Day 13 of our mission trip was a Saturday, and as we woke up, we had a surprise awaiting us. No power, and no water. Since Carrie and I were up somewhat early that day, we thought that we could wait for showers and the like until things turned on. So we waited. And we waited a little longer. And a little longer. It finally got to about 30 minutes before breakfast was supposed to be served (9:00 each day we were at the retreat center) when people started knocking on doors, telling us that breakfast would be delayed until 10:00 because of no power and water.
Finally, we did get both power and water, though initially the water that came out of the faucet was a very interesting color. So we let it run for a bit before taking quick showers and heading off to breakfast. So, other than a short delay, we didn't really get too far behind on the day.
That morning, one of the couples of our group led our usual morning block of time discussion, and it was on the topic of marriage. The material they covered seemed to resonate rather well with everyone involved, and they even had a few cute little action scenes, which people got a kick out of. Then, at one point, they released all the married couples to go off and engage in a few marriage-building things leading up to lunch.
Since not all of the men there were either married or had their wives with them, we engaged in a time for talking about a number of different topics. Jon, our missionary on hand, asked a question about the problems that they faced in dealing with marriage and other related topics. To my surprise, one of the challenges that is found in Russia is the challenge of homosexual behavior. We asked questions to get a little deeper at what these challenges were, and were surprised to find how their prison system seems to be notorious for creating homosexual behaviors. A significant number of men who enter prison are "made" homosexual by other prisoners, not by choice, but by the action being enforced upon them. Thus, when they are released, they struggle mightily with their identity.
Now, you may remember that the topic of the day was marriage. This topic had a great impact on me and Carrie, since it also coincided with our anniversary! We got to celebrate the fact that God had joined us together 6 years earlier, and we gave thanks to God for the wonderful years we have had together, and the many more that (hopefully) lay ahead.
That afternoon, during our break time, we decided to introduce the Russians to a few American card games. We had brought along some decks of Uno and Phase 10, and we started teaching these games as we played them that afternoon. Pretty soon, there was a nice small group of us gathered around a table, skipping each other, reversing the direction of play, and, of course, accusing each other of cheating (isn't that a regular part of card games?). All in all, that really made the afternoon fly by.
That evening, the women had planned for a session together yet again, so the women departed from our card playing, while we kept on going all the way to dinner. I think a few of us really wouldn't have minded missing dinner to keep playing cards if there had been another place to eat nearby. Alas, that wasn't the case, so we reluctantly put the cards away and went to eat.
After dinner, we had our usual devotion time together, and this was when I first noticed that this group of various people from all over the world was really starting to connect and get to know each other. There were more smiles and laughs, and, in general, it seemed that people wanted to spend a little more time together. And, of course, I was so thankful that Carrie and I got to celebrate our anniversary in another country!
The next morning, Sunday, once again we woke to no power or water. This time the water came on a little bit before the power, so we were able to get showers in, even in the relative darkness of the bathroom. We went over to breakfast where, I assume, they had a generator of sorts, since they were able to get our breakfast ready.
Then, it was time for worship. Vladimir, the pastor of the church where we first went when we flew into Ulan Ude a few days earlier, would be leading the time of worship, and Randy would be giving the sermon that day. This was something that both Carrie and I had really been looking forward to. I had my little video camera along, and found a place to set it up to record the whole service. We sang together, we prayed together (even though in different languages), we worshiped together, and we received Jesus' body and blood together. It's just a great and awesome thing to know that we have that togetherness in Jesus, no matter where in the world we may be, or who we may worshiping with, or whatever language may be spoken.
Following the worship time, we had a few gifts that we wanted to present to the Russians. One of our group (who was unable to go on the trip) had spent a number of hours hand-making stoles for us to present to the pastors. For those who may not be familiar with these, a stole is the strip of cloth that you can see many pastors wearing over the back of their neck that hangs down the front over both shoulders. They are typically different colors for the different parts of the year, and the stoles we presented were reversible. Thus, by giving each pastor two stoles, we were able to give them four different colors: red, blue, white, and green (which are the primary colors that pastors in the Lutheran Church wear throughout the year).
Then, we had the gift that seemed to generate the most excitement from the group. Randy, the pastor from Texas, had purchased crushable, wool, waterproof cowboy hats for the pastors. When Jon, the missionary, carried them around the corner, you could see all of their eyes light up. It pretty much turned into a free-for-all, with everyone looking for the size and color that worked best for them. And, in the end, it seemed like everyone got a cowboy hat that worked just fine for them!
