Who are your Russians?

I love this picture, not just because it's a good pic of the girls in Moscow, but because you can see the outline of the African continent that S.B. has embroidered on this shirt. She is passionate about Africa like I am passionate about Russia.

For God so loved the world...John 3:16a

What is this story you would lay down your life to tell? Steven Curtis Chapman, "No Greater Love"

It's another gorgeous day in Prague, and I am up early with the cats, one of whom is literally sitting across my forearms as I type. They are not our cats, but they are sweet, and we really do love them, although waking up at 5:30 every morning to the sandpaper tongue across my cheek is not my favorite thing. We spent a lovely, wonderful weekend in Plzen with our friends, enjoying the beauty of the city and getting to know our new country a little better. We can take the train and be there in about an hour and a half, so I'm sure we will do more of that as time goes by. We are blessed to be close to people we love so much.

Plzen is on the way to our favorite place in Czech Republic--Karlovy Vary. It is the most beautiful place on earth, in my opinion, and we can't wait to visit it again this fall. It is surrounded by beautiful hills, and the natural beauty coupled with the grandeur of Czech architecture is nearly breathtaking. But it isn't the beauty of Karlovy Vary that makes it our favorite place in Czech Republic. It's who lives there. You see, Karlovy Vary is so Russian that its airport has daily direct flights to Moscow. It is a favorite vacation spot for Russians, and many of the workers are also Russian. The signs outside shops are often in Russian, German, English and Czech. (It's very near the border with Germany.) It is, at its very core, a Russian town in the Czech Republic. We fell in love with it the second we stepped foot in it almost a year ago. Some day, we would love to live and work and minister there.

You don't have to know us very well to know that we are passionate about Russians. One of my very best friends said to me recently that it only takes being in a room with us for about an hour to know that we are deeply committed to Russian people. Talk to us for very long, and we will bring the conversation around to Russia and Russians. We go to church every week and only understand about 60% of the sermons--all three of them--because the church is ministering to Russian-speaking people and seeking to evangelize a Russian-speaking neighborhood. Russian phrases pepper our language, we speak Russian often in our home, our children study Russian as part of school...because we love Russians and want to be able to communicate with them. We now live in a city where we could speak nothing but English and do ministry...but we seek out places where we know Russian-speakers will be. Why? Certainly not because it's the easiest road we could take. But God has placed in us a burning desire for Russians to know Him. He has placed within us a burden for Russians to know the truth that will set them free. I read a Time magazine article Sunday about the levels of alcoholism amongst the Russian people, and I went outside and sat and cried, because it broke my heart to think of these people I love so much, who are literally drinking themselves to death. I am not a selfless person. I am not naturally inclined to think of anyone but myself and my family. I am as self-absorbed as the next person, I promise. But when God gives you a burden for a group of people, He makes it unavoidable. Talk to our friends who are passionate about Czechs, our friends who are passionate about Serbs, about Brazilians...God-given passion is inexplicable and unavoidable.

So maybe you think that kind of passion is only for missionaries. I don't see anything in the Great Commission that says, "If you're a missionary, collect the funds and go tell the world about Me." Nope. Pretty sure it's for all of us who call ourselves Christ-followers. In doing some research for Marc on Unreached Unengaged People Groups (UUPGs), I visited a website the researcher for our company sent me. It was staggering. Page after page of people groups who have never heard the name of Jesus, who have no access to the Bible in their language, who have no known evangelical presence. Four pages for Russia alone. (Yep, that's the first country I looked at--I can't help myself.) Twenty-eight pages for the U.S. (though in fairness, many of those are not totally unengaged). Whoever you are and wherever you are, there are people who desperately need to know the good news about Jesus Christ. They live next door and across the street from you, just like they live next door and across the street from me.

So here's my challenge to you--if you are already passionate about a group God has laid on your heart, do something about it this week. Pray for them. Find out about them. Figure out a way to minister to them. And if you aren't passionate about any particular group, ask God to lay someone on your heart. If you ask and honestly seek His passion, I promise He'll be faithful to give you what you seek. The more I know Christ, the more I know for sure that His gift of salvation was meant for everyone, and the more I'm convinced it's my responsibility to share it with others. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that God has given you a passionate burden to see others know Him, and that you are trying out a really good recipe tonight, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye

There's a sweet, sweet spirit....

