Chris Newport, this post is especially for you! :)
Okay, so to say that I don't know ANY Russian might be a stretch. I have a hard time reading it, but I have a small vocabulary that I can speak. All the words I know are things that are important for my daily survival. I'll give you a list of what I know...The words are spelled how I think you would spell them in English...
mozhna-I would like
pojalsta- please/you're welcome (confusing...)
marazhona rajoke- ice cream cone
specieba- thank you
yanee ponee my you- I don't understand
eta- that
eee- and
privet- hello
paka- bye
das vadana- excuse me (I think...)
mAC fluddy- McFlurry
chocolod- chocolate
Kitay Gorod- I don't know what this actually translates to, but it's important to know because it is the metro stop that our hostel is located at. This is one that I can actually read :)
So I do know a tiny bit. I'm doing my best. Tonight, our team went to McDonald's to get ice cream...I swear it's better and different here...anyway, in Russia they have these awesome McFlurrys that have chocolate and caramel. As I stood in line, I recited exactly what I was going to get in my mind..."Mozhna pojalsta mAC fluddy caramelll chocolod." I got up there, said it and was feeling great about myself. As soon as I did, the lady that was working goes, "You speak English?" in almost perfect English...me: "Yes." her: "What do you want?" It was hilarious and a bit embarrassing.
This whole experience has just been an opportunity of a lifetime. Thank you for your support!!
1. Russia is getting difficult.
2. If you are reading this, I would probably love to hear from you via email, facebook, comment, anything.
3. We went to the park and had a great turnout today. Then it poured rain.
4. I got seperated from my team on the metro today...freaky.
5. We heard that some meat you get here is made out of cats...CREEPY.
6. We went to the zoo yesterday! It was fun. The only 2 bears I've seen in Russia so far were there. :)
7. I have lots of new besties. They are going to visit me in Lubbock. :)
8. We got new sheets last night...it's the little things, really.
9. I still can't read or speak any Russian.
10. I feel like I will appreciate 4th of July more this year than I have in the last 20 years. :)
It's hard to believe that I have been here for almost two weeks! I am still learning so much, and I have grown a ton already.
On Saturday, we went to the park where we had a picnic and got to hang out with 40ish Russian students that we had met throughout the week. It was really windy. It was interesting to talk with some of them. While we were there, a guy I was talking noticed my tattoo. (If you didn't know I had a tattoo....well, now you do. Whoops.) He asked me what it meant, and through telling him about why I got it (my mom, Ecclesiastes 3:11, etc.) I got to share the gospel with him! So cool. I wouldn't have ever thought that a relatively small tattoo on my wrist could be used to tell someone the greatest news of all time. Our God is big.
Sunday, we went to church. Almost the entire service was in English, which was really refreshing. It's a small church, maybe 50 members or so, but I can't explain how encouraging it was to see that there are other believers in this city, that will be here even after we are gone. Sunday afternoon, we went to Ismaylava, which is the Moscow market to buy Russian souvenirs and such. The only thing I have in my schema to compare it to is buying things at street stands in Mexico. You can bargin with these people like crazy. While we were there, we had Shashleek, which is like a Russian shishkabob that comes with a huge hunk of yummy bread. I had chicken, but other people on our team had pork and lamb too. Shashleek has been my favorite food here so far. We had a good time at Ismaylava, and I think we are planning to go back this weekend. Sunday night we played a game at the hostle that was really entertaining. I also fell off of a bunk bed all the way to my knees because of my pride. Brent will probably never let me live that one down, considering he tried to help me but I wanted to do it myself...annnnyyyway.
Monday, we spent most of our day at the Architecture school. We had some good conversation with some guys that I think some of our team is planning to meet with tomorrow and Friday. Most students are in the middle of their end of semester exams, and it is so encouraging that they are still wanting to meet with us. God is faithful. We finished up Monday with Bible study.
