Sorry I haven’t gotten a post up for so long. I’ve been MIA for the past couple weeks. But I return with lots of stories to tell you! Let’s see, your weather forecast since we last talked was… Unpredictable. We had some warm, sunny days that were gorgeous. But we’ve had a lot of cold rainy days, especially this past week. I’m wondering if the seasons are going backwards…
I am officially done with my semester at the university. I SURVIVED! :) I lost count of how many times the finals were rescheduled. My geography exam was on what I have done worst. We listened to our teacher read a text, then we had to rewrite it. My Russian language exam was that we had to memorize 10 texts and 10 dialogues that we had written throughout the semester. For the actual exam we had to pick up a piece of paper that had 1 text and 1 dialogue and recite it. Technically, I don’t need these Russian classes for my degree. I can possibly use them as electives but I really didn’t HAVE to pass these classes. My sister kept telling me to stop freaking out about the exams because I didn’t have to transfer them. But I wanted to the best I could because I knew that I was representing Americans, Christians, and myself as a person and student. With all the rescheduling and a lot of ministry events during the exam study time… I was sure I was going to bomb both tests. But God showed up for each of my exams. I did the best I’ve done on anything in geography and received a 5 (highest score) and also got a 5 on my Russian language exam. It was only because of God:) I’m definitely not a pro with speaking or writing Russian. I was at a store today and the lady working was talking and I had no idea what she was saying. I just kept saying uh huh uh huh… I couldn’t help but smile to myself when I left that store cause she had no idea that I didn’t get anything she said:)
My goodbyes with people at the university were very different than I had pictured them. Pretty much all of the students in the other classes were done before us and never said an official goodbye. The other ones were very sudden and it wasn’t until they left that it really hit me that that had been a real goodbye. On the last day, my classmates had to go do some paperwork before class was over and they wouldn’t get done in time for the rest of class. It was a very sudden goodbye and I fought tears for a little while. Thankfully, I saw them in the hall later on and we all walked back to our dorms together like we did pretty much every day after class. It had a little more of a finish to it then it had in the classroom… Those guys will be hard to forget:) миша, иван, and толя will always have a special place in my heart. My favorite teacher Ekaterina was a goodbye that I was dreading. She was so awesome to me and to the other people in my class. She was kind of a second mom to me… Her goodbye was also one that was on the spot. She gave me a small gift, said a few things, and left very quickly. I think it was just as hard for her as it was for me.
I’ve lived here for about 5 months now… With all its queerness and difficulties, Russia has stolen my heart. It’s a place I’ve learned to call home. A people that I have learned to call my friends. The last few weeks, I have been in an emotional struggle. It’s like I live in two worlds. America and Russia. Where do I belong? Where is home? I talked with my sister about it a little. And she spoke my thoughts about how that heaven is our home. That’s why we never really do feel AT home. On earth, my home is in God’s presence. THAT is where I belong. That is the only place on this earth that I will feel like I’m home. And wherever Gods presence is… that’s my home. Wherever God wants me… that’s where I belong. Russia has been my home for 5 months. That’s where God has wanted me. Next, my home will be back in Illinois, although with a lot of changes… For someone like me, who has moved around a lot, the verse that talks about storing up treasures in heaven… that really makes sense. So that’s what I’m doing. Storing up all these treasures for my real home:)
In May, the English teacher that I met my first week here (and the one I did a podcast for), called me up and asked if I could record some texts in English for her. Sure, I said, how hard can reading some texts in my native language be? She gave me a stack of papers and said we would record in a few days. Would that be all right? Sure thing! No problem! I started reading them on the way home from school just to see what I would be reading about. Architecture. Greek architecture history. With names and places that shouldn’t be legal in the English language. Thankfully, being a Bible reader, Sunday School attender, and former JBQer, I knew how to pronounce about 4 names correctly… Out of about…. 30. I tried googling the way to pronounce them but then I found that some of the names in the texts they gave me weren’t even spelled right! At that point I gave up and just went with what sounded right. Sooooo if you ever are discussing the history of Greek architecture with a native of Russia that attended my university… It’s not my fault. The English teacher forced me. What a way to make me feel even more confused about languages! Stick some Greek words in front of me… This English teacher ended up inviting me to go to a theater here in Khabarovsk. It was a drama theater but I figured she would translate if I needed it. So we went. And I didn’t understand a word of it. I understood there was tension between those two characters and those two were conniving together… but other than that. No clue. After the performance, I tried getting an idea of what had happened from the teacher. No such luck. The teacher said, “Maybe the musical theater would have been better.”
