I haven't had a chance to finish my travel log...yet...so in the mean time, here are some URLs to sets of pictures I've posted to the web:
General Pics of Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod
Ministry activities
Pics from the conference
Hopefully I can finish the travel log next week.
Cheers,
Bob
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Russia: Day 4 (Tuesday)
Since our original plan had been to take the overnight train Monday night instead of the express train, Kevin and I didn’t have a reserved room at the hotel until Tuesday night, so we slept in the Wolf’s living room (which would become Emily’s bedroom after left…she slept in Stephanie’s room this night).
The Wolf’s have a 2 bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of a large apartment complex overlooking the Volga. No elevator so you get a nice workout going to and from.
Tuesday morning, Kathy fixed us all a wonderful breakfast and then we went for a walking tour of downtown “upper” Nizhny (Lower Nizhny is on the other side of the Volga).
Compared to Moscow, Nizhny was a spiritual oasis. We could sense an immediate difference in the people. More smiles and a more relaxed atmosphere. It would be wrong to say they are “open” spiritually, it is still very, very “rocky” soil, even compared to Ann Arbor, but compared to Moscow it was a pleasant surprise. We could see why the Wolf’s picked Nizhny. It’s third largest city in Russia (St. Petersburg is second) and strategically located a reasonably short distance from Moscow and closer than Moscow to Perm and Ufa, two other locations of Vineyard churches (more on that later).
Nizhny was a closed city during the communist regime because it was the center of the military industrial complex in Russia (tanks and MIGs were/are made there among other things).
The meeting hall the church rents is in a great location, right in the heart of the major pedestrian street, with a bus and trolley stops just outside.
After we checked in to the hotel, we went to an orphanage the church ministers to. It was great fun interacting with all the kids, who ranged in age from 4 or 5 up to young teen-agers. Many of the kids had one parent, sometimes even two, but were there because their home situation isn’t acceptable for one reason or another.
We brought a video to watch with the kids using the new projector we brought over for the church. Unfortunately, the video hadn’t been previewed. The Wolf’s knew it was evangelistic but after the gospel got presented for the 5th time by the various puppet characters, they were worried they might “cross the line”. The orphanage is at least partially state-funded and they must be careful not to push the limits if they want easy access to build relationships with the kids, which is important.
So we stopped the video after 15 minutes and it was an awkward moment…time for quick thinking and I won the “gumby” award that day for flexibility by immediately leading the kids in a game of “Bob Skazall” (aka Simon Says).
Kevin led the second round (it’s harder than it looks to think of ways to trip them up) and then we went to the gym to shoot hoops, play with some of the toys we brought and otherwise interact with the kids.
Tuesday night we had dinner with the Wolf’s and then off to bed.
Russia: Day 3 (Monday)
Truth be told, I’m writing this section on my trip home (I wrote the Friday-Sunday’s entries on the train from Moscow to Nizhny). When you’re on a trip like this its next to impossible to carve out down time to reflect. You’re in a foreign country you’ve probably never been to and there’s so much to see and do in so little time. None the less, I paid the price of not really having a Sabbath. God was merciful, and I was able to make the most of the hour here and hour there we had to stop and reflect. But I was scheduled to give two talks on Saturday, and I didn’t feel truly ready until I left for the conference that very day. They went well, though, and that was one of the primary reasons I was on the trip…so I guest that’s OK.
Monday.
Dave Wolf showed up at our hotel in Moscow around 9:30 AM. He took the overnight train from Nizhny, sleeping in a railcar with 55 others, so he could spend the day with us and then help us navigate the rail system back to Nizhny. This is just a small example of his servant’s heart. He, his wife Cathy, and their daughter Stephanie are truly wonderful hosts and servants.
After the breakfast, we headed downtown for a tour of St. Basil’s and the Kremlin. To be honest, both were a disappointment. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected a cathedral built by Ivan “the Terrible” to be a spiritually uplifting experience. After all, he is purported to have blinded the architect to make sure he couldn’t build a more beautiful cathedral for someone else (which he figured was the merciful thing to do instead killing him…like he did his favorite son in a fit of jealous rage.) Likewise the Kremlin for the most part gave us all the creeps. Lots of beautiful imagery, but all the churches (and there are seven of them within the Kremlin) are actually quite small inside, intended for the Prince or Tsar and his entourage. And of course there is the lingering spirit of fear and oppression which lingers over Moscow, only exceeded by the spirit of materialism that is really simply fear in another form (can’t get left behind or…).
