I Am In Russia

On Sunday morning, I boarded a flight in Tampa and 18 hours later I landed Moscow, Russia.

I’m still marveling at the reality of where I am as I type. I am in Russia. That is a sentence I never dreamed I would ever say about myself. I am in RUSSIA. I am IN Russia. And I AM in Russia.  I am in a room at a seminary in the southeast and inner part of Moscow.

I was invited to teach for a week at a Presbyterian Seminary here. The story of how I came to be here has a classic start: I know a guy. The church I serve, St. Andrews, is in the process of receiving another church under our care. When the union is complete, the other church name will disappear and the church I serve will then have two church locations. We will be one church operating in two locations. We’ve never done this before, so we brought in a coach named James Kim to help coach us through the process. That coach is also a pastor from the Seattle area and he has been going to Russia almost annually since 1995. A month ago, the Brazilian pastor Pastor James normally team teaches with cancelled. James called me and invited me to go. I began to pray for discernment, spoke with Cile, asked the Session and other leaders to weigh-in and in a relatively short period of time went from not knowing about this seminary to being in country and teaching pastors-to-be here. Pastor Laurent Ramambason with whom I serve at St. Andrews told me when I received my doctorate, (with his beautiful Malagasy accent), “John, you did not get your doctorate just for St. Andrews. You are a doctor of the Church. Serve the larger Church.” With that in mind, I am here serving the larger Church.

First Impressions
I know a few people from Russia who are living in the United States. With the exception of those people, Russia has always been more of an abstraction. It has always felt like a distant place. It is literally distant from the United States, of course. I know that distance first-hand now. All 18 hours and seven time zones. Russia is also figuratively distant as well. It has always felt like a faceless, nameless place apart from the few faces you see in the news. I grew up at the end of the Cold War so Russia has been distant in the ways that political enemies are distant. All of that is changing.

My first impressions of Russia are formed from Moscow. I realize that trying to get an impression of this country by landing here is like trying to get an impression of America after one day in New York City. To narrow it further, I’ve only interacted with the students and leadership of the seminary. Having said that, one of the things I’ve noticed is that the people here are hospitable and open, even though the language barrier is a significant barrier. The people are also proud of their city and country, especially in the area of the arts. As expected, it is cold here even though several have reminded me, “It’s not even winter yet.” The nice thing is that the cold - at least this cold - doesn’t slow down the pace of the city. People are on-the-go. I ran outside this afternoon and being on the sidewalks in Moscow is like being on the sidewalks in New York City. There is a bustling urban vibe.  So all in all, the first impressions have been positive.

Swan Lake
One event helped shape that positive first impression. The night I arrived we went to the State Kremlin Palace theater to see the Kremlin Ballet company perform Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. The venue itself has an interesting history. The State Kremlin Palace has origins that date back to the 15th century, but what we saw last night was completed in 1961. The palace was then used as a venue for important party, state, social and international events, and also as the famous Bolshoi Theatre of the USSR’s second stage and for large theatrical productions. Later, it would become as it is now: the other (the Bolshoi plus this one) world-class performing arts venue in Moscow.

Tired as I was, the show was dramatic, energetic and elegant. The dancing was beautiful and strong. I admit that the time change caused me to nod about four times in the slower first act, but by the second act the action was livelier. In Act 2, the evil Von Rothbart tricks Prince Siegfried, Odette (the Swan Princess) feels doomed, the Prince feels sorry and throws himself in a lake with Odette and.they both die, but are happy lovers in the afterlife. It was a beautiful night. Random note: the lead role of Odette was played by an American named Joy Womack.

I should say that Sasha, our driver last night, was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. He drove and talked non-stop. As fast as he would talk and point, Joseph, our translator last night along with a student named Jin So Kim, would explain it all to us. We stopped by the Moscow River, Red Square and in places where we could get a big picture view of the city.

Accommodations
The seminary is under extensive renovations, but they have arranged great accommodations for us. I’m staying in a suite with four bedrooms, a living room, bathroom and small kitchen with a four-seat dining room table. The founder of the seminary and his family stay in several of the rooms in this suite. One is unoccupied as best I can tell so far. This suite was part of the early renovation and is complete, so it is nice. The only thing not yet up and running is the steam heat for the radiators. We are using heaters that plug in to the wall. It is more than enough.

The food here has been outstanding and abundant. Two people cook for the founder, James and me. One of the cooks is a Russian woman named Valentina. The other is the founder’s daughter and I don’t remember her name.

It’s been a good day. Jet lag is for real, but that comes and goes. More later.

Through Gates of Splendor

One of the highly influential books in my early Christian life was the story of five American missionaries seeking in the 1950s to reach the Auca, now Waorani, tribe of eastern Ecuador in South America. The book is called Through Gates of Splendor and was written by Elizabeth Elliot, the wife of one of the missionaries. All five of the men were killed by the tribe with whom they were hoping to share the love of God in Jesus Christ. When the news of their story went public, their deaths changed lives around the world forever. Yesterday, I finished reading that book again for the first time in years and I’m just as inspired as I was when I first read it. 

Those five missionaries were all high achievers and would have excelled in any venture in life. They chose a life dedicated to sharing Christ with unreached people groups like the Aucas, a tribe with the worst reputation for violence. In excerpts from their diaries we get a glimpse of their driving passion. They were ready to live or die for Christ. No matter the outcome, whether they lived or died, Christ would get the honor and God’s will and God’s purposes would be accomplished. Elizabeth Elliot said, "I have one desire now - to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it.” She and her husband, Jim, lived that way. Jim Elliot once said, "When the time comes to die, make sure that all you have to do is die!” That wisdom, the faith, that spiritual maturity inspires me. 

