickly learned to beware of “clear” sidewalks, because what looks clear to my naïve LA eye may actually be slippery, dangerous ice. So instead I’ve learned to search for the edge of the walk, where light coverings of snow provide for traction – I think you’re getting a clear picture now – me doing the Penguin Shuffle, head down, just glancing up enough to keep my bearings as I move from place to place. A little snow on the side is a good thing – of course too much snow (like anything else in life that appears to be “good”) can also be a hazard – I don’t want it getting into my boots and causing me to walk around with cold feet all day.

As most of you know, I was raised in a wonderful Christian home – the first stories and songs I learned were from the Bible. So luckily I’ve had the “traction” of Christian principles to always fall back on throughout my life. Of course, that’s not to say that I haven’t often wandered off into the deep snow and gotten my feet cold and wet, but luckily I’ve always had that well-established history of God’s Word that was so loving taught to me at an early age to fall back on and to help get me back on track.

This journey during the cold of winter (oh, by the way, it’s -20C here today – that’s equal to -4F) has been an adventure for me, but each time I slip I have a chance to thank God for His protection as He keeps me upright and still traveling on.

From Russia With Love,

Nancy

Irina and Natasha

On Friday, Jan. 7 (Russian Christmas!) I had the opportunity to meet Irina who does a ministry with women in one of the prison colonies here in St. Petersburg (StP). If the translation was correct, when someone is arrested, then they are held in a colony in the city where they were arrested. They can stay there from 3 months to 3 years, depending on the length of the process of getting to trial. Each cell, which is designed for 15 prisoners, can hold from 15 to 50 women – usually 40-50 rather than just 15.

Irina began this ministry many years ago and visits not only the colony, but the large women’s prison outside of the city and the prisoner hospital here in StP Over the years she has had the opportunity to lead many women caught in the seemingly hopeless cycle of drugs, prostitution, and jail to know Christ. She has even at times taken some of these women into her own home in order to help them find a new life.

Irina met Liza (my translator) and I at the bus stop and walked with us to her apartment. I thought that we were going to meet with her to get to know more about her ministry and to see what kinds of hygiene items we could help to provide for the women. Of course, God had other plans. On the walk to the apartment (through what seemed like outer Siberia with all the deep snow between the many apartment buildings) she began to tell us about Natasha, a young woman who was currently living with her.

Natasha has been in jail 9 times in her 29 years of life and has spent the majority of her life in prison. She had met Irina many times over the years and had made a nice friendship with her. Natasha was released from prison last spring and by September found herself in a very desperate situation. She called Irina and told her that she was dying and could Irina help her. Irina immediately said, “Yes!” and went to meet her. Irina said that Natasha was just skin and bones and very dirty – she had been living in the sewers of StP since her release. The immediate concern was getting her cleaned up and fed.

The first few weeks went well as Natasha ate, bathed, and slept most of the time. She also went to church with Irina and in every service would weep in despair at the seemingly hopeless situation of her life. During one of those services she told Irina that she wanted to have Jesus in her life and they went down to the altar together to pray. Irina said that just a few weeks after that prayer time it seemed that Natasha’s attitude began to change. She became rebellious and began to argue all the time with Irina and her two children (ages 21 and 25) who still live with her. She no longer wanted to go to church and other than going to her job at an alterations shop, would not even get out of bed. Irina warned us that we were going into a home where it seemed an evil spirit had come to live.

We entered the apartment and were introduced to Irina’s two children. Zhenya, her daughter, told us that Natasha had gone in to take a shower and refused to come out because Irina had invited guests to the home. Irina kept going to the bathroom door and telling Natasha to come out. When she did finally emerge, she went into Irina’s bedroom and shut the door. After some time Irina finally told her she MUST come out and meet the guests of the home if she planned to stay in the home. When Natasha finally came to the dining table, she sat down, pulled both of her knees up to her chin, and glared at Liza and I with the most evil eyes I have ever seen! (I asked Natasha if I could take a picture and she said "No!" so there is no picture at this time for me to show you what she looks like.)

