Now that I’ve painted a broad brush view of the trip, I want to devote the rest of the story to the part that made it the most memorable:  the people.

Too often when we pray for things, we may not stop to see or thank Him for his answers to our prayers.  Maybe I need to gather up some large rocks like Joshua and the Israelites did after they crossed over the Jordan (see Joshua 4, especially verse 24) or compose a song like Moses did after he and the Israelites safely made it to dry ground through the parted Red Sea (Exodus 15).  “Who is like Thee, O Lord?” was their response after God performed great deeds that only He could do for His people.  But they needed markers to remind them, because, like us, they and future generations eventually forgot what He did.

This summary of my trip is intended to help me remember and to give you a glimpse of what God did and continues to do.  So I decided to review my early prayer requests to you, and also the prayers that our team lifted up in our morning meetings (I was given the job of prayer recorder).  Here’s a sampling, and some amazing answers God supplied to us:
 

Reunion with teachers from my 1993 group:  You have to know a few details to appreciate the significance of God’s answer to this.  My small group of teachers in 1993 included 4 teachers plus my interpreter, Lucy.  Admittedly, both the teachers and I had dropped the ball on letter writing after one or two letters.  You never know if mail will go through over there, no one had E-mail back then, and postage is expensive. And you don’t just search on the Internet and get a Russian address.  I blew it, but still I thought about them on many occasions over the 8 years, and an occasional glance at my photo album would trigger me to pray for them.  I wondered about Lucy, who had sent me off with all kinds of goodies in ’93, and I had a soft spot for one vivacious redhead in the group, Galina, who had shown such a strong interest in knowing about God.  I prayed, hoped that if no one else on the whole trip, I would see Galina.  I thought it would also be nice to see any of the other teachers:  Lyuba, Elena, or Zhana.
 
 

Lucy.  The Tuesday night before our 2002 conference was to start, we were all set to meet and get acquainted with our new interpreters.  I had asked to be paired up with Lucy again if by some chance she showed up.  We all waited a little nervously in our hotel rooms, knowing the interpreters had gathered with the Western coordinators, Dwight and Colleen, right outside our door.  I got a knock on my door.  Dwight poked his head in the door and said, “Looks like only two interpreters showed up tonight . . . . but Lucy’s here.”   My heart skipped a beat and I walked out to meet her.  It took me a couple of seconds, but then I noticed her faintly familiar face and her British accent and shiny gold front tooth.  It was a sweet reunion and even though she called me “Lora” for the next 4 days, I knew she remembered me fondly and we got along great.

Lenore with her interpreter.

 
 

Galina.  On Wednesday night, the “Reunion Tea” and first night of our Character Development Seminar, I was a little nervous and hopeful to see perhaps another familiar face, after the wonder of seeing Lucy again the night before.  As I walked over to get some tea with a couple ladies who had joined my group, I turned around and saw a familiar, still striking redhead.  “Galina!”  She gave me a big smile of recognition and we nearly jumped up and down together.  Even though she didn’t speak much English, we understood each other perfectly in that moment.  I noticed she had a name tag from another table and I said to her group leader with a smile, “I’m sorry, Ron, but Galina’s mine.  She’s mine and you can’t have her.”  So Galina joined my group . . . . again.

Me and my friend in Rostov.

 

Other ‘93 Returnees.  With Galina and Lucy in my group, I wondered what else the Lord might have in store.  But there were 3 more ladies, all friends and English teachers from a neighboring town called Novocherkassk:  Natasha, Alla, and Valentina.  I started chatting with Natasha and she asked me about the American she had interpreted for in 1993, Debby Sharp (now Smith).  “Have you seen her?  Is she here?”  She showed me her 1993 picture.  I did a double take and said, “Natasha, I know Debby.  She was my roommate in Rostov in 1993.  She’s in Texas now and really wishes she could come but she can’t be here.”  Natasha looked so disappointed, but she sent me back with all kinds of goodies for Debby’s 3 kids.  Do you think it was a coincidence that Debby had given me a letter to hand carry to Natasha? (When I got back to Virginia, Debby and I talked for two hours on the phone; she was tickled pink.)  As it turns out, Alla and Valentina attended the 1993 convocation, too!  They didn’t get to reunite with their American friends, but it worked out just fine being in my group.  In fact, out of the 9 American group leaders, 3 had been to Rostov in 1993.  My group was the only one in which all the core group members had attended the 1993 convocation!   That was a real blessing to me.

