Meant for More

A little update on us.

2012-01-25T07:23:00.001+04:00

For those of you who have been following our blog, getting our newsletters or seeing us on facebook you might be wondering where we are and what we’re up to.

This past fall and winter have been crazy for us with visa trips, a seminary class that we hosted in Moscow, an orphanage trip we planned and then preparations for our first furlough, oh and on top of that we’ve been doing our regular ministry with the students of Moscow. Like I said, a little crazy. The dust is finally settling so I thought I’d give a brief update for those of you who were wondering and wanted to pray for us and hear from us.

We are in San Angelo, TX now and will be here until late April. Our organization gives us two months of furlough (sabbatical and fundraising time) for every year that we are on the field. We’ve been in Russia for two years so we are here for four months plus an extra one for the birth of our first child.

The first month in America was great but also busy. After praying our passports through Immigration Services in Moscow where they extended our 3 month visas into year-long visas (praise the Lord and thank you again!) we got our passports in hand and then jumped on a plane bound for the US 18 hours later. Another close call, but close calls seem to be the norm for us so we’re getting used to it. We made it to the US on Dec 15th, in time to see my youngest brother Andy graduate from CSU. Way to go Andy - we’re proud of you, bro!

Us goofing off in Steamboat with my family

After that we had some much needed and well-spent time with my (Dave’s) family in Colorado. We celebrated the holidays together and found out on Christmas Day that our little expectant bundle of joy is going to be a boy! What a thrill that was.

After the holidays we flew down to Fort Worth to do some recruiting at the annual Red River Winter Conference. It was a great time for us to reconnect with some of our good friends on Staff with Cru and to see and catch up with the students who have come on previous Summer Projects to Moscow. We were able to join forces with those former S.P students and recruit current students to take a leap of faith and come to Moscow for the summer and maybe for a year on STINT. The recruiting was a lot of fun for us because we were able to cast a vision to the numerous students we talked to and we got to see former students talk about how great of an experience it was for them.

After the conference we stuck around the Dallas/Fort Worth area to reconnect with some of our ministry partners and to do a little fundraising. We were blessed to get to stay with some of our best friends, Jack and Emma Murphy (check out her stunning photography blog http://pherophotographyandpoetry.blogspot.com/) and their amazing little boys: Jackson and Jonah. It was a great week for us and we loved the memories we got to build with them.

Jess 6 months pregnant

After our time in Dallas, Jess and I parted ways for a couple of weeks. Jess went to San Angelo to be with her family and to rest up - the holidays, recruiting and fundraising while 7 months pregnant can be a little exhausting. I went back to Colorado to do some more fundraising and to visit with my family and friends a bit more. One of the small perks of being in Colorado these past two weeks was I got to sneak in a day at Winter Park with my family and experience a great day of skiing. The snow was soft, the sun was bright and my legs remembered how to ski like I was 22 again. The only difference from my early 20’s was that this time at the end of the day I needed a couple bags of ice, some Ibuprofen and a hot tub.

Now we’re both back in San Angelo and will be here until a month or so after the baby is born. If you’re in West Texas we would love to see you. Shoot us an e-mail or call us. We’ll be in Colorado again in late April/early May and would love to see you if you’re there also.

For now please pray for us as we rest, raise support and prepare for life to completely change. Jess is due in 7 weeks and we’re on our way to a life-changing experience. We’re pretty excited.

Trinitarian or Monadic Monotheism

2011-12-31T03:56:00.000+04:00

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Albania for a seminary class that I took through Cru. The premise of the course was fascinating to me and the location of the class was another attractive draw. I’ll break this blog post up into two segments, one will be on the class and the other on the country of Albania. I hope you enjoy them both.

The Class

The class was about contrasting Trinitarian Monotheism with Monadic (think mono - only one) Monotheism. Most of the world religions that believe in a god believe in Monadic Monotheism. That is to say they believe that God is one and only one and that there is no distinction within God. Islam believes in this as do Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. Christianity is unique in many ways, but notably in its understanding of the nature of God. In Christian theology God is one...in three persons. There is only one God, but he exists eternally in a triune relationship consisting of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Each member of the trinity is distinct yet all three are one God. When we contrast the Monadic God with the Triune God the differences are enormous and have major practical consequences in matters of doctrine and practice.

This is what the class was about and I can’t tell you how enjoyable it was and how much I learned about God as a result. It left me worshiping the Father, Son and Holy Spirit more and marveling in his nature.

The teacher of the course was a godly man whose ultimate aim in the course was to lead us into deeper worship and love of God. The thing that most blew my mind was when he pointed out the logical conclusions of what happens depending on what is believed about the nature of God. If God is only one, he cannot eternally possess the attribute of love. The reason for this is that in order to experience love there must be the lover and the beloved. If there was nothing for God to love before the creation of the world then he does not eternally possess the attribute of love, therefore it is not a character trait of God. Thus, a Monadic God is not a loving God.

On the other hand if God is eternally triune, as Christians believe, then one could argue that he was in a relationship with himself before the creation of the world. That relationship is marked by a self-giving, concern-for-the-good-of-the-other love which overflows into the creation of the world. Because God has always expressed, received, given and observed love from before the creation of the world it can be said that a Triune God really is loving.

The consequences of this are amazing. If love is not an attribute of God, merely an action he sometimes uses then his love is arbitrary and unreliable. Likewise if mercy, goodness, justice and wrath are actions or characteristics he sometimes employs then they are not always employed by him and he cannot therefore be described as merciful, good, just or wrathful.

Yet if he possesses these characteristics or the potential for them as attributes since the foundation of the world then he can be described as merciful, good, just, wrathful and so on. The result is either a God whose will is capricious and arbitrary or a God whose will is based on his nature and is reliable and trustworthy even if it doesn’t seem that way.*

*(I recognize there are some flaws in this logic and I’m doing my best to paraphrase the ideas taught in class, if you’d like to help me refine this reasoning I’d love your feedback.)

Albania

2011-12-31T03:55:00.001+04:00

This is part two of a two part update on a recent trip I took to Albania. Here I talk about how great Albania and Albanians are.

The Country of Albania

The class was amazing and I learned a ton about God, Islam and Christianity, but what I enjoyed the most was the staff I got to meet in Albania and the city of Tirana. For years I had heard about the great things that are happening with the Church in Albania and I’ve always wanted to go and see it for myself. Now I finally had a chance to shake the hands of some incredible saints and hear their stories.

Let me give you some context first. Albania is a tiny country that was under control of the Communists for several decades. It completely outlawed religion of any kind even though it produced one of the greatest saints of the 20th century, Mother Teresa. Today it is religiously tolerant with Muslims making up the largest percent, followed by Catholics and then Protestants bring up with the rear with a tiny percent of the country describing themselves as Evangelical. Even though it is a majority Muslim country most of them are secular.

As soon as I left the airport I was struck by how warm it was. I flew in from Moscow at the end of October equipped with a down vest and a ski jacket to keep me warm. When I arrived I had to take both off and walk around in my shirtsleeves because it was a warm 70ºF. I loved it! Then I noticed the people. Afrim, the staff member who picked me up from the airport said that Albanians are known for being really friendly. He had studied at Dallas Theological Seminary for a couple of years and knew how friendly Texans were. He said that he thought Albanians were sort of like the Texans of Europe, really friendly, really hospitable and would go out of their way to help a guest. That made me chuckle, but it really was true. I was constantly surprised by how friendly everyone was. From taxi drivers, to vendors to the staff we met and hung out with during our classes everyone was eager to please and easy to talk to.

I had the privilege of getting coffee with the Campus Director of Tirana. He was my age, about my height and of similar temperament. As we talked I realized that he easily could have been a good friend from a summer project or a buddy of mine from my college days. Even though we grew up in very different cultures and had different life experiences he wasn’t all that different from me. This has been of the most surprising reoccurring discoveries for me as we live and work overseas: people really aren’t that different from each other no matter where they are from or how they grew up. Yes, there are cultural differences and differing values and stronger characteristics in some cultures than in others, but largely we are the same and want the same things, dream the same dreams and need the same savior. These were some of the things my friend Gusti (short for Augustine) and I talked about over coffee one warm Tirana afternoon.

We also talked about where they could go as a ministry. Currently they have about 130 students coming to their weekly meeting. 130 students! I don’t think I’ve met 130 Christian students in the four years we’ve worked in Russia. I couldn’t believe it. Then he asked me what I thought they should do next and how to expand. I didn’t know how to respond, I haven’t seen that many students at a weekly meeting since I visited CU - Boulder in the early 2000s. I told him about what we were trying to do in Moscow. Basically we let the students run everything and we coach and train the main leaders so that they can be more effective. We push leadership down to the lowest levels so that everyone can buy in someway or another and train the leaders in a way that they can turn around and train others. At least that’s the idea, we haven’t gotten really far with it yet. But, that’s why we pray and work hard and trust God for the rest. I hope that God gives Gusti and his team a unique vision as to how to expand their ministry and influence and train others to be disciplers of others. Whatever happens, we know that God is good in all of it, because that’s his nature.

There are a couple other things worth mentioning. The food there was really good and affordable. I think I put on five pounds in the eight days I was there. The staff who have been there from near the beginning are some the heroes of the faith to me. They’ve dealt with some frustrating and difficult circumstances but have also seen God do some amazing things. They have done a great job of being responsible and visionary with the talents and fruit that God has given them. I pray that the same would be true of us as the staff in Moscow and in Russia.

All in all my trip to Tirana was great. The teaching, the people and the experiences there were fantastic and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to go and see what God is up to there and learn more about him in the process. If you have the chance to visit Tirana I suggest you do it. It’s not at all like the rest of Europe, but it is worth the trip. Also if you want to read more about the differences and similarities between the Christian and Muslim God I suggest reading “Is the Father of Jesus the God of Muhammed” by Timothy George. Another one worth reading, but reading closely and critically is “Allah: A Christian Response” by Miroslav Volf. Lastly read Ida Glaser’s article.

The Three Musketeers 3D - 'meh

2011-11-12T00:24:00.000+04:00

3 Musketeers

Recently I watched the latest rendition of the 3 Musketeers. There have been many re-imaginings of this in Hollywood throughout the years. Some good, some not so good. This one was creatively titled “3 Musketeers 3D”. It was exactly what it was made to be: a big-budget, easily retold story that could be done in 3D. That’s what I appreciated about it; it didn’t try to be anything more than it was. It was playful with lots of sword fighting, 3D effects, intrigue, some laughs and a love story.

That being said, it wasn’t very good. The dialogue was forced, several parts of the story were beyond unrealistic and even distracting in how far-fetched they were, and the entire time I kept comparing it to the 3 Musketeers filmed in the 90s with Keifer Sutherland as Athos, Charlie Sheen as Aramis, that other guy as Porthos and Chris O’Donnell as D’artagnon and Rebecca de Morney as Milady. That rendition - the 1993 one - was good, not a masterpiece of action/adventure filmmaking, but still a memorable and fun movie. This movie - 3 Musketeers 3D - left me with a smug smirk as if watching a cover band use fireworks to distract the audience from it’s obvious lack of talent.

Any remake of a film shouldn’t bring us back to the previous rendition of the film and force us to compare scenes, dialogue or storyline. Yet, I couldn’t help but measure each memorable scene in this movie to the previous rendition feeling like they didn’t get it right.

I wasn’t expecting much going in to it and that’s what I got.

See this if:

-you want to not think for a little while

-you want to be entertained by lots of special effects in 3D and have nothing else to do

-you liked any of the Transformers movies (it’s basically the same movie with guys in funny hats and swords rather than alien cars shooting at each other)

-you want to see Orlando Bloom make a fool of himself in what might be his worst role or performance ever (he’s one of the bad guys)

Don’t see this if:

-you’re looking for a good telling of the Alexandre Dumas classic (wait another ten years for the next one to come out, it might be better, but it might not)

-bad dialogue drives you nuts

-you despise the idea of the French winning anything besides a cooking contest

Spending a Day with the Lord

2011-11-05T16:48:00.000+04:00

One of my favorite perks of working with Cru is that once a month our staff are encouraged to take a day to really connect with the Lord and “do business” with him. This day can look different depending on what our needs are at the time or how we sense the Lord is leading us. Usually I’ll find a corner in a coffee shop and journal, pray and read Isaiah or one of Paul’s letters. There’s something about those books of the Bible that really remind me of how grand the Lord is and it puts everything back into perspective for me.

I’ve not been as disciplined in taking these “Days with the Lord” as I would have liked this past year. So I decided that this time I would really focus on it and make sure to clear time to really enjoy the Lord and create space for him to work.

So I went to McDonalds.

That might not seem like the most ideal place to go to meet with the Living God, but McDonald’ses(?) are ubiquitous here in Moscow and you can usually find an affordable cup of coffee ($2 compared to the $8 at Starbucks) and a place to sit unperturbedly for a while. I found a table on the second floor with a view and sat down with my journal and Bible. That’s when the homely cleaning lady decided it was too peaceful and quiet for 10 am on a Monday and she cranked up the Ke$ha on the overhead speakers. I tried to make my mp3 player overpower the obnoxious monosyllabic squeals on the radio by having Charlie Parker and his soothing saxophonic rhythms soothe away the musical pain. But alas, it was all in vain. Admitting defeat I packed up my things and headed into the welcomed chill of the Moscow Morning.

Realizing that I was at Tretyakovksaya metro station and that the Tretyakov Art Gallery was just around the corner I thought that this would be a wonderful way to spend my day with the Lord. Some jazz music, some fine art, a journal and a Bible; I would finally be able to use my education in the humanities! So I quickly turned right, crossed the street and in step with Charlie Parker’s drummer I headed toward the museum. That’s when I got to the front gate and realized it was a Monday…in Russia…and Europe…where museums are closed on Mondays. Bummer. Now it was time to come up with plan C.

I perused my iPod and noticed that I had some sermons that I hadn’t yet listened to. I found one that caught my eye and began listening and walking.

Downtown Moscow is a great city for walking. There are hidden parks tucked away in between busy four-lane roads and bridges with great views as well as plenty of benches to sit and rest on. After wandering and listening to the sermon I decided to walk along the river and take in the view. I began listening to Chris Tomlin’s “Arriving” and sang along.

Suddenly I was behind the “New Tretyakov Gallery” and noticed that there was a massive art sale lining the river. Art dealers from all over the world and Russia had come to sell their work for a week and today was the last day. It being 11 am and a Monday I was one of the only people there. With Chris Tomlin leading me in worship I found myself taking in paintings of landscapes, portraits, abstracts and still-lifes. It wasn’t a world-class art gallery, but it was still beautiful.

As Chris Tomlin belted out “Indescribable” I noticed a landscape painting of a forest with a winding path. The leaves were green and yellow, the light soft and warm and the path leading somewhere unseen off to the right. I looked closer and saw that not all, but many individual blades of grass were illuminated by the rays of light streaming through the leaves of the birch trees. A verse from a David Crowder song came to mind and I sang quietly “every ocean, every sea, every river, every stream, every mountain, every tree, every blade of grass will siiiiing…make a joyful noise to the Lord all the Earth.” All at once I was wrapped up in what felt like a hug from God. A smile, broad and toothy, spread across my face as I closed my eyes and savored the moment.

