I am a plow.

I hate it when I can’t sleep. I’ve always been a night owl, so I love to stay up late, but occasionally, when I’m lying there in bed and I’m trying to go to sleep and idea pops into my mind. Most of the time it’s about the day or it’s some feeling that I had and that I need to think and pray through. Well, tonight it’s two stories. These two stories tell about how God is working in little ways, ways that I don’t always see. Ways that I don’t really think of as big or gigantic, but then I’m reminded that more than likely my job is the job as the plow, not the harvester. I’m not working in countries where you barely mention the Fathers name and the harvest is ready. Nope, that’s not Europe.

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I had the opportunity to meet a new friend this last week, his name is George. Throughout the day and through our conversations I had the feeling that he was spiritually searching. When it came time to go home, I found myself alone with him in the taxi. He asked me if the reason I couldn’t hang out on Sunday was because of church, and I said yes. I had to change our plans because I would’ve had to miss church. I explained to him that I do not attend an Orthodox church and he said, “Oh I know”. I wasn’t really sure if I should take the conversation a little deeper, but I could feel the spirit nudging me so I asked him, “Do you go to church?” He told me that he used to go to church and his dad used to be a pastor. I pressed a little deeper and asked him why his dad wasn’t a pastor anymore. He told me that his dad had died of a heart attack. I gathered from the conversation that he doesn’t go anymore since his father’s death, but I also learned that his brother is still active in church and is even a minister. I wasn’t able to take the conversation too much farther because we arrived at my house, but I did make sure that he knew he was invited to church and that it is an awesome church with tons of college students.

Please pray for my new friend. Pray that he starts to seek the Father and that he will know Him intimately. Pray that he will be bold and show up at church while I’m here so I can introduce him to the people our age. Pray that the Father will use him to reach his lost friends.

Another friend, Stefan (name has been changed), called me the other night and wanted to hang out one day this week. We were busy making plans and out of nowhere he asks me if I was going to church on Sunday. I told him yes, and then came that debate in my head, should I invite him, or should I just let him bring it up if he wants to go. But I felt that little nudge again, and I said, "Well, why do you want to know? Do you want to come with me?" He said, "Yes, of course."

Okay so at this point I'm just a little shocked. That wasn't the answer I was expecting. I told him about my church and the times we meet and he was sad to hear that we only had church on Sunday mornings. He works on Sunday and only has the evenings free. He asked me, "You only go to church on Sundays? That's it?" I wanted so bad to be back home so I could've said well no, I actually go on Wednesdays as well, but churches are a little different here. I could tell that he really wanted to come with me.

Please pray for Stefan and that his work schedule will change so he can start attending church. Pray that the Father will continue to work in his life and soften him and place questions in his heart. Pray that he will feel comfortable attending and that if he's not able to go with me that he will still be brave and go by himself.

So from these past two instances, I've come to fully realize, I am a plow.

Women vs Men

American women have fought so hard for independence and equality with men, and I think in doing so they have hurt themselves. After visiting several countries, I’ve noticed that we don’t have it so good as American women. I think that we have fought so hard to be equal that it’s affecting our relationships with men. In Russia, women are revered and they are valued, not just for their beauty, but also because they are more fragile and need protection from the evil of this world. Women are treasured.

Julie and I attended a women’s conference a few months ago and we got the biggest kick out of our friends. Most of these ladies are young married women, and when it came time to setup the room and move some pews around, and setup two tables, the women immediately started going through a list of men to call to help them move the pews and setup tables. I know of several women’s organizations in America that when something needs to be setup for a women’s event, the ladies themselves pull out the tables from storage and set them up, and they move around the pews or chairs all by themselves. Julie and I started laughing because we were used to moving things and we could have easily lifted the pews, moved them around, and setup the two tables. In America, we would have done so without stopping to think of what man to call to come move them. Our friends ended up not having to call anyone because two men from the church were dropping off their wives and we asked them to help. As Julie and I watched the men move the pews and setup the tables and I realized that they appreciated being helpful and useful to us. They liked solving our problems and being the man, being whom God made them to be, the helper and provider.

That night got me to thinking about how in America we miss out on so many opportunities as women to validate men and to appreciate them. It doesn’t have to be to call them up and ask them to setup a room for a women’s event, it’s the little things. We don’t appreciate them enough when they hold open doors for us and or give up a chair for us. It’s not often in America that this happens and yes it doesn’t always happen here in Russia, but I see it more, and I like it. I like being valued as a woman, just because I’m a woman. I like having someone offer their seat for me, or hold open a door for me. I like it when they offer to open that five-gallon bottle of water and I let them, even though I could have done it myself.