Irina continued to talk about her ministry and we continued to talk as if Natasha was not there. As I talked about myself and some of my experiences in StP, she began to open up – she put down first one foot and then the other, and then she even pulled her chair closer to the table and began to ask a question or two. Once I saw that she was losing her anger, I began to ask her about her new cat and about her job. It seemed that she had finally seen me as just a person, not some stranger who was coming to upset her life.

After visiting with them for a couple of hours, I told Irina and Natasha that we needed to leave, but that I would like to purchase some hygiene items for the women at the colony. Irina began to give me a list of items needed and I asked Natasha if she would be willing to go shopping with me to help purchase the correct things. She said, “Yes” and even agreed to let me buy something for her (she only has one set of “house” clothes and one outfit to wear outside).

Irina asked if I would pray for her, her ministry, and her home before I left and I immediately agreed. We stood around the table, held hands, and I prayed. I could hear sniffling from across the table where Natasha was standing and when I ended the prayer she covered her face with her hands and began to weep. Irina hugged her and whispered in her ear, “I love you and now you see that others can love you also.” Natasha nodded and wiped away her tears.

I was surprised to see Natasha pulling on her boots and coat as we were getting ready to leave. It seems that Irina had asked her if she would walk us to the bus stop and she had agreed – without any argument. We chatted as we walked to the bus, confirmed our plans to go shopping, and then we hugged as we parted. As Liza and I rode the bus back home, she looked at me and said, “Nancy, it was amazing to see the change that came over her! She went from a very angry woman to a mild spirit who held hands and hugged us.” I told her, “Yes, it is amazing what a little love from God and those who love Him can do in a person’s life.”

Please pray for my next visit with Natasha. She is to meet us Monday, Jan. 17 to go shopping. Pray that she will follow through with her agreement to meet with me, and that God will give me the right words to say to her to help lift her spirits and hopefully influence her attitude toward Irina, her home, and Natasha’s relationship with God the Father.

From Russia with Love!

Nancy

Light of Hope Ministries (with a side visit to Life Shelter for Street Kids)

About 6 weeks ago Marina Topoltseva (on the R in picture below taken at Tres Amigos restaurant - our fav Mex eating joint!!), the director of Road of Life Ministries in St. Petersburg, and my Christian sister since April of 2004, wrote an email to me about a new ministry begun by her church here in StP. It is a ministry for single moms who have struggled to keep their families together, is called “Light of Hope” (LOH), and it immediately touched my heart. As I shared her email with my fellow church members at Emmanuel Baptist in Ruston, we all felt touched to try to do something special for these young women. I am so blessed to be a part of a church that truly feels God’s call to missions – a church family that is always willing to go the extra mile, even during these tough financial times, to give a little extra for someone in need on the other side of the world. I love y’all so much!!!

Anyway, I brought extra money to help provide clothing for these young women and their children, and to help support this new ministry. I didn’t know who the ladies were or how old they were; didn’t know any of their names or the names of their children or how old the children were; but I knew that God had laid their needs on my heart and the heart of my church, so I just came, ready to help in any way I could during my short time in StP.

On Tuesday, April 20, our team visited at the Life Shelter for Street Kids at their new home. I had met their director, Irena, last year when they were living in a very old apartment and were constantly being harassed by the landlord and were unable to meet the demands of the fire department because of building code violations. But now they are in their new home and it is beautiful!! – a brand new apartment complex where they have been able to purchase a 3-apartment suite and turn it into one large “home”. A special treat was meeting a social-worker-trainee named Tanya (3rd from L), who is also assistant counselor at LOH.