John and his "friend"--he was supposed to greet kids as they came into the ministry event on Saturday, but was soon distracted by the other children. He mostly played with everyone he saw.

But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them. Psalm 103:17-18

The bells are ringing as I write this, which means it is 7 a.m., and I must get moving. I've been up since 4:30, but stayed in bed until 4:50 in an effort to sleep until the alarm went off at 6. And as is the usual story, the more time I have to do stuff, the further behind I get. Something weird about my personality, I guess. I should already be exercising in order to get my shower and have the kids up by 8:15, and clearly I'm not exercising while writing this. So I need to get a move on in order to stay on schedule on this, our first day of school.

Things here in Prague continue to go really well. We are in love with our new church, a small Russian-speaking church plant across town from us. It takes us about 45 minutes to get there--which is about half of what it took us to get to church in Moscow, so I'm not complaining. We had a great event on Saturday, with lots and lots of children from predominantly Russian-speaking homes showing up to play games and make crafts. What was really exciting for us was that the church members came and stayed--it wasn't a 'missionary-only' event. The church members seem excited about and really committed to their church, and it's fun and very rewarding to be involved in something like that.

Yesterday, Marc preached a sermon on church history and its impact on the 21st century church. It was really interesting, which surprised me. Not that Marc was interesting--that didn't surprise me at all, since I've found him interesting for about 20 years, now. But the topic seemed a little dull to us at first, and involved a good amount of research. It was honestly really interesting to listen to the connections between church history and the church today. It was a great day at church. I'd judge that I understood somewhere in the 50-60% range, which is great compared to what I sometimes can understand. (I read and write Russian pretty well, but my understanding and speaking have definitely lagged behind.) I was able to hold conversations with other people, and I even picked up most of the announcements (except I missed one critical word--baptism-- which made one announcement confusing). No person on any field anywhere struggled with language as much as I did, I promise. You try learning a new language while homeschooling three kids--it's almost impossible. And I can remember days when I would just cry at the thought that Irina was going to show up and make me talk my way through some scenario in which I had to use verbs of motion (don't ask, they're a nightmare). But I am so thankful that we were given language that has enabled us to follow God's call on our lives to minister to Russians. It's still a struggle every day, and I know that I'll NEVER feel like I'm fluent in Russian, and after three sermons and lots of music all in Russian we come home pretty exhausted...but I'm grateful that I can hold a conversation and understand a good amount of a sermon.

Something that really touched my heart as a Mom yesterday was the lady who sat behind John. It was SOOOOO hot in that room. Poor John (whose Mommy wasn't really thinking) had on long pants and a short-sleeved shirt, and he was sweating to death. (Russians are really superstitious about drafts, so there was no air flowing through that room, I promise.) Add to that three sermons, two sets of songs, and the Lord's Supper all, of course, in Russian...and my hyperactive little boy was really struggling through the 2.5 hour service. At one point I looked over at him, and he had laid his head against the back of the chair, and the sweet woman behind him was just stroking his hair to help him stay calm. She did that through the whole service. After the service was over, she hugged and kissed him and me before leaving. I thought she was just really precious. There is a sweetness to the fellowship between believers, regardless of differences in culture, age, and language. It is one of the best things about this life. No, my kids don't understand a lot of what goes on in church...but I think they know they are loved by the people there. So we love our church...but I'm definitely praying for cooler weather next Sunday!

Well, it's time to exercise, shower, make breakfast, and get the kids up for their first day of school. John was not very excited about starting this morning, but Hannah is ready to go, so hopefully, it will be a great first day. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are thankful for the sweet fellowship of other believers, and that you found ready-made blinis in the refrigerated section of your grocery store, too. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye

Being encouraged

We have had the chance to see some amazing things. Here is one of my favorites--Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. This picture was actually taken from a boat on the Moskva river.
Statue of Jan Hus in the middle of Old Town Square, Prague. Jan Hus was a 14th century reformer, burned for heresy about a century before Luther nailed his theses to the door. He was from Bohemia, which is now part of Czech Republic.
Beautiful Prague. So different from the beauty of Moscow--lots of beautiful spires everywhere, because the churches here are mostly Catholic. Very different from our onion domes in Russia--the hallmark of Russian Orthodox churches. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the domes a little.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14

