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.
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