The title of the book is derived from the fourth stanza of the hymn “We Rest on Thee." This hymn was sung by the missionaries before the men left for “Operation Auca,” the trip to go face-to-face with the Waorani tribe that would kill them with lances. The lines read:

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender.

Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;

When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,

Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

At its heart, this book raises questions every believe must answer:

Will I give my life for the sake of Christ Jesus? 

Am I willing to go where he sends me even if it is "unsafe” in the eyes of the world? 

Am I willing to give the Lord full control of my life? 

Am I willing to put God first in all things? 

Education for a Better Life

Mural on school across from church in X-Yatil

Today, we went to two villages and in both the emphasis was on discipling people into a new or deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. How we did that in each village was different. In the first, the emphasis was on leading leaders; in the second, it was on directly presenting the gospel.

We got a later start to the first village. This late start allowed me to get caught up on my morning Bible readings and check in with home. We have wifi in the house where we are staying. We went with Benny Fisher, the man who owns the house where we are staying, two of his workers, and the four of us. We drove about the same distance and roughly to the same area as we drove yesterday morning to a small church in a village called X-Yatil (pronounced sha-teal). There, a group of people were waiting for us. We were there to watch a presentation by Migel Luna about a training program for church leaders International School of Ministry (ISOM). This is a program developed in California, translated into Spanish, and presented in video format. It is an 18-month program the completion of which gives leaders a respected credibility in the village. They will be credentialed leader. It costs them about $18 and it looked like all 10 from that village signed up. I found myself thinking, “these 10 with this training will impact thousands of others for Christ.” It was awesome to be a part of the moment.

Across the street from the church was a wall with a mural, pictured above. The mural showed a Maya man in traditional appearance reaching out with one hand to plug in a computer. To the right was paper with symbols of academic studies and a painting of a young Maya girl walking into a school. The sign on the computer said “Education for a Better Life.” Across the street in the church, that idea was behind what was being presented. If leaders can be equipped for deeper discipleship and can teach that to others, the better life that Christ offers can be experienced fully.

We had lunch with Pastor Alfredo and his wife, Dami, in their home. So far, lunch has been later than lunch back home. Today, we ate at 2 pm. Yesterday, it was 4 pm. After lunch, we packed into a 12-passenger van and headed for the next village.

Home in the village of Naranjal. It was also the church. 

The village of Naranjal was remote. Like many of the villages here, the home construction was stick and thatch roof, using all natural materials readily available from the land around them. This particular home was adding a new bedroom and the expansion project, unlike the rest of the home, was made of concrete blocks. This home was also the church for the village. When I realized that we would gather for worship here, I thought about the earliest of days of the Christian church, to New Testament era Christianity. They met in homes in what we would consider primitive conditions. Just like today. That alone was awesome, but it got better. Dami and two other women led singing for a congregation of mostly women - the men we working - and children. Afterward, Pastor Alfredo spoke to them in Maya. I could tell from several glances and something he was saying he wanted one of us to speak, but we had no translator with us, so none of us did. He opened his Bible and began to speak. I have no idea the specific words he said, but I can read a room. Here was the holy man addressing people he loved. You could hear it in his voice, see it in his eyes, and see the respect of those to whom he spoke. This man was connecting with, ministering to, proclaiming Christ to people he knew and loved. As I sat on the edge of the room watching and listening, even though I could not understand his words, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and I knew God was speaking into the room.

After Pastor Alfredo spoke, he asked if anyone needed prayer. He wanted us to pray for the sick. One young woman came forward with her infant daughter. The mother looked like she was 12 years old. Her baby had heard and respiratory problems. That’s all we were told. So the four of us gathered around, I said to the others, “let’s all pray all at once.” We laid hands on the baby and began to pray that God would heal the girl. Again, another powerful moment that makes me want to come back and see the young mother and her baby to see how God answers that prayer.

We travelled uneventfully back to town, walked down to a restaurant, walked home and visited for a few minutes before heading for bed.

I have been sleeping well at night. The room is air conditioned with a window air conditional which does just enough to take the edge off of the heat. That is perfect for me. I don’t like it cold. Ever. The bed is comfortable and I’ve been tired at night. That combination of comfort and weariness has meant deep, dreamless sleep and feeling well-rested in the mornings.

The food here has been great. As usual, I am cautious about what I eat. I only drink bottled water or soft drinks and I only eat what has been cooked. Although, I did eat some avocado and tomato on a Maya dish the other night and even though I thought about whether the knives used to cut were washed in safe water, I ate it anyway. Richard said that the limestone base on the land around here made for some of the cleanest water around. The water filtering project from Honduras was not a needed here. Still, I am cautious. Having said all of that, the pork dish the other night and the chicken dish last night as well as the beef at lunch yesterday were all flavorful and plentiful. Tortillas and beans are a staple item here and are tasty. Even snack time in the villages has been tasty. At the village this morning, they passed out what was shaped like a pizza slice, but was bread filled with what we guessed was an apple spread layer. Slightly sweet, slightly fruity.

I have not felt unsafe since I’ve been here. We have not encountered any threatening people in the town or in villages, even after walking five blocks through town at night to go to the restaurant tonight. The drug cartel does not operate in this area, since there seems to be little it has to offer them, so gangs and violence related to gangs is not present. Traffic is the only real threat and I’ve seen worse in other parts of the world. Rural traffic is risky around sharp corners and in the fact that many roads have little or no place to pull off should someone miscalculate as they pass. Head-on collisions have happened because there was no place to get off the roads. Because of that, everyone we’ve seen on the roads is more mindful of the oncoming traffic than usual. Again, I have not felt unsafe.

I'm beginning to think about the return trip home. I've been gone eight days and looking forward to being back home.

Off to bed...