Ate a quick lunch at Sbarro’s in the mall just off the Kremlin. It was ironic to us that the bastions of soviet communism, Red Square and the Kremlin are now surrounded by the ultimate capitalist symbol…the mall and a huge billboard for Rolex watches.
Then back to the hotel to get our bags and head to the train station. Thank God Dave was with us. We were greeted by this “friendly” porter who was very “kind” to help us get our bags from the car to the train. He even knew a short-cut around back that got us to the train platform without going through the terminal. Dave asked him three times how much it was going to cost. At first the guy couldn’t say until he saw the bags, and then when they did come it was go, go, go to the train. Then the hammer fell….”that will be 2800 rubles” he says (~$100!). Yeah right. No way, we say, but the guy is firm in his price. Thankfully there were more of us than him and Dave spoke Russian so he could negotiate peacefully. In the end I was able to play bad cop to support Dave. The guy came down to 1500 rubles and Dave seemed like he might concede and I just said “No way”…I have nothing against paying for good service. The bags were heavy. He was a big help, but $10/bag was still to much and it was clear he was trying to take advantage. In the end we gave him 1000 rubles and walked away, half expecting the guy to return with “friends” but in fact, we’re told he still got the better of us compared to the prevailing rate.
In comparison to the boarding process, the ride itself was uneventful and enjoyable. It took 5 hours and we were greeted in Nizhny by Dave’s family and the smiling faces of Sergei, Mischa, and Marina…the first truly smiling faces we had seen since Church on Sunday.
Then we had the meal we had all been waiting for…Russian MacDonald’s…ah…I can still savor the flavors ;-) Seriously, Elena had told us all how much better MacDonald’s was in Russia….maybe, but fast-food is fast-food. But…as we were to learn several times over the course of the next few days, the concept of “fast, friendly service” is not something easily found in Russia. The people are nice enough, but you really don’t realize how good you have it until its gone
Monday.
Dave Wolf showed up at our hotel in Moscow around 9:30 AM. He took the overnight train from Nizhny, sleeping in a railcar with 55 others, so he could spend the day with us and then help us navigate the rail system back to Nizhny. This is just a small example of his servant’s heart. He, his wife Cathy, and their daughter Stephanie are truly wonderful hosts and servants.
After the breakfast, we headed downtown for a tour of St. Basil’s and the Kremlin. To be honest, both were a disappointment. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected a cathedral built by Ivan “the Terrible” to be a spiritually uplifting experience. After all, he is purported to have blinded the architect to make sure he couldn’t build a more beautiful cathedral for someone else (which he figured was the merciful thing to do instead killing him…like he did his favorite son in a fit of jealous rage.) Likewise the Kremlin for the most part gave us all the creeps. Lots of beautiful imagery, but all the churches (and there are seven of them within the Kremlin) are actually quite small inside, intended for the Prince or Tsar and his entourage. And of course there is the lingering spirit of fear and oppression which lingers over Moscow, only exceeded by the spirit of materialism that is really simply fear in another form (can’t get left behind or…).
Ate a quick lunch at Sbarro’s in the mall just off the Kremlin. It was ironic to us that the bastions of soviet communism, Red Square and the Kremlin are now surrounded by the ultimate capitalist symbol…the mall and a huge billboard for Rolex watches.
Then back to the hotel to get our bags and head to the train station. Thank God Dave was with us. We were greeted by this “friendly” porter who was very “kind” to help us get our bags from the car to the train. He even knew a short-cut around back that got us to the train platform without going through the terminal. Dave asked him three times how much it was going to cost. At first the guy couldn’t say until he saw the bags, and then when they did come it was go, go, go to the train. Then the hammer fell….”that will be 2800 rubles” he says (~$100!). Yeah right. No way, we say, but the guy is firm in his price. Thankfully there were more of us than him and Dave spoke Russian so he could negotiate peacefully. In the end I was able to play bad cop to support Dave. The guy came down to 1500 rubles and Dave seemed like he might concede and I just said “No way”…I have nothing against paying for good service. The bags were heavy. He was a big help, but $10/bag was still to much and it was clear he was trying to take advantage. In the end we gave him 1000 rubles and walked away, half expecting the guy to return with “friends” but in fact, we’re told he still got the better of us compared to the prevailing rate.
