Should Have Stayed In Siberia

Just returned to Houston after two miserable days in Moscow. They are having record heat there this summer and almost nothing is air conditioned==not the hotel, not the airport and not the train station. It was 105 one day. There are peat bog fires burning all around the Moscow area and there is all kinds of soot in the air. It has been so hot and dry that they can't put them out. One scientist said that breathing the Moscow air for one day was the same as smoking 40 cigarettes. Siberia on the other hand was almost perfect weather wise. Glad to be home until my next mission trip to Kenya on September 20. Peace, John

Bakchar Revisited

I had visited Bakchar on my first mission trip to Siberia in 1996. It was a four hour bus ride from Tomsk. The scene was very desolate. The children lived in a former gulag prison camp where the buildings were made of logs that were in danger of falling down and there was a ten hole outhouse. The children were barefoot and had mosquito bite sores on their legs. The Texas Methodist Conference had just started bulding a brick dorm for the kids. It took a long time to finish the building. There is a short construction period before winter and supplies kept disappearing. Cost overruns were significant.

I volunteered for a two week work mission to finish the building in the summer of 2000 led by Alan Miller of Houston. We were the first to live in the new building as we did the finish up work inside. I had not been back since. What a pleasant surprise on Wednesday! The building and the furnishings for the children are fantastic. The kids appear well cared for with shoes and no mosquito sores. I think these children now have equal or better facilities that those in the city of Tomsk. Thank you Lord and thanks to the Methodists who provided the money that started a better life for children who were left out in the middle of nowhere. This trip has been the highlight of the stay in Siberia for me as we prepare to leave for Moscow tomorrow. Peace, John

If John Robbins Can Do It, I Can Do It

Blog, that is. I'm cheerfully doing this (at least until Melissa no longer has that gun pointed at me).

I think one of the biggest impressions I've come away with thus far has to do with the older orphans I have worked with. Not in the sense that the others on the team have worked with the kids--crafts, Bible lessons, and so on--but that I have literally worked with in the construction work we are doing at 1st Church Tomsk. Think about our kids, and I speak as a father of two, when they are asked to do a chore, especially an unpleasant one--like carrying pieces, large pieces, of stone stairs down to the next landing, or carrying ten pieces of sheetrock up to the third story without damage. There's a lot of, "Do I have to?", or "What will you give me if I do?", or "That's too hard." You ask these guys to do something and they do it, period (and while I understand very little Russian, I can detect griping and complaining in any language).

And when they are tasked to get us to the church from the orphanage, they don't try to play tricks on the old guy Americans (I use "old" only in the sense of in comparison to teenagers because Garth and I aren't really old because . . . but I digress). They take us straight to the bus stop, pay the fare from the money George gave them, and get us off at the correct stop. I trust each one of them completely to get me to the church and back, and George trusts them with the money he gives them. It is a trust well deserved and earned.

There is great hospitality shown by all the Russians with whom we come in contact. My greatest regret is not being able to speak Russian well enough to converse with the kids and the other Russians we have met. I've never been good at languages, and my college French isn't coming in too handy here. I'm lousy at charades, too, so I'm reliant on the interpreters. I have gotten pretty good with, "Ya ni panymayu" (I don't understand), although I can pretty readily get out a "spaceba" (thank you), "privet" (hello), "izvenite" (excuse me), and a few others that my brain occasionally stumbles across, often a minute or two too late. But you string all those together and you can't get much of a conversation going.

Finally, you can't believe what you have to go through, and the ends of the earth to which you have to travel to find a shop-vac in this town. I'm just sayin'.

It's been a great trip so far, and with the generosity and understanding and cooperation of all we and met, and a little perserverance, we have gotten a lot accomplished at 1st Church, and had a good time doing it.

Bill Routon

Greetings from Tomsk (Russia)

Hello!

My name is Yelena Chudinova. I am a pastor in Tomsk. And I am having an absolutely great time with the VIM team from Texas Conference who are here in Tomsk now. I know some of the team members from their previous visits. Some of them I know for many years. But each time they come it is really a blessing to be together and serve. I always enjoy doing Bible lessons for the kids in orphanages but especially with the team. You know why? Because people always ask why they came for. And it's the easiest way to start to talk to people about God. When people came from the US because of God's love they seem "strange" but welcomed and if you being from the same area came to visit because of God's love you seem sometimes "crazy" but fortunately sometimes always welcomed. (Not always). I was lucky this year to do the Bible lesson with the group twice - in the baby's orphanage and in the "Eagle's nest".