Tanya shared with us her testimony that went something like this: She was addicted to drugs from a very young age and had her first child, a boy, when she was a teenager. Her mom took the boy to raise because Tanya was in no shape to do it herself – luckily through forgiveness and love, her mom is now allowing Tanya to reestablish her relationship with her son. Tanya continued on her downward path, had a second child, a little girl, and reached her “bottom” when she became so ill she almost died, and was diagnosed with HIV. During her hospital stay, a ministry team came from a church, and through their efforts and God’s great miraculous power, Tanya was saved. She quit drugs, got her daughter into school, attended church and through that church met Alla (the counselor at LOH) who gave her a room to live in at her own home while Tanya gets herself ready to truly be a mom and productive member of society. During this time of “new life” Tanya has had to show how much God has changed her, as she struggles to reclaim the family she lost during those years of drug addiction. As she shared her story, we cried, she cried, and we all felt deeply how God can take a life of ruins and turn it into a bright, shining example of His work, His power, and His commitment to each of us, His children.

It was a wonderful surprise to meet Tanya at the Life Shelter, to hear her testimony, and then to know that we would see her again later Tuesday evening at LOH. And what an evening it was!! This ministry was begun by Alla, who is the mother of three older children who still live at home, but whom God has called to full-time ministry with these young mothers – and not only has He called Alla, but her daughter Nastya as well – this is a family committed to sacrificing to meet the needs of others God has placed in their lives!!! And Alla has opened her home to Tanya so that she can be used by God as she shares her story with these young moms – many of whom share Tanya’s past struggles.

The LOH apartment is on the 5 floor of a walk-up in downtown StP, and has been heavily damaged by the large amount of snow that accumulated this past winter. The electricity is out in the entry way and front bedroom (in which 3 mothers and their 3 children stay), and there is rain damage to many of the walls of the apartment. There is one other large bedroom which also has 3 mothers and their 3 children (2 of whom are in baby beds), and one smaller bedroom where Alla stays. Then there is the living room and kitchen/dining area. It is a large apartment, but in very bad condition, so Alla is hoping it will only be temporary for them.

I’d like for you to meet each of the moms and their children who live at LOH:

One of the first sweeties we saw was a little dark-haired toddler named Dasha. She was running around and when Alla picked her up so we could say “Hi” to her, she began wiggling her eyebrows up and down and blinking – that’s “sweet eyes” in Russian!!! Of course we all immediately fell in love with her!! Dasha’s mom is currently in the hospital and is in the final few months of her pregnancy with her second child, so I think we each got a chance to hold her. She is pictured here with Marina, the director of Road of Life Family Homes.

Vika was a resident at Dorm 35, but I had not met her on former trips to StP. She has a 14 month old daughter named Vera. We didn’t hear Vera make any sounds during our whole evening at LOH and I can tell by looking at her that she probably has several mental and physical problems, possibly as a result of Vika’s former drug/alcohol problems. We did not get a chance to hear Vika’s story, so much of this is assumptions made by the team by our observations (as is the case with several of these young women).

Another darling toddler was Victoria, soon to celebrate her 1st birthday on April 23. Of course we all loved her sweet, chubby face, and her curly hair – the hair reminded me much of my daughter Rebecca’s hair at that age. Victoria’s mom is Larissa.

One young woman who did share some about herself was Tanya, who has a son who is 8 years old and lives with his father in Finland. Living with her at LOH is her daughter Sofia who is 3 years old, and Tanya is pregnant with her third child that is due in October.

Yulia (in her late 30's and married to a drug addict) is the mom of the only boy we met at LOH, Fedya, who is 3 months old. Yulia was very quiet during our visit, but I could see that her eyes followed me and watched me very closely while we were there, and especially while I lead in a short devotion. After we had finished with the craft project that Anne had brought for them, Yulia came up to me and presented me with a gift of a necklace with a pink heart pendant. It never ceases to amaze me that these “orphans” are always willing to give away their possessions to me – it may not have much value with regard to money, but this is a gift that I will always treasure, because it was a sacrifice for Yulia, the giver.