In comparison to the boarding process, the ride itself was uneventful and enjoyable. It took 5 hours and we were greeted in Nizhny by Dave’s family and the smiling faces of Sergei, Mischa, and Marina…the first truly smiling faces we had seen since Church on Sunday.
Then we had the meal we had all been waiting for…Russian MacDonald’s…ah…I can still savor the flavors ;-) Seriously, Elena had told us all how much better MacDonald’s was in Russia….maybe, but fast-food is fast-food. But…as we were to learn several times over the course of the next few days, the concept of “fast, friendly service” is not something easily found in Russia. The people are nice enough, but you really don’t realize how good you have it until its gone
Russia: Day 2 (Sunday)
Slept well Saturday night and met for breakfast at 8 AM. Great breakfast buffet included with the room. Omelettes, cold cuts, casseroles, etc. Then off to Moscow Christian Center. Vladimir, the pastor, had broken his leg the week before so he was unable to meet with us and asked Kevin to preach the Sunday sermon. He sent Lumilla, a nice older woman, to meet us at the hotel and escort us by metro. She spoke no English. Took us about 40 minutes inlcluding a 20 minute walk. The church meets in a
military school so you’d never know there was church meeting inside. (In fact they’re not allowed to advertise the address on flyers).
The service was nice. First song was “Celebrate,” which we used to sing at Cornerstone all the time. The worship team consisted of two young women singing, a guitar player and a keyboard which had some drums programmed to match the songs.
Kevin did a nice job preaching on leadershp and it seemed well-received. Julia, the worship leader, and his translator did a great job. Turns out her parents run “The School of Tomorrow” which is a Christian school program that teaches bilingually. The use of English is a big draw for Russian parents so many non-christian, even muslim parents send their kids there. Julia told us the story of how her parents spoke only English in her home until she was 5 and she was very disappointed to learn that her father was not American. We met them, Len and Olga, after the service and I’ll want to stay in touch with them since they have opportunities for people to come and teach for a month or two.
Vladimir’s wife, Elena, also works at that school and thankfully she spent the rest of the day with us. We had spend the whole trip to this point watching the Russians but not having any opportunity to talk with them because so few spoke much English. Elena came to Moscow at 17 and married Vladimir 5 years later. They both got saved as a result of the big influx of foreign missionaries that came in 1991. As she told us, “The smiles and hugs arrived with the American missionaries.” The Russian people had been imprisoned spiritually up to that time and there was an outpouring of interest in spiritual things. Unfortunately there was a lot of “hit-and-run” missionary activity with little raising up of local leadership. After a few years, when the American missionary was ready to leave, Vladimir and Elena were handed the leadership role of their 1000 person congregation. They were both engineers under the soviet system and were overwhelmed by the experience. We still got the impression that they were lonely for fellowship from others who could relate to the struggles of leadership. It is very difficult to be a leader here because the people have been so abused by poor leadership and are averse to any hint of “control”.
We went back to the hotel and got there just as Jesse and Steve arrived, which was great. We then headed to the Pushkin museum and spent an hour there. Small collection but they had some nich Matisse and some Van Gogh’s which were a pleasant surprise. Then we wen to the the Cathedral fo Christ the Redeemer. A beautiful cathedral which was built in the mid-1800’s to celebrate the defeat of Napolean, torn down by Stalin in 1931 and replace with a swimming pool and then rebuilt for $200 MM in 1991 using “new Russian” (read mafia) money. This was the start of the Russian equivalent of Lent and they were in the midst of a service when we arrived. To our surprise the homily was being presented by Alexy, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church (equivalent to the Pope). Elena said it must have been a secret he would be there or the church would have been so packed we never would have been able to get in. Quite a treat.
We then had a wonderful dinner at Moo-Moo, one of a small chain of restaurants serving Russian food cafeteria style. We had a great time talking with Elena about her experience growing up under the Soviet system (she’s 42) and the changes that came about in the 1990’s and continue to this day. They really seem to be struggling with the rapid changes going on. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The elderly in particular are having a hard time. Under the Soviet system they were esteemed. They paid their dues and were seen as the stabilizing force in society, caring for children while women worked (by necessity). Now, they survive on $70/month and the youth could care less about them. All the young are working hard to “make it to the top,” working three jobs to have the latest things. They pay relatively big $ to buy fashionable things. They may only have one or two sets of clothes which they wash each day, and they may fast for a week to save enough to buy the nice clothes.
military school so you’d never know there was church meeting inside. (In fact they’re not allowed to advertise the address on flyers).