Yesterday, we went back to the humanitarian university. The feel is a bit different there, because we are not allowed to actually get on campus or into their school. Since we can't, we just have to hang out near the school at coffee shops or restaurants and look for people who we think might be students. Our conversations always start with "Do you speak English?". Many of the students do. Yesterday, we seemed to have a hard time finding people. My ministry team was split up and I was with Steven and Brian. We walked into Starbucks, I paid $7 for a small iced latte (Ridiculous, I know. Hey dad, they don't take giftcards here. Disappointing, I know. However, they do sell giftcards here, but the guy told me they can only take them if they are loaded with rubles, not American dollars...I don't get it?) I saw a guy sitting by himself, and I felt like the guys needed to talk to him. I went and sat at a table nearby and prayed for them and their conversation as it happened. About 15 minutes in, I found that I didn't know what to pray for anymore, since I didn't know the direction their conversation was headed. I decided to open my Bible and just begin reading and praying scripture over them. I randomly ended up in Matthew, and I was so encouraged when I came across Matthew 6:8, which says, "...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." The reality is, the Lord knew exactly what they needed right then in their conversation, even if I didn't. The same situation happened later in a restaurant. I ended up reading all of Matthew yesterday, which was pretty encouraging. I found that the reality of Jesus and the cross and the resurrection is something that I often take for granted. I have known and believed it for so long that, even being here and being conscious of why we are here, I forget the power of it and that people really don't know about the freedom it gives. I was encouraged yesterday.
Today, I woke up not feeling great. I was literally sitting on my springy mattress in my pajamas thinking, "There is no way I can do this today." I was tired and a little cranky from not sleeping well. The whole time until I got to the humanitarian school, I was just praying that the Lord would fill me and give me a good attitude as I tried to have conversations with students. We started at McDonalds. We got coffee, made a plan, and then tried to get creamer for our coffee. The lady working and I were having a complete miscommunication. At first she thought I was asking for another coffee, then she offered me marozhna razhok (an ice cream cone) and then she tried to give me a child's meal milk carton. I ended up giving up because I don't think she had a clue what I was talking about. I had a good laugh about it though AND I drank my coffee completely black with a little sugar. (Dad, I hope you are proud. :)) Me and Laura (one of my new besties) approached a girl sitting by herself. We asked if she spoke English, and she told us she was actually an English teacher and invited us to sit down. We were a little unsure about how long we should continue our conversation since she wasn't a student. However, the more we talked with her, the better our conversation got. We had been talking for a little bit about her job, Russia, America, her students, etc., when literally the Holy Spirit just took over. As soon as the conversation lulled a little, I just asked her what she thought the meaning of life was. (If you know me, you know that this probably isn't a likely thing for me to ask someone that I had just met 30 minutes before.) She told us that she didn't really know, and then asked us what we thought. OH MY GOSH!!! I seriously could have peed my pants. Normally, people aren't so open to ask us what we think, so this was awesome. We ended up finding out that she definitely believes there is a God, and she asked us things about why people have hard times and why some things are harder than others. Both Laura and I both ended up getting to share part of our testimonies, and we got to share the gospel with her! We got to give and look over with her a Russian/English Knowing God Personally book. If you are familiar with this, you know that at the end there is a circle on the left/right (aka: point of decision). She told us that she didn't know where she was, but that she would love to look and read over it and talk with us more about it. We are going to meet with her either tomorrow or Friday. I am so excited. It's so encouraging/refreshing to see that, even though it doesn't always seem to go the way we think it should, what the Lord has called us to here matters and that people really do need to know this good news. I'm keep finding myself so humbled that He would choose sinful, broken McCall to carry His message. I'll keep you posted on what happens in the rest of our time with this girl.
Now for some cultural observations:
Girls/Women/Elderly women often wear see through shirts. Bras are optional. I am so glad this isn't a trend in America!!!
Lots of people don't wear deodorant.
The metro has awesome pasteries. (Thank you Luke Williams for telling us!)
Still no smiling on the metro.
There are piegons EVERYWHERE. They freak me out and they are really brave little things.
The piegons are about the size of Berkley. FREAKY.
Everyone here smokes cigarettes like crazy.
I'm pretty sure Americans are the only people on the earth who say Moscow like "moss-cow". Everywhere else, it's called "moss-cowe" (rhyming with stow, row, go).
CACTUS WAAAATTTTTTTTTTEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR! gimmegimmegimmegimme. We don't know what it really is, but I've never had anything like it. It's really yummy. Similiar to lemonade but not really at all. Dad, Marlee, and McLane, I'm going to try to bring you some! I think you would like it. :)
The weather is so beautiful!
I'll try to write more often. Things are so busy here that it's hard to find the time! I love each of you dearly and look forward to sharing more stories in detail with you when I get home. Thanks for all of your support!!
-m.
"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?"
So I am currently in the car on the way from Lubbock to Dallas with my awesome aunt and uncle (Brent and Melody) who were so great to bring me back with them! Quick recap of the past week...
Had a great time at briefing with our team and other teams from the Red River region of Campus Crusade (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas). It was really cool to see 100ish? people in one place answering the call to take the Gospel to the nations, including Italy, Greece, Russia, East Asia, and Ethiopia. We did a lot of team building, last minute preparation, learned about conflict resolution and how to love our team. All of my team except 3 of us left Tuesday evening, and I flew back to Midland. Because of the fires, I wasn't able to drive back to Lubbock until Wednesday morning. At first I was kind of bummed/stressed about that, but then I ended up getting to meet this precious guy.....
This is Connor. His parents are in my aunt and uncle's (Shane and Kim) Sunday school class. Connor was just adopted from Moscow and got to come home last week!! I have prayed for him and his new family since September, so to finally see him and see how well he is doing was incredible. I have joked about bringing about 5 kids like Connor back with me when I finish in Moscow...I completely believe that I will someday, but for now my Dad doesn't find it too exciting. :)
I got back to Lubbock on Wednesday and began packing (which was more challenging than I anticipated...) Thursday family started getting there. We had a big party to celebrate Marlee's life and graduation on Friday night with family and friends. It was great and she definitely raked in some good stuff. Graduation was yesterday. Shout out to Marlee for being a baller at life and graduating with honors and getting to sit on the front row. :) I'm so proud of her and can't wait to see what the next chapter of her life holds! I finally finished packing last night and got up at the crack of dawn to say bye to Marlee and send her off to the state choir competition.
Our flight leaves at 5:50 this evening from Dallas. We will fly to London and have a layover there, and then London to Moscow!! I am not sure what time (Texas or Moscow) that we will be getting there, but I know it's a long time from 5:50. Haha. I'll update and let you know when I arrive! You can be praying for safety and smooth travel logistics.
Thank you for partnering with me as we make Jesus' name known in Russia. I'm grateful for you and your support!!
I don't know what to say, other than now that school is out and I don't have any of the stress from homework/lesson plans/small children everywhere/projects/etc..., I can't quit thinking about Moscow. I'm seriously so pumped. There is a lot to be done before then, and I am almoooosssttttt to my support goal. I find myself praying for the same five things over and over.
-for the little bit of my financial support that I still need to come in
-for my team's financial support.
-for the students we will meet.
-for our team to bond quickly.
-for our team to have a peace knowing the Lord has prepared the way and gone before us.
I would love for you to join me in praying for those same things in the next several days! I will leave to go to briefing the 22nd-24th (that's less than two weeks :o!), then when my team leaves for Russia, I will come home to be a part of Marlee's graduation and all the festivities that go with that. Then, I will leave to meet my team on the 29th. We are so close and I am SO EXCITED.
I've been neglecting my blog. I find that I have a lot to say and not a lot of time to sit down and write it all, so I just don't. I'm saying to heck with it, I want and need to get back in the practice of it so I'm just going to do a little bit at a time.
I've been busy. I went to the Red River Region Campus Crusade Winter Conference in Dallas the first few days of the year...it was incredible. I saw some of my dearest friends the first weekend in February, a few that I haven't seen since August. That was fun and I'll post pictures later. I have been working a ton, which is fun but I'm borderline burned out. We had freakish weather for like a week and the way Lubbock-ites responded, you would have thought the world was ending. I've had an awful sinus infection. We had a "Famous Couples" date party, my friend Ike and I went as salt and pepper. My sister got in an awful car wreck and broke her foot but we are so thankful that, for all practical reasons, she's in one piece.
