Russia Mission Team Update 6/21

Greetings from Russia!   Today's one-word summary is RESOLVE.   It was a difficult day.  The children know we are beyond midpoint in the English/Bible school.  Now, there is only one day left.  The children arrived with guarded emotions and by the third day were more open, vulnerable, and joyful with us.  Now they are becoming guarded again, creating that emotional distance to protect themselves as the team prepares to leave.   Today was also the day we talked about God's love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.  It was a day to proclaim the gospel.  It was also a day of spiritual warfare.  Several of the children were emotionally hyper or agitated.  Classroom management was difficult.  The children were restless and non compliant, talkative and loud.  It made teaching very difficult, and, many of the teachers were frustrated.   Since it was a spiritual warfare day, all the normal doubts associated with mission work came crashing down upon us.  Am I making any impact?  Why am I here?  Does it really matter?  These questions plagued most of us.    Of course, nothing done in the name of the Lord for his glory is ever wasted.  We hope and believe this to be true.  The seeds of the gospel that are planted in the lives of children, albeit ever so small do often germinate, sprouting great trees of fruitfulness.  However, it takes time.  And, five days is not enough time to see results, only to plant and nurture the seed.  As Americans, we love to see results.  Sometimes, I feel this pressure from our own church family.  How many kids were at camp?  How many children gave their hearts to Christ?  How many lives were changed?  All, I can report is that we were faithful, to the best of our ability, to proclaim Christ and his gospel in word and deed.    These camps possess a built-in tension.  One the one hand, it is a language camp.  We teach conversational English, using the Bible as both text and means by which to generate conversation.  This English is more than introducing yourself (e.g., "Hello.  My name is Jeff") or asking where is the toilet.  This English is about discussing ideas and concepts that shape our understanding of the purpose, nature, and direction of our lives -- very complex and serious topics.  Of course, each student's proficiency in the English language is different, thereby making intellectual conversation almost impossible.   Thus our English instruction is about a few vocabulary words and a rudimentary version of biblical stories, reduced to their most basic sentence structure and grammar.    On the other hand, the camp is theological.  We teach the gospel of Jesus Christ with the hope that the children will come to faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  The camp, thus serves as a type of Sunday School or Vacation Bible School.   Using the story of Joseph in Egypt (cf. Genesis 39-45), we are teaching about trusting in God's purposes and promises and how Joseph is a prototype of Jesus as deliverer and one who shows mercy and forgives the sin of his brothers.  Thus our theological education is simplified so that the children know the basic story, its characters, and main themes.   With the teenagers, who are able to think abstractly, we try to delve more deeply into the intricacies of the text.   But, without me possessing Russian language skills, this more intellectual dialogue is nearly impossible.  My only recourse, is to communicate the basic ideas and challenging questions to my interpreter (Diana), as a whole, instead of line by line interpretation, and then to ask her to communicate these ideas in Russian and dialogue with the students, reporting back to me what they said.  Fortunately, Diana is a confirmed Lutheran and is able for this task, but many interpreters are not.   So, the English/Bible Camp contains a tension, between which we constantly navigate, making constant decisions based upon what is needed in the moment.  Missions is like a dance.  The work is an art form, demanding the teacher to be sensitive to the response and ability of his/her partner (i.e., the students).   Fortunately, EEMN has been in this part of the country for over 17 years and can report the long-term impact of such camps.  There is tremendous fruit.  Children do come to Christ and the Church is growing.  Often, it takes several camp experiences for the fruit to become evident, but the planting of the seed of faith and its growth is real.  We just do not see it.   Mom is doing great.  She is very uniquely qualified for this type of work.  She is energetic, athletic, engages children well, and has a warrior spirit.  You can be proud of her.   She radiates Jesus all the time.  I struggled today.  So much for being a mature pastor of strong faith.  Though I know in my head everything I wrote above, in my heart, I was deeply frustrated.  In our team debrief, I shared all this.  It affirmed at least two other people, who were professional teachers and thought they were the only ones struggling with such feelings of inadequacy and failure.   I'm sure you feel this way at times, too.   I need to remind myself that the same God who was faithful to Joseph is also faithful to us. He has plans and purposes for each one of you.  And, though the way may seemed blocked or unclear to you, be encouraged that the Lord is still at work.  We all need to wait for his perfect will to unfold in his perfect timing.   I am so thankful that you each love the Lord whole-heartedly and seek to serve him with your lives.  As a father, I am so grateful to the Lord that he is at work within you.  Now, I pray that He opens doors for you to proclaim Him and that you are encouraged to new strength and joy.   Love,   DAD and MOM (P. Jeff  & Mim)