“You are one of those blades of grass, and I am illuminating you.”

That was all I could hear though it was inaudible. The moment lasted for a second or two and then it was gone. That was ok with me, it’s been a long time since I’ve sensed God’s nearness and adoration in such a powerful way and I was grateful for the moment.

As I continued on through the art collections I noticed paintings of Moscow that looked sort of like Moscow but something was off. I would look at a scene of the river or of a famous street brightly colored, clean and ideal, then I would turn around and see Moscow as it really was. It was busy, grey, and drab, almost like a zombie: not dead, but not fully alive either. I turned back to the brightly colored, idyllic paintings and wondered why there was such a contrast between what was painted and what really was. Why would someone take something that is real and repaint it in a way that wasn’t real, but was better?

It struck me that that is what much of what art, literature and music is. It’s an expression of what should be rather than what it is. It’s a retelling of something that is better than what we can currently see, hear, taste, smell or feel. I have no idea what the worldview of the artist was who painted that Moscow street scene, but what his art was inadvertently saying when contrasted to the current reality is that something can be more beautiful than it currently is. This made me wonder why it is nearly universal that we as humans know that things can, and often should be better than they are. Is it because we’re naturally gifted at seeing what’s wrong with things? Or is it because we were born for a place where things really are better?

As C.S. Lewis said “These things [beauty, nostalgia] are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of the worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

The idyllic images displayed haphazardly on the embankment that afternoon were a reminder to me that God has asked us to tell his story with the talents he has given us. For the artists, whether they knew it or not, they were telling the story of the once perfect and one-day-to-be-redeemed world. The musician creates harmony out of chaos; the writer retells a story that is at once his own and begotten from another time; the painter expresses an understanding of beauty beyond herself.

The ideal great city, struggling to be expressed in that Moscow street scene, will exist on the other side of Heaven. In the meantime he has us here in the not-so-ideal, the fallen city in order to tell others and remind each other about the one who will redeem it and his (and our) incredible story.

That day spent with the Lord was a valuable reminder to me of the truth that God is active in all kinds of ways and that his attributes and character can be known, felt, understood and retold even if the teller does not personally know him. Solomon said that God has written eternity on the hearts of men and Paul echoed that by saying that what can be known about God is plain to all people, because God has shown it to them. When we read literature, or look at art or enjoy music or even watch a story told in a sitcom or through a documentary are we doing so simply hedonistically - for our own pleasure - or is something in our soul crying out to connect with the Great Artist and his great story?

Book Review: The Fields of the Fatherless by C. Thomas Davis

2011-09-19T17:41:00.001+04:00

God makes it abundantly clear in the Bible that he cares deeply for the alien, the orphan and the widow. His love and zeal for the justice of those that live on the margins of society resonates throughout both the Old and the New Testament.

Unfortunately, many Christians today don’t look at the margins of society. The marginalized don’t go to their churches, they don’t work with them or play little league with their kids. To many Christians the least of these are unseen and unnoticed. Sure, when asked many Christians will say they are concerned for the poor and want them to be helped, but they just don’t know how they themselves can help.

This is the connection that Tom Davis seeks to make in his book The Fields of the Fatherless: Discover the Joy of Compassionate Living. Far from a scathing critique on the lack of social action in the church today Davis’ book is more a gentle introduction between one person who can help and another who needs it.

Davis begins by comparing concern for the poor (a.k.a. social justice) to discovering a hidden treasure that was right under your nose. He tells the reader to imagine that the book is “a treasure map that unlocks a marvelous treasure chest of truth about what matters most to God - and should matter most to us.”

He begins with showing the biblical mandates to care for the alien, the orphan and the widow and the Old Testament promise of blessing (not necessarily material blessing) that comes from it. He then shows us real life stories of the fatherless today. They are the single-mother next door working her hardest to make ends meet, the widow/widower at church who just lost her/his spouse of 40 years, the unruly boy in your child’s class who gets passed from one foster home to the next, the orphan in the orphanages around the world, the migrant worker looking for work at Home Depot or the lonely foreign exchange student looking for a taste of home. The fields of the fatherless are all around us, we just don’t know they are there.

Davis then gives some practical steps we can all take to reach out to the least of these that are in need of help. Steps like volunteering to be a foster parent, helping out at a soup kitchen, running errands for a single-mom or writing letters to orphans. He recommends a few ministries to get in touch with as a means of practicality. The rest of the book is filled in with principles for serving the poor and personal stories of heartache and hope to educate and inspire.

The writing style wasn’t superb and I was curious about the basis for some of his finer points about God’s promised blessings (I’ve been reading a lot of Larry Crabb recently so that might have influenced it). The book left me wanting for more; whether it was a simple challenge to do this, this and this or a notion that what he is positing is achievable.

Overall I would say it is worth the read. It’s not an exhaustive approach to social justice or a manifesto on how to save the world as Christians, nor is it about proper ethical positions toward the poor. It is a focused and compassionate appeal to Christians to look up and see that there is a harvest field of orphans waiting to be cared for and loved by those whom God has spiritually adopted himself. I was inspired by it and thought constantly throughout the book about what I could do and was encouraged and challenged towards the end to remember that I was spiritually an orphan and yet God took me in and loved me even though I seemed unloveable at first.

Recommendation: Read it.

A Better Hope for a Serious Man

2011-07-18T17:34:00.007+04:00

One of the marks of a good movie is that days after seeing it questions about it remain with me. I’ll be doing the dishes and just as suddenly as that microwaved cheese stuck to my plate is scraped away the mental pathway of artistic clarity opens up and an epiphany will strike me. Or I’ll be in the shower washing what remains of my once full head of hair and I’ll ask under my breath “is that what that scene meant?”

Recently I watched a Coen brothers film entitled “A Serious Man”. When it was over my friend and wife and I contemplated its meaning and were lost for words, there seemed to be no real meaning to the film. I asked the world of facebook for its thoughts and heard nothing except for a lone, distant “like”.

The movie is set in the 1960s in suburban Minnesota. The Protagonist, Larry Gopnik, is a Jewish physics professor who suddenly sees his world imploding around him. Every relationship in his life is suddenly and suffocatingly strained. One thing after the other begins to crumble and his life is seemingly headed toward ruins. In a panic he goes to the local Rabbis and his lawyer for counsel. He talks to one and then the other but their counsel is more confusing and depressing than helpful.

As the story unfolds and the hope of redemption slims he asks angrily “Why is this happening? I have tried my whole life to be a serious man. I am a serious man, why is God doing this to me?” I won’t give away the denouement, but I will say that the directors do an excellent job of asking the question “why do bad things happen to good, or at least decent, people?” However, in typical Coen brothers fashion they don’t give an answer, just a mischievous wink.

A few weeks later I was reading through the book of Job. As I was reading it my mind flashed back to various scenes of “A Serious Man”. When I read about Job sitting in sackcloth and ashes bewailing his situation while his misguided but concerned friends looked on I saw the scene where the man who is trying to steal Larry’s wife is also trying to comfort him. Then I read about Job defending himself and saying “I haven’t done anything wrong, if I had then let punishment come, but I haven’t, I promise.” That’s when I saw Larry proclaiming he is a serious man to his Rabbi. Yet again, Job laments that God is not even hearing his complaints, he is castaway, floating in an ocean of accusation with no accuser to confront him. I read this and I saw Larry practically pulling his hair out yelling “How can he ask us to field these questions if he doesn’t give us any answers?!”

In the book of Job and the film both characters ask why bad has befallen them if they have done nothing wrong. They both believe that there is an unspoken contract with God that if they do A then God gives them B. If I am moral then I live a comfortable life. If I’m good to my family then I will have a happy family. If I follow your rules, God, you are obliged to provide for me as I wish. This is the law in linearity...and it leads only to disappointment.

I’ve also been reading the thoughts of a different Larry. Larry Crabb. The ideas in his book “The Pressure’s Off” have begun to resonate more clearly with the images of the film in my mind and the sympathetic emotions I feel for Job in my heart. The thesis of Crabb’s book is that we think that God operates on the law of linearity, but this not so, God is calling us not to a better life, but to a better hope.

Crabb points to the new covenant proclaimed by Christ. It used to be that as long as God’s people obeyed his commands (the Law) then he would bless them. As New Testament readers we understand now that the Law was put in place to show that none of us could ever live up to its standards, we would always fall short. Therefore, when Jesus came, lived life perfectly under the law, then was sacrificed on behalf of a people who could not live perfectly under that law, he ushered in a new era, an era that points to a better hope, rather than a better life. Hebrews 7:18-19 tells us that “On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.”

God is saying he is not as concerned with us being happy as he is with us knowing him. Yes, he wants to give us good gifts - he is a good father after all - but the greatest gift he gives is himself, and that is the better hope.

Job complained because the law of linearity states that he lived well, gave generously and was a good father and husband, therefore he deserved a good life.

Larry Gopnik complained because the law of linearity (and as a physics professor he knows that laws are logical and cannot be contradicted) states that by all accounts he is a serious man and should not be suffering the way he is.

I complain because I try to be a good man but things often don’t go my way and my life is not the one of bliss, triumph and far-reaching effective ministry I believed it would be when I signed up for ministry. I’ve done all the training, completed all the steps, did what needed to be done yet I’m still unsatisfied and restless.

Why? Is it because I, like Job and Larry Gopnik, believe that God owes me? Is it because maybe I love God for his stuff rather than for himself? Is it because I’m like the prodigal son and want my father’s inheritance more than I want my father’s presence?

The promise of a better hope is something that is missed in “A Serious Man”. The ending is unclear as to whether it is a comedy or tragedy, and God remains a mysterious, unknowably powerful force. He is that indeed, but he is nearer than he is farther and this truth is hidden in the book of Job. At the end of Job’s lament, after God asks him where he was when the world was made Job realizes his place before the Lord. God responds to him, not with an answer, but with his presence, and that is enough for him.

I wonder what this new way of living would look like for Larry Gopnik. I wonder what it looks like for me.

p.s. I recommend both Larry Crabb's book and the Coen brothers' movie, though parents be warned this isn't a movie to show the kids, it's rated R for a reason.

The Shalom Project

2011-07-04T13:25:00.009+04:00

This is the longer version of our recent newsletter. Overall I would say our Shalom Project was a success. We didn't have as many students as we had hoped for and Moscow still seems to be the same way it was 31 days ago. But numbers and big change aren't what we are after right now, we want to be faithful and do what God leads us to do. The results, we hope, were pleasing to him. Read on to find out what this summer looked like.

Seek, pray, find. These are the commands that God gave the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon. He told them not to isolate from the city nor to assimilate. Rather he told them to move in, to seek the prosperity of the city, to seek its “shalom”.

A couple moving toward the pain and the brokenness of the city; being light in the darkness and a city on a hill within the larger city.

This summer we embarked on a mission to do the same. The US students who were here for the summer felt at times like they were exiles. The Russian students in Moscow are torn between their love of God and the temptation to love the world and as a result feel like they are exiles as well. We, the staff, feel like exiles, especially when we were are sweating over our visas and the increasing cost of living in Moscow. This whole concept of being an exile and still seeking the peace of our city was definitely relevant to all of us.

We began with prayer and studied God’s commands in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 7:13,14; Jeremiah 29:11-14) regarding prayer, fasting and repentance. That following Saturday we gathered at the overlook to pray for the city and repent on its behalf. The US students and Russian students joined us as we stood in the gap on behalf of Moscow. It was a moving experience.

The next week we talked about the Prince of Peace and how in the process of sharing his good news we find our shalom - our peace - in him. I’ll bet you can guess what we did that following Saturday. For a couple of our Russian students it was the first time they had ever stepped out in faith and talked with others about what they believe. It was a wonderful time and they walked away filled with faith and joy.

students talking with other students about the peace and hope they have in Christ.

The following week we talked about serving the least of these and explored the balance of helping the poor but not enabling them either. This was perhaps the tensest yet most rewarding week. Jesus and Moses (in Deuteronomy) said that the poor will always be among us. That does not mean that we shouldn’t serve them. That also means we shouldn’t enable them in their sinful habits. Students were visibly frustrated that there was no tidy bow to put on this sticky issue, they left with more questions that night than answers - which was a sign to us that they were beginning to own the problem. The next day a few of us volunteered with the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy and served poor pensioners a free hot lunch. This was humbling but also eye-opening for us. Saturday we donated clothes to a local refugee center then went to a nearby grocery store, bought food and then engaged with the homeless at a train station. This was definitely the most challenging day of the project for many involved, myself in particular.

Lastly, we concluded the month-long project with a night of worship - dreaming of what God’s homecoming would be like. We reviewed what we had done in searching for the shalom of Moscow and talked about how to continue loving our city. The students who participated (7 total) said that they had never connected the need to love their city with their desire to follow God and that this was a major step in them moving in that direction. We hope that this continues and that the students involved pass on the idea and encourage others to seek, pray and find. Thank you for praying with us as we seek the shalom of Moscow.

Russians discussing the history of Russia (both good and bad) and how it influences today's culture and how to pray for its future.

Opening doors

2011-06-08T13:34:00.002+04:00

The US project has been in country for nearly two weeks now. God has been doing some pretty cool things with them since then. Consider this:

-Two Universities where we have been trying to get traction have suddenly opened up to us and say that they want us to lead English Clubs at their schools.

-One University which we have been visiting and praying for is hopefully going to let us show a movie for their students and discuss its themes and spiritual significance afterwards.

-20 Russians students, most of whom are not Christians, showed up for a picnic on Saturday to talk with our summer project more about what they believe in and why they are who they are.

-We have identified two Russian students whom we are pretty sure are believers and seem interested in helping their friends know God.

This is incredibly encouraging for us, especially in light of the frustrating and slow winter and spring we had this year AND in light of the fact that most of our student leaders are graduating this year. It seems that your prayers for us and our prayers for the students in Moscow are being answered in conjunction with the summer project’s presence. Coincidence? Probably not.

The project has about 10 days left until they go to St. Petersburg for a few days. Pray with us that God uses them in increasingly great ways and that more doors open up for us as a result. Exciting things are happening and we can’t wait to see what God is going to do next.

Could it possibly have something to do with the Russian student summer project called “Shalom” that is starting this Thursday? We sure hope so. We are praying for 10 Muscovite students to join us for four weeks of loving their city and seeking the peace and prosperity of the city in which many of them feel like exiles. We hope this wave that US project is riding right now continues on to the Muscovite students and that they can continue to ride it as long as God wants. Pray with us for this. We’ll keep you posted.

The first 48 hours

2011-06-02T21:35:00.002+04:00

Those of you that pray for us must have been praying a bit harder lately. This has been a week of ups, downs and surprises to say the least. Our U.S. summer project arrived for a month last Wednesday. There are approximately 15 students and staff who have come to join us in seeking to bless the city of Moscow, especially the students who are so influential in this country. We started their first day off with a morning briefing where we told them about getting around safely, how to guard their bags and purses and to keep their passports safe. Losing a passport in Moscow can be a huge headache as we would later discover. After that we took them on a staff scavenger hunt around the city.