Lenore with her small group--all were in Rostov in 1993!

That God would supply interpreters we needed:  After only 2 interpreters showed up the night before the seminar, we were disappointed but not discouraged.  A few phone calls were made, word was spread, and we prayed for 7 more.  The next day, we had just what we needed, with one more as a back-up for the one interpreter who couldn’t attend all 5 nights!

Pray for the Russian Teachers:  Our daily prayer was that the teachers would have a desire to use the morals and ethics curriculum and to grow spiritually.   One of our main goals was to encourage them to start Bible discussion groups with other teachers and others in their community.  We were happy to hear that several teachers were very vocal, strong Christians who had been showing the “JESUS” Film to their friends and family.  One woman had shown the film to nearly 1,000 people!  Unfortunately, most of the teachers did not have full support from their principals and superintendents to teach the curriculum openly in their classrooms, but we pray that this will change.
 
 

Galina was very interested in all we had to say about Christianity and the Bible at the 1993 convocation.  She told me that her son was a Christian and he had been sharing the Bible with her.  This time, I found out that she had become a Christian 5 years ago!  Her son now is a sound producer and records Christian music.  Her whole family are now believers.
	Going to church with my friend.

Starting a Bible discussion group? The rest of the teachers in my group all showed a strong interest in knowing more about the Bible and how to apply it.  Their questions were thoughtful and searching.  I don’t know if  they have quite come to a point of saving knowledge of Christ, but I think they are very close.  They have been on my mind daily, and I pray that I can offer some kind of long-distance discipleship relationship with them.  Because I felt there was much more to do with the teachers, I really didn’t want the trip to end.  I wish I had about a month to come back and spend some quality time with them and help them start a Bible study, but in the meantime, I will continue to pray that they will do so on their own.  I really came away with the sense that God allowed this second trip to spur the Russians to action and to take their faith seriously.  Alla confirmed this when she wrote in a note to me:  “ I live with  . . . God in my heart.  I feel it’s not by chance we’ve met here . . . . God knows everything.”

Svetlana.  Svetlana is a dear new believer who journeyed from Southern Russia to be part of our team for the 2 weeks.  She had become a Christian after a series of events, including listening to a visiting preacher from the West, and participating in a teacher convocation through the International School Project a few years ago.  We became fast friends and she calls me her twin.  “So now I have two twin sisters,” I told her.  She showed a gentle spirit, a childlike heart toward Christ, and a desire to serve even in areas that weren’t part of her job description, including translating a Russian playbill from “Madame Butterfly,” translating the hotel chef’s menu for borsch, and taking some of the team shopping.  She soaked in our morning meetings and was respectfully quiet unless called upon, but when she got in front of her fellow teachers, she became an extravert and had the whole room full of 70 teachers engaged and snapping to attention.  It was quite a transformation to see her presenting a lesson from the curriculum and demonstrating her teaching gift.  What better way to show these Russians how it could be done than by one of their own?

Svetlana also showed our team a variety of ways that the curriculum was being used in her school:  integrating music with the Christmas story; using Bible verses for comfort after the children experienced a flood; developing Bible quizzes and games that used the names of Bible characters; learning Bible passages by singing them; and creating a pantomime of a Bible story that showed the piercing of Jesus’ hands.  I look forward to exchanging many E-mails with Svetlana; her growing faith is an encouragement to me.  I could disciple her, but I think she could teach me a lot about loving God and people from a pure heart.
 
 

Irina.  Our whole team had the privilege of meeting Irina, the tall willowy hotel concierge who spoke perfect English and opened up like a wilted flower to our love and attention.  She took a shine to me and said to me, “I think you must be a psychologist.  You are so mild.” (That’s that British English they teach over there.)  Bored with her routine job, 22-year-old Irina is an idealistic romantic who loves languages and writes poetry in Russian, French, and English.            Saying a reluctant farewell to my new friend at the hotel.

She showed me several of her poems, which speak of her feelings of hopelessness, longing for love, and search for God.  Below is an excerpt from her poem entitled, ”The Prayer,” which she composed in 1999:
 

What is love, if my heart is empty,
What is life, if I’d like to die,
When I’m happy, I always cry.
What is pain, that can make me blind?

What is real, if my dreams are bitter,
Where to go—there’s no place to stay,
Nor the words I’m allowed to say:
Too many sins have I done to pray.

What is Truth, if the lie is blest,
If the saint’s letting out the curse,
Send me back my exhausted force
And the faith that I once possessed.

 What are You, who is always within,

For Your sake, I need You.
Let me, please, have my dream come true,
Make me know, what I have to do
For the bliss to begin.

Please pray for Irina’s salvation, that she would come out from under the spiritual bondage and depression she has experienced because she doesn’t know the hope and freedom she can have in Christ.  She is thrilled to be pen pals with me and a couple others from our group, and she was overwhelmed by multiple gifts from our team.  I gave her a copy of the English New Testament and a Russian copy of the JESUS Film video, and I will continue to share Christ with her through my letters and just by loving her.  Even though she was not on our official ministry list, I am convinced that one of the reasons God brought me to Rostov was to meet Irina and give her a glimpse of Christ’s love.  She had just started her job a couple weeks prior to our visit, so if we had come in September as originally planned, we likely would not have met her.  God’s timing is perfect!

Personal protection and health:  Despite the ever-present unfiltered cigarette smoke in the hotel and the usual stresses of travel, I avoided getting a cold on the trip—that was a first.  I was also thankful that I didn’t eat anything that threatened my intestines like it did after a mystery meal in Ukraine in ‘95.  In ’93, I lost 5 pounds because there wasn’t much else to eat but chunks of meat and stale bread at the sanitorium where we stayed, but this time the hotel food was pretty good.  We even had a Croatian chef who made the BEST borsch (I’ve got a recipe if you want it).
 

This is me at the lavish breakfast buffet at  the Intourist Hotel.	Another view of the breakfast buffet.

My jet lag was shorter and less pronounced than in previous trips, too.  Was it the melatonin, the hot shower the night I arrived, or maybe your prayers?  It certainly wasn’t my dutiful adherence to 8 hours and early to bed every night (I’m incurable in that regard).  I also get jittery legs if I sit with my feet on the floor for a long time, so wouldn’t you know this time I had an empty seat next to me and I got to prop my feet up the whole time while I slept?

We were warned not to flaunt our money or to have purses or fanny packs out that could be pickpocketed or stolen, especially in Moscow, so I moved with a bit of trepidation onto the Moscow subway and onto the buses in Rostov.  But everything was well tucked away like the travel experts tell you to do, and nothing was stolen and nobody bothered me.  I even joked with the guys on our team that they needed me and the other ladies to chaperone them when they went out on the town.  The men on the team got phone calls from ladies of the evening; this is just what happens at large hotels.   Even in the small group and social settings, we were directed never to travel alone and the men group leaders had to be careful that their expressions of care for the ladies could be misinterpreted by those who were starved for a kind word and personal attention.

Travel and accommodations:  I learned on my first trip that you had to give up control over your schedule and activities in Russia.  And I learned that you can’t remove the travel time from your experience, or else you would slice off a huge part of the trip that colors the whole adventure of going overseas.

It’s a Small World.  You never know who you’ll bump into or where.  I had to fly through New York’s JFK Airport coming and going.  While waiting for my team members to join me, I saw the two Russian pair skaters, Sikhuluridze and Berezhnaya (the ones who had to share their gold medal with the Canadians), walk right by me as I was talking on the phone with my sister.  A couple minutes later, what appeared to be the whole Italian Olympic team, all dressed in bright blue team uniforms, walked past me.  On our flight home, we heard that Mikhail Gorbachev was sitting in First Class (never saw him, though).

When we landed at the Moscow airport, I saw this tall lanky brunette wearing blue jeans and when she turned around, I said, “Eliza Evans?!”  I had worked with her in DC almost 10 years ago!  Now a Ph.D, she was in Moscow on a research trip with the University of Texas.  We talked the whole way through customs and passport control.
 
 

Hotel.  On our way in and out of Moscow, we stayed at the humongous Rossija Hotel, which takes up several blocks of prime real estate about a couple hundred yards from Red Square.  The view of the city and its beautiful churches was breathtaking. In Rostov, we lodged at the Intourist Hotel, with a panoramic view of the Don River just to the South of us.  The great thing about this trip was that we didn’t have to haul books and materials across town—we had the seminar and most of our meals right in the hotel.  Each room had a toilet with a seat, a tub, colored towels, and hot water—nothing like the rustic accommodations of my 1993 trip.  Not having to worry about food and basic provisions really helped me to focus more on the people and our ministry.

Above, our hotel in Rostov.  To the left, my room overlooking the Don River.

Unity of the Ministry team:  It’s an unfortunate reality that Christians don’t always get along when they’re doing the Lord’s work.  This is a reflection of our fallenness, and I believe Satan can use discord to detract from what God calls us to do.  Thankfully, I’d say our team got along very well.  Our trip directors reminded us that it’s pretty amazing for teams of virtual strangers, some pastors and all leaders in some capacity at home, could come together for a 2-week trip and willingly submit to the leadership of someone they didn’t know.
 

Even more incredible to me was how the temperaments, talents, and experiences of our group members complemented one another.  And it’s not like anyone could have planned it that way.  We had 2 pastors, 4 teachers, 2 engineers, a newspaper reporter, school administrator, and me the career counselor, along with our Russian logistics man, Vasily, and our translator, Kostya.  I’m sure among all of us that each of the spiritual gifts was represented.

Our team:  Our trip directors,  Basil and Edith Oke are  in the middle.

That the supplies and gifts we brought would minister to the right people:  As I prepared for my trip, I followed the suggestions on our checklist.  Using your generous contributions, I purchased lots of items for the teachers to use in their classrooms, including maps, pencils, crayons, chalk, American flag pins, and so forth, along with personal gifts like nail polish, lotion, chewing gum, chocolate, tea, and toiletries.  The teachers love this kind of stuff and there is no way their schools have the resources to buy them.  When you only make about $40 a month, these little things that we bring seem like gold.  One of my favorite moments is on the last night of a seminar when they open their gift bags; it’s like Christmas morning.  It also turned out that I had enough goodies left over to pass along to Irina and Svetlana, and to several more small group leaders who had large groups and came up short.

I don’t think it was an accident that I made some last minute purchases the night before I left, and even brought some clothes to give away and found some books from my shelf at home so that I could give them to any English speakers.  My last purchase was an NIV Bible that I thought I might give to my interpreter or some English teacher.  On the first night of our seminar, Lucy said to me, “Oh, it is my dream to have an English Bible.”  So guess who got that Bible on our final night?  She was thrilled!  I also gave out a copy of Mere Christianity, More Than a Carpenter, and an English New Testament.  After I got back home, I sent a CD of Psalms that my friend Viki had given me and mailed it to Alla and to Irina, my new poet friend.  See, Viki, your homemade CD is going around the world!

God’s financial provision for my trip:  I’ve covered this pretty well in my past correspondence to you, but I want to reiterate my sincere thanks for your generosity.  I raised over $4,000 in about a month, and I still have money left over towards my next trip (I feel a strong conviction that there will be a next trip).  Even beyond the material items and plane fare and hotel costs that this pays for, I hope you can envision the intangibles that you are affecting for months and years to come, and into eternity.  I believe that the seeds we planted have begun to sprout and will spread far and wide, one by one.  The Svetlanas and Galinas of Russia will in turn share the Word with their students, with their families, and their communities.  Even if the country were to close up tomorrow, the door was opened wide enough and long enough to carry the message for decades to come.  Don’t stop praying for them, and don’t be surprised if some of them are praying for you!