More Pictures

Hey there! I just wanted to share some more pictures from the last couple of weeks. There is so much to see and do! We love it here! 

Mike and Taylor graciously helped Jessareh and I make our bunk bed when we finally got it from IKEA. I'm so thankful for them because I was at a loss for much of the construction process. Jessareh totally rocked the hammering job, though!

Language Learning -- we have class Mon/Wed/Fri, 9-10:30. We learning fast! Rather, the content is coming at us fast, whether we learn it well or not. :) We started with the alphabet a week and a half ago and I just finished writing a paragraph. Bam! Look at that! Also, we must write everything in "written form" (cursive), which is dead in the states. Our teacher was very surprised when we informed her that we haven't written in cursive since the fifth grade. 

Our friend and student leader, Nina, took us to see Moscow State University. It's incredible!

This is an electronic screen on the side of a building and this scene obviously made me think of the Pacific Northwest. :)

The girls and I met Kim (New Life Staff here in Moscow) for burgers and shakes on Arbott st last week. The street itself was so quaint and fun.... but the peanut butter milkshakes were also a huge hit. 

Just beautiful. Everywhere we go, the architecture is so diverse. I just whip out my ipad and snap pictures, so they're not that great.

In the "courtyard" / walkway behind our apartment there are several murals.

Michael Jackson?

Also behind our apartment, everything is so COLORFUL. I love it!

This is the wide sidewalk behind our apartment.... again, colorful.

Our new friend and student at RUDN, Anna, taught Jessareh, Meghan, and Jessi how to make a traditional Russian meal on Monday night. It was delicious! We had ketleti (similar to meatloaf, but better), mashed potatoes, and salad.

We've had so much fun playing games with our new friends from RUDN! This is Taylor acting something out when we played "Fish bowl" - a charades-like game.

Jessi playing fish bowl.

Jeopardy night! We had some Russian & American questions and taught our new friends about Jeopardy.

Jessareh & Mike did an awesome job putting together the jeopardy game night!

24/7 Access

I think this week I somehow lost sight of an incredibly profound truth of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I forgot about an important piece of God's plan for His children and the privilege that we have to walk in freedom every single day - freedom from fear, insecurities, judgment, perfection, worry, and sin. 

How does a girl who grew up going to church and learning about the Bible simply *forget* the foundational truths about who God is and my own identity as a follower of Jesus?

In light of how often I forget things like this, I'm so thankful that God is near to my heart and knows just how to speak into my forgetfulness and remind me of His absolute goodness.

Life in Moscow, Russia is such an adventure and I love it! I'm starting to feel more comfortable riding the Metro and getting myself around the city, buying and cooking food, being a student at RUDN, getting to know my team, learning the language, and getting into the groove of a new schedule, ministry, and way of life in a busy city. While every day really does feel exciting and new, there have been many things that have come up as frustrations these first three weeks. I've been missing out on some much needed sleep, while fighting a cold, and trying to meet as many students as possible (which is exhausting for my introverted self!). My team and I have been learning to work together and adjust to a new culture together, which brings along tensions and conflict of it's own. 

By the end of this week, I was just done. The lack of sleep and lack of enjoyable coffee (still searching) and broken washing machine (since we've lived here...), broken bathtub (stopper got stuck in drain after washing clothes in the bathtub, since no washer), forgotten student ID card, growing to do list, and fighting off a cold... it had all caught up to me and I felt weary. It was all I could do to make it through our Russian language class without crying when I felt like a kindergartner sounding out words... and then had to repeat it all because I did it wrong. (I did get my first "very good" in class on Friday, though, too -- there were highs AND lows.)

My team has language class until 10:30 and we hadn't planned on starting to go out and meet students until noon. I informed them that I was going to go sit in one of the coffee shops Mike and I discovered the day before to read my Bible and journal and any of them were welcome to join me or not. I just knew that I needed time "away" before we started any more ministry. Jessareh, Meghan and I headed over to the building next door and found an empty booth to settle in. 

Sometimes I have no words to write when I open my journal, but on Friday they just flowed out. I'm learning about walking in the power of the Holy Spirit every single moment. When I feel weary I need to ask: 

"Am I relying on my own power or the power of the Holy Spirit that lives inside me?" 

"Do I believe that I can do ministry and love my team well all in my own flesh? Or do I acknowledge my absolute need for my Savior?"

The night before, after our bathtub broke at 1:30 am, I responded to an email from my coach regarding our team's day with the Lord with "I think I just need a week with the Lord!" It was mostly in humor because of the situation, but it was also indicative of the condition of my heart. I felt spent, but I was also waiting for a long, scheduled time with God to fill me up. 

I forgot that not only do I not have to do things on my own, but I am incapable of doing ministry in my own power. I realized the fault in that because as Christians, we have access to the power of the Holy Spirit at any time and He will fill us. We don't have to wait for some special time. 

We have direct access to the power of the Holy Spirit, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

"Attune yourself to the voice of the Lord. God is the King of the Universe, and He is totally accessible to me. Nothing can ever separate me from His presence. God, the King of Kings, is my constant companion. You never leave me nor forsake me. The Lord is NEAR." - adapted excerpt from Sarah Young's devotional Jesus Calling

I can be full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control even in the most frustrating and ridiculous of situations. EVEN though they often seem to come in the middle of the night, when I'm at my worst. 

I'm so thankful that we serve a High Priest (Jesus) who is able to empathize with our weakness... and we can approach Him with confidence! (Hebrews 4:15-16) And when we arrive at His throne, we find MERCY & GRACE to help us in our time of need.

