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