The final resident at LOH is Svetta and her 5 year old son Dima, but they were not at home when we were there, so we missed getting to meet them, and we have no pictures of them.

We were also excited to get to meet Tanya’s (assistant counselor) 3 year old daughter, Eliza, who is a real cutie. Talk about a ball of energy, that’s Eliza. Again, we’re not sure if it is a result of Tanya’s drug addiction when she was pregnant with Eliza, or just hyperactivity, but Eliza is a live wire and very destructive. She had to be taken from the room twice during our visit to be disciplined. (I think maybe God is telling me I need to read more on the results of drug-addictive pregnancy so I can understand more about its affects on the children born during that time.)

On Wednesday we met Alla and Tanya to give them the money donated by Emmanuel and to begin shopping for the food, clothes, and items for the apartment that they need. At first Alla didn’t want to take the money, but wanted instead to shop and let me pay for evening so that I would have a receipt. But I explained to her that God had called her to the ministry at Light of Hope and that just as her church and her pastor trusts her with these young lives and their welfare, I trust her to use the money donated to help with the needs of LOH and its residents. As I said to her, “We give this money to you for you to use for God’s work. So you don’t answer to me for how you spend it, you answer to Him!” Alla gave me a final hug and again said how grateful she was to our church family, and asked that we pray for each of them every day; and I promised her that we would!

From Russia with Love!
Nancy

Evening Devotionals

Some of my most cherished times are the devotional times spent with our friends and family at Road of Life and other ministries God has placed in my life. Because my St. Petersburg "family" has grown so much over the years (which is a GOOD thing), we now have to pretty much do these on an individual, home-by-home basis. So I'll use this opportunity to introduce you to my family!


Tuesday, April 13:

Road of Life Vladiminskaya Apt.

(Front L/R) Vera [counselor], Jonathon, Nancy, Anne, Sasha
(Back L/R) Anya, Vova [counselor], Rita, Sasha and Nakita [Vera/Vova's sons], Nadya, and Katya

Vera and Vova are in their fourth year as ROL counselors, and they are truly two of God's helpers in StP. They are always willing to open their home to those coming to StP to do ministry and on a previous trip I lived with them for 2 weeks. I will always cherish the mornings spent with Vera, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a piece of chocolate after everyone had left for the day. These times were especially fun since Vera doesn't speak much English and we all know I speak little Russian; but lots of hand motions and laughter made our time together very special. Vova is our main "taxi" driver as he transports us to and from the airport and helps to haul all of our luggage - we kept him extra busy this trip, and he always served with a smile. He is our St. Petersburg Prince!



Friday, April 16:

Road of Life Frunzenskaya Apt.

(Floor) Jonathon Furr
(Front L/R) Nancy, Losha, Anne, Larissa and Nina and Artur [Nina and Artur are counselors, and Larissa is Nina's mom - all originally from Armenia], and Pasha
(Back L/R) Anya, David [Artur/Nina's son], Volodya, Sasha, Karina [Artur/Nina's daughter], Marina, and Dima

This is the boys' home where Jonathon lived during his "extended" mission trip to St. Petersburg. All of these people (except Losha who has graduated from Road of Life and is living in his own apartment) live in a 4-room flat - just "comfortable" by Russian standards. Artur and Nina have been counselors with ROL for 2 years, and when Artur prays it is truly like God has stepped into the room!! I don't understand his words because he is praying in Russian, but I certainly understand the "meaning" of his words, and I am usually in tears by the time we all say, "Amen". I grew up in a family of preachers - my grandfather, Ben Joyner; my dad, Larry Joyner; and my uncle, Guy Murphrey, and I've heard some true men of God pray in my life, so I can tell you that Artur is truly a "lay"-preacher as he ministers to the young men who live in this home.


