Thank you. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to return to Russia after a 17 year absence. When I  was first invited to speak in the DTS in Kamchatka in August, I wondered whether it was God, or just a DTS leader who wanted to fill out his calendar with speakers. As I waited on God, I did not sense a strong leading, or a closed door. As I continued to wait, it seemed that since Nikolai asked me, I should go, just because he asked, and I had the capacity to go and help. I applied for the visa right away, and was somewhat ambivalent as I considered the possibility that it would not be granted. Then when it came through, I thought to myself, “This is God.”

When it became time to book tickets I wasn’t overly concerned with the cost as God has always provided the means to go. By the time it was time to do so, I was convinced that it was His will. Then the possibility to include a stop in Krasnodar and Kurganinsk, where I had led an outreach in 1993,  caught my attention. It is not close to Kamchatka. I’m not sure the miles, but it is 8 time zones. That is not close! But since all flights to Russia go through Moscow, it was only 700 miles south to Krasnodar. A two hour flight. $200. Why not go?

I had not had any contact with Sasha and Nadia, the couple who hosted our outreach team in ’93 in 17 years. I thought they might be still there, but had no assurance. The only person I had contact with still in Krasnodar was Andrei Durenkov. Andrei was 18 when we came to Russia. He “adopted” our family as he wanted to learn English. We didn’t see him everyday, but it seemed like most days he was in our home, or taking us to town on the bus system. Our children were 11 and 8 during our time there, younger than Andrei, but he took a liking to them anyway. They became good friends, and when we left, he stayed in communication as much as possible. With the advent of Facebook, we can chat regularly

My friend Natasha Shure attended the first DTS I staffed in Krasnodar, then came on staff. She has worked for YWAM Kiev, Ukraine for many years now. Because Vicki Hoffman from Salem worked with Natasha in Kiev, Natasha came to Salem last year. How wonderful to meet up with her again after all the years, and now she spoke English, so we could chat without a translator. Natasha had Sasha and Nadia’s phone number. Because she still spoke Russian, she  contacted them for me in October, to see if they would like to host me for a visit. When she contacted them,  and found they were interested in my visit, I became ecstatic. The visit to Krasnodar and Kurganinsk was going to happen!

But first, Kamchatka. The YWAM base near Petropavlosk, on the Kamchatka peninsula used to be an “pioneer camp.” With the demise of the Soviet Union, these (indoctrination) camps were abandoned. The base is about 10 acres with two 3 story hotel type buildings. One finished and one not. There are also 4 buildings that have been remodeled as 4 plexes for married staff, as well as several other buildings in various stages of disrepair.

I had a room on the third floor with an attached bath. The hot water no longer worked in the room, so I used the community shower on the first floor. My room had a space heater, so it was usually 68 degrees. The dining room was 57, and the classroom about 64. I wore longjohns and layered shirts all week.

The 12 students were primarily from the Inuit people group. (think Eskimo)  The average age was about 35. There we also about 5 staff members who attended the lectures. I woke at 3 am each morning. That was good, as the Father wanted to tweak my teaching. All in all I thought it went pretty well. My objective was to show that worship was not just singing songs, (that’s pre-worship) but the presentation of our lives to God on a daily basis. I shared my testimony on the first day, and on the second day heard the students testimonies. I asked them how they came to Christ, and if or when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 19: 1-7)  Most knew Christ, but three did not relate to being “filled with the Spirit.” They had been taught about the baptism weeks earlier, but for some reason, there was no connection. My heart was grieved. It’s my understanding that we are not to leave our Jerusalem, until we are filled. They were soon to leave on outreach, and they needed to know that they were not to go in their own strength, but in the power of the Holy Spirit. When I asked the school leader if I could take a day to teach again on the Holy Spirit’s Baptism, he said yes.

After teaching on worship for four days, on Friday I taught on “The Condition of the Great Commission.” I  like to review the “great commission” as taught by Jesus in the four gospels, and Acts. After pointing out Luke’s “condition,” I visit each account of “filling” in Acts. Since there are many different accounts, and varied experiences it gives a good overview of what we can expect when we ask to be filled. After the teaching and some singing, we prayed to be filled. The three agreed to be prayed for. Each one said that God was speaking words of encouragement to them. I was hoping for “fire,”

but then you don’t always get what you want. Later as I revisited Paul’s conversion experience in Acts 9, I saw that scales fell from his eyes, and he was baptised in water, and the Sprit, but there is no mention of exuberant praise or tongues. So, if these kids manifested like Paul, who was I to belittle that?

Aside from the time with the students, there was a couple Pasha and Anya, who lived in the married student apartments. Pasha leads the ropes course there. They had me over for dinner, and took it upon themselves to take me for a sled-dog ride, and a trip to the hot springs. I especially enjoyed wrestling with their 4 year old son, Timothy. When Pasha heard that I had chipped my tooth on the way, he arranged for me to meet a dentist friend, Genia on Sunday evening after church. In less than an hour, he rebuilt my tooth, for no charge! He was delighted to be able to bless a fellow believer. I was delighted to have my tooth restored! God is good!

