I went to Russia again this Spring Break for the third time and I thought it was the best trip to date. This year the school supported each of the students half the cost of the trip, which covered the flights and visas. 72 hours before we were to leave for the trip we were told that there was a possibility the school was going to cancel the trip. 48 hours, Wednesday March 23rd, before our departure date our Campus Minister was told the school was pulling their support. This left us in a state of relief and confusion. We all thought we were not going to go on the trip and then after some conversation with the people at the International Mission Board it was decided that it was best for the witness of Christ and the local church that the students still go.
We all met that night at 10pm to discuss the options, the reason to still go and to pray hard. To be honest many of us were relieved the trip was canceled because it had been a stressful trimester and week with finals. Although we had a relief about the trip, we all agreed that we should still go and realized that if God wanted us to go on the trip he would raise the money we needed. We had to raise $5,200 in less than 24 hours.
The next day we took tests and contacted family members, friends and recent alumni to ask for their support. By the miraculous work of God we raised more than enough money and by 6pm that Thursday we had our airplane tickets.
The following day, Friday March 25th, we were on our way to Russia and excited to see the work that God would be doing there. We landed in Moscow fine and left for Zavolzh'ye Saturday evening. Seeing the people we had met the yeas before was exciting and brought us so much joy. It was amazing to see the work that the LORD had been doing at the Baptist church there to grow it and the people there with sharing the gospel. We went to four or five different schools this year, which gave us the opportunity to meet more students and build more relationships. We went to a teaching college in Gorodetts where we met students who were learning to be English teachers. Later that day we went to the Orthodox church in that same town and were given a tour of it. Orthodox is somewhere between Catholicism and Greek Orthodox. They believe that Mary is more forgiving and just than God and that is why they pray to her. They believe that if you touch certain pictures, icons, and the footprint of Mary (yes this was sewn into a pillow) then you will be healed. It was very sad and broke my heart for them. The tour guide really seemed to believe everything she was saying too.
We took part in an English competition at School No 15. The students were in groups by school and there was one American person in each group. The competition was to go around to the different stations and answer questions on English grammar, movies, food etc. The one thing that we Americans had to do was memorize all the names of the people in our group and their hobbies. It was a lot but I succeeded, as did many of us surprisingly :) While there we held an English Club at the church, where people from the church and surrounding community comes to learn English. However many people are turned away by the fact that it is held at a Baptist Church and are afraid of them or of becoming one of them. I am happy to say though that some of the people who have been attending the English Club have become Christians and members of the church. We went ice skating with the students on one of the days as well as a way to talk to them without the teachers around and to build relationships with them. Russians we were told do not usually talk about religion, politics and such things unless you have been friends for a couple years. This is why building relationships with the students and continuing them when we return to the United States is such a key aspect to what we are trying to accomplish and help the church there to do.
Our last day in Zavolzh'ye we were given a tour of the town by one of the English teachers and her students. This English teacher was the lady who had set up most of our visits to the different schools and had us over for dinner one night. She is also not a Christian and barely goes to the Orthodox church, but when she heard that there was a possibility the trip would be canceled, that was the first time she prayed. That evening we had a pizza party planned for the students to come and for us to enjoy time with them outside of the schools and in a more relaxed atmosphere. About 60 students came, which was amazing. Some of us were able to talk about what a Baptist was and clarify the fact that they do not drink the blood of their children. We did clarify that we were Christians during our conversations but not many students had questions or the topic was changed. Hopefully with the continued growth of relationships we will be able to knock down some of those walls. All in all it was a very productive week and thought to be the best trip so far.
We returned to Moscow on Friday morning, March 4th, and spent to days with one of the missionary families in Moscow. We spent the whole day with them learning about them, why they were there and ways we could help them in the future. We cooked for them as well. It was funny how it ended up. At one point all the women were in the kitchen cooking and the guys were in the living room talking. I had to laugh at it in my head but it was fun because we were able to talk to the wife and see her point of view on being a missionary in a foreign country as well as being a wife and mother. It was very encouraging and you could tell that they had been very blessed. We spent the next day relaxing and walking around an open air market. That Sunday we flew home on a very long flight.
If you have more questions about Russia feel free to come and talk to me or post a comment or send an e-mail. I would be more than happy to speak with you.
One thing I ask of you is that you would keep some prayers in mind and if you remember could you include them in your prayer times.
Prayer
1. Baptist Church in Russia - that they would be encouraged and keep growing in the sharing of the gospel.
2. The relationships we have begun to build with students - that we would continue to build on them.
3. For the English teacher - that she would come to know Christ.
4. That we would take what we saw in Russia and apply it to our lives here. That we would take advantage of the fact that we live in a free society where we can talk about religion openly and people are willing to listen.
Thank you for all your prayers and support.
Some of these sessions stood out more to some than others, but some of the things that stood out in my mind was: when sharing the gospel we need to remember to keep the main things the plain things and the plain things the main things. It doesn't have to bee too complicated. He told us a story, which I can not get out of my head, about how a christian gave a bible to Penn of Penn & Teller after a show and explained the gospel to him. Penn later said that he respected the guy because he shared his faith and said "how much do you have to hate someone to not share with them." That quote just hit me. How much do I have to hate someone to not share with them, even though I don't even know them. One of the final things that had an impact on me was the entire session on adoption and how it is an expression of the gospel. For many this was also impact-full because they had never heard of or thought of adoption in this way and they really enjoyed it. Tony also talked about how adoption was ever God's Plan B. This just made me think about what a sovereign and glorious God that we have. This just made me think about why don't we think in this way and plan on adopting as part of our family because that is how we came into God's family. Listening to this session made me just want to adopt (eventually, Lord willing) that much more. Tony has written a book called Orphanology, which I am excited to read and educate myself more on this topic. 
This weekend was a great opportunity to grow our relationships with the students and begin building connections with the freshmen. From where I stand, I could definitely tell that the students who went made deeper connections and are pleased that they went. Of all the games we played this weekend, Pirates Monopoly I believe was the most popular and intense one played. Saturday was a gorgeous, warm (surprisingly) day so I decided to go for a walk on the beach and ended up going for 2 hours. It was a much needed time of peace and relaxation.