I can’t help but think of how much this would help marriages, let the man be the man and the woman be the woman. No more demanding for equality, they are stronger than us, let them be. Ladies sit back, enjoy being a woman, and appreciate the men you have in your life.

Walkin' On Water..okay technically it’s ice

Life in the Far East isn’t really hard, but it is harder to live out here. Often we have to go to two stores and a market to buy food or ingredients for daily life. Then what you buy you have to carry home. I’ve gotten used to the whole, how heavy is this now, and will I be able to walk home with it? Oh and with the ice it just makes things even lovelier! In a few places, the ice is very very thick.

In November, one day it got right around 33 degrees F and the ice started to melt and it was wonderful because I thought the ice would go away, oh boy was I wrong. Within a few hours, the temperature dropped and everything started freezing again. So what was slowly melting and was sorta a mushy/slushy material all of a sudden became hard frozen ice. In many places, I would say the ice is about 6 inches deep.

I’ve gotten pretty good with walking on ice, and I’ve slipped twice, once I did this little half fall and the second time I took someone down with me. It was my Russian friend Inna, and we both laughed, but after standing up and walking a distance we realized our legs hurt. But not because they were bruised from the fall, but because they were cold. It was New Years, I was being very Russian, and I decided to wear boots, black tights, a dress, and then a long sleeve black shirt underneath. All I had over the dress was my long Russian coat, scarf, hat, and gloves. Inna had on a very similar outfit and when we fell on the early New Years day morning, our poor barely covered legs got the worst of the fall. We got up and started inching our way to the car and all of a sudden, our legs felt like razors were slicing our legs, all over. You see, when our legs came into such close contact with the ice, that thin little layer of tights didn’t really do a good job of keeping our legs warm. But I did warm up soon when I finally made it to the car,but even when I got home twenty minutes later, my legs were still cold!

(these photos are from New Years)

Ice, Ice, and More Ice

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted on here and that’s because I’ve not had the internet in my apartment! However, I now have internet, and I’ve had it now for like two weeks but I’ve been busy catching up to facebook messages, and thanking everyone for their nice wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and also I’ve just been lazy!

I had a friend of mine who is American but studying in Tallinn, Estonia come stay with us for about two weeks during Christmas, and it was good to have her here , but we didn’t really get out and do much. I’ll bet your wondering “Why?”. Well, the answer is that it was freezing cold and when the wind blew it felt like it was cutting into our skin. It was cold when the wind wasn’t blowing, but then it got worse when the wind was! The wind chill was often in the negative teens with gusts about twenty miles per hour. On two various days, Shera and I got out of the apartment to venture into the cold to do a little sightseeing and we got no further than our bus stop and after waiting 15 minutes for a bus gave up and came inside. It was miserably cold and not typical days for a sightseeing trip. Now things are a little better outside, and we are not having such cold weather, but it’s still a lot colder than what this Texas girl is used to! I do not believe it has been over 32 degrees F for the past month. The other day it was around 27 degrees F and I thought it was a beautiful warm day. Crazy huh?

(This video is from one night when our friend Shera was in town and we were playing Zilch with some friends)

Русская Mузыка

Every Tuesday for our conversation class, we have the privilege of attending music class. It's really not that bad, and we get to learn a little about Russian history through the old folk songs that we are singing, oh and we get to watch tv as well! So, I guess it's good! :)

Well, today, Julie and I were faced with the task of singing an American song. Do you know how hard it is to find a song that has some great meaning and that's also considered old?? Yeah, there's not that many, especially ones that are easy to sing, but thankfully our teacher kept asking for spirituals, and these two girls, well we know a few spirituals. The song that came to both of our minds was Amazing Grace. So, before it was our turn to sing, I just asked God for guidance and for the knowledge of how to explain the song in Russian and that our classmates and teacher would get an understanding of the song and of its meaning.

So, when it came time to singing, I opened my mouth and out came the words of that beautiful song. I heard the Korean girl across from me, breathe in and say something in Korean and then she smiled. Also, I could see our teacher from the corner of my eye, and I saw that she too recognized the song. We only sang the two verses we could remember and then it was time for me to explain. All I could put together with my limited Russian, along with the help of my trusty dictionary, was that it was an old British and American song that's about when Jesus Christ died for us, He gave us grace. When we first believe in Him, we receive that grace.