Some unfinished business in Kamchatka is their desire to have an English school there. Please join me in praying for this to become a reality. Most of YWAM’s secondary schools are taught in English. There are about 40 people in the church and the base who desire to learn English. We have tentatively set March and April for this school.  Are Carol and I to lead it, or someone else? Please pray!

Flying from Kamchatka to Moscow takes 9 hours. When I arrived in Moscow, I was late for my connecting flight to Krasnodar. I had no phone, but I was able to send Andrei a Facebook note telling him of my rescheduled flight two hours later than originally planned. I asked him to please contact Sasha and Nadia, and tell them to wait for me. I was not able to verify that he got the message, but it was all I could think to do at that point.

When I got to Krasnodar and waited for my suitcase, it didn’t materialize. Now what? Another traveler didn’t get his either, so I followed him to the baggage area. As I waited my turn in line, I saw Andrei walking toward me. It was like a visit from an angel. We hugged, and I told him of my plight. As he had worked for Aeroflot in the past, he knew what to do. He filled out the paper work,, and took the phone number of the clerk so he could stay in contact until they found the lost suitcase. He also told me that he had been in contact with Sasha and Nadia, and they had agreed that Andrei would pick me up, and take me home for the night, then drive me three hours to Kurganinsk the next day, Sunday.

I met Andrei’s wife, Vikka, and was welcomed in their 11th story apartment. Vikka works as a psychologist with the local police force. They have a four year old daughter, Paulina, who happened to be visiting grandparents for the week. I slept in her room, while Andrei and Vikka’s room doubles as the living room.

Andrei called the airport again in the morning, and verified that the suitcase was still missing. He then gave me a 4 day supply of clean clothes, and drove me to Kurganinsk. Sasha and Nadia postponed the start of their home-church meeting so that we could eat when we got there, and then address the congregation.. Since Andrei was the only one there who could translate for me, he stayed for the service, and was my Aaron. After the service he drove back to Krasnodar.

Before leaving Sasha and Nadia asked Andrei what I wanted to do in Kurganinsk. I told them I would like to speak with the priest of the Russian Orthodox church there if we could find a translator.  They called the priest and he told them that he had an English teacher on staff in the church school who could translate for me, and we could come from 1-3 the next day.

We had a wonderful visit, reminiscing about the time we had together in ’93 and ’94. We had bought 500 children’s bibles in his bookstore and distributed them to the children of the city. We had also distributed “The Book o f Life” and 100 five gallon buckets of dried nectarines from Gleanings for the Hungry, in Dinuba, CA. We also worked together to stop the visit of a shaman in his city. Russian Orthodox do NOT work with western missionaries, but this man did. I knew that God had given me favor with him, and was very excited to connect with him again.

When I asked him what fruit was born from the 500 children’s bibles, he thought for a moment, then told me, “The church is 15-20 times larger than when your were last there, and we have a church school with 125 students.” That’s some good fruit! He then gave me a tour of the chapel and school. As we walked through the school, we would enter a class room, and he would introduce me as his American friend, and invite the children to practice their English. We exchanged email addresses, and planned another meeting for Wednesday morning, (which he was unable to keep) before I was to leave.

Sasha and Nadia invited the church over on Monday evening for a time of worship. We sang together, and watched some video of the previous visit. How wonderful to see my son Alan at age 8, as well as the rest of the outreach team, and church from 1993. Sasha and Nadia don’t have internet, or email, but their domestic helper (Natasha) does. We exchanged emails and Facebook pages, so we can stay in touch, and I can continue to have contact with Sasha and Nadia through her.

Tuesday morning 9 of us went to a old Monastery outside of Mykop. It was a 2 hour drive, and they found a woman who taught English in the local college, who was willing to come with us. Larissa spoke English very well, and was a delight to talk with. Her mother was suffering from dementia, so we had some common ground to connect on. The monastery was old. It had been destroyed by the Soviets in the 20′s but rebuilt in the 90′s. It was like touring a museum. We sang “Sing Alleluia to the Lord” in one of the chapels. The tour guide was impressed and asked if we were professionals. I told her “No, we just like to sing to God.”

On Wednesday, after hugs, blessings and tears, I boarded a bus for Krasnodar, where I was met by Andrei. He told me that my luggage was found, it had not left Kamchatka when I did, and we could pick it up at the airport. After our reunion, we went bowling with his father and brother-in-law, Mikail. I won the first game, but Andrei’s dad won the highest score for the evening. We got home around midnight, caught a little sleep, and rose at 3:30 for my trip to the airport, and departure at 6a.m.

Thirty hours later I was met by Carol. What a long day! What a fantastic journey. What a wonderful God who would allow me to visit again with friends from around the globe. Thank you for your prayers and financial support. You have given me a dream come true.

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