Then, the women of our group had a few gifts for the women. They had some small bottles of lotion and some little make-up packs that they passed out along with jewelry boxes, and the women really seemed to like them a lot. There were a lot of hugs going around, and it just became obvious how closely the women were bonding in their times together. And that meant that pretty much everyone who attended the retreat got a little gift or two to take home, to remember their time together with us.
After a short break, we then gathered again to start our next session, talking about raising children. It was funny, from my perspective, to see all the nods and smiles that so many of the Russians had, which seemed to indicate that raising children anywhere in the world presents the same sets of problems, regardless of culture or nationality.
That afternoon, during our break time, we wanted to go see some of the local villages. You may remember from yesterday's post that Carrie and I had already headed out in one direction with Slava, and this time, we headed the other way with most of our American group and the district president and his wife, Juha and Anu (from Finland). It was great to have a nice, sunny day to walk along the road, chat with each other, see some of the houses and villages, and just spend time together. Yes, we did make a few stops and pick up a few supplies, but the time together was perhaps the most meaningful part of that little journey.
When we arrived back at the retreat center, we found that there were a few Russians who had been waiting to play cards with us again. So it was back to Phase 10, which really seemed to be the favorite of a couple of them. I think we're even going to have to ship a pack of Phase 10 cards to one of the men who really really liked the game.
That evening, you could tell that we were getting close to the end of our time together. In our reflection and sharing time, it was very emotional. We had begun to say our goodbyes, since we would have our morning session, and then the bus would be taking us back to Ulan Ude in the afternoon. For those of you who know me fairly well, you probably already know that I was the first one to shed a few tears. On the day when we had been talking about marriage, I had shared with my group that I was the one to cry when Carrie and I got married, and one of the men said that they had a proverb in Russia: the man who cries will have long life. So as I stood up to share some of the moments of the retreat that were meaningful for me, I told them all that I expect that I'll have a fairly long life, since the tears were already flowing at that point.
After our devotion and reflection time (which included a time where the Russians all shared prayer requests and we all prayed for them and their ministries in various places throughout Siberia), Carrie and I were asked to spend a little time hearing about some of the ministries that are taking place in Russia. This was rather unexpected, and yet, we came away encouraged that God is truly doing His great work of sharing the Good News of forgiveness through Jesus throughout Siberia.
Finally, we did get both power and water, though initially the water that came out of the faucet was a very interesting color. So we let it run for a bit before taking quick showers and heading off to breakfast. So, other than a short delay, we didn't really get too far behind on the day.
That morning, one of the couples of our group led our usual morning block of time discussion, and it was on the topic of marriage. The material they covered seemed to resonate rather well with everyone involved, and they even had a few cute little action scenes, which people got a kick out of. Then, at one point, they released all the married couples to go off and engage in a few marriage-building things leading up to lunch.
Since not all of the men there were either married or had their wives with them, we engaged in a time for talking about a number of different topics. Jon, our missionary on hand, asked a question about the problems that they faced in dealing with marriage and other related topics. To my surprise, one of the challenges that is found in Russia is the challenge of homosexual behavior. We asked questions to get a little deeper at what these challenges were, and were surprised to find how their prison system seems to be notorious for creating homosexual behaviors. A significant number of men who enter prison are "made" homosexual by other prisoners, not by choice, but by the action being enforced upon them. Thus, when they are released, they struggle mightily with their identity.
Now, you may remember that the topic of the day was marriage. This topic had a great impact on me and Carrie, since it also coincided with our anniversary! We got to celebrate the fact that God had joined us together 6 years earlier, and we gave thanks to God for the wonderful years we have had together, and the many more that (hopefully) lay ahead.
That afternoon, during our break time, we decided to introduce the Russians to a few American card games. We had brought along some decks of Uno and Phase 10, and we started teaching these games as we played them that afternoon. Pretty soon, there was a nice small group of us gathered around a table, skipping each other, reversing the direction of play, and, of course, accusing each other of cheating (isn't that a regular part of card games?). All in all, that really made the afternoon fly by.
That evening, the women had planned for a session together yet again, so the women departed from our card playing, while we kept on going all the way to dinner. I think a few of us really wouldn't have minded missing dinner to keep playing cards if there had been another place to eat nearby. Alas, that wasn't the case, so we reluctantly put the cards away and went to eat.