After I finished explaining the song, our teacher told us that she had heard the song before when she visited America. Then she asked if we could give her the words.

Julie and I know for a fact that we were the only believers in the room and I pray that our song, along with it's very limited translation reached the hearts of our classmates and teacher. Here are the names of our classmates, Moto, Hyien, Yukari, Mien, Roma, Enjay, Hoozal, and Pak Segee. I'm not sure of our music teacher's name because we only have her once a week, and I forgot it!

Please be praying for our class, that Julie and I will seek to glorify the Father and that through us seeking Him that others will in turn start to desire and seek that themselves. Also, please pray that each of our classmates and teachers will have a believer in their lives that is able to communicate to them in their native language and speak the truth to their hearts.

Going on a Walk

Wow! God is good!! Today we went prayer walking around the center of the city, and even had some answered prayers before we were finished with the walk. Here’s what happened:
So this morning starts off overcast and cool. I wasn’t feeling too good, I’ve had like a cold or allergy thing going on, and so I wasn’t really up to walking all over the city and I was actually kind of dreading the walk, but I went anyway.

We arrived at the church a few of our Russian brothers and sisters were already there. After waiting around a few more minutes, Nadia, the prayer coordinator at church starts talking and holds up this bowl of rock salt. Then she has these little pieces of paper that are stapled on the sides passed out to each of us. I take one and notice that there’s nothing written on them. Then she holds up the bowl of salt and reminds us of the verse in Matthew where it talks about us being the salt of the earth. She then passes the bowl around, and each of us take a small handful and put it in our paper pouches. As we’re walking through the city, we are to spread it in the streets. I loved this idea!

So, Julie and I start off walking from the church and we head through the center of town making our way to the Vokzal, or train station. As we’re just getting started in our walk and crossing the central square, it starts to rain, and not just a little drizzle, I mean big drops of rain. Today was the celebration of the krai, which is like a state, and there was to be a concert later on in the day at the square, but if it rained, the event would have been postponed. So we prayed for the rain to stop and for God’s presence to fill the square. After turning the corner and walking down the road for a few minutes, we noticed that the rain had stopped. Then as we all gathered to have a final prayer over the city as a group, I looked up and saw the sun shining! God is good even in the little things He is good! Thank you for providing the sun and for making the rain to stop so that we could finish our walk and not be completely soaked, and thank you Father for making the rain go away, so that my friends could celebrate their history.

I'm glad that I went, and while we were walking, I didn't feel tired, or really remember all of my ailments, it wasn't until after the walk when we were heading home that I remembered my complaints. Sometimes I wonder how much the evil one has his hands in things, trying to make me miss out on one of God's blessings!

Please continue your prayers for my Russian friends. Pray that Father will bless me with new people that need to be a part of the family, and pray for the softening of their hearts. Also, please pray for my Russian brothers and sisters, that Father will show them how to reach their world for Him.

Waterfalls

You never know that to expect when you sign up for a trip to go see waterfalls, even in the states, one can’t be 100% sure of what to expect. Are we going to drive up a road that takes us to the water, and get out of the car and take photos? Are we going to have to walk a little bit to see the waterfalls? Or, are we going to be hiking up a mountain and follow the waterfall from the base up? You see, these are all good questions, and I kinda wished I would’ve asked the last two.

Living here in Russia, I’ve learned to go with the flow. Now, I was never one to need a plan and to need all the details lined up before doing something, that’s not me. I’m very laid back and relaxed, I’m a go with the flow kinda girl. Well, living here, I’ve gotten even more relaxed, and here’s why. I have no idea what anyone is saying! They could be telling me that they are fixing to feed me to a pack of starving lions, and as long as they did so with a smile on their face, I would do whatever they motioned for me to do. So, two weeks ago when my new friend, Yana, asked me to go to the waterfalls with her English Club, I said yes, and didn’t really ask for details. Thankfully, though, I did think to ask what she would be wearing, and when she said, “oh you know my trainers”, I’m just thankful I’ve watched British telly, so I knew what trainers were.

Let’s move ahead to this morning…
This morning we left our apartment with Yana and Kolya picking us up at 8am, in their van…well we thought we were going in their van. Julie and I walked outside to meet up with them, and see them standing in our parking lot without van. That’s when Yana informed us that they rode the bus, so we all hopped on the bus and headed to the northern part of town. About 40 minutes later, we get off the bus, and then proceed to walk a few blocks to another bus stop, where our waterfalls bus awaited us. We were told by Kolya, who speaks a little English, that the ride was about an hour away. We didn’t realize he meant an hour away from this town called Artyom that was about an hour away from our city.