Sunday, April 18:

ROL Graduates at our home on Bukharestskaya

Sitting around the coffee table working on a mind puzzle set up by Losha (from L/R): top of Jonathon's head, Nelly (just returned that afternoon from a week of ministry with John Neese as translator in Estonia), Nancy, Anne, Ira (single mom who brought her 3-year-old son Danya), Katya, Little Anya, Marina (director of ROL), Losha.

Our devotion time, mind puzzle time, and farkle-playing time ran a little long, and we forgot to take a group picture, but our evening spent together was wonderful. We were loud, but a good time was had by all. I made gumbo and Anya made guacamole, so the food was really good!

Marina had called Ira earlier in the day, but Ira said she didn't have the money to get to our apartment, so Marina told her to dig around and find enough money for the metro ride (19 rubles, or about 65 cents) to Electrocila and there Misha and Losha would meet her and pay for the tram ride (another 19 rubles). As Ira was getting ready to leave, Marina and I paid Misha the money he had paid for the tram ride over, and then gave Ira 1000 rubles (about $35) so that she could have money to get home - and then go to the grocery on Monday to buy food. It was sad to watch as she a little Danya ate dinner because Marina said many times Ira will go without eating so that Danya can have food to eat. Please pray for this single mom who is struggling to give her son a better life than she has had.


Monday, April 19:

Road of Hope Ministry home

(Front L/R): Aleona (born in St. Petersburg, but mother living in India - she is studying at the university in StP), Luda (I met her 2 years ago at dorm 70), Anne, and Nancy
(Back L/R): Anya and Natasha (counselor)

Road of Hope ministries is run by Pam and Gary Amstutz from Ohio, who had served as Road of Life counselor 2 years ago. Pam and Gary now live in Siberia and Natasha is the counselor for their StP home. Aleona and Luda live at this apartment full-time, but on the weekends 4/5 girls come from Orphanage #51 which is nearby. Natasha just celebrated her 29th birthday, and is truly a young woman committed to doing God's work wherever He may lead her. It has been a joy knowing her these past 2 1/2 years, and especially watching her English improve as she has worked so hard to master our language.

Tuesday, April 20:

Light of Hope Ministry for single moms

(Front L/R): Yulia and her 3 mo. old son Fedya, Tanya (asst. counselor) and her 3 yr. old daughter Eliza, Tanya (holding Dasha who is 2 yrs. old and her mom is in the hospital), Nancy (holding Sofia, Tanya's 3 yr. old daughter), Anya, Svetta (asst. counselor), Alla (counselor and founder of home, holding Vera, the 14 mo. old daughter of Vika), and Marina

(Back L/R): Anne and Vika (Vera's mom).

Not pictured were Larissa and her 1 yr. old daughter Victoria (who was a little cranky and in need of a short nap).

I will write more about this ministry and the ladies living in this home on a separate blog, but let me tell you that this was one evening that I won't ever forget. They each have such a sweet spirit and we all thoroughly enjoyed our time spent together. Anne helped the girls make a card with a gold or silver cross on it, and the ladies loved it; while Anya and I played with the little ones - I got in some practice for hopefully some day being a grandma!! This is the ministry site that Emmanuel Baptist Church has donated extra funds to help support during my trip, so we are taking Alla, the counselor, and her daughter Nastya, who is her assistant counselor, shopping today to buy clothes for the moms and babies, and some other items needed for their home. By the way, their home is on the top, 5th floor of an apartment building that has received heavy damage due to the excessive snow fall from this past winter - some of the damage includes loss of electrical power to one room and the entry-way because of water shorting out the lines. But they continue to manage and are thankful for a safe place to live. Keep them in your prayers!!!

I know that part of my ministry while here in St. Petersburg is to lead these families in devotion and/or Bible study, but I always find that as I minister to them, they continue to bless my heart in so many ways. They live together, fight together, and love together, just like any family in America would, but ultimately they all try to be the person God intends for them to be, and that's when I truly receive a blessing from them.

