One of our favorite things about Moscow is the marketplace or in Russian the renok. Here you can get almost anything and practice your Russian. The prices are cheaper, the vendors are friendly and you feel like a local when you shop here. When Jess lived here four years ago there was a small food market outside of her local metro station.That has since been shut down as well as the outdoor market, which was a short bus ride from our office.The largest market in Europe, located not far from where our Russian friends Slava and Svieta live, was shut down this summer under dubious circumstances. One of our favorite things about Moscow is becoming a scarcity.

Thankfully there is still a great market 10 minutes by bus from our home. We went there the other day to get a few items for a party we were hosting. I took our camera with us to share with you the sights of a Moscow market. The first thing you need to understand is that the market is always bigger than it looks. If you’re not careful you could easily get lost among the power drills, the household appliances, potatoes, shoes and wallpaper. Second, the vendors may seem gruff on the outside but if you ask them where they are from and how they are you have suddenly become their favorite customer.

Here is a meat vendor. Jess asked the vendor which one was ham. The lady smiled and with her large meat fork pointed at twelve chunks of meat saying “This is ham, this is ham, this is ham, this also is ham, that’s chicken, this is ham…” It was a funny moment.

Not only can you buy meat here. But also all kinds of crazy hats!

This the produce market. Prices here are unbeatable. And the people are really friendly.

Murals adorn the market. This market is called the “Moskvarechi” or “Moscow River Market”.

Another mural.

Many of the vendors are from former soviet countries like Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan. These dishes are authentic Uzbek designs. Aren’t they awesome?

Here is Jess buying some potatoes from her new best friend who upon finding out we were from America went on to tell us how much she loved Michael Jackson and cried for days when he died. She was sad to hear that we didn’t know Michael even though we lived in the same country.

The market is a great place for us to go. Not only do we get good food at a good price but we also feel like we are becoming more and more a part of the city and its people when we go. We know that we will probably never fully assimilate but that’s ok. We can still try to befriend the people we buy from and get to know the places locals go. This is our home and piece by piece, person by person we are building a foundation from which to love and be loved by the people of Moscow.

Holiday Adventures

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Christmas was celebrated or by most merely observed here in Russia yesterday, January 7th.

We wanted to share with you some of the ways we have been spending our holidays here in Moscow. Along with some language lessons and getting things situated in our new apartment there has been a great deal of fun! Many of the reasons have to do with the several inches of fresh snow on our 11th story flat window and two days of heavy snow fall that seem to come every weak!

After the first few drops in temperature we were able to try out our used ice skate purchases on a small rink five minutes from our flat.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our team. Through and English school we were able to get a hold of a turkey and celebrated with all of the usual holiday dishes. In this picture you see me with teammates making green and red popcorn balls. A tradition for one of the families here.

We attended the midnight Christmas Eve service at the English speaking Anglican Church. The 25th is like any other work day in the city and we were thankful to have a place of worship! On Christmas morning, we had a dear friend and teammate over for brunch and talked with our families on skype. The afternoon was filled with sledding adventures and ended with cider and games.

New Year's Eve we hosted a prayer time for remembering the greatness of our King and His works, blessings and provisions for us over the past year. We looked towards the future and asked for renewed hopes and vision for the coming year. We then rushed to Red Square with thousands of other Russians to ring in the New Year, the largest holiday in the country.
We spent the morning of January 1st in a forest about 30 min. by bus from out flat. There was a fresh foot of snow and every limb had inches of snow piled high. It was almost completely empty and Dave and I found solitude, silence and great beauty a priceless gift!! We cross country skied and found rest there. (unfortunately, we did not have our camera but here is a shot from more recent adventures in the forest that Dave was not on. Merry Christmas and Happy New year! Love,Dave & Jess

33 beds and counting

About a month ago we celebrated our third anniversary. Every year, after our anniversary we count how many different beds we’ve slept in that year. It’s a fun way for us to reminisce about the places we’ve been and the people we’ve reconnected with or met for the first time. Because we travel for conferences and fundraising we get to visit a lot of places and see some wonderful people. This year we slept in 33 different beds, which surpasses our first anniversary record of 24. Some of the memorable places we’ve been fortunate enough to visit or live in are New Orleans, Moscow, Houston, San Angelo, Dallas, Denver, Fort Collins, Charleston, Chicago, DC and Baltimore.

For the privacy of our hosts we won’t list the names here, but you know who you are and how much we enjoyed staying with you. A huge and hearty thanks to all of you who opened your homes and pull-out couches to us while we were passing through town. Visiting friends like you is one of the highlights of the work we’ve been called to. As we settle into our new home in Moscow we are trying to put a lot of thought into our guest room, incorporating what we’ve appreciated about the rooms we’ve been guests in ourselves. Come on over and see for yourself if we’ve done a good job.