The other blessing and miracle that came with the team is the two great men Garth and Bill who are working on the church repair project. They are turning out the ugly messy cold and wet corridor into a warm and nice-looking place. They are only two but they are the best working building team that ever worked in the church repair. The boys from orphanage #4 come with them to help and one of them told me that he was really impressed by how they work - "in harmony". They are the perfect example of a team work and relations for the kids.

Thank you, dear friends!!!

My best greeting to all of you and

heartily gratitude from Tomsk

Bachar and More

Today is Wednesday. Eleven members of our team, along with Igor (our interpreter) and Valentina (head of the Tomsk Peace Foundation) crammed into a small van for a long "road trip" to Bachar. This village is several hours away from Tomsk and has two orphanages. It was the site of a former "gulag" or prison camp. The Texas Annual Conference built a new building at the main Bachar orphanage in the late 90's after a wall had fallen-in on an old building housing children. Our team members will do Christian activities and crafts with the children, as well as give them gifts of stuffed animals and Marvin UMC backpacks. It will be a long trip, but a really wonderful opportunity to interact with more precious children and see the beautiful native countryside. The team plans to arrive back in Tomsk late this afternoon.

Bill is working on sheetrock today (taping and mudding) at Tomsk UMC. He and Garth managed to hang all of the sheetrock yesterday.

Today I am working with the pastor, Yelena at the church. We are going to share ideas concerning church development and programs. I was excited to learn that Bishop Vaxby and the Russian Methodist Church have just adopted the 5 Practices of Fruitful Discipleship, which we have embraced in the Texas Conference and at Marvin UMC. Yelena and I have been dear friends since 1999, so having the time to meet with her is a blessing! Those of you who attended our wedding in 2005 remember that Yelena and Mike Dent performed our wedding at Marvin!

At 7 p.m. the entire team will attend the worship service at Tomsk UMC and then go out as a group for pizza!

The weather has been cold (upper 40's and low 50's) and rainy for 2 days, but we are NOT COMPLAINING! We just keep thinking about our friends and family in the hot USA, as we snuggle under wool blankets at night! Hopefully we can bring some cool weather back with us on August 3!

Our trip continues to be a wonderful "mission of love!" Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support!

In Christ's Amazing Love,

Melissa

Eagles Nest Orphanage

Today was a great day for us "veterans!" We worked with Eagles Nest Orphanage. This was the first orphanage that we adopted back in 1996! We've had a relationship with this orphanage for 15 years. Luba, the assistant director is still on staff, loving and encouraging her children. We made photos, did crafts and interacted with the children. Tomorrow we return to share God's love through Bible stories and more "one-on-one" time with these precious children.

A television reporter and photographer came out to document our work with the children. Tonight there will be a special report about "the Methodists" on their 9 p.m. newscast (hey - will someone record it for us??? ha, ha!)

We met a little boy who was new to the orphanage. He has no brothers or sisters and his parents have died. He was withdrawn, but warmed-up to several members of our team. One even received a smile! This moment reminded us that every child in the orphanage has a story. Some have endured more tragedy that we can even imagine. So what can we do to help? We can love, love, love these children. We can give them encouragement and praise and we can share with them about a God who loves them more than anything else, a God who wants the best for them, and a God who will NEVER DESERT THEM, who will never leave them.

May God use our words and our actions to share His unconditional love and grace.

In faith and hope,
Melissa

Devotion

Thank goodness that Kevin told to pack cowboy gear, since that's all the kids know about Texas. I threw in a few stacks of bandanas into my luggage as an after-thought, but they came very much in handy today. We visited a Russian Orthodox church, where women are required to cover their heads. Accordingly, the ladies of the team all donned pink, blue, and yellow bandanas. We were then thrust into a service completely unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. As everyone stands in a large room, several priests move back and forth from a separate back room to the altar, chanting all the while. The choir joins in at times, and patrons shuffle in and out at will, always stopping to kiss icons and crosses, light candles, and take communion.

I was especially amazed to see how young most of the priests were. They looked to be my age (18) or a little older. I can't even imagine the time and dedication they have devoted to their faith and, moreover, the assurance they must feel to be so devoted at so young an age. Hopefully, our interactions with the orphans will similarly show them our devotion: our firm belief in God's unconditional love.

Molly