The latest, greatest, most exciting news as of lately is that I got accepted to go to Moscow, Russia on a Summer Project with Campus Crusade!!!
I am so excited. I never in a million zillion years would have thought that's where I would ever go. The way the Lord has completely redirected my plans in the last six months has been crazy. I guess it all kind of started when I got home from camp. I was really sad and borderline depressed for about a month. I had had an incredible summer with some incredible people and all I wanted to do was go back. I had told myself that no matter what, that's where I would be in the summer of 2011. God obviously had some different plans. I'm not exaggerating one bit when I say this: I literally woke up one day and had a change of heart. No circumstances had changed. Nothing had happened. I woke up and thought to myself, "I'm not sure that I want to go back, and I'm not sure that I am supposed to." It was really sad for me to feel that way, and I even tried to talk myself out of it because of my relationships with people there. I couldn't seem to change my God's mind. So I began to pray about what the summer would hold. I should have prayed about it before I just subconsciously made a decision, but I am human. God has a funny way of reminding us of things, huh? Anyway, at CRU I kept hearing about these things called Summer Projects. As I learned more about them, I realized that they are all over the United States and all over the world. I have several friends that have been different places, and I've heard nothing but wonderful things. I kept hearing about Moscow. When I say kept hearing, I mean KEPT hearing. It seemed like everywhere I went someone was talking about it. To be honest, it was kind of annoying. Obviously it was a great experience, but look at all the other places you could go. You would choose Russia, really? And aside from that, I was planning to have to be in Lubbock for the summer, based on a position in my sorority I was anticipating. You can read about that here. When that didn't go as I had planned, I reluctantly looked into all different Summer Projects. I talked to my friend, the director of CRU at Tech, about a handful of different places, and he kept bringing me back to Moscow. I told him I would pray about it, but that there were some pretty major issues with dates for that trip, and that I wasn't sure I could pull it off. When I was at the Winter Conference, I met the leader of this project, and come to find out there are a few other people who would have to go a few days late like I would. I said I couldn't pull it off, but God can. So I drug my feet on filling out this intense application, but I did. Since doing that, I've had several people ask me, why Russia? My sister in particular has asked me why I don't go somewhere "cooler" like France or Italy or something. I can say with complete faith and honesty, that the only reason I am going to Moscow is because God told me to. If I'm being honest, I don't have a huge desire to see Russia. I would love to see New York or Chicago or Australia or Italy or Ethiopia or any of the other places that Campus Crusade has projects. But the Lord has just opened doors and completely directed me to Russia. How cool is that?? I can't wait to see what He has in store there.
So I am going to spend 6 ish weeks in Russia, building relationships and telling some of the 1,000,000 plus college students there about Jesus. Less than 1% of the population in Moscow are Christians. Moscow is the culture and educational center for most of the Asian continent. Students come from the Caucus regions (the "stans"), Eastern Europe, Siberia, and Mongolia. If you know what the 1040 window is, a lot of people from there come to school in Moscow. (If you don't know what the 1040 window is, you should google it!!) It includes places that would not be safe for us to go share the Gospel. What is so cool and hard for me to imagine, is that if somehow we God can reach some of those people in Moscow, they can take the Gospel to their country much easier than we can. I can't even wrap my mind around that, but I am trying to learn to have an eternal perspective.
If you're still with me....
This is a video that was showed at CRU a few weeks ago. It's powerful. Take 4 minutes and watch it.
I'm going because there are roughly 140 million people in Russia, and less than 1 million follow Christ. That is .642%.
"Therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:19-20
I am going to have to raise a lot of money for this to happen. I know that if God has called me to this, that He will be faithful to provide the funds to get me there. If you want to join my team and partner with me in fulfilling The Great Commission, please let me know. I would be eternally grateful.
If you have made it this far, bless you! That was LONG.
I am excited about what the Lord is doing in Russia and in my life. And hopefully I'll blog more soon.