The staff were hidden at different historical spots around the city and their job was to find us, do a task at the site and then they would be given a clue to go find the next person. It all went really well, the weather was great and they learned how to navigate the city on their own and they pushed through jetlag. We ended the scavenger hunt at a cafeteria-style restaurant near the center of the city. Our staff helped the students by translating the menu and negotiating portions with the restaurant staff. Those big Texas boys need to eat a lot!

After dinner we all headed home and that’s when the madness started. In the span of thirty minutes our director, Chris, got two phone calls that turned his night into a long one. At about 9:30 the students arrived back at their hostel and suddenly one student realized that her wallet, her passport and the photocopy of her passport and visa were all missing. She had lost them. In a panic she rushed back to the restaurant only to find what she feared most. Nothing. She was without any money or any ID in a foreign country notorious for their corrupt police and labyrinthine bureaucratic visa process. What was she going to do? Call us.

At the same time another couple from our project arrived back at the apartment they are renting for the duration of their stay. When they left that morning they could not get the key out of the door which secures the hallway for their apartment and the other three apartments on their floor. Thinking that if they could not get the key then no one could they took the key off the key ring and went on their way. When they got home that night guess what they found? No key. What were they going to do? Call us.

By call us I mean call Chris who is cool as a cucumber most of the time (except for when OU football is losing). So what did Chris do? At 10 that night he went back downtown, met up with the girl and another guy from the project and found a local police officer and told him about the situation and that they needed a “spravka”: the equivalent of a hall pass for foreigners without their passports. The police officer took them to another officer who took them to a third officer who in turn took them to a fourth and final officer who said he knew who to call but it was too late and they would have to come back tomorrow. Meanwhile our friends at the apartment were trying to figure out how to get into their apartment and where their key went. Chris and his wife have a Russian friend staying at their place so he had her talk to the concierge of the building that our poor friends lived in. After a lot of explanation, pointing and grunting they finally were able to get a neighbor to open the door and let them into the shared hallway. Chris’s long night ended around 2 a.m. and he had to be up and ready to go the next morning to get that wonderful hall pass.

The next morning I was making eggs and drinking my morning coffee and going over the devotional I was supposed to give that morning to the project when Chris called. He told me about the comedy of errors that occurred the night before and said he was going to be “making friends” at the police station all day tomorrow and wouldn’t be around to help with briefing and asked if I could help figure out the key dilemma. Flexibility is the name of the game when you live here so we both laughed at the unusual situation and got ready for the day.

According to Chris he had an ever more bizarre experience at the police station that morning. The way he described it the police station seemed like something out of one of the esteemed “Police Academy” movies: lots of guys in uniform, none of them really doing much except for making fun of each other and a lot of mayhem. They told him he needed to talk to this one certain person to get the spravka and the stamp. Nothing is official in Russia unless there is a stamp on it. That includes receipts for minutia like headphones or printer cartridges. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, the guy Chris needed to talk to wasn’t going to be around until later that afternoon.

So what about the girl who lost her passport and wallet? How was she doing? If it were me I would probably be a nervous mess. After her panic subsided that first night she was calmed by Chris’s confidence that everything would be ok and she was ready to join us that next morning. We were impressed with her composed demeanor and ability to roll with the punches after the dust settled. She decided to lay low for the next day while we got the spravka figured out.

We were also really impressed by the project. They rallied around her, prayed together and asked God to use this for good. In an unexpected way God used this situation to knit the team closer together, right away. It is amazing to watch God take a bad situation, bring us closer to him through it then turn it into good later. That’s just what God does. He’s the restorer of all things.

So what happens with the spravka and the key? Chris went back to the police station later that day, after more searching, more calling and more persistence Chris found the guy he needed to talk to. He wasn’t wearing a uniform. Rather he was wearing a too tight black t-shirt, a gold chain and had a shaved head. He was pretty gruff and didn’t seem too excited about helping Chris. He asked how Chris got his name, how he found his office, where the girl was and how hard this would be. After much persistence the gruff, reluctant officer finally started typing up the spravka. When he went to print it the printer was out of ink and paper! Of course it was. He turned to Chris and asked “How am I supposed to print something without any ink or paper? Do you have paper problems in America?” With a wry smile Chris commiserated with him. Officer McGruff, as we’ll call him, took both the paper and the ink cartridge out of one nearby printer, put it in his and with a loud slam the spravka was on its way to being born. I can imagine that Chris tasted something akin to victory in that moment. After this he went upstairs, then downstairs, in one office, out the other, found one grumpy guy who took him to another cheerful guy who finally took him to a solemn, crabby lady who, like an ancient oracle in a knight’s tale, possessed none other than the stamp itself. She reluctantly stamped the spravka and with that Chris found his victory. The girl got her spravka and a couple days later she was in the embassy applying for a new passport. It’s all going to work out.

What about the key? I joined up with our friends later that day, we talked to the concierge and asked her to talk to the neighbors as they came through for help and call me if she found anything. Sure enough one of the neighbors had found the key the day before and knocked on the door several times to no avail. When we got there that night we bumped into all the neighbors at the same time. In a flurry of English, Russian, laughing, pointing and grunting we got everything figured out and made a few new friends.

This all happened in the first 48 hours that they were in the country. We are very curious about what the next four weeks hold. If these first two days show us anything we can probably expect that bizarre things are going to happen, the project is going to respond with humor and prayer, we’re going to have our hands full and God is going to have a great time restoring, redeeming and repairing not only our situations but also our lives.

In a couple of days I’ll post another story about what is happening on our campuses and the cool things God is doing there. Thanks for praying for us and we’ll keep you posted.

Hallelujah

2011-05-09T17:55:00.000+04:00

The other night we were hanging out with a few of our Russian friends from our church. One of the guys had a guitar with him and was playing a few songs unnoticeably. That is until he started playing a song everyone got excited about and began singing with him. It was the recently popularized Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” covered by Rufus Wainright and featured in the film “Shrek”.

A few weeks earlier at church the same song was played while the church collected the weekly offerings. I remember thinking that this was an odd song to play at a time like that, but seemingly odd things happen all the time around a person when they live in Russia, so I let it go. While trying to remember the words to the song we talked about how funny it was that this song was played at church because it appears to not be a Christian song. Even though Cohen is Jewish and many biblical themes are woven through his works his life does not reflect that of a religiously devout person.

Yet there remains something mysteriously haunting in his song - something that resonates with me when I sing it. There is an honesty, a realness in the words that puts into song an emotion I’ve felt many times before but cannot put into words. I’m not saying the lyrics are inspired or that I think all of the ideas behind the song are morally true, but there is something that we identified with when we got excited about singing this song in the park that night.

One of the more thought-provoking lines in the song is when he says that “love is not a victory march / it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah.” My friend disagreed. She said, “love is a victory march, it is!” I offered another angle on the idea. “What about when Jesus was on the cross, if he had said hallelujah would it have been a victorious cry or a cold and a broken hallelujah? When he cried “it is finished” was his voice joyous or was it broken?” I’ve been thinking about that since then.

Which is it? Is love a joyful, celebratory victory march or is it a cold and a broken hallelujah? Or for those who, like me, can’t stand conflict or taking sides is it both?

I don’t think the reason why this song evokes such strong emotion for people is because it’s a secular song you can baptize and sing in church because it includes the word “hallelujah”. I don’t think this song is so popular simply because it’s catchy - the original version is actually quite a downer. I think the reason why we like this song is because we have all been there before. We have cried hallelujah through tears, with a scratchy, cold and broken voice. We have all been down at times, disappointed or depressed. We have all been in that situation where even though it is terribly difficult we still say with Job “blessed be the name of the Lord.” That is what hallelujah means “praise YHWH”.

The reason why we love this song is because it’s a song of hope, a song that points us toward the promised land where there will be no more tears or sorrow. A land where our cold and broken hallelujahs are lifted, reshaped and reformed into victory marches. The song points to the day when we can sing our song before the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The oft unsung but beautiful final verse puts it best. “And even though it all went wrong / I’ll stand before the Lord of Song / With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah.”

For those interested here are the lyrics of the song and the link to youtube to see Rufus Wainright singing it live.

I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?

It goes like this

The fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you to a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before

I know this room, I've walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew you.

I've seen your flag on the marble arch

Love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah,

There was a time you let me know

What's really going on below

But now you never show it to me, do you?

And remember when I moved in you

The holy dove was moving too

And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above

But all I’ve ever learned from love

Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you

It’s not a cry you can hear at night

It’s not somebody who has seen the light

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain

I don't even know the name

But if I did, well really, what's it to you?

There's a blaze of light in every word

It doesn't matter which you heard

The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much

I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch

I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you

And even though it all went wrong

I'll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Trusting God, Bearing Fruit

2011-04-01T10:23:00.001+04:00

“Abide in me and I in you…”

“God, where are they?” We asked in desperation, “Where are the men you have prepared to lead these movements?” This was the cry of our hearts as we prayed as a team earlier this semester.

For the past year we have hit the campuses weekly in search of men who would be willing to lead a movement at their universities. Thankfully this has not been as big of a concern among the women because so many great girls have responded warmly and openly to the idea. Unfortunately, among the men the story has been quite different.

A few guys would come to an English Club or would stop and talk to us as we surveyed students about their beliefs and dreams. However, very few responded with interest and even fewer wanted to lead a movement. This is why we shouted for joy when we met Christian, a study abroad student from Spain. He had been involved in a campus ministry before and had dreams of building one here. Our dreams were combining and we began to pray and plan for ways to start a men’s movement.

Christian leading us in a game of pictionary

“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.”

On a cold, wintry Friday night in late February my teammates Dan and Chris and I met with Christian and we planned out what would be a 5 part series on discussing what it means to be a man. The first event was going to be “Banya and Bibles”. We invited all the guys we knew and told them we were renting a banya – which is a very Russian thing, kind of like a private sauna – and told them to come and be ready to talk about what it means to be a man. The invitations were sent, the plans laid out and we were ready for something great.

The day before the main event we took count of who would be there. To our sadness and shock we realized that not a single person said that they would make it.

No one was coming.

“Apart from me you can do nothing…”

That Friday Dan, Chris and I gathered around a pizza rather than a banya and talked about what else we could do. We were discouraged to say the least. At our staff meeting the next Tuesday the women on the team lamented with us and we cried out to the Lord on behalf of the male students of Moscow. “God where are they? Where are the men you have prepared to lead this movement? God we cannot do this, only you can, please raise them up.”

We prayed that morning, we prayed that day at one of the most male-dominated schools in Moscow, we prayed again the next week. We were coming to the realization that the only way we were going to see a movement among the men was if we prayed. If God was going to gather the men and raise up leaders he would do it in a way that would give him the glory and not us.

Dan and I praying outside of a university

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Imagine our surprise and our joy when two weeks later 14 men gathered in an apartment to hang out, talk and seek the truth of what it means to be a real man. God is in the process of answering our prayers. Committed Christians, agnostics and devout secular humanists were all present, discussing the common struggles and joys of manhood. Believers were being challenged to grow and the lost were engaged with the Gospel on a new level. Dan, Chris, Christian and I left that night thanking God for the work he is doing.

Andrei and I after playing a game where we searched for M&Ms in bowls of flour

like real men!

But, we’re not there yet. We still have a long way to go. Men need to step up and begin to lead movements on their own. They need to accept responsibility and stop trying to hold on to their adolescence. They need to take that step of faith and trust God for the ridiculous. They need to be willing to be ashamed for the sake of the Gospel.

Pray with us! Pray that God would specifically raise up men to lead movements everywhere in Moscow, so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus Christ. This is the cry of our hearts, right now. This is what we are trusting God for. Pray and fast with us to this end!

“By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” John 15:4-8

International City of Moscow

2011-03-13T10:52:00.002+03:00

Last spring, I met our neighbors that live directly above us. I knew that they had been blessed with a new baby from the constant crying that had recently started (they now have 3 daughters). We met in the elevator and “Sarah” as I will call her said hello to me in English! Startled by the sound of hearing English I blurted out – you speak English!

Sarah and I got to know each other during a couple of evening strolls during the summer. Sarah is the wife of an attorney working in a middle-eastern country’s embassy. She shared with me yesterday that it is usually +40 Celsius in her country during the summer and yesterday it was -20 Celsius here in Moscow. The cold is almost intolerable for her family. We now visit indoors!

Sarah’s friendship has been a pleasant surprise and blessing to me. She has been teaching me about her country and their Muslim faith. During Ramadan, we would hear all of the calls for prayer blaring from their radio. I teach her about Russia and the culture here as she does not speak Russian and her husband speaks very little. We both shop at a local Indian market for our spices and lentils and she has promised to teach me to cook some delicious curry meals!

I pray for their family often and look forward to more opportunities to share not only life but about Eternal Life with her.

Come and worship with the nations! The Area of Affairs Staff Conference

2011-02-21T17:55:00.005+03:00

Imagine with me what Heaven will be like upon the triumphal entry of Christ when all the nations of the earth gather at his feet to worship. People from all over the world - every tongue, tribe and nation - kneeling before the Lord and singing praises to him. Imagine the sight of the hundreds of flags of the nations bowing to the Lord in submission. Can you picture it? Can you hear the collective voices singing “Come, let us worship”?

We were able to catch a small glimpse of that heavenly moment at our most recent staff conference. As the opening night began we started to sing “Come, now is the time to worship / One day every tongue will confess you are God / One day every knee will bow..” As we sang flag bearers from all of the countries in Eastern Europe and Russia made their way forward, waving their flags and worshiping God.

The nations had gathered to bow before Jesus.

As we sang and saw the flags swinging with pride and glory our eyes swelled with tears. This is what we are working towards, this is what we are praying for, this is why we are here! That small glimpse of Heaven was for us a moment beyond words. It was like reading a sentence from the last chapter of God’s great book. I wish you could have been there with us.

The conference was incredibly insightful. We were able to hear about the great things indigenous leaders are doing in countries like Albania, Romania and Ukraine. In Hungary the government came to the high school ministry and asked them to repeat an outreach they did for all the high school kids in the second largest city in the country! If only Russia would do that with us. Could you imagine?

We also were able to catch up with friends we had not seen in many years. From friends who have been in this part of the world for 20 years to friends who just moved here 4 months ago it was like a big family reunion. In fact it was 6 years ago at this very conference when we were Stinters that Jessica and I first caught the vision for coming back. We also caught glimpses of each other and that seemed to work out pretty well.

One of the highlights for the both of us was hearing from the main speakers. Dr. Douglas Moo from Wheaton College spoke about Romans and the need to guard the orthodox (as in traditionally held views, not Eastern Orthodox) doctrine of justification and sanctification. Then we heard from John Lennox, a professor of mathematics at Oxford University. He has debated with athiests Richard Dawkins and Sam Hitchens and is an astute apologist with - as my friend called it - some iron in his spine. We really enjoyed hearing from him and think you might as well. His website is www.johnlennox.org check it out.

