The map

The big map of Russia on my living room floor. Everything in color is Russia. It's a big country.
Marc's destinations in the Far East of Russia, which is 10 time zones away.
His train route through the chosen cities in Siberia. The route is on the famous Trans-Siberian Railroad.
His destinations in European Russia. At the very top, the circled city is Arkanghelsk, which translates to archangel in English. It's a cold, cold place that he's planning to visit in February, for reasons completely unclear to me.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Psalm 103:1

I have giggled several times on this blog about the verse in Psalms where the writer speaks about God planting his feet in a large place. As you can see from the above maps, God has definitely planted our feet in a large place. Russia is 1/6 of the world's landmass. It is the largest country in the world. In Russia there are many, many people groups (clusters speaking the same language and having cultural identity) who have zero evangelical presence in their village or community. Russian men have the lowest life expectancy in the developed world. In the northern parts of Russia and in the Far East, there are people groups who are shamanistic and worship/celebrate the spirits living in trees. More than any other place I can imagine, Russia has a huge variety of people. It's very hard to say one thing about all Russians. When I look at that map above, the task--even the task just for this year, with Marc's trips--seems overwhelming. Couple that with the proposed changes coming in our company--and the changes that could mean for our family--and it would be easy to not just be discouraged, but to be defeated.

But you know what? I'm not discouraged, and I'm definitely not defeated. Here's how God is at work in my life: when I look at those circles on the map, at those places my wonderful man will be in the next year, I don't feel discouragement. I feel excitement. I feel a tug at my heart for the people in those places, the people he will meet, the Russian pastors who are, perhaps, working alone and making little progress. None of those places have any IMB presence, and most have little evangelical presence, if any. I feel excited to see what God will do with the pieces Marc will produce about those places. I think about him riding the Trans-Siberian railroad and wonder what kind of people he will share his coupe with, what friendships he might develop, what stories he will have to tell. I think about him in Siberia in the winter, and I smile, because there's just enough adventurer in Marc for that to be exciting. I think about our beloved colleagues he will meet in different places near those cities, and I am thrilled for the time he will get to spend with them.

Yesterday we met with Irina to schedule Russian lessons, which begin when we return from Prague in mid-October. We don't have to do any more language. No one is requiring it of us, and we are, technically, short-term missionaries, though short-term has never been how we saw ourselves. But because we are ISC missionaries, we don't have to do any more language. But we want to do more. We are committed to winning Russians to Christ, and that means being committed to really knowing their language. Will we know everything we need to know during this term? Definitely not. But we continue to push ourselves to know more, to become more familiar with the language, to speak it every day in an effort to be able to use it better. Language lessons aren't fun, but I'm pretty sure hanging on that cross wasn't fun, either. It seems like a small sacrifice in the face of Christ's sacrifice for us.

What does all this have to do with the map? discouragement? encouragement? Here's the thing: with the changes coming in our company, there's a possibility we would be asked to eventually move to another country to work. We have heard what the four possibilities are, which cities the company is looking at, and they are gorgeous, wonderful places that anyone in his right mind would jump at the chance to live and serve in. Six months ago, I might have jumped up and down and clapped my hands in anticipation if faced with the possibility of living in one of those cities. But this big map on my living room floor--it's filled with the people who have captured my heart. People in huge mega-cities and tiny little villages. Billionaires and reindeer-herders. It is huge and unknowable and unfathomable, difficult and hard and depressing...but it's where my heart is. It's the place God called me to love. It's where they speak the language that has been the bane of my existence--and the subject of some real triumphs--in the last year. I cannot imagine being anywhere else. And that, my friends, is the miracle of God at work.

Well, I have been up since 2:30 and have managed to get some things done before getting ready for school, but it's time to get going and get ready. Of course, the day I get up at 2:30 is the one day of the week when I'm at school all day. Oh, well...maybe I can get a good night's sleep tonight. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are all there--heart, mind, and soul--and that you have gotten more sleep than I have. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye