Village life

A few weeks back we had the opportunity to go with the youth from the local church out to a village to share the Jesus film.  Little did I know just what I was getting into.  Prior to the journey we had been told it would take about 4 hours to get there and 4 hours coming back.  Obviously I knew we were going far out but I had no idea how remote we were going.  We packed up the van and a car early one monday morning with the youth, some helpers and all the equipment.  We drive for three hours and then stop to use a "bathroom", as we were told that there is no bathroom in the village.  This "bathroom" consisted of some muddy rotten wood floors with walls that have holes and a hole in the ground covered by mud, beer bottles, and other foul smelling things that I didn't want to think about.  It was here at this stop that I saw the first of what would now become a few, of a passed out drunk on the side of the road.  It truly is a sad sight, but there were people around to help the man out (and in the other instances since then people have been willing to help them).

So after experiencing that we were informed that we would be on more dirt roads until we reached the village.  For the next hour or so we drove down muddy washed out dirt roads.  With every village we passed I couldn't help but wonder which one was ours and how many more were on this road.  After miles of tedious driving and passing multiple villages we had finally reached the village.  During the drive out there I kept thinking of Acts 1:8 where it talks about to the ends of the earth.  It had felt like we were driving to the ends of the earth.  This village has about 500 people living there where people live in the old log cabins/wood homes.  There is only electricity, no running water or indoor plumbing, and houses are heated by wood stoves.  Wood piles are stacked to about half the height of houses and stretch the length of some houses.  The majority of the people in this village are unemployed and alcoholism is high.  For those that have moved to the city, they leave their houses as no one will buy them so the houses are left unattended and are now falling down.  We parked the van in someones drive way as the road to the church was way to muddy  to drive down and even walking was treacherous.  The people living here have constructed plywood walkways around the sides of the streets to walk on.

After navigating the walkways we arrive at the church (which is just an old house) and are greeted by a few older ladies who make up the church, some children and one screaming child who is afraid of the people coming in.  The house is very warm (it was cold outside on this day) and the wood stove kept the house warm, almost too warm at times.  The youth sung some songs and we showed the Jesus film and the youth and our supervisor said a few things.  After all of this the ladies fed us lunch (lunch here is usually around 2 or 3).  It is a simple yet filling meal of pileini(dumpling filled with meat), pickles, cheese, bread, and of course tea.  These ladies were very hospitable and welcoming to all of us.  They are all about making sure that you don't get sick.  My teammate had just removed her sweatshirt (as it was really hot in there) and then began to drink some cold milk and the old lady told her that she needed to put her sweatshirt back on so that she wouldn't get sick.  Also if the door or window is left open and there is a draft the door must be closed so that you don't get sick.  It is good to know that random people care about your health.  After lunch we prepared to leave, so we packed up all of the music equipment and film projector and navigated the muddy path back to the van.

Upon arriving at the van it was clear that it was stuck.  After multiple attempts of trying to back it up without anything the youth then jumped in to help try to push it out.  When that didn't work wood planks were used.  Again no luck.  A local man had come over to try and help.  Even with his help we didn't have much luck.  So he preceded to go get a tractor.  Now at this point it had been suggested by some to use some hay or gravel, but the idea was shot down by others.  So again the youth try to help push the van out, and again no such luck.  An older lady then comes over sees that the van is stuck and goes and grabs some limbs off a pine tree and walks over and lays them down at the wheel.  She tells my supervisor to go try to move the van and she then proceeds to join the youth and helps push the van.  Just like that the van became unstuck and with a few replacements of the tree branches the van was finally free.  That woman knew what she was doing.  I figure you have to be tough to live out in the village.  With the van unstuck we headed back to the city slowly passing villages and larger towns before returning to Perm.  All in all it was a good day and a great experience getting to see the village and in a way stepping back in time.  Even though this village was isolated there is a group of women who love the Lord and are committed to sharing His message with those in their village.

The Youth Group, leaders and us.

This is the lady that came over and took charge.  She is placing pine branches by the wheels.

She even helped push the van.  She is one strong woman.

The youth helping push the van out.

One of the empty houses that is now falling down as no one is there to take care of it.

Just part of the main road that we drove.

It was good to see a whole different side to Russia.  In a way the village life is how I used to picture Russia.  I now know that this country is such a combination of many things and that there is so much to learn.  I came into Russia knowing very little about it and in the past month I have learned many things, all of them good.

One month...

It has been about a month since moving to russia.  So many things have happened in this short time.  Here are just some of the experiences and things I have learned.

-Do Not drink the water straight from the tap.  Brita filters are awesome.
-I have been stared at, laughed at, and yelled at (yelled at by an old lady to the collective group of use in the park)
-There is no such thing as "one stop shopping".  You must go to multiple stores to find things.  Grocery shopping also requires a few trips to different stores to find things.  Not all stores have everything and they all carry different things.
-Discovered the various bus/tram/ trolley routes and the amount of time it takes
-Seen way to many pigeons
-I have seen one to many dogs in outfits.
-You can not flush toilet paper down public toilets.  That is if you can find a public toilet and they have toilet paper.
-Don't be surprise if you have to pay to use the bathroom.
-Successfully traveled to another city by bus.
-Clothing is really expensive here and that it is acceptable to re-wear the same outfit two days in a row or multiple times a week.
-Many women walk all over the city in 4-5 inch heels.
-Figured out how to successfully and safely navigate crossing the roads when there is no pedestrian crossing signal.  Basically if the old lady starts to cross then it is safe to cross.
-Seen just a glimpse of the affects of alcoholism and people passed out drunk on the side of the road. Yes it is a true stereotype that people in Russia drink a lot, but the reality of it is that it is destroying families.  Young children should not have to deal with getting the falling over drunk father off the streets in the early afternoon.
-Learned that some people drink all the time here and that the time of day does not matter.
-Beer can be bought in many varieties and on just about every street corner and at multiple little kiosks along the streets as well as all stores.
-Mothers take their babies out for long walks once or twice a day, no matter what the weather (just bundle your child up). Fresh air is good for them.
-Drafts are bad.  Don't open the window when it is cold outside.
-The collective is more important then the individual.
-Not all believe that communism existed, but instead it was just socialism.
-Learning just how much history books leave Russia out and how little I learned of this country in school. So much history about this country that I had no idea about.  People are happy to share about the history.

and much more.  Things continue to go well and language learning is slowly coming along but progress is being made.  Thanks for the continued prayers.

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Victory Day

Yesterday was Victory day and a national holiday here in Russia.  Victory day is that day that the Russians celebrate when they pulled their troops out of Germany at the end of WWII (or as the Russians call it "The Great Patriotic War").  Just like every other country Russia credits the fact they they stopped fighting as the reason the war ended.  We missed the big parade as we had language learning (there is always next year), but we met up with some friends from church and another M from another organization working here in the city.  We were a mixture of Russians, Americans, and one person from Britain.  We spent the afternoon celebrating the beautiful weather and holiday in Gorki park (an amusement type park in the city that has rides for kids and entertainment) and played some frisbee.  There were many concerts going on throughout the city and I hadn't seen so many people on the streets.   We got a taste of how holidays are celebrated here and the different holidays that are celebrated.

A story of forgiveness

Last week I had the opportunity to hear the story of one woman and how God's love and forgiveness changed her life. We met this woman who we will call Tanya at a rehab center that she and her husband run. Tanya grew up in an orphanage as a result of her parents alcoholism and being unable to take care of her and her siblings.   Once she became 16 the orphanage would no longer keep her and put her on the streets (technically orphanages are suppose to help the kids find work and a place to live but this one lied).  She would then move from sibling to sibling and live with them and help raise their children but would usually end of leaving as alcohol would overtake her family.  Tanya and her sister needed money and decided to rob a house and in the process ended up killing the owner.  Tanya would end up committing two murders and eventually turned herself into the police.  She was sentenced to 11 years in prison.  During the first eight years she attempted suicide multiple times.  On her last try she pulled the covers up over her head after lights out and prepared to cut the artery in her neck.  That is when she described seeing a light and a mans voice (which was God) telling her not to kill herself and repeated a verse from the Bible (she didn't know about the Bible then).  The next thing she remembers is it being morning, as the night had past in five minutes.  A few days later a group came into the prison to share the gospel.  Tanya heard it and as they were leaving began to beg the people to come back and share more with her about God and salvation.  They told her they would be back in a few days, but Tanya told them she didn't have days.  Tanya became a believer and asked God to forgive her of her sins and come into her heart.  She said that she had spent time trying to clear her conscious of the crimes she had committed and that once becoming saved that God had forgiven her and she was now clean.  From that point on she made a 180 and began sharing the gospel with the other women in prison.  Tanya was released from prison and since being out of prison for about a year and a half has married a believer, they have a small child and they felt God calling them to work at the rehab center and now help men become sober and are sharing the gospel with them and seeing people come to faith.  Tanya continues to grow in her faith with the Lord and share the good news.

Her story was moving and was a reminder that God's forgiveness is vast and good and that it is not by our own good works but by Christ.  It also showed me that no matter what we did in our past God sees us as forgiven through the blood of Christ.  Our sins whether we committed them physically or in our hearts are all the same and we all must ask for forgiveness.