Russia Mission Team Update 6/16, 17, & 18

June 16, 2012 Greetings from Russia!   Today's one-word summary for Sat., June 16th was ADVENTURE.   The morning hours started with rain.  Mim and I went to swim in the rain in the small town of Koltushe (about 1 km walk from the camp).   Early that morning the team from Petrasovosk (400 km north of St. Petersburg) arrived by train and we moved our sleeping accommodations to make room for 16 more people.  We are now living four to a room -- tight and cozy.   We took a bus into St. Petersburg where the team divided.  We went to see Katherine the Great's Summer Palace, located a 45 minute bus ride outside of St. Petersburg.  This palace was built in the 1700's but destroyed nearly completely during World War II.  The palace has some 48 rooms, of which about 25 are currently restored.  The palace itself is incredible, as are the palatial grounds and gardens.   At 6:00p, we went out to eat.  It took about 2 hours to get our food, but it was worth the wait -- Shaslik (marinated grilled lamb) with boiled potatoes.  The trip home was quite the adventure starting first with a bus ride to the metro, two transfers on the metro, and then a bus ride to Koltushe and then the 1km walk home.  It is 11:10p and still light, but we are tired from all the walking.   Tomorrow we attend church at St. Mary's and then begin the team training in earnest preparation for the children on Monday.   We are doing much better with jetlag, though Mim and I fell soundly asleep in the restaurant waiting for our food.  Evidently this is supported with photos.   Love you all.  We miss you. P. Jeff   June 17, 2012 Greetings from Russia!   Today's one-word summary is WORSHIP!   Mim and I awoke to rain and decided to go swimming again in the Koltushe Lake.  This time we were accosted by a slightly inebriated fisherman.  It was interesting, but we worked it out.   We attended worship in St. Petersburg near St. Mary's church at the English-speaking Lutheran church.  Attendance without our group would have been about 12 people.  Our group made it a packed house.   Pastor Leif talked about the cost of following Jesus.  Essentially, everyone of us is a missionary and on-call for the Lord.  We has the right and authority to decide where he needs to send us.  Mim and I talked afterwards about whether we were submissive to the Lord in this way, or had we grown complacent and comfortable.  It would be easy to tell the Lord we are not available for his assignments.  And those assignments come to us in opportunities to connect with people through our everyday lives.  It doesn't necessarily mean that we need relocate, but it might, if the Lord directs us.  As disciples, we are primarily missionaries.  We both asked the Lord to develop this mindset within us, that we are his missionaries to direct, guide, and send.  And, that we needed to be prepared in and out of season, ready at all times to be responsive to the Lord's will.   The service was held in the liturgy of my youth (Missouri Synod Lutheran).   All the hymns we sang were familiar, but I had forgotten how highly pitched they were.  My voice has changed.  I'm thankful for the diversity that we have at Good Shepherd.  It truly is a blessing to experience all three types of services: traditional, blended, and contemporary.  We had no communion.  The Missouri policy on communion prohibits them from distributing it to non-Missouri members.  It would have divided and the hurt the team, especially the one that is just leaving.  Again, I'm glad that we celebrate open communion at Good Shepherd.   Instead of shopping for souvenirs, we retired to a small cafe to discuss these things and to get out of the rain.   The bus - metro - bus transfers are always an adventure.  Our walk back to the seminary in the rain was marked by the challenge to avoid being splashed by cars driving through the pooled water on the roads.   As I write this, it is 6:13a in Utah.  Blessings on your day of worship and communion with the Lord.  We love you all.   P. Jeff   June 18, 2012 Greetings from Russia!   The one-word summary for today's events is CHILDREN!   Our camp finally began.  We have about 65 children.  About 20 more from last year, but with about 75% repeats from the previous year.  The camp runs much like a Vacation Bible School program:   . Opening Singing . Bible Lesson #1 (English Lesson #1) . Rotation #1 (Craft or Games) . Bible Lesson #2 (English Lesson #2) . Rotation #2 (Craft or Games) . Drama . Closing Singing . TEA   Many of the teachers have spent months preparing for the challenge of teaching English while teaching a Bible lesson.  Their dedication is inspiring.  Many of the teachers are retired professionals, who are devoting their time to mission work, several of which, are spending a month or two working in EEMN camps.   Amber was in great form as the craft leader for the camp.  The kids made bookmarks and place settings out of yearn.  Even the most energetic of kids were able to focus during this task.   Mim is a little sick today.  Stomach problems from the mystery meat that was served.  Diana, one of our translators, informed me that this had caused Pastor James trouble as well, least year.   Tonight's dinner featured boiled potatoes with dill weed served with a patty of mystery meat (Diana told me it is a kind of sausage from various animals parts).  The shredded carrots served in mayonnaise with garlic was my personal favorite.  And, of course, there is always the light brown, Russian Rye bread at every meal -- even breakfast.   We also moved into different accommodations at the seminary.  Where we were before was fine with bunk beds.  These new rooms are two to a room and feel more spacious.  We all felt we moved into the Hilton Hotel.  Of course, next week, in the villages, we will have no where as nice of accommodations as these.   The beds have mattresses thicker than 2 inches!  The bunk beds prior had only 2 inch mattresses and were on wooded slats.    Bill and Sally Moberly left camp this evening for Lativia.  So, we are in the capable hands of Eric, his young protoge, who is also the lead translator.  He is American, but he lived in Russia for five years.  His wife is Russia.  Eric is 30 years old.   I teach a class with 14 and 15 year olds.  We have 11 people in the class.  I am trying to engage them on an abstract conceptual level, which is a challenge.  Evidently, the Russian educational system focuses primarily on rote memorization.  The students learn what the teacher knows and memorizes this knowledge.  The American educational system is oriented to problem solving.  The instructor teaches the students how to learn.  A Russian student is fearful of making mistakes, since engagement is more performance of one's ability to memorize.  Thus, challenging the students to think abstractly is beyond their cultural mentality at this age.   So, we are learning together.   The theme for the week is the story of Joseph.  Today's lesson dealt with Genesis 37, the story of the mistakes that Jacob, Joseph, and his brothers all made, yet how God worked through all of them for good.   Please keep us in your prayers.  The weather has been very windy with periodic showers.  Some of our team members have developed coughs.  We need to stay healthy.   Love you all.   P. Jeff