After dinner, we had our usual devotion time together, and this was when I first noticed that this group of various people from all over the world was really starting to connect and get to know each other. There were more smiles and laughs, and, in general, it seemed that people wanted to spend a little more time together. And, of course, I was so thankful that Carrie and I got to celebrate our anniversary in another country!
The next morning, Sunday, once again we woke to no power or water. This time the water came on a little bit before the power, so we were able to get showers in, even in the relative darkness of the bathroom. We went over to breakfast where, I assume, they had a generator of sorts, since they were able to get our breakfast ready.
Then, it was time for worship. Vladimir, the pastor of the church where we first went when we flew into Ulan Ude a few days earlier, would be leading the time of worship, and Randy would be giving the sermon that day. This was something that both Carrie and I had really been looking forward to. I had my little video camera along, and found a place to set it up to record the whole service. We sang together, we prayed together (even though in different languages), we worshiped together, and we received Jesus' body and blood together. It's just a great and awesome thing to know that we have that togetherness in Jesus, no matter where in the world we may be, or who we may worshiping with, or whatever language may be spoken.
Following the worship time, we had a few gifts that we wanted to present to the Russians. One of our group (who was unable to go on the trip) had spent a number of hours hand-making stoles for us to present to the pastors. For those who may not be familiar with these, a stole is the strip of cloth that you can see many pastors wearing over the back of their neck that hangs down the front over both shoulders. They are typically different colors for the different parts of the year, and the stoles we presented were reversible. Thus, by giving each pastor two stoles, we were able to give them four different colors: red, blue, white, and green (which are the primary colors that pastors in the Lutheran Church wear throughout the year).
Then, we had the gift that seemed to generate the most excitement from the group. Randy, the pastor from Texas, had purchased crushable, wool, waterproof cowboy hats for the pastors. When Jon, the missionary, carried them around the corner, you could see all of their eyes light up. It pretty much turned into a free-for-all, with everyone looking for the size and color that worked best for them. And, in the end, it seemed like everyone got a cowboy hat that worked just fine for them!
Then, the women of our group had a few gifts for the women. They had some small bottles of lotion and some little make-up packs that they passed out along with jewelry boxes, and the women really seemed to like them a lot. There were a lot of hugs going around, and it just became obvious how closely the women were bonding in their times together. And that meant that pretty much everyone who attended the retreat got a little gift or two to take home, to remember their time together with us.
After a short break, we then gathered again to start our next session, talking about raising children. It was funny, from my perspective, to see all the nods and smiles that so many of the Russians had, which seemed to indicate that raising children anywhere in the world presents the same sets of problems, regardless of culture or nationality.
That afternoon, during our break time, we wanted to go see some of the local villages. You may remember from yesterday's post that Carrie and I had already headed out in one direction with Slava, and this time, we headed the other way with most of our American group and the district president and his wife, Juha and Anu (from Finland). It was great to have a nice, sunny day to walk along the road, chat with each other, see some of the houses and villages, and just spend time together. Yes, we did make a few stops and pick up a few supplies, but the time together was perhaps the most meaningful part of that little journey.
When we arrived back at the retreat center, we found that there were a few Russians who had been waiting to play cards with us again. So it was back to Phase 10, which really seemed to be the favorite of a couple of them. I think we're even going to have to ship a pack of Phase 10 cards to one of the men who really really liked the game.
That evening, you could tell that we were getting close to the end of our time together. In our reflection and sharing time, it was very emotional. We had begun to say our goodbyes, since we would have our morning session, and then the bus would be taking us back to Ulan Ude in the afternoon. For those of you who know me fairly well, you probably already know that I was the first one to shed a few tears. On the day when we had been talking about marriage, I had shared with my group that I was the one to cry when Carrie and I got married, and one of the men said that they had a proverb in Russia: the man who cries will have long life. So as I stood up to share some of the moments of the retreat that were meaningful for me, I told them all that I expect that I'll have a fairly long life, since the tears were already flowing at that point.
After our devotion and reflection time (which included a time where the Russians all shared prayer requests and we all prayed for them and their ministries in various places throughout Siberia), Carrie and I were asked to spend a little time hearing about some of the ministries that are taking place in Russia. This was rather unexpected, and yet, we came away encouraged that God is truly doing His great work of sharing the Good News of forgiveness through Jesus throughout Siberia.
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