Another big highlight for the Russian staff was the announcement of our new Country Director! His name is Misha Goz and he’s been on staff for nearly 20 years. His story is pretty incredible. A Campus Crusade Summer Project came over in the early 90s and decided to play baseball in order to attract Russian students. Misha was a student at the time and saw these loud Americans playing this crazy game. He just had to check it out. The more he hung out with them the more he heard about the Gospel. Eventually he placed is faith in Christ. One summer he was able to get a job as a raft guide with Noah’s Ark in Buena Vista, CO and grew in his relationship with Christ while he was there. He has been a great leader in Russia for the past several years and we cannot think of any one else we would rather follow than him as a Country Director. We’re really excited that a local Russian has taken over leadership of the ministry and cannot wait to see how God is going to use him in the future of the ministry.

In the meantime keep praying for us. We are back in the swing of things. Jess is in full time language school and Dave is in part time language and part time ministry. He is also writing the content for our ministry’s website www.moscowfocus.com.

We continue to have visa woes and would much appreciate your prayers for that. We found a new lawyer recently who is helping us get our documents in order to appeal the earlier decision to deny us visas for 2011 and hope that this will help the immigration officers see that we have much to offer Russia. Pray with us that we would get this visas and that we would have patience in the meantime. As the proverb says “a hope deferred makes the heart sick.” We can only take so much “heart tylenol” before we have to figure out a solution. Pray with us toward that end.

Finally, we want to extend a big and hearty thank you to all of you who gave and helped make these conferences a reality. We could not do this without you and are so grateful for your help and encouragement. God bless you and we’ll keep you updated!

Warmly in Christ,

David and Jessica

The City of God and The City of Man

2011-02-08T02:49:00.001+03:00

One of my favorite things about being on staff with Campus Crusade is that occasionally I am asked to speak before groups about a variety of topics. I’ve given Russian history lessons to visiting missionaries, I’ve spoken to college students about what it means to go to the world with the Gospel. Often when I am visiting our family in San Angelo, TX a local church will ask me to speak that weekend. It is always a privilege and honor for me to do it. This is a message I have delivered a couple of times to groups in Moscow and in Texas and want to share with you all. I really enjoy the topic and would love your comments on how to improve it or just your thoughts on the City of God in general

Disclaimer – almost everything I write in this is from a variety of Tim Keller sermons which I acquired from his church’s website www.redeemer.com. I also reference the book “Taking Our Cities for God” by John Dawson.

The City of God and the City of Man

The 18^th century Russian author Nikolai Gogol once said - A Russian can not resist a good story.

I love a good story. I love to hear stories, I love to read stories, watch stories. I love to tell stories. Aren’t there some movies you watch over and over again because they are that good? We just watched “The Chronicles of Narnia” recently and I we would definitely watch it again. There is something about the deeper meaning of a story that resonates with our souls and stays with us.

I believe that almost every movie you watch, every song you sing, or book you read is a retelling of the greater story. That story is the one we retell and proclaim each week in church and every day as we go out into the world. I also believe that we are characters in the Great Story that God is telling. It’s the story that began in the Garden and will end in the City, the New Jerusalem. Let me read to you the epilogue of our story.

Rev 21: “And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as the bride adorned for her husband. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away…then came one of the angels saying “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.”

It’s a city where the streets are paved with gold clear as glass, the gates are made out of solid pearl and there’s no need for streetlamps because God’s very presence, his glory gives it light.

Talk about a hero winning the girl in the end. That is a good story! That is our story. All throughout the Bible we see that God is writing a story of two cities and he is calling us to be characters in both of them.

Check out Isaiah 25:6- 26:6

We’re going to unpack this in a minute but first let’s talk about the city – God loves the city. From smaller cities like San Angelo to big cities like Moscow he loves them and has a plan for them.

What is so great about the city? I don’t just mean big cities, I mean the City in general.

Tim Keller, a pastor in New York City and a great writer says this: “cities have always provided a greater number and diversity of human connections more like you and unlike you than anywhere else. There are more people like you in the city than anywhere else and there are more people unlike you than anywhere else.” Because of this the city is a bastion for creativity and innovation. The city is also a safe haven for minorities and those that live counter-cultural lifestyles. It’s a place where the weak can find safety and support.

It is a general rule of human history that cities set the course of the culture. In fact the early church went almost exclusively to cities. They did this because they knew that the city set the course for the culture. If the dominant theme of the culture was self-focus or pride, or rebellious independence the only way to change that theme would be to change the epicenter of it, the city. Change doesn’t happen from the outside in, rather the inside out. You have to go into the city - move into it - in order to change it. That’s what we are finding in Moscow.

Obviously we live in Russia. To reach Russia you must reach Moscow. In Russia there are roughly 140 million people, a whopping 73% of them live in a city. In Moscow alone there are 12 million people. Why - because Moscow is the financial, political, industrial, economic, educational, religious, cultural and transportation center of Russia. As Moscow goes so goes the rest of Russia. And as Russia goes so goes most of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Moscow, for better or worse, is one of the most influential cities in the world. And we are asking to God to use his people to influence the influential with the power of the Gospel. Our team is specifically focused on reaching the future leaders of Russia, the students of Moscow.

Author and Pastor John Dawson has some fascinating things to say about the City in his book “Taking Our Cities for God”. He points out the obvious fact that all cities have a history and all cities are where they are for some purpose. He goes on to say that often the reason for a city’s founding is later reflected in the spiritual atmosphere or general mood of the city. It is the duty of the Christians in those cities to reclaim their city for God. For example, Omaha, NE was founded as a place to equip pioneers as they headed west. Today the pastors of Omaha have banded together and pray fervently that they would be able to send people out from Omaha, equipped to reach the country and the world for Christ.

Or look at Moscow for another example. Ask anybody in Moscow why they are there and I would bet that 9 out of 10 would tell you they are there to either make more money or get a better life. Which is really interesting to me because that is why people came to Moscow in the first place hundreds of years ago. Why is Moscow where it is? The Moscow River runs through the city and it is actually the headwaters of the Volga river which 800 years ago was like a major interstate highway. There are also hills in the city, which make for good military positions.

Moscow was founded sometime around 1150. The city experienced rapid growth and prosperity. People began to come to Moscow from all over the land of Rus because it was a city of refuge and prosperity. People would flee to the Kremlin to escape the invading hordes and bandits that came from the East. Moscow was a place where people came to find a better life and that is still true today. We pray that God would use Moscow to show Russians and the world what Godly refuge and Godly, humble, prosperity looks like.

What about your city? Why is your city where it is? What major events have happened there that have added to its legacy and how can you as the Christians in your city reclaim it for Christ? What is special about your city that uniquely reflects God’s character? When you find the answer to that question then pray for your city - that it may bless the people in it.

Let’s go back to Isaiah 25.

Here we see two cities. One is called the lofty city and the other is the strong city. And boy does God have some plans for the lofty city. He’s going to trample it down into a pile of dung, lay it low, humble it. But why? Because the lofty city is a city focused on man. It is the City of Man. Keller describes the lofty city as a human social order based on pride, self-salvation and power, not on God. Verse 11 describes the lofty city as a man trying to proudly swim out of a dung heap, trying to save himself by his own efforts. The high walls he built to keep his power safe are now dust.

Every city has character traits of the lofty city. It’s a place where people come to build their own mini-kingdoms, where they come to define who they are and create a safe life for themselves using whatever they can. God never asks us to live a safe life. In fact he promises that if we follow him life will be dangerous but good. The lofty city is characterized by self-creation, self-justification, self-salvation and self-definition. It is a social order of exhaustion and oppression because just as a donkey is led on by a carrot dangled from a stick so will those in the lofty city be led on by their clamoring after success.

But then there’s the strong city, the city that is set on the mountain, the city on a hill. This is the City of God. Check out vs 1-4. God is their salvation. Instead of power, there is peace. This word peace is the Hebrew word Shalom. It doesn’t mean just the cessation of hostility, but rather a flourishing wholeness; a fullness of peace; life the way it was meant to be. Perfect Peace. In 25:6-9 we see that it’s a city of joy. There is feasting with fine, aged wine and rich food. Here there is no exhaustion like in the lofty city, there’s no relying on self for salvation, there is no pride. Rather it’s a city of joy, God-salvation and peace.

So how do these two relate to each other? Usually when we read a passage like this we assume that the lofty city is the world we live in now, and the strong city is the one to come. It sure sounds a lot like the New Jerusalem doesn’t it? But notice verse 1, We HAVE a strong city. It’s already here. How?

Jesus and Jeremiah explain this. Matthew 5, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells the disciples “you are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden.” You are the city on the hill. Or as Augustine described it, you are the City of God. You are the alternate city within the lofty city. You are helping to create an alternate society that looks totally different from the social construct the rest of the world sees. Inside this city work is not exhausting or something to complain about. Work is a joyful thing that gives glory to God. In this city we don’t try to justify our existence, Jesus justifies our existence.

This is what God, through the prophet Jeremiah, charged the exiles with when they were in Babylon. Jer 29:4-7:

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, to all exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare (SHALOM) you will find your welfare (SHALOM).”

Get involved in reaching the city, seek it’s shalom. As you do that don’t forget that your identity and purpose comes from the Lord. Move all the way in to your city. I don’t mean just geographically. But, experience it, soak it up, be a local and seek to prosper the city, to make it better, to give it lasting peace, the peace of Christ. Seek the welfare, the peace, the prosperity, the Shalom of your city, for in its peace you will find your peace. Don’t make your main goal that of prospering the church or believers. Don’t make yourself the main goal. If you are in your church or your city to get or to gain something for yourself you’re doing it wrong. Make the City of God, the strong city, your goal. In seeking the shalom of the city you will find your shalom.

How do we do this? Verse 3 has the clue “you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” You think you want people to know Jesus? You have no idea - I have no idea - how badly God wants people to know Jesus. It wasn’t our idea to reach Moscow, it is not the idea of a bunch of pastors to reach your city, it is God’s idea and he loves your city more than anybody ever could. He is telling us in his word to trust him for your city as we build the strong city within it. He is telling us to pray to him for the Shalom of the city and to be the light of the world, the city on a hill in this city.

As we wrap up this story I want to point out the climax if you haven’t seen it already. 25:7-9.

Who does that sound like? Is that Aslan, the hero of the Narnia stories? No that’s Jesus, the hero of our story. God swallows up death forever by sending his son. He didn’t commute from the suburbs, he moved all the way in, he sought the peace of the city, then died for it, rose again and with that he swallowed up death forever. Now we get to rejoice and be glad because of it.

The end of our story, the final scene of all humanity is a massive, jubilant, incredible party in the city. That’s a party I want to invite as many people as possible to.

Cookie Party

2010-10-19T10:27:00.001+04:00

One of our teammates is quite the cook and enjoys reading cooking blogs. She said she kept coming across recipes for the "best chocolate chip cookie recipe". So, she wanted to get to the bottom of such claims and find out which recipe really was the best! We decided that in this day and age; everyone has their own cookie truth :) and we each prefer different qualities in a cookie. So, we made 8 different cookie recipes and scored each cookie on varies qualities. I decided to make my own adapted Betty Crocker recipe and see how it faired against the popular blog recipes. In the end, my cookie won the most votes for over all best cookie. In second place, was the popular New York Times cookie recipe.
Happy Baking! ~jess (see recipe in previous blog post)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-10-19T10:18:00.001+04:00

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted Betty Crocker Recipe

3/4

Granulated Sugar

3/4

Brown Sugar

Butter, softened, NOT melted

tsp.

vanilla

Lg.

Egg

1 1/2

All purpose Flour

1/2

Whole Wheat Flour

1/4-1/2

Oat Flour

1/2

tsp.

Salt

Tbs.

Flax Seed, ground (this is approximate - just sprinkle to cover dough before adding chocolate chips.)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In large bowl, beat surgars, butter, vanilla and egg for a few minutes. It is important that softened not melted butter is used. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. (dough should be stiff if not - add more oat flour). I usually 1 cup oat or 1/2 C. of whole wheat and 1/2 C. of Oat flour). Note - the more flour you use the more easily your cookies will break after cooling.

3. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown on bottom and top (the centers will still be soft or look a little under cooked still). Cool 1-2 mintues on cookie sheet and then move to colling rack.

another use for a water bottle and other things I’ve learned in getting a Russian Visa

2010-10-01T11:51:00.001+04:00

The last post talked about what a headache it’s been in getting our visas and work permits this past year. This post is about the more adventurous task of extending a visa into a work permit. It involves x-rays, a portly and rude doctor and an empty water bottle. I hope you enjoy it.

To get a work permit we must enter on a temporary three month visa then we extend it to a work permit. In order to do that you must go through a series of medical tests to prove that you are healthy enough to not be a medical risk to the people of Russia. You have never even seen red tape until you have entered the labyrinth that is the Russian health system. Thankfully, one of our colleagues braved this path for us a month earlier and gave us detailed directions on what to do.

What do you think comes first in getting a document saying you are healthy and legally allowed to work in Russia? Would you go to the doctor’s office? Would you go to the migration services? Where do you go? The bank. Yes, you go to the bank and pay them $50 in order to get a receipt that says you can start the procedure. Because...y’know...that makes sense.

Ok, now all we need to do is go to the doctor’s office that specializes in this medical document thing, right? They test stuff like your blood and your lungs and make sure you’re not crazy, all that stuff. It’s all in one conveniently located building, right? Oh wait, we live in Russia...wrong.

Dan and Chris, my teammates and friends (without whom I would not have made it this far) and I go to an obscure, barely marked building at 4 pm to give blood and get the paperwork started. What’s that? Come back tomorrow? It’s 4:10 and the office closes at 4. Awesome.

We go the next day at 10 and wait in line for thirty minutes to give the nice ladies our passports, bank receipts and everything else. These ladies were really nice to us and even joked around with us which was a nice little change of pace. They took blood and jokingly said it would cost us 15 rubles ($0.50). They said come back in four days from 10-4 for the results and paperwork. We came at 10 and it was actually ready. What do you think comes next? Well the next step is conveniently only open from 8-11 and it’s an hour’s walk away. Not next door, not on the same street, it’s an hour from here to there and closes in 30 minutes. Again...awesome.

So we skip to step three which is nearer and closes at 2. We walk around and look for building 10-A on a certain street. We find building 10 and look for an entrance. The builders apparently built it backwards because the main entrance was on the other side. We go in and find out it is building 10 not 10-A, a grade school not a medical building. We guess that building 10-A is that short, dilapidated building hidden behind decaying concrete walls with an unmanned guardrail a chimpanzee could operate. We bushwhack our way into the building and find more surprisingly pleasantly composed workers. They take our information and ask us to sit until the psychologists are ready. Psychologists?! What? Evidently this is the narcotics and psychology branch that signs for us. They make sure we’re not on drugs nor crazy. That’s comforting.

These ladies are really nice. They too joke with me and are very pleasant with me. It seems like they understand the hassle this can be and take pity on us, or maybe they are trying to lure me into a false sense of comfort to force a confession out of me. It turns out they weren’t and after a few questions sign my paper and send me on my way. All in all a pleasant experience.

The next step - step two, the 8 am one - will have to wait till tomorrow.