Our tour guide talked the entire time on the ride there and Yana translated everything for us. I got to pass through the longest village in all of Russia (I’m not sure what that means) and I also got to learn all about the animals and flora and fauna of the Far East as well as other waterfalls around the world. We finally arrived at the waterfall around 12ish and we proceed to empty out of the bus. I looked around and saw people leave things on the bus, so I asked Yana what all I should take. She said, oh just take what you think you will need for this trip, because it’s in total five parts. So, I head on out with everyone else thinking I was going to see one of the five waterfalls. We start hiking up this hill, and it’s a little muddy but not too bad. Our guide stops us and points to this guy in our group, Yana informs me that his name is Ivan and he’s here to help us with our hike. I took a quick glance around the group and notice that half of our group is overweight smokers or they are senior citizens, so I turned to Yana and said, what do you mean by “help us”? I’m thinking he’s like a medic and we’re all about to die, and the guide expecting people to pass out. Yana just laughs and says, “he’s here to help us”. “Oh okay,” I say and follow them up the hill. Little did I know that this hill soon turned into a muddy mountain and this first trip, was actually the whole trip, and all five parts were being hiked to at once. We weren’t going to have the bus to drive us to the next part and the next part and the next. It was all us, hoofing it up the mountain, and yes, I mean mountain.

I soon found out why our helper was there. You see, parts of this hike were climbing up huge muddy rocks, and one cannot climb them without a rope to help pull yourself up, and then one also need someone else pulling you up at the top. I looked up at these spots and I immediately thought of the little old grannies that were with us and I wondered how are they going to get up that? Then I thought of the overweight smokers who had lit up a cigarette at least twice every hour…how were they going to get up those rocks? That’s when I looked up and one of the grannies was climbing the rock, and I noticed her footwear. She was wearing dress shoes with a heel!!!!! Yes, dress shoes!! I couldn’t believe, and I took pictures to prove it! I watched as our
helper pulled her up the mountain, and then I realized, oh that’s why he’s here. He’s our helper!

I’m not going to lie, it was a hike, but it was beautiful and I loved it and would do it again. After our hike, we then hiked down the mountain and walked down into the valley and riverbed for a picnic lunch. They had tables setup with tablecloths, and even another table set up to the side with herbal tea and canned caramel. We sit down to a soup of potatoes, carrots, noodles, onions, some type of purplish leafy things, and meat (it’s a don’t ask and don’t want to know type of thing). As I’m sitting there the girl across from me pulls out this bottle of fermented honey and water and offers it to me. I was being offered moonshine!! Wow! What’s a little Baptist girl like me supposed to do when offered homemade moonshine…well you turn it down, and I did, and I think she was okay with it. Then all of a sudden, her friend beside her pulls out this plastic container that has bread slices with butter and a little dish of these cute little orangish red things. She offers me some and I look at Yana and ask, “What is it?” “Oh it’s caviar,” was her reply. The lady offers it to me again, and I thought what the heck, I’ve never tried it before and I hate fish but why not try it, after all I’m in Russia, caviar is cheaper here than in the states and it’s a huge Russian tradition. I put some on my buttered bread and took and bite, and what do you know…I liked it!!! Then I even put a spoon full on my bread and ate it all (I have pictures to prove it Mom)! Caviar is much cheaper here than in the states, you can buy about 4 lbs for about $20-$30 USD. I’m glad I tried it.

Well, after eating caviar, we played a few Russian kids games on the riverbank. On the walk back to the bus, my caviar friend bought a huge basket of red berries from one of the villagers. I was offered some of them, I pulled one off and put it in my mouth and right about the time I bite down on it, Yana looks at me and says, “Oh they’re very bitter.” Heck yes they were bitter! I asked them why people would eat them and she said they are very good for your blood pressure. Also, she mentioned that usually people put them in tea or make a compote, which is a bunch of fruit boiled together, kinda like juice and a little sweet.

Anyway, my day didn’t quite turn out the way I had imagined it to be, it was long, but good! I got to spend time with some two of my students, as well as Yana and Kolya. I got tons of great photos of the waterfalls, the forest, and of me eating caviar, and I’m glad I went. Here’s what I learned…it’s okay to not know what you’re doing and have to depend on the nationals. It’s okay to trust them with your life, literally, and to follow their lead. Yeah, you may have to climb a few mountains, but you’re building relationships, which will hopefully lead to sharing about eternal things, which are way more important than my terminal earthy things.