It is a gorgeous, blue-skied morning here in Prague, Czech Republic. I am enjoying mug number two of "real" coffee, after drinking (and being thankful for!) the instant stuff for a week. We arrived home yesterday evening from a week-long camp in the mountains along the border of Czech Republic and Poland. Absolutely beautiful. I cannot imagine being there, seeing the incredible beauty, and not knowing for certain that some power higher than mere man created all of that. Chaos and randomness look nothing like those mountains, trust me. Chaos looks like my living room at the moment, which is full of the laundry I am desperately trying to get done in order to pack Sarah Beth's suitcase for her trip to the States this week. We enjoyed ourselves very much, but we were definitely glad to be home. This next week will be spent seeing Sarah Beth off on her trip and preparing to start school with the other two the next week. We are also going to be finishing up putting the house together--we still have not a single picture on the walls, and our stuff is definitely not as organized as it must be for Marc and the kids to work here. So it will be a busy week.

The English camp we worked at this past week was very interesting to me, very different from the kind of ministry we've done in Russia. Although many people on the field in Russia are working with the Russian Baptist Union, we did not, at least not in Moscow. It isn't that we avoided them or anything like that, but Marc's job didn't entail a close relationship with the RBU in Moscow. Now, he has several extremely close, important relationships with RBU churches outside of Moscow, places he has been as part of his travels around the country, churches he adores and where he is mightily adored. There are some really exciting things going on around Russia, great partnerships between folks in the States and churches on the ground. But because I stayed in Moscow and didn't travel with Marc, I never really got a feeling for what that kind of partnership could be--beyond going to church every week and trying to understand the sermon.

This week was really interesting for me, because although there were Americans there--four families working for our company and a team from Montana--we were definitely not in charge. A wonderful, loving Czech Baptist church was in charge. What an encouragement they were to me--just watching their passion and their clear sense of mission to reach their own people. And the love they showed us--amazing. We spent the first night at the home of one of the families in the church, and we were treated so well. Then a great day Sunday in church, where there weren't enough seats for everyone. Then a delicious lunch provided by the church. And even the folks who couldn't speak a word of English (my Czech is currently limited to 'yes' 'no' 'please' and 'thank you'--all of which I say like a Russian) were so friendly and wonderful. Marc has had that kind of partnership experience, so I don't know that it was a big deal for him, but it was for me. It was just an encouraging week all around.

I'll be honest with you--I have no clue where we'll be in a year. Could be coming back to Prague, going back to Russia, or headed home to the States to stay for a while. I just don't know. But I do know this for sure--the experiences we have had in the last two years, the things we've seen, the people we've met--I wouldn't trade a single minute of any of it...even the hard minutes. Just when I think I know God, have Him figured out--He does something else amazing, and He shows me some other aspect of who He is. I knew God in Middleburg, Florida. I really did. But the way in which I know God now...worth every hardship of the last two years, every stupid language blooper I've made, every tear I've shed for my children...worth it all. You know why? Because He is worth everything I have to give. I knew that before. But I KNOW it now. And I'm thankful for that knowledge.

One last thing--this week marked the anniversary of my Mimsey's death. I never get past August 6th without a few tears, and I guess I never will. She was a precious, priceless woman with a gentleness and a kindness that I can only vaguely hope to attain some day. I don't think I'm much like my Mimsey, but oh, how glad I am that I had all those years with her in my life. So last night, while Marc was getting McDonald's to take home for the kids, I bought some peach ice cream and cried a little, thinking of all the times I sat on her back porch, turning the hand crank of the ice cream maker, listening to her hum a tune in the kitchen. And because he knows me better than I know me, Marc came up and whispered, "They'd be so proud of your life." So I smiled and cried a little more...and walked home to the kids I know she would have been so crazy about if she'd lived long enough to know them. So even though August 6th always makes me a little sad, I am so thankful for the idyllic summers I spent with both sets of grandparents in Clarksville, Tennessee, for the relationships with my grandparents, and for the Godly influence they had on my life. I am, indeed, a blessed woman. Wherever you are in the world, I pray that you are thinking about the ways God is encouraging you, and that you don't have a pile of laundry calling your name. Blessings to you and yours!

His,
Kellye