While we hope we don’t make a new record this year we’ll see what this new year holds for us. With the ever-changing visa situations we face we could surpass the new record of 33. Currently after one month we’ve slept in three beds so at that rate we’re on track for 36. We’ll see what the new year brings!

Christmas a week early

"David, I need to meet with you today. When can I come over?" Said our landlady's husband.

"Hmm, before five" I said as best as I could in Russian.

"Ok, I'll be there at three with a translator."

Great, I thought, he's coming either to renegotiate the lease with us or tell us it's official and we'll have to leave. We prayed for courage, for God's will and for wisdom.

A couple hours later he showed up with his niece and a broad smile. "How are you?" I asked. "Super." he replied. We sat down around the kitchen table and he said everything turned out well and we can now live in the apartment for as long as our lease says. He even wanted us here for three years.

This was a major turn around to the conversation we had with him and his wife just days ago. After a lot of prayer, and a bit of worry God calmed us down and reminded us again that he is in charge and that we have nothing to fear. For if God is with us who can be against us? As for the situation the landlords were in he did not tell us specifically how things worked out, only that they were "super".

Thank you for praying for us and for them. We are elated that we have a place to live for the long term and that we will get to unpack our things and celebrate Christmas in a home of our own. That is a Christmas gift we are happy to open early.

This also means that we have a place for you to stay if you ever want to visit or need to pass through Moscow. Come and stay with us, we'd love your company!

With praise and relief,
Dave and Jess

Crucibles, Furnaces and Flats

"We're finally home." at least that's what we thought yesterday as we moved the last of our boxes and luggage into our newly rented flat. Jess was unpacking our boxes and setting up the kitchen while I was sweeping the floors of the large pink room which we were about to paint when our realtor called.

"Something happened with your landlord and they want to move back into the flat which you just rented."

"What?!" I yelled in Russian.

"Don't worry, the contract you signed with them states that they have to serve you papers and give you at least 30 days to find a new place and move out. The law is on your side. You'll get your money back if they decide to go through with this and break the contract."

And thus began our first day in our new place. We were obviously flustered and upset. As the day went on we got calls from the landlady, the realtor, then a visit from the landlords explaining the situation and more calls with the realtor. This was a big surprise to us because when we first looked at the flat one of the most attractive things about it was how friendly the landlady was and how willing she was to work with us. She was genuinely excited about renting the flat to a young, professional couple who wanted to live there for several years. You can imagine the shock we felt when she called in a panicky voice saying she was sorry but that we would have to move out. For the sake of their privacy I am not mentioning why they had such a sudden change of heart but their reasons are good and from what I could surmise they could use your prayers.

We met with them last night and had a peaceful but difficult conversation; both parties were upset about the circumstances but as they said "such is life". The future is still up in the air, things might work out and we might be able to stay but they might not and we may have to go. This is not how we thought moving in would look like. But that's when the Lord stepped in and reminded us of something this morning.

When we were raising support this summer God put a proverb on our heart which we committed to memory and prayed over a good bit. Most mornings I read a chapter of proverbs that coincides with the day of the month. Today is the 17th of December which means I read the 17th chapter of proverbs. That proverb that God put on our hearts was the same that we read this morning

"The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests hearts." Proverbs 17:4

Perhaps it is a coincidence that we read this the morning after the chaos. But perhaps not. Either way we know that we are being tested. We want to please the Lord, and we know that the only thing that pleases the Lord is faith. My grandfather once told me that in every situation you can respond in one of two ways, faith or fear. Fear doesn't work, faith does. We are praying that we would respond out of faith, hope and love, not fear. Would you pray with us to that end?

This summer we had the pleasure of meeting a seasoned missionary couple who told us that occasionally God gives all of us what they call Character Pop Quizzes. This is one of those quizzes and while we don't know where we are going to live a week from now we are praying that God would help us to pass this pop quiz with not just a passing grade but with quality character.

Thanks for reading and thanks for praying. We'll keep you posted.

Yours in Christ,

David and Jessica

This is a short video of our friend and colleague, Toshe Temelkov. He is a concert pianist who is also on staff with Campus Crusade in Macedonia. We thought you might enjoy a short video of his amazing piano skills. For more of his music go here to view his webpage

This is a little video we made of the apartment we are sharing with a gracious Russian family. We hope you enjoy this little glimpse into our world.