While on the bus to the theater we talked most of the way. There was a girl my age that I noticed listening to us very intently. I was surprised when she continued to listen because usually by that time people stop listening because they don’t understand what we are saying. I figured she must understand enough English to get an idea of what we were saying. Finally, she interrupted and asked what state I live in back home. In English. Beautiful English. Come to find out, she lived in Colorado for a year studying at a community college. She gave me her phone number right before she left the bus. I was excited although the English teacher thought it had been rude of the girl to interrupt our conversation:)I texted Natasha (that was her name) the next day and we set up a time to meet that Saturday. We had a great time and where able to explain things about our countries that the other didn’t quite understand. It has been so amazing to see how God has brought all of these girls into my life! I mean, how random is it to meet a girl your age on a bus that lived in the US for a year?!
The last few weeks have been full of lots of other things. Like Mesha Hinson getting dedicated, Amanda Hinsons parents coming to visit, another visit to the homeless shelter, the June orphanage birthday party, I stayed with the Eshelman kids for a few days while Cecil & Tonya were out of town, my interview for the schools journal, an outing with my class to see Kung Fu Panda 2, my 3 day trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway, a picnic out in the country… I’ve been very busy you see:)I’m adding some pics from these activities to make up for my lack of talking about it:)
Trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway… 
Me and my class….
The June birthday party...
But I want to share with you what will be happening on the 15th of this month (your 14th)। I will be leaving to go on a short missions trip (a missions trip within a missions trip:) for about 10 days. It will be me, Cecil, Tim, a lady from a church in town, and 2 men from a church in a nearby city. The pastors around here have divided areas surrounding the cities into 5 zones and will send a team to cover each zone. We have a zone north of here and will be the first team to go out. We honestly don’t know what to expect. As far as we know, there has been no ministry done in this area for a decade. It sounds like a lot of the people we will be meeting are from minority groups. We will be camping and all the things that come along with that. Pretty sure I won’t even find a real porcelain squatty potty out there. I am asking for your prayers for this trip. There are so many things you can be praying for… Safety, health, working together as a team, guidance, the language barriers even between us team members… the list goes on and on. Honestly, a really big thing you could be praying for me is concerning the mosquitoes. They are really bad out there and I am allergic to the bites… I don’t like puff up and die but they get like 4 times bigger on me than normal bites and everything else is like 4 times worse. Also ticks are a big problem in Russia because they can carry a disease… sorry I keep forgetting which one it is… but pray for that God protects us from these bugs and all their evilness.
This was actually a bit of a struggle for me to say yes to this trip. I had originally said yes, but I had to reevaluate it and my heart. I was so close to not going. But I was reminded (by quite a few people & God) that I was not called to be an ordinary Christian. This trip definitely isn’t normal… So I guess it fits perfectly:) The speaker on Sunday spoke about how God hates it when people are lukewarm. When we are hot is when we are full of Gods fire. We are on fire for God and spreading it around. When we are cold we are constantly trying to get warm. Trying almost anything to get warm. When we are lukewarm we fall asleep because we are comfortable. I want to be on FIRE for God. One of my theme songs while preparing to come here was “Set the World on Fire” by Britt Nicole. The first verse says, “I want to set the world on fire. Wanna set it bright for you. Its everything that I desire. Can I be the one you use?” This is a chance for me to be on fire for God in a place that people may have never heard the name of Jesus. What an opportunity!! Please pray that God can use me on this trip even with all my inadequacies and fears. Mark your calendars. Write a note on your fridge. Add us to the prayer list. Call the prayer chain. Whatever it will take to remind you to pray.
“… You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.” Lam. 3:57
I will see your beautiful faces soon. I love how amazing you are.
Is not going to major in Greek architecture history,
Leah
No comments:
Post a Comment