The service was nice. First song was “Celebrate,” which we used to sing at Cornerstone all the time. The worship team consisted of two young women singing, a guitar player and a keyboard which had some drums programmed to match the songs.
Kevin did a nice job preaching on leadershp and it seemed well-received. Julia, the worship leader, and his translator did a great job. Turns out her parents run “The School of Tomorrow” which is a Christian school program that teaches bilingually. The use of English is a big draw for Russian parents so many non-christian, even muslim parents send their kids there. Julia told us the story of how her parents spoke only English in her home until she was 5 and she was very disappointed to learn that her father was not American. We met them, Len and Olga, after the service and I’ll want to stay in touch with them since they have opportunities for people to come and teach for a month or two.
Vladimir’s wife, Elena, also works at that school and thankfully she spent the rest of the day with us. We had spend the whole trip to this point watching the Russians but not having any opportunity to talk with them because so few spoke much English. Elena came to Moscow at 17 and married Vladimir 5 years later. They both got saved as a result of the big influx of foreign missionaries that came in 1991. As she told us, “The smiles and hugs arrived with the American missionaries.” The Russian people had been imprisoned spiritually up to that time and there was an outpouring of interest in spiritual things. Unfortunately there was a lot of “hit-and-run” missionary activity with little raising up of local leadership. After a few years, when the American missionary was ready to leave, Vladimir and Elena were handed the leadership role of their 1000 person congregation. They were both engineers under the soviet system and were overwhelmed by the experience. We still got the impression that they were lonely for fellowship from others who could relate to the struggles of leadership. It is very difficult to be a leader here because the people have been so abused by poor leadership and are averse to any hint of “control”.
We went back to the hotel and got there just as Jesse and Steve arrived, which was great. We then headed to the Pushkin museum and spent an hour there. Small collection but they had some nich Matisse and some Van Gogh’s which were a pleasant surprise. Then we wen to the the Cathedral fo Christ the Redeemer. A beautiful cathedral which was built in the mid-1800’s to celebrate the defeat of Napolean, torn down by Stalin in 1931 and replace with a swimming pool and then rebuilt for $200 MM in 1991 using “new Russian” (read mafia) money. This was the start of the Russian equivalent of Lent and they were in the midst of a service when we arrived. To our surprise the homily was being presented by Alexy, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church (equivalent to the Pope). Elena said it must have been a secret he would be there or the church would have been so packed we never would have been able to get in. Quite a treat.
We then had a wonderful dinner at Moo-Moo, one of a small chain of restaurants serving Russian food cafeteria style. We had a great time talking with Elena about her experience growing up under the Soviet system (she’s 42) and the changes that came about in the 1990’s and continue to this day. They really seem to be struggling with the rapid changes going on. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The elderly in particular are having a hard time. Under the Soviet system they were esteemed. They paid their dues and were seen as the stabilizing force in society, caring for children while women worked (by necessity). Now, they survive on $70/month and the youth could care less about them. All the young are working hard to “make it to the top,” working three jobs to have the latest things. They pay relatively big $ to buy fashionable things. They may only have one or two sets of clothes which they wash each day, and they may fast for a week to save enough to buy the nice clothes.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Greetings from Moscow
I haven't blogged in a while as I've scrambled to get ready for a trip to Russia to participate in a leader's conference hosted by the Nizhny-Novgorod Vineyard. My next few posts will be a travel log of the trip...
Friday we picked up Emily at 12 and headed for the airport. Got there at 1, after stopping for lunch, 5minutes before Kevin. First hurdle was fitting both my computer backpack and the bag with the projector into the Embraer mini-jet. No problem. Made our connection at JFK and headed for Moscow sitting three across in the center aisle. Kevin and Emily both got reasonable sleep, maybe 4-5 hours, but I had my typical difficult time and slept a few minutes here and there.
Landed in Moscow at 11 AM local time and get through customs quickly. Sergei, who goes to Moscow Christian Center, met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel and showed where the metro station was and