7:45 AM, we gather outside my door and walk towards the medical building for our last step. We know that we’ll need to give a urine sample and that this being Russia they probably don’t have any sanitary containers for us to use at the doctor’s office. (For those of you who have lived here you understand that sentence, for those of you who haven’t, as my friend says ‘don’t try to understand it, just give it a hug’). We see a sign for a 24 hour pharmacy and walk up to it. What’s that scribbled in black ink and taped to the door? Closed. Awesome. Time is running out and I have to leave for class soon so we take our chances and hope they have an option for us at the office.

We finally find the correct medical building, it’s located at the “Center for Finding Tuberculosis in Your Lungs” or some equally bizarrely named building. This is the logical place to have one’s work permit medical tests done, right?

So we go in and up to the doctor’s office. This next step is one where it is very useful to know the difference between the perfective and imperfective aspect of a verb. Imperfective means it is either a process or right now. Like the word “invite” I invite you in, or I am inviting you in sounds like “Pre-gla-shy-u” the Perfective is a one time event or result that either has happened or will happen. I will invite you sounds like “Pre-gla-shoe”. Hear the difference? Well we didn’t. We thought she said “I invite you in” and in we went. She was getting dressed. We were in trouble. “Pre-gla-SHOE” she yelled in near-naked furry as she shook her clothes at us. In embarrassment and shame we scurried out and tried to stifle our giggles. A minute later she muttered “pre-gla-shy-u” and we entered as penitent as Indiana Jones searching for the Grail.

One by one she takes our documents and tells us where to go. First go downstairs to give blood (again) then to the lab to give urine. We chose not to ask about the latter for fear that her already discontented mood would send her into a firestorm of hitherto unheard Russian profanities and pontifications on the despairing state of the education of today’s lazy and stupid youth which would include us. Fortunately for us the kind lady taking our blood had the answer to our quandary. “Where do we get a sanitary container for the urine sample?”, we asked. “At a drink kiosk”, she replied. For those of you who have read this far just to find out what the other use for a water bottle is read no further and take a guess.

That’s right, she told us to go buy a bottle of water, drink it then use it for the...um...next step. So we did.

After buying the bottles and drinking them we searched for a suitable bathroom where we could give the sample. We found the lab that analyzes the samples but no one was there. I saw a woman through the window and asked as best I could in my broken Russian “This place for to urine?” Her reply? “This is a window.” Thanks, I knew that. After finally finding a suitable place we came back to give our samples and again no one was there. It was now 9:05 and the sign said something about closing at 9:00. Great, we’ll have to come back and do this all again tomorrow? That’s when another very sweet nurse came through the door and said “Well done boys, give me your samples and your analysis papers.” With bare hands she unscrewed our homemade sanitary bottles and placed them in a flimsy metal box reminiscent of the toolbox you might have made out of spare sheet metal as a child. She then repeated “well done boys, you can go now.” and we walked out like proud schoolchildren having just memorized how to spell “sincerely”. Again, another very nice lady having pity on us.

From here we went back to the lady who reminded us of the importance of verb aspects and got the instructions for the last step. She had flipped through my passport and saw that I lived for a couple of years in southern Russian. Upon seeing this she asked why I spoke Russian so poorly and why I was such a bad student. I didn’t know the Russian equivalent for an equally insulting statement so instead I simply said “I’m still studying, thank you for the reminder that I need to study more.” And with that we finished the last step.

The old Russian proverb states that the future belongs to those who know how to wait. I have a lot to learn about patience, about putting others first and about my character. The bright spot in all of this has been the surfacing of character flaws deep inside me that I can mask by humor or accomplishments. I’ve also met some very sweet, kind and hardworking Russians along the way accompanied by a few not so pleasant characters who suck people’s joy rather than give it. I hope that at the very least this saga has given you some laughter or some gratitude at the small mercies God gives us on the way of sanctification. Thanks for sticking with us and praying for us, it’s helping.

Oh and by the way we got the work permits this week! That’s a reason to celebrate!

The Visa Saga

2010-08-26T16:21:00.003+04:00

If you have read our newsletters over the past year you will notice a common thread weaving through them all. There is one thing we ask for your prayers every month and there is no end in sight to those requests. It is the Visa and the continual quest to live legitimately in Russia. As a Christian Ministry we want to do everything the right, legal and honest way, and we have, which is why it is taking us forever to get anywhere.

For those of you who are interested here is the story of how we almost have our work permits.

In May of 2009 we as a ministry submitted the proper documents to get new work visas for the international staff who work in Moscow. We had done this many times before and were not expecting any problems. May passed, then June, then July, finally our staff had to leave the country because their visas were expiring and we did not know when they would be re-issued. Eventually we found out that our visas were delayed because there was an investigation into our organization. That was a surprise to us because we had done nothing wrong. We were not worried about the investigation because we knew we were innocent but we also knew that this would slow things down considerably.

They finally told our organization that everything was in order but they decided to reset the visa issuing from June to January so it would be inline with the majority of work visas issued to other non-profits. Therefore from August to January we would need to find another option. We decided to start using 3 month temporary religious visas that would have to be renewed as soon as the previous visa ended. This meant our team would have to get a second, temporary passport valid for two years with which to get the temporary visas. With this we could keep one with us and mail the other to the United States for visa processing. The only problem is Russia will not allow someone to mail a passport in or out, only a few Eastern European countries will allow that, so our team would have to be creative in its timing with which passport they sent where and when. Jessica and I knew we were arriving in late October or early November so we thought that we would only have to do this once in order to get our long term visa and avoid the whole two passport mess. Unfortunately, we were proved wrong.

January rolled around and our organization found out at the last minute that one piece of paper for the visas was supposed to have a stamp on it but it was not there. In place of the stamp we were given verbal approval but not written approval. Apparently that was good enough for the low-level official who is supposed to give the stamps but not good enough for the fastidious fellows at the visa issuing office. By the way I am grateful for their fastidiousness, it is a big step in fighting corruption and I applaud it. This stamp would require a minimum of one month to acquire, unfortunately the first 10 days of that month were holidays. In Russia every day from January 1st to the 10th is a holiday, that meant it would be one month and ten days for us. That meant that our visas would expire and we would need to get yet another 3 month temporary visa. (below is a picture of the market in downtown Budapest)

Jessica and I found out about this a few days too late and as a result we ended up hanging out in Budapest for 3 weeks while we waited for our Letter of Invitation (LOI) to receive a visa, then mailed that LOI along with our passports and applications to the Russian Embassy in Washington DC then waited for them to process it and send it back. But of course there was a massive snowstorm in DC delaying FedEx by three days meaning we had to wait another week in Budapest. Either the Lord was trying to teach us a lesson in patience and reliance upon him or someone or something really did not want us in Russia. We finally got our second 3 month temporary visa in mid February and headed back to Moscow. (Dave finally getting our visas fresh from the FedEx truck)

We waited and waited for news on our permanent visas/work permits but never heard a thing. In the meantime we all got our college diplomas “apostilled” (which is a fancy word for “notarization good enough for any country to recognize”) and translated, then we submitted those to the gentleman whom we hired to get our visas. After getting these (in March) he said “Oh great, now I can go submit these to get your visas.” He never told us he was waiting for these, he just waited and never told us. My mother always said if you can’t say something nice about someone don’t say anything at all. So we are moving on with the story.

We waited some more and eventually time drew near enough that we had to start the process of getting yet another 3 month temporary visa just in case our permanent ones did not arrive in time. I mean really, why should we have expected them to? Let’s be honest.

Through a friend and former colleague we found out that in one morning you could get a new visa for free in Cyprus if you had all the proper paperwork (LOI, passport, pictures, application, HIV/AIDs Test, etc). With this good news Jess and I headed to Cyprus in May with only days to spare on our old temporary visas. We were in Cyprus for three days and sure enough it took one morning and was free, plus we got to hang out at the beach for a day and see a new country! Not bad, but still expensive and not what we wish we were doing with our time. Below is a picture of St Lazarus's Cathedral in Cyprus. Supposedly he was buried there.

Finally we got word that our permanent LOIs (Letters of Invitation) were ready and we could pick them up at the hired “gentleman”’s office. This was good news because it meant we could carefully prepare our applications and send them off in order to get our permanent visas with plenty of time. We went to the office on the day they said they would be ready and sure enough...they weren’t. They said come back next week. We came back the next week and half of the LOIs had either incorrect names, birthplaces or dates. They had to be corrected so we gave them back and told them to correct the mistakes. They said come back in a few days. I did and sure enough...they weren’t ready. A week later and sure enough...not ready. Now our comfortable window of time was becoming more and more uncomfortable. It was coming down to the wire. With only a couple days to spare we got all the right documents and FedEx-ed them to America for processing.

Our permanent passports and visas arrived at the door of a friend the day before they left America to visit us in Russia. It was by the skin of our teeth that they made it. But that seems to be the norm for visas.

Honestly, this last visa trip wasn’t so bad. All we had to do was cross the border and come back. So we found the cheapest flight and hotel offer we could and went with it. Things worked out perfectly for us and we were able to fly Budapest in time to celebrate Jess’s 30th birthday and then fly back on our new visa. It took three days and was incredibly relaxing and stress free. It still was not the ideal situation and not what we came to Russia to do, but one thing we are learning about living in Russia is to make the best of what’s around. So we did.

For more on turning a work visa into a work permit read the next story in the Visa Saga, it will be up soon.

Thank you for your prayers and support in us as we serve here in Russia. We did not come here to go on visa trips or deal with applications and red tape but we will do what we have to in order to share the Gospel. Compared to what the apostles went through our ordeal is a walk in the park. Thanks for holding us up through your prayers and encouragement, we would not have made it this far without you.

2010-08-12T13:47:00.001+04:00

Woo-Eee it’s hot!

Moscow, and Russia for that matter, is usually associated with cold weather, blizzards, big furry hats and overcoats. That’s for a good reason. In the winter the temperature will stay below freezing for months. Sometimes it’s so cold they feed vodka to the animals at the zoo to keep them warm. Seriously, I’m not kidding, check this out.

All that to say I can hardly remember what “cold” feels like. Is cold that momentary chill you get when you eat ice cream? Are goose bumps the greatest measurement for extreme cold? “Cold” is such an elusive thought to me that I shudder when I see people wearing parkas on TV and get a little sick to my stomach when I see all of our sweaters and heavy coats and scarfs. “Why do I have these?” I ask myself.

You see the reason why I cannot contemplate cold right now is that it has been in the high 90s and 100s for weeks. It’s been the hottest summer in Moscow for 130 years, July was the hottest it’s EVER been in Moscow. The day after our teammates Chris & Liz arrived with their 3 month old baby it was the hottest day in the recorded history of Moscow. Moscow is an 850 year old city! That’s hot.When we were looking for apartments in December one option had a place to put up an air conditioner. We both scoffed at the idea of an air conditioner in Moscow. “What’s the need?” we said, “it’s hot for like a week and we lived in New Orleans, we can handle it.” Hindsight is always better than foresight as they say.

In case you haven’t guessed yet we don’t have air conditioning. All we have is a ten dollar fan we bought this spring that is now selling for $100 due to the demand. Gotta love capitalism.To keep cool we’ve developed an elaborate system of propping our fan and opening and closing windows at different times of the day to keep the heat out and let the cool in. We’ve also learned of the magic of cold baths. It is a very strange feeling to get out of a cold bath and then put on hot underwear, and I don't mean "Oh, yeah" hot, I mean underwear that is literally at a higher temperature than your body. That's weird.

The heat was uncomfortable but bearable, but the smoke was a whole ‘nother deal. Because of the heat and lack of rain not only in Moscow but throughout western Russia the forests surrounding Moscow and the countryside have become a tinder box waiting to explode. It was only a matter of time before fires began to spread uncontrollably. Last week at one point there were more than 500 uncontained forest fires raging in Russia. That number has been reduced but it’s still a national emergency that will take weeks to put out. All the smoke from the fires southeast and southwest of Moscow has blown straight towards the city and has stayed there due to the cities propensity to trap heat. In short it’s been hot and smoky. At one point the smoke was so thick and toxic that the air pollution was more than 5 times the allowable limit. That meant we couldn’t open our windows to let a breeze come through or go for a walk to cool down. That meant it was hot and stinky in our home. We would sweat by just sitting down and reading.

Thank God that we have some great friends with a spacious apartment and air conditioning. For three days we would come over in the early afternoon and play games, watch movies or just visit. All in an effort to escape the heat and stuffiness of our own apartments. I don’t know what we would have done without those friends.

Many of our friends and family received an e-mail from us asking them to pray and sure enough a day or two later the smoke blew away and the heat came down a little bit. As I write this the sky is a bright blue and it’s a comfortable 84 F outside. There are reports of big clouds of smoke coming our way but until then we’ll play outside, open our windows and thank God for small mercies.

One last thought on all this. One day as I was drawing an ice bath in hopes of cooling down I had nothing else to do but watch the clear, clean water pour out of bath spigot into my bath tub. That’s when this question hit me “How many people in the world have never had clean water in the comfort of their own home? God, thank you for clean water, thank you for a comfortable home, thank you for this.” A little perspective has gone a long way for us here in Moscow. Thanks for your prayers and we’ll keep you posted on what’s going on.

Gratefully,

Dave & Jess

What do Russians think.....

2010-07-02T12:10:00.002+04:00

At the request of one of our teachers, one of their Russian friends, after visiting America, made a list of things every Russian should know before he/she visits America. The results are pretty hilarious AND informative:

1. Even though Americans many times look like us, do not be deceived for they ARE different.

2. We all know how stressful and unpleasant it would be for us to sit down and plan our free time way in advance, well Americans get absolutely stressed out if they don't have a schedule that tells them EXACTLY what they are going to do on the night of every week day and in the morning, afternoon, and evening of the weekend at least a week in advance (I am not exaggerating).

3. When you are in a public place like a shopping mall, bank, park or any other and happen to pass within 6-7 feet distance from an American say EXCUSE ME. Don't ask me why. Just say it. By the way, Mexicans don't count. They are like us.

4. When you want to call on someone's attention, don't address them as "young man" or "girl". Say "sir" or "ma’am" and expect the same to be extended to you.

5. When someone looks at you and smiles, ALWAYS smile back (even if it's someone you don't know). For some reason, Americans love to smile at complete strangers.

6. You don't need to carry a little roll of toilet paper in your purse. There is toilet paper in EVERY restroom in America. Also, there is no toilet room in private homes. Every bathroom has a sink, a bathtub, and a toilet.

7. When you see animals in the streets or people's back yards like squirrels, deer, etc. DO NOT throw rocks at them or try to scare them, people will never forgive you.

8. If you think that sugar and mayonnaise do not mix, you will be surprised.

9. It's a SHAME to still be living with your parents and not have plans to move out when you're past 25.

10. You may think that just sitting around with your friends for hours doing nothing but having tea and talking is a good sweet time. Well Americans think that it's a waste of time and therefore should be avoided, I mean what is it that you can't say in one hour?

11. Do not be surprised when you don't see hardly any people in the city outside--they are either in their car, or office, or home.