"So we see that they (the Israelites) were NOT able to enter [into God's rest], because of their unbelief" (Hebrews 3:19). When we walk in the flesh - unbelief, lies, false understanding of God and self - we are unable to enter into God's rest. But choosing TRUTH, attuning myself to the voice of the Lord, and seeking first His Kingdom... that brings such rest and peace. And we have access to that rest every moment, of every day. 

Thank you, God, that You designed us to be able to REST in Your presence 

- what a sweet gift!

Picture Update!

Just thought I'd post some fun pictures from the last week! I'm really tired today, but I'll write out an actual post in a couple of days. This first picture is from my last night in Portland with Taylor and Lindsay - two friends from high school. The following two were taken in the courtyard area behind our apartment (the sidewalks, fences, parks, and plant hangers are so colorful!), and the rest are from touring a bit of the city. :)

Moscow is beautiful!

First Day on Campus

After a couple days of settling in with the added tension of not understanding the language, which makes everything more difficult, my team was reminded of our purpose in being here after spending some time on the RUDN campus yesterday. We've been exhausted, disoriented, frazzled, and confused, but even just seeing the campus and students was helpful in renewing our energy and drive. 

We found out that there's a sports complex - including skiing! - a park with trails to run in, and a lot of fun, new places to eat. (Someone told us there is some kind of place that has chocolate everything... I will report back soon on this incredible find. ha!) My favorite part, though, was meeting another new student named Nelly! She is so sweet and excited to hang out with us again. We exchanged phone numbers and hope to see her in the next couple of days. This is exactly what we prayed for!

Please continue to pray for my team as we meet with someone from the University today to schedule our classes and then get to know more students. Pray for energy, health, and boldness. And also please pray for Nelly - we can't wait to see her again! 

Hitting the Ground Running!

Hello from Moscow!

Thank you so much for praying these past few days for safety and smooth travel. My team arrived about 30 hours ago and we are still exhausted. We had a wonderful welcome at the airport from two of the international campus staff as well as two university students. They brought us water, pizza, cookies, toilet paper, and breakfast to start us off in our new place. After we got settled into our flat, which we LOVE, I went right to sleep and didn't wake up (or probably move) for eight hours. It was heavenly. :)

I woke up this morning to sun shining through the windows in the kitchen. I was the first awake and still had plenty of time before needing to get ready for the day, so I started a new Bible reading plan (a 90 day chronological plan), and finally got to sit down to journal. I felt such peace & joy in having finally arrived here in Russia! God has provided so abundantly and faithfully -- and now we get to move forward and see how He moves in and through us here!

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Forget jet lag, I think we need a day to recover from our trip to IKEA today. There were masses of people swarming everywhere, all speaking a foreign language, signs we could not read, no cell phones to stay in touch, etc, etc. About half way through the afternoon, I felt like I was just in a daze. I no longer cared what color comforter I would have for the year or if my pillow was the exact type of softness needed; I just wanted to get out of there! 

I'm so thankful for friends on the team that was here last year and the international staff for helping us get around in the city, learn the language and customs, and provide ample amounts of encouragement. 

We learned a lot about patience & flexibility on the way home from IKEA -- we left there around 6:00 and got home around 12:30 am. It's a long story, and I don't think I could relay all of the details, but it was a little like a "series of unfortunate events" kind of night... waiting on a moving truck (this one turned out to be GOOD because the friend we were waiting with had TULLY's coffee from the Pacific Northwest that he got out to share with us -- I could have cried, I was so happy!), a whoooole lot of walking, because the marshrutka (mini bus) was never on time or where we wanted it to be, not being able to find the other girls' flat, and everything we needed seemed to be stuck with someone who was not with us - including the keys to our apartment and the map that Kim made us. Also - somehow in all of that mess we forgot to eat dinner. 

Needless to say, we're completely exhausted and ready to sleep hard tonight! Please pray for stamina and energy to push through the transition. Tomorrow we will all meet together for a briefing -- I'm so excited to start praying and dreaming for this city! Thank you, God, for the opportunity to be a light here in Moscow!

Two and a half days and counting...

Can you believe that it's already time to go?!

The anticipation for this day has built up all summer long, and as my mom keeps saying to me these past few days, "I think you guys are just ready to get to Moscow!"

The visas have been approved, the funds raised, and plane tickets purchased... and we take off on Friday morning! I leave Portland, OR at 8:30am, meet up with the rest of my team + the team from Texas/Oklahoma in Chicago, fly to Frankfurt for a layover, and then land in Moscow at 5:30pm Saturday. With the time difference, that's just about 24 hours of travel. 

To say that I'm excited would be a vast understatement. :)

People keep asking if I'm nervous or scared. Mostly, I think I just feel confident, which can easily contain excitement and a little nervousness simultaneously. I'm confident that God brought my team together - He chose each person to play a specific role on this team, and on the campus in Moscow, for this specific time. I'm confident that this is exactly where God wants ME to be this year. I'm confident in His provision - financial, emotional, spiritual, physical, etc. He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides - not just for me, but for you, too. I'm confident that God has a plan already set out for us this year and all we need to do is keep our eyes fixed on HIM. I'm confident that we do not go ALONE - not only does He provide and plan, but He is always with us. I'm so thankful for His reassuring presence that propels us to push on in knowing God and making Him known to all the world. 

So while I pine over packing woes of what is a necessity (obviously, a plethora of coffee and cute scarves) and what must stay here in storage, I'm confident that He has a bigger plan than all of that. Even if I have to wear the same clothes on a five day rotation and eat rice beans all year, it doesn't even matter. God's greater plan is so very worth it.