Keep all of my Russian family and us in your prayers!

From Russia with Love!

Nancy and the team

Camp Elema (El’-ah-ma) - "Camp of Light" in Finnish

In the spring of 2009 (if my memory hasn’t failed me – and many of you know that happens quite frequently now), a camp, Elama (Finnish for "Light") was purchased by a Christian organization from the U.S. The sponsoring agency for this camp in St. Petersburg is MIR (the charity organization that helps us secure our visa’s, letters of invitation, etc.), which is headed up by Mike Cantrell, an American living most of the time in StP. Last fall I was made aware of this camp and the needs they had in preparing the camp to be used for Christian camps during the summer; so my church, Emmanuel Baptist Church of Ruston, very generously gave money for paint and to help purchase a riding lawn mower for the upkeep of the property. On Saturday, April 17, my team, along with John Bull (2-yr. missionary in StP) and Sergey (employed by MIR), traveled to the camp for a work day.

We met at Parnas metro stop at the end of the blue line – note the “illegal” photo I took of my 3 other team members on the last leg of that journey (L-R Sasha, Anya, Anne), since we were the only 4 people in our car or the surrounding cars - I say "illegal" because you are not allowed to take pictures on the metro. From Parnas we traveled 2 hours outside of the city to the camp – passing the mostly still frozen Gulf of Finland, and several beautiful lakes. The last leg of the journey was a dirt road that reminded me of many old dirt roads back home – in much need of a good grading. When we arrived at the camp we were greeted with many acres of snow-covered land – most of which is a part of a national forest that was created after Russia took the land from Finland at the end of WWI. I was excited to find out that because of the large riding lawn mower we had helped to purchase, they were going to be able to maintain trails throughout a large portion of the national park property for the camp participants to enjoy.

Anne Brashier and I were put to work in building 2, and Anya soon joined us as we cleaned out the rooms, boxed up the miscellaneous stuff found there, swept, mopped, and then scraped paint, all to help prepare for a team from Georgia that is coming in two weeks to stay at the camp and do painting and construction projects. Sasha Newman joined John Bull as they began scraping the exterior of building 3. Sergey in the meantime was finishing constructing a stove in building 2 so that people could use the buildings in the fall/winter/early spring months when the cold is really set in.

After two hours of work, we broke for lunch, which John and Sergey prepared over an open pit – yum, Russian bar-b-que! The main part of the meal was pork shashlie (shish-ka-bob), and there were also hot dogs, chips, fruit, etc. After we ate the wonderful meat (using our fingers – messy and WONDERFUL!!), we made smores from the fixings I had brought from the states – you can’t get graham crackers and marshmallows here (again, very messy and yum!). Everyone enjoyed the meal and then we went back to work for the remaining time.

About 4pm we left to return to the city. We all smelled like smoke, some of us had wet feet from walking in the snow and mud, and we were all worn out, but boy we felt good! We had spent a day working to prepare a site for God’s ministry in the company of fellow Christians who also enjoy working for our Lord. What better way to spend a beautiful spring day? It reminded me of the mission trip our church took to Poydras, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana last summer – we painted the children’s wing of a church damaged during Hurricane Katrina – and enjoyed the hard work and time of fellowship together.

Much of what we do here in StP is about building relationships with the hurting, needy children; but sometimes God lets us get in a get our hands dirty doing something really difficult and physical. As we left the camp, I told Anne and Sasha – “You two have seen and done things today that no other ministry team that has come with me has seen or done – enjoy the fact that God has used you in a special way!”

From Russia with LOVE!
Nancy and the Team

The Devil’s in the Details

Anyone who’s been on a mission trip knows that flexibility is a key word during the experience. I can plan for months, and with Anya’s (my Russian daughter and translator/assistant) help connect with different groups that we will minister with. But when it comes right down to it, all my plans usually are for naught! That has really been true this trip – it’s not been like any other I’ve been a part of – lol.

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