12. Do not hesitate to ask for information from the shop assistants or any other assistants that work in public places, they will answer you in a very nice way because they really DO believe that they are there to HELP you. Shop workers are very pleasant and polite in America.

Birthday Ride

2010-06-13T21:02:00.001+04:00

This year for Dave's Birthday we went for a 7am ride through the city on Sunday morning when we could ride on main roads unharmed. Thought you would enjoy some of the pics. No bike trek would be complete with out at least one flat tire in the group:) The morning was followed by a 9:30 am brunch at our house where we had, yes you guessed it - cake and breakfast burritos!

Summer Project in Full Swing

2010-06-05T11:21:00.001+04:00

It's been a week already. The Summer Project complete with 32 students from OU and Texas Tech, 8 staff and 3 kids have invaded Moscow with more energy than a Russian Circus. It's been exciting. When they first got here we briefed them for a few on days on culture, safety, language and methods for sharing our faith and building the local movement. Then we let them loose and sent them to the campuses of Moscow.

Four days a week they are on campus for several hours just meeting students and talking about life with them. I've been so impressed with their initiative and eagerness. The conversations haven't been the smoothest and awkward is a word used often to describe their interactions but that's totally ok. We've all got to start somewhere. What really excites me is seeing one student step out and share with another the hope they have in Christ and allowing God to do the rest. We've been careful not to spiritually hi-jack the conversation yet still be bold and make the most of the opportunities God has given us.

One group of Russian students we talked to really broke my heart because their comments were the norm for the typical Muscovite student. They wanted to go to Heaven, but they didn't know how to get there. They didn't want to be Orthodox because they didn't like the vibe of the church, rather they wanted to be Catholic or Protestant because then they could have a relationship with God. But then when we asked them if they would like to know how to have a relationship with God and how to go to Heaven they said that they weren't interested right now. This was something for them to consider when they are older, when they have a family. I cannot tell you how heartbreaking this was for me. They are lost and know it but don't care.

We left them with our contact information and an invitation to come play with us at a nearby park a few days later. We'll see what becomes of it. In the meantime we continue to pray for open hearts and for God to work in ways we never imagined. We pray that our labor would not be in vain and we pray that God would use us to be the City of God in the Lofty City.

Thank you for praying with us for these things!

We'll post more on the project in a few days.

God's Teeter-Totter

2010-04-21T17:32:00.001+04:00

“What are you doing tomorrow morning?” asked my Russian friend one late Saturday night. “Going to church.” I replied “What about you? Do you go to church?”

“Yes, sometimes. But I don’t really like it.” He answered. He went on to share his views on church and how it seems like much of it was just created to keep people in line and to give the hurting hope. This opened our conversation to an unexpected but welcomed spiritual discussion about church, Jesus, life and what is important.

A few months ago I was thinking about my approach to evangelism. Early on in ministry I was taught to share the Gospel the first time and every time I met with someone. If they weren’t interested we would go on to the next person who was. This meant that in almost every conversation I had with a Russian my first thought was

usually “How can I steer this toward the Gospel?” The motivation behind this was that we were only going to be in our location for short time and it was our job to sow broadly. We were there to share the Gospel with as many people as possible. There is nothing wrong with that, but as in all things, it needs balance.

Then when we worked alongside students in New Orleans our approach shifted from daily evangelism on campus to helping students learn how to effectively share their faith with their friends and fellow students. We used tools such as surveys, short films, music and giveaways to engage students in spiritual discussions. This was good because it taught us to listen first then respond appropriately. But the negative side was that hardly anybody heard the Gospel because we were so afraid of offending people.

Something wasn’t quite right. Something was missing. We weren’t effective in our random, on-campus evangelism efforts but what was effective was the community that students were building around them. They would pray, worship and study the Bible together in addition to just doing life together. Other students were attracted to this and slowly but surely their hearts were opened to the bedrock of the community, Jesus Christ. We don’t know how many trusted Christ over the two years we served there. What we do know is that the majority were drawn to him not because of convincing arguments in a random evangelistic conversation but rather because of the love of Christ lived out among the believers on that campus.

Now I’m not saying that we shouldn’t go out and sow broadly. Surely, Jesus did that and taught his disciples to do it. But we should take the same posture Jesus did, as a person who is humble and genuinely concerned for others, rather than a lording, hateful know-it-all. God knows I’ve been the latter too many times and it is causing me to rethink my whole approach to this.

In the fall two things caused me to think hard about this (and I’m still working through it). One was the book “GodSpace” by AIA (Athletes in Action - a division of Campus Crusade) staff member Doug Pollock. The other was a broadcast of “This American Life” by NPR entitled Bait & Switch. In this broadcast the host, Ira Glass (a self-proclaimed staunch atheist), interviews a Christian writer who has written extensively on evangelism. They talk about the old-school methods of hosting a big event under false pretenses only to slip a Gospel presentation in at the end. They even specifically mention Campus Crusade and a beach outreach strategy we have used. This caused me to perk my ears up. The host asked if it was wrong and manipulative to lie to people even if they think they are doing a greater good in the end. The author agreed and offered a different approach. He says we should befriend people who are not Christians just for the sheer sake of their friendship and being very transparent with them about the desire for them to know God. Or as the host put it “all bait and no switch.”

At that same time I was reading the book “GodSpace” and it was talking about this same thing. While doing evangelism we often manipulate conversations to go in a direction that often the other people don’t want it to go. The author talks about how often we lay our hands on a conversation in hopes of pointing them to Christ but what really happens is that the conversation ceases to be a conversation and becomes a sales pitch. Whether we are aware of it or not we believe that we have become God’s sales reps and that it is our job to sell Jesus to the other person. Oh how convicted I felt when I read that! It’s been haunting me since.

Pollock goes on to describe several more “Conversation Killers” such as an unbelieving heart, pre-conceived notions of what Christians are, awkward transitions (guilty!), disrespect, agendas and so on. He offers a solution which is not easy. He calls it God’s teeter-totter. It involves lots of listening and responding with wondering questions. Too much listening and the person feels like they are at a therapist’s office, too much questioning and they feel like they are being interrogated. Instead when we authentically listen to a person and respond with a question that is an honest wonder to you the conversation is not a pitch, the person is not manipulated and the truth is still being sought after.

This was running through my mind as I talked with my Russian friend that late Saturday night. As we talked about the state of the church I wondered aloud what Jesus would say about it. We talked about growing up and out of our twenties and into our thirties. I wondered if we had changed in the past ten years and if we would be the same ten more years from now. Our conversation ebbed and flowed naturally and when it was over I didn’t try spiritual CPR by asking an out of topic spiritual question. I let it sit until the right time; until God gave us another open door. I am still struggling with finding the balance between being a good listener and being a minister of the Gospel. Jesus was bold AND compassionate. For too long I’ve been too bold. I want to be compassionate but not to the point that the Gospel is never heard or proclaimed (that would be the least compassionate thing one could do).

I want my friend to know Christ and enjoy him forever. I want him to be awed by God. What I don’t want is to approach him as another “notch on my crown” (which he isn’t) nor as a project to be worked on. He is my friend. And I want my friend to know Jesus.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, please post them if you would like to.

Recent Events in the City

2010-03-30T19:57:00.001+04:00

Written in response the the explosions in the Moscow Metro March 29,2010.

A dear friend of mine shared this quote with me today by

John MacArther, " When believers are in a place of obedience they are in a place of safety, no matter the circumstances. The place of security is not the place of favorable circumstances, but the place of obedience to God's will..."

We are not exempt from the pain and effects that sin brings into this world but on this day we and those we know were shown the great mercy of our Lord. We thank Him for His mercy and ask that it would extend to the families of those who died yesterday and those injured. We pray for reconciliation between Russia and the Chechen people. We ask that they would receive the Lord's love and forgiveness and there find the strength and love to extend it to one another.

After class today, we went to pray and take flowers to the metro stations where the blasts occurred.

(picture on the bottom is a information stand located in the middle of each metro platform, it reads: Moscow Mourns/Grieves.)

Water - a ploblem all over the world!

2010-03-17T11:35:00.002+03:00

We are privileged to live in a place where we have running water. All we have to do is turn a knob and "wala" water comes out! However, it is far from the water quality we experience in the states.

I have often wondered why do my clothes not last long when I'm in Russia and why do the colors change to strange shades? Here is a hint..

It is usually a pale yellow, but today it was a dark brown! I think I can wait to take a shower :) These pictures do not do it justice!

Russians Can Be Funny

2010-03-08T18:24:00.000+03:00

This is just a quick thought I wanted to share before I lost it.

When People who have never visited Russia describe what they think a typical Muscovite looks and acts like they usually paint a grim picture. It usually involves a large leather jacket, perhaps with some fur on it, a large boxy hat made of more fur, thick boots and almost always a frown, scowl or emotionless look on the face of their imagined Russian. While I would agree with that entire description (moreso with "emotionless" than frown or scowl) I have been pleasantly surprised by a few funny moments in Moscow.

People here aren't really known for their sense of humor, so it when it does happen I notice it. Take for example the lady selling gloves as the men's clothing store:

Me: How much do those gloves cost?

Lady: 3,000 Rubles ($100 roughly)

Me: Oh, that's too much for me. Maybe in five years. I'll come back then.

Lady: (without breaking character) We'll wait for you.

Hilarious.

Then there was the lady at passport control last time we left the country. We were the first to check in so we had our pick of lines to go through. There are the normal traveller lines then there are the diplomat lines. Seeing as I was not a diplomat I went to stand behind Jessica in line, but that's when the lady in the diplomat line waved me towards her.

Me: (handing her my passport and smiling) But I'm not a diplomat.

Lady: (again not breaking character) Not yet you're not. Have a great day!

It was by far the best passport experience I've ever had in Russia. It made me laugh all day.

So, you see, Russians can actually be funny. That or maybe I'm not hearing them correctly and am just making up humor for them. Either way, it's making me laugh.

Weekend Fun!

2010-03-06T13:11:00.001+03:00

We have been back for a couple of weeks now after leaving Moscow to get another 3 month religious work visa. We are still praying that we will be able to obtain our work visas before the end of this 3 month period.
We are not sure what story the Lord is weaving in these complications and extra expenses, but I will exclaim the greatness of our King in the seen and unseen! One gift during our trip was the free housing provided by a missionary family in Budapest. It was a little like what I imagine La'Abri to be. We shopped, cooked together and discussed life and Jesus over our meals. They pointed us to study materials and we talked about these as well. Our time with the Murray's was a great blessing!
Here our a few pictures from our most recent adventure here in Moscow. Every year I have lived here we have had a winter picnic and sledding party with our team. Enjoy!
Anything can be used as a sled: linoleum as pictured on the left, flying saucers and check out this cool sled Joel is riding on! (The kids are part of the Beyar family, former Moscow directors)
We are so thankful for the Lord's provision for community! We long to enter more and more into a community of Russians. Tonight we are going to a Birthday party and will be the only Americans there - it should be great!

2010-01-26T12:30:00.002+03:00

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

2010-01-08T20:14:00.002+03:00

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

2010-01-07T11:55:00.002+03:00

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

2009-12-19T15:40:00.000+03:00

"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

2009-12-17T10:31:00.000+03:00

"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

2009-12-04T12:02:00.001+03:00

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

2009-12-04T11:35:00.001+03:00

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.

A small view

2009-11-17T14:54:00.000+03:00

Movin in

2009-11-04T17:01:00.000+03:00

We've been in Moscow for a few days now and after a warm welcome from our friends and teammates we are preparing to move in with our host family for the next six weeks. We are excited for this time and are praying that it's a memorable and productive time for us. It's the first time for us that we've lived with an actual Russian family so it should be educational. There are so many things one can learn just from observing the day to day habits of a family and the way that they operate. Various cultural habits and insights are what we're hoping to learn about in this time.

A friend of ours who has spent several years overseas gave us some great advice the day after we landed. She said that often we make daily and life decisions based out of fear. For example "I'm afraid I'll get mugged so I just won't go out very much", or "I'm afraid I'll get lost so I won't go somewhere I haven't been before." Thinking and making decisions based out of fear isn't what God calls us to "it is for freedom he has set us free" and "God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity...", rather God calls us to joy and adventure. God has not called us to be safe, he has called us to bold. In light of this we are asking ourselves and praying about what bold things God would have us do with our new lives in Moscow. What do we want to do? Which decisions would be made out of joy and which might be made out of fear?

We're still exploring these thoughts and welcome yours as well.

Honestly, it's not ideal for us to live with a four person family in a one bedroom apartment for six weeks. But it's going to be an adventure, and while there are silly things to be afraid of, and circumstances that may annoy us there are plenty of more things to experience and grow from. Plus, I'm sure plenty of Jesus' circumstance might have been more than annoying to him, but he set the example and we're trying to follow it.

Thanks for joining us and we'll be in touch soon.

-Dave

Temporary Address During Moscow Move

2009-10-29T17:40:00.000+03:00

Many Folks have asked us about our new address. Here is a temporary address that can be used to send us things like Christmas cards :) We will be living with a Russian family for our first six weeks of living in Moscow. When we move into our own apartment, we will get a new mailing address. Even if we have already moved we will still receive mail sent to this address so please do not worry about mail you send not getting to us in time.

New Life
Mr. and Mrs. David Coats
Ulitsa Nametkina 15
Moscow, Russia 117420

Chicago My Kind of Town

2009-10-05T00:36:00.001+04:00

We have had the great pleasure of staying with childhood friends of Dave these past nine days in Chicago. It has been great fun watching Dave interact with his friends and meet friends’ parents who have invested in his life for so many years. (Below, us with Jeff and Lilly Ware)

One former mentor we have spent some time with is a Spanish teacher from Dave’s high school, Jeff Ware. Jeff continues to be a ceaseless encouragement and spiritual mentor to Dave. Jeff made it possible for us to talk with three different Russian language classes on Friday. Many of the students were born in the U.S. to Russian parents or have moved to the U.S. as recent as three months ago. We had the opportunity to share with the students why and what we will be doing in Moscow. We also talked about being learners of other cultures and the cultural adjustment cycle that people often experience when living in a new culture. The students can, read, write and type in Russian. (Below, us with the 5th level Russian Language class is Glenbrook North High School)

X-Track

2009-08-20T19:59:00.002+04:00

The Chief of the Village wanted to get baptized. He had long watched the way the Christians loved each other and decided that it was time for him, and his five wives, to join them in following Christ. What where the missionaries to do?

How do they navigate this minefield? This missiological dilemma was one of the questions posed to us during our two month cross-cultural training called “X-track”. One step closer to home, what do you tell a homosexual couple with children that comes to the Lord and desires to fully surrender their lives to Him?

A few other topics included raising kids overseas, tips on keeping in touch with family and friends and differences between guilt/innocence cultures (the west) and shame/honor cultures (the middle east). This was an invaluable time of preparation, rest and vision casting for us.

Our anticipated leave date is sometime in October. Between now and then we will be spending some quality time with our families as well as raising support in Texas and Colorado.

Here are some answers to some common questions: Yes, we are excited to go; Yes, we will miss our families terribly but they are being incredibly supportive of us; And of course we will miss New Orleans and America but we know that God has us going to Russia for a reason bigger than we can see. Thank you for sticking with us in this rough economy and for being God’s literal provision in our lives. We are eternally grateful for you.

Warmly in Christ,

David & Jessica

(The Pictures above are Dave with his Dad and brothers Bud and Andy at a Rockies game this summer and other is of Dave and Jess enjoying a canoe trip with Dave's Dad)

Thank God with us for...

A great summer of training in Fort Collins and time with family.
A breakthrough with our Work Permits! We will get them but they start in January. We’ll be on a temporary 3 month visa till then.

Please Pray for...

Us as we trust and ask God to provide the funds we need to go to Russia and for the travel this will require during the next two months. It’s like backpacking but with a car.
Jess’s Knee Surgery: to be scheduled sometime in August and a full and speedy recovery.
Our team in Moscow as they start the fall semester - for faith and belief in the Greatness of God.

Moving, Training & Waiting

2009-08-20T19:49:00.001+04:00

Here is our June update. Thank you for praying for us and sending us!

Hello from Ft. Collins, Colorado! We have been busy. We moved from our home in New Orleans in early June and after a brief visit to San Angelo, TX we headed to our cross-cultural training in Ft. Collins. Our time is mostly spent in class learning things like worldview, contextualization and values. It has been very interesting and we feel as if our minds will be on overload when we step foot on Russian soil once again and start really trying to apply all of this information.

We want to thank each of you who have come alongside us during this time with your prayers, gifts and hard work, especially as we cleaned and moved things from our home. We are constantly remembering you in our prayers and thanking the Lord for your generosity and sacrifices on our behalf.

As we look toward our late September departure to Russia, we would deeply appreciate your prayers. As is typically the case, there has been a delay in processing our visas. This summer we are hoping to receive work permits which will allow us back into Russia for a year at a time. We requested work permits for our team to live and minister in Moscow, but so far our request has not been issued. We have simply been told to wait. This situation affects our entire team. All of our team members have left Russia for the time being to wait for a renewal or new work permit. It's a little scary to have no one left in country, with little to no information to be had about our future in Russia. Please pray for all of us, for our documents to be speedily processed, and for the privilege to return to Russia at the end of the summer. We are looking forward to returning, and trust the Lord will open doors in His timing.

Warmly in Christ,

David & Jessica

Thank God with us for...

The training we are receiving in Ft. Collins. It has been encouraging and helpful as we prepare for long term overseas ministry.
Extra time spent with our families and friends before the big move.

Please Pray for...

Us as we continue our cross-cultural training. That we would be open to learning what God is teaching us.
Our hearts. That God would prepare us as we go and that we would approach ministry in Russia as servants and learners.
Our Visas. There have been a lot of complications and we desperately need prayer to get our visas and work permits soon

*The future belongs to those who know how to wait* Russian Proverb

The Unexpected Ministry

2009-08-20T19:42:00.001+04:00

This is our update from May, we hope you enjoy.

TIME AFTER TIME after time Adam had tried to start and re-start a movement at his school. He would gather leaders and friends but they would drop-out, move away or disappear. He dreamed of

starting both a ministry for fraternities and for regular students but both never got off the ground. So we decided to meet and pray weekly for God to move. As months went by Adam invited friends over, shared his faith and studied the Bible. Before he knew it he had a weekly Bible study where 10 men and women from the Greek system would come and explore who Jesus is according to the Gospel of John. It wasn’t what he planned on happening, it was more of a backdoor surprise that God brought his way when he decided to ask God to lead him rather than the other way around.

In the same way Jessica and I have been humbled by what God has done in New Orleans. The plans and grand ideas we had were frustrated while

God’s perfect plan slowly unraveled before our eyes, unveiling a beautiful story of life change and hope for the students and families of New Orleans.

You have been a large part of our experience here. We have learned so much about each other, about Jesus and what it means to reach students today in order to reach the world tomorrow. As we leave New Orleans at the end of this month we look back with fond memories and hopeful dreams of what lays ahead. Thank you for going with us! Warmly in Christ,

David & Jessica

Thank God with us for...

Jessica’s knee has been feeling better and she has been able to see a few doctors to help her.
A good end to our time with students in New Orleans

Please Pray for...

Us as we transition from New Orleans to Colorado then Texas, and finally Moscow (ETA is October)
A great summer of training and development at X-track (the cross-cultural training for CCC staff)
A clear vision for how God wants to use us in Moscow.

Experiencing a Transformational Community

2009-08-20T02:54:00.001+04:00

This is from our March Newsletter. It's obviously a little late but we hope you enjoy it.

The music swelled as the students rose and sang a song about finding the answer. As the song fades a vivacious student jumps up front and says kindly “Welcome to FUEL! We’ve got a great night ahead of us so let’s get started” Fuel is the weekly meeting of Campus Crusade at Tulane and—like most of our events—the night is run completely by students. From the setup to the band to the game and the teaching, students do it all. Jessica and I attend the meeting occasionally but mostly mentor the leaders and help them to lead their peers. Tonight, a junior named Peyton has the reins and talks with the group of 30 students about humility. Teaching from Philippians 3 and his personal experience (while playfully joking about the irony of being an expert in humility) he gives a picture of what it means.

Before he gets going he has us say hi to the person next to us. I turn around and meet Alfred. He is wearing a fleece two sizes too big for his small frame, has stylish glasses and faded jeans. Alfred is shy and barely maintains eye contact but is thoughtful and warm as he explains that this is his first time here. After the event ends and the crowd begins to mingle I turn and ask Alfred what he thought. “I like that it’s all student run. Y’know, like there’s no old guy up there.” Sensing that he doesn’t know I’m on staff and a little excited that I can still pass as a college student I asked him to elaborate. “Well, it’s great because it’s like we’re all on the same playing field. We can come as we are and not have to pretend in front of a pastor that I’m someone I’m not.”

He goes on to say that for the first time in the two years since he came to college he is beginning to explore his faith.

“I don’t know why but something inside me said I needed to start coming to this. I’ve seen the signs and t-shirts and just felt like God was saying to go. Like he was trying to wake me up.”

He’s right. They are on the same playing field and he can come as he is. Alfred continues to explore faith and community at Fuel. His is just one of the many lives being touched by this ministry at Tulane. Thank you for helping in a large way to make it possible for guys like Alfred to experience a transformational community. This is why we’re here.

Gratefully, Dave & Jessica

Please Pray For:

• Our student leaders. That they would live surrendered lives to God

• Us that we would too

• Us as we consider returning to Moscow and God’s timing in that

• Jessica’s knee. It’s been hurting chronically for a while and needs healing

Praises

• Our Spring Retreat was a big hit. 40+ students came

• Students are beginning to talk about world missions

• God has been teaching us more and more about the value and need of community and the Holy Spirit

2009-03-02T19:56:00.001+03:00

The month of January brought about a time of reflection in our lives and the annual winter conference allowed us to reconnect with students that we met on our summer project this past year.
Jenny was one of the five girls that I had the opportunity to meet and disciple. Jenny had just finished her sophomore year at a university out east where she spent the past two years desperately seeking for love from men and an escape from the pain of her family life.
She shared with me the shame she carried around with her and the emptiness she felt. Jenny told me that she had come on summer project to get her life turned around and did not desire to make friends with any of the “boring Christians girls who stay at home and watch Disney movies all night.” She did not have the stomach for what she saw as mainstream Christianity.
But God was at work and had much more than a self-help summer in mind for her. The very next day she shared her life story with her roommates and the pain and shame she had been experiencing.
I wish you could have been there to see the incredible work the Lord did in her life and is continuing to complete! Her heart slowly turned toward the Lord, she let Him come in, heal, love and tell Jenny of her great value. She let others into her life and the Lord grew her heart for the lost. She relied on the Holy Spirit to overcome fear and the result was two of her coworkers coming to Christ.
When Jenny returned to college this fall, she started a Bible study that eight of her friends, most of whom were either seeking or dissatisfied in their relationship with God, attended. Since that time one of them has trusted Christ for salvation. Jenny has also gone back to Santa Cruz for a week to continue to encourage and build up her friends that came to Christ over the summer. The Lord is doing incredible things in and through her. She has sought forgiveness and offered love to a verbally abusive parent and that relationship is being restored!
We rejoice in the Lord and in what He has done! His marvelous love and forgiveness brings life and purpose to all!
Please know and believe that you are being used by God in this ministry and that lives are being transformed through you!
Gratefully, Dave & Jessica

2009-03-02T19:51:00.002+03:00

“I HAVE no idea how to explain this.” said my friend Collin. “I mean I just don’t know how to explain this week that we had in Moscow.” As our vision trip debriefed our seven days of meeting students, exploring campuses, interacting with the culture and serving a children’s hospital similar statements were made by the staff and students. For nearly all of the 14 who went this was their first time in Moscow.
Our goal was to give the students and staff we took with us a chance to catch the vision of what God is doing in Moscow and open a possible window for their return. To do this the staff team in Moscow created a balanced schedule that allowed them to do ministry on several campuses, be tourists and hear from the staff about what they are doing to reach the 1.1 million students of Moscow.
One of the biggest highlights for us was when Jess was able to use her expertise in Dietetics to lecture in a dormitory. Eight Russian girls showed up in one of the student leaders’ dorm rooms to hear Jess share her knowledge and debunk common myths about beauty, dieting and health. As Jess spoke the Lord helped her direct the conversation from medical facts about health to spiritual truths that she has experienced personally and how it is all connected. All of the girls who attended said they wanted to know more about both physical and spiritual health and are already in touch with the long term team in Moscow.

The most exciting thing for us was how normal Moscow felt. It was no longer the big, scary city we remembered, but rather a very familiar (though not so warm) place that we enjoy. As we pray and think about our future Russia and the Moscow campus ministry continues to be a part of that conversation.
Thank you for sending us and praying for us. This trip would not have been possible without you. Your love and generosity are a massive support to us!

Dave & Jessica

Multiple Movements?

2008-11-01T00:19:00.002+03:00

Earlier this semester I sat down with a couple of ROTC students and shared the vision of reaching their campus for Christ. With their crew cuts crisply trimmed and pencils drawn they listened intently. “Over 50 years ago, a young businessman had a vision of reaching the world for Christ. A vision for helping to fulfill the Great Commission in our lifetime” I said. “He saw that the college campus was teeming with the future leaders of the world and he knew that if they could be reached today, they could change the world tomorrow. That vision led to the beginning of Campus Crusade for Christ. This is a movement that is spreading all over the world and we want you to join us.” The future officers cracked a grin and sheepishly looked down as they consider the invitation. I went on to explain how we want to put the Gospel within arm’s reach of every student in New Orleans by helping to build spiritual movements everywhere.

What does that mean? What does it look like to have movements everywhere? For starters it means helping to build ministries and outreaches that are relevant to the different subcultures that exist on a college campus so that students can see and savor Jesus Christ in a way that they understand. Tulane is a great example of a campus with multiple movements.

We have four movements currently at work, helping to reach the students of Tulane. Cru, Impact, Valor and Bridges all work together to help fulfill the vision of multiple movements. Cru, otherwise known as “Fuel” is the traditional Campus Crusade movement. Impact is the ministry toward African American students. Valor is for the ROTC students and Bridges is an outreach to International students. Once a month we bring all the leaders of the movements together so that we can worship, share ideas and praise God for what he is doing. Thank you for all that you do to help spread the aroma of Christ everywhere.

Dave & Jessica

2008-03-05T18:51:00.001+03:00

My Day in the Quarter.
So I took a day last week and spent it in the quarter. I spent some time reading, praying and journaling then walked around the quarter listening to some worship on Jess's iPod and taking pictures. Here's a few of the things I found. I hope you enjoy.

2008-03-05T18:45:00.001+03:00

This is from our most recent prayer letter. Hope you enjoy it.
“DAVE I FEEL LIKE I’m teething. Like I’ve just been born and am feeling the pain of teething.” Jacob, or at least that’s what we’ll call him, shared this with me just the other day. He said he is teething spiritually. He is becoming more and more aware of the consequences of the sins in his life and is genuinely repenting for them. A couple weeks after returning from our winter conference Jacob and I sat down to talk and he opened up for the first time, sharing his burdens and regrets. We talked for several hours about what has plagued him and how to avoid it in the future and what the Lord’s response to repentance is.

In the midst of realizing just how bad off he is, he has come to glimpse just how loved he is as well. As Tim Keller said “we are far worse off than we ever imagined, but we are far more loved than we ever dared hope.” God has been so gracious and has even used Jacob, in the depth of his depravity, to lead one of his friends, Olin, to Christ. He sent me a text message on his phone saying “I shared Christ with Olin and he prayed to trust him! I was shaking with nervousness when I started, now I’m shaking because I’m so excited.”

It has been so encouraging to see the Gospel lived out in Jacob’s life. Despite his sin God is using him incredibly. It is miraculous what God can do with a repentant and humble heart. This does not mean that everything is rosy and that the road to sanctification is easy. The reason he is “teething” right now is because he is struggling to leave his life of sin behind for a life of freedom in Christ. It’s been hard and he has fallen more than a few times. But he keeps getting up. It’s like the Switchfoot song says “maybe forgiveness is right where you fell.”
Pray for Jacob, that he will continue to experience the freedom of Christ and that he would walk in the Spirit. Pray for me that I would be a source of grace and truth in his life.

Warmly in Christ,
Dave & Jessica

2008-02-29T03:49:00.001+03:00

Yes Mardi Gras was about a month ago - but I felt the need to inform the general public that Mardi Gras when done correctly is actually a very fun family event! The pictures here are from a church potluck held at our pastor's home which happened to be on a parade route on a Sunday afternoon. We were close to the beginning of the route. As you can see parents build their children seats on top of ladders so that they can catch the stuffed animals, beads & other toys that are thrown into the crowds. Students get off of school anywhere between 3-5 days for this celebration & there are parades through out the city for almost 2 weeks so you have to be careful where you drive especially close to our neighborhood where many of the parades travel through.

Sweet Visit

2008-02-29T03:02:00.001+03:00

This past weekend we had our first guests come visit us at our place her in NOLA. Joel, Hollie, Colt & Abigail Dickens came Sat.-Mon. It was so much fun! Joel & Hollie were gracious to sleep in the same room with Abigail & Colt slept on our fold out couch. We visited the Audubon Zoo for the first time on Sat. & spent the evening in the French Quarter . We attempted to take them to a good Cajun food restaurant recommended by some friends, but ended up with poor customer service & salty friend fish. Not exactly what I had in mind - but they were great sports! NOLA is known for its wonderful food - but be prepared to dish out the bucks from what we have found out.
We relished the fellowships with people who walk intimately with Christ & enjoyed every minute of it! Spring time is the best time in visit here so - please don't hesitate come enjoy the warm sun in New Orleans!

Personal Notes about NOLA

2007-12-05T00:52:00.002+03:00

So Jess and I have been here for a semester now. Living in New Orleans for four months has afforded us many memories and given us a few opportunities to either exclaim or utter "only in New Orleans" Here's a recap of some of my memories from the previous semester.

The Quarter

As they call it here, the French Quarter is an enigmatic place. Refined and seedy, beautiful and disgusting, a tourist trap yet locals love it. It's an odd place in a very odd city. One of our first weekends here we ventured to the quarter on our bicycles to discover what we hadn't yet...discovered. We found the French Market where they sell everything from $60 handmade Italian leather journals to dried alligator heads. Our favorite stand in the open-air market just north of Cafe DuMonde and Jackson Square was the New Orleans Candle Co. Their candles smelled like local places in New Orleans. One, named "laundromat" smelled like a laundromat. I'm grateful they didn't have "Sunday Morning in the Quarter" for that would have been a stench too foul to bear.

Other memories have been discovering City Park on our bikes. It was once a beautiful place full of life and bustling with events. Now it's like a confused teenager: bored with what it is now it is seeking to find itself "post-katrina". We had a picnic and explored the area around the Art Museum. We saw the Dueling Oaks where gentlemen once settled disputes the good ol' fashioned way - with a sword, we also saw what used to be a dance hall, an abandoned grandstand and a playground where children with unstoppable energy played despite the intense heat. We soon discovered the scuplture garden behind the museum and explored its offereings. Jess and I were befuddled a good bit but enjoyed the art and the atmosphere. Dave even tried sharing with a gentleman in the garden but he was a bit unresponsive.

A third memory and the last for this post has been exploring the Garden District and seeing the enormous homes. We wondered which we would run into first, the rich and famous or the vampires Ann Rice wrote about it in her novels. We saw neither but we did see Rice's house as well as some other spectacular houses.

All in all it's been a good four months and we look forward to what's next. Leaving New Orleans for a bit in December will be good for us, it will give us a chance to see our family and friends and exprience God in some great new ways at the upcoming conference in Dallas. But what I'm looking forward to is being away from New Orleans and finding that I miss it and calling it "home".

What's shaking at UNO

2007-12-05T00:18:00.001+03:00

As many of you know we've been working at the University of New Orleans this semester. It is one of the four schools we currently work with (Delgado CC, Tulane and Xavier being the other three). It has been a semester of ups and downs and a lot of learning on everyone's side.

Jess and I watched our Campus Directors for a couple weeks and observed how they met with students and encouraged them to start leadership teams and then we went out on our own and did the same. When the fall began we had only two students at UNO-Kim and Adam, both gifted sophomores. Soon we were meeting with them weekly, showing them how to do ministry, how to help a new believer understand the basics of the faith and how to lead others spiritually. Their first couple of Bible Studies were small but they were persistant and prayed and spread the word. Now there are 10-14 people there weekly and they all share the load when it comes to leading the Bible studies. It's no longer Adam who leads it but it rotates from person to person every week!

It is our job to keep the vision of a Christ-centered movement before them where they make winning, building and sending the priority of their movement. In my own experience it's easy to gather Christians together and unintentionally create a "christian club" rather than an outward focused movement. This is where our expertise comes in handy and we help the student leaders see what they are doing, assess what is good and what can improve then implement it.

Some of the big wins this semester have been the weekly Bible study. They read through material that the president of Campus Crusade has written specifically for college students then pray for each other. It's simple but very effective. Another big win has been their weekly prayer gathering. They gather at the auditorium every week (It's New Orleans so it's either swelteringly hot, raining or great weather) and pray for their campus, for any individual concerns they may have and then for their friends. We assure them that if they do anything well, anything consistant that it should be prayer, nothing else will make a bigger difference on their campus. Some other big wins have been their Thanksgiving party and rebuilding days where they go and help local homeowners rebuild their homes and their lives.

Jess and I praise God for the great things he has done at UNO. We're excited to see what God has in store for it next semester. Please continue praying with us for the students and professors of UNO!

Valor at Tulane

2007-09-22T02:23:00.001+04:00

For months now I've been praying about starting up a ministry for the ROTC students at Tulane. When we were at the Staff conference in Colorado I met with a few of the Military Ministry leaders and talked with them about starting something when I arrived in New Orleans. Valor is the ministry designed specifically for ROTC students and, of course, it has a great military theme in all it does. It falls under both the Military Ministry and Campus Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, so I get to e-mail all kinds of people! They got me started with a kit that included surveys, a video from your favorite preacher and mine...Tommy Nelson, and cards to hand out to the Cadets and Midshipmen.
Pete Kelly-my director- and I went to all the leaders of the ROTC Battalions and talked with them about launching this ministry as a way to serve those that serve our country. Our first visit was to the Naval building and as we walked up we prayed that the Lord would give us "a person of peace" that would have compassion on us and our desire to serve and give us a foot in the door to get this started. Sure enough as we walked in we met one of the professors who himself was thinking about starting a Bible study! We talked with him about what we were hoping to do and he said, "Well let's go talk to the skipper." When we left we had permission, an approximate time and place established and the understanding that God was behind this! Our visits to the other Battalions were encouraging as well. We made it clear to all of them that in no way would we make it seem that this was sanctioned by the military and that our desire was to assist them in helping their students spiritually.
A couple days later I was sitting behind a "Campus Crusade for Christ" table handing out free books and planners when a woman stopped by the table wearing military fatigues. "Are you in ROTC?" I asked (always one to state the obvious). "Yes, I am." she replied. "I'm looking to start up a Bible study for ROTC students, who would I talk to about doing that?" "That would be me. I'm a senior and one of the leaders." "Fantastic," I replied "give us your info and we'll get in touch with you." A week later Pete and I met with Alicia and began casting the vision of what it would look like if ten years from now there was a thriving ministry among the ROTC students and that every cadet that came through had the chance to hear the Gospel clearly and recieve Christ before they graduated. She began e-mailing people and reserving rooms and before I could say Heavily Armored Vehicle we had a Bible study!
Our first study was Wednesday the 19th and 6 people came. It was a good introductory meeting and we're looking forward to seeing what else God has in store. Thank you for praying with us for this!

Enter the MAZE

2007-09-22T02:04:00.001+04:00

Before they were "reading minds" and catching bullets in their teeth, Jim Munroe and Tennyson McCarty were at the University of Texas. Jim had ridden the rollercoaster of faith after a disappointing end to his hopeful career as a major-league baseball pitcher. Tennyson was pursuing a master's degree in global leadership and working on campus as a parachurch minister after playing four years as tight end for the University of Colorado in Boulder. They became fast friends through their passion for Jesus Christ and hunger to bring students into a meaningful relationship with the Truth.

The two honed their skills, studied Scripture and challenged cultural norms with an emphasis on revealing Christ using their physiological deception. Many of the students they encountered at the University of Texas and elsewhere were placing their trust in illusions. Like a mirage, deception looks good from a distance but in reality is empty. MAZE's edgy, down to earth message appealed to students who were searching for truth but finding emptiness. "College is the time when students think they have it all figured out," Jim says. "We ask them, 'What if you're wrong?'" -Taken from their website http://www.whatisthemaze.com/

We brought Jim and Tennyson to New Orleans in hopes of reaching the students here through a different mode than normal. We took the two to all of the universities in New Orleans and within minutes they were able to gather groups of 10 to 20 to 30 people to see their card tricks. They would then invite them to come that night to the two hour show.

At the show they would read people's minds, swallow razor blades and even catch a bullet in their teeth all the while weaving the Gospel and our need for Jesus in the presentation. It was probably the most entertaining Gospel presentation I've ever seen.

They presented at Tulane on the 5th of September and at Southeastern in Hammond, LA on the 6th. The first night they had 125 and the second they had 175 come out (on the same night as the Saint's opening game). A total of 20 students indicated that they trusted Christ those nights as their savior. Praise God!

Jess and I really enjoyed working with the two of them and our team was very grateful for the work they did and the vision for big events that they gave to our students.

The Road Trip

2007-05-25T03:56:00.001+04:00

It all began with the knowledge that we have some good friends and lovely people to see and meet with in Austin and Houston. So Jess and I, never the type to stay in one place for more than a month, decided to pack up our stuff head East and see some good friends and raise some support. Our first stop was Houston where we stayed with one of Jessica's college roommates, Cindy, and her husband and daughter, Lee and Claire. They are a ton of fun to be with and we enjoyed a viewing of "American Idol" with them. We couldn't believe Melinda got the boot!

One of the highlights of our stay in Houston was when Jess and an old friend of hers from San Angelo were able to get reacquainted. Merritt and her husband Brett have been living and working in Houston for the past year and are about to move to Washington D.C. in the late summer. It's a bummer for us that they are leaving the Houston area so soon after reconnecting but also good in that they will live near D.C and left an open invitation to come and stay with them at any time....excellent.

Some of the other highlights included breakfast with Jesslyn and then Jess and Jesslyn and Cindy getting lunch while I chilled out at a cafe and bookstore. Two of my favorite places in the world, doesn't matter what the name is or where it is, as long as they serve coffee and have books I've never seen, I'm happy.

From Houston we went to Austin to attend Jessica's sister's graduation from the University of Texas MBA program. While we were there we were able to see one of Jess's friends from home, Garrett and his wife Natalie. To kill time in Austin we explored the Texas State History Museum and the Capital building. It was actually more fun than one would think.

Then from Austin we headed up to Westcliffe, CO for a 3 day conference with Campus Crusade but stopped in Amarillo for a night on the way. I whole-heartily recommend the Chicken Crepes from IHOP, it hit the spot.

We are learning a number of things about road trips and our personalities. Since getting married in December we have put more than 10,000 miles on our car and spent countless hours together in the car. One thing that really helps pass the time is books on tape or CD. We recommend The Kite Runner by Khalid Husseni and The Last Juror by John Grisham. But some of the greatest things about road trips are the conversations you have with your friend as you travel. Plus it's a great marriage builder. When we get in fights there's no where to go. We're stuck together and have to work it out. If only the Real World was filmed in a car....maybe not....Also the random people we meet along the way are great fun. The dude at Subway was probably the greatest Sandwich artist I've ever seen and the receptionist at the Comfort Inn was the politest and most helpful one I've met in a very long time. It is fascinating to watch the scenery change as one drives from East Texas to West Texas then into Colorado. All in one glorious country.

We are more than a bit tired of driving and putting miles on Judy, our Toyota Camry, but we are also more than grateful that we've been kept safe thus far and have had so many wonderful people to see and spend time with. It is a massive "perk" of the job.

Thus ends our road trip story but we have a couple stories to share from our time in Westcliffe and since then here in Colorado. That for a later post.

A match made in Russia

2007-04-19T21:43:00.001+04:00

Here's a quick tale of how my lovely wife and I met and eventually married, for those of you who didn't already know.

In the summer of 2004 Jessica had finished up her dietetic internship at MUSC and I had just graduated from the University of Denver. God had both led us to go on a one-year internship with a missions organization to Russia. Jessica was planning on going to Moscow and I was going to a city south of Moscow. Before we flew over to Russia in the fall we had to go to a leader's training conference in Ft. Collins, CO. The first time I saw Jess I think she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt and playing soccer in the backyard of the Sorority house we were renting. I liked her instantly.

We sat together quite a bit and I befriended her fellow Team Leader, Jack Murphy. Jack was dating her best friend and would indeed marry her two years later. The three of us, Jack, Jess and I, became quick friends. We saw each other here and there in the fall at another conference and e-mailed a bit but then when it came time for our Christmas vacation we took off to Italy with my team and their team.

I clearly remember waiting for a bus in Rome at the corner of the bridge pictured to the left. While waiting Jess and I struck up a conversation. We talked about her time in Moscow and my time in Krasnodar. The high points and low points and what we were learning. The more we talked the more I was convinced that she was the one for me. Maybe it was the romantic atmoshpere of Rome, maybe it was the gilatto and capuccino or maybe it was something else that made me think that. I believe it was the Lord opening my eyes and saying "Dave, HELLO, this is it." I began pursuing her after that.

Our teams spent the next month together traveling and attending conferences. The more time we spent together the more we enjoyed each other. However, I wasn't quite ready to make the first real move and let her know how I really felt. A couple months later I called her from Krasnodar and we began taking steps toward dating. In March I flew up to Moscow for a weekend to hang out with her and her team. We began dating then.

We continued to date through the summer of 2005 and into the fall and winter. We signed on for a second year in Russia and were both feeling like the Lord was asking us to make a longer term committment to student ministry. I came up to Moscow from Krasnodar from Christmas and we began to seriously consider the "M Word" after that.

Immediately after I returned home from our winter conferences I began looking around for engagement rings. I didn't like any of the options I saw in Russia so I contacted a jeweler in Jess's hometown that knew her. He designed the ring I wanted and was ready to ship it over. I planned on coming up in April to spend a few days with her. A friend of ours was flying from Austin to Moscow a few days before I was going to arrive. She was going to take the ring from Austin and give to me when I got there. However I found out a week before she was supposed to leave that the ring was still being made...in Thailand! They finished it up, rushed it to West Texas so the jeweler could look at it, then rushed it on to Austin. It arrived the afternoon before our friend left Austin for Moscow. Talk about a close call!

I took Jess out on a recreation of our first date then proposed to her that night outside of her apartment. Here is the official engagement picture. We planned a December wedding and decided then to go on staff with Campus Crusade in January of 2007. We finished out our ministry in Russia, returned to the states and planned the rest of the wedding in three months.

Our wedding was an incredible time and we were so blessed and encouraged to see all of our best friends and favorite family members gathered to celebrate with us.

Russia was indeed where we fell in love with each other. I would never have guessed that the land of mystery and intrigue would be the place but thank God it was! Thanks for reading!

On the Road

2007-04-19T00:56:00.000+04:00

So here we are again-to steal the quote from that Willie Nelson or Bob Seeger song-on the road again. Jess, my fabulous wife, and I have been on the road pretty much our entire marriage. Since getting married in December we've been in 17 Cities/towns, spent the night in 8 states, slept in 15 different beds and have put nearly 4000 miles on our car. We've had a grand ol' tour so far.

Jess and I work with Campus Crusade for Christ and recently joined their full-time staff team in January. We received our training in January at Daytona Beach, FL. After that we began raising the support for our ministry with college students in New Orleans. We've been in South Carolina and are currently in Texas. We'll be heading up to Colorado in a month or so and will probably stop into Chicago for a bit as well. We are praying that we'll finish raising our support by mid-July and God is faithful. He is providing for us in huge ways and it is great to see him take care of us while we step out-and often times sheepishly crawl out- in faith.

So this whole blog thing is kinda weird. I've read my friends before, I've wanted one for a while but could never think of a good reason to start one up. I mean, are we really that interesting? So this posting feels like wearing a new, trendy shirt in Junior High. It looked really cool in the store, I could see all the friends and cool kids point and compliment its radness in my mind, but now that I'm wearing it, I feel very self-conscious...Does it fit right? Is it "me"? Is it out of style already? hmm...

I mean my friend Travis could probably publish his postings they are so insightful and inspiring. I'm racing through my mind trying to find something clever, or inspiring or at least mildly humorous but finding nothing. However, I suppose neither of those is me or my betrothed's right now. What we are right now is hopeful and trying our best to raise our support and pray our guts out for New Orleans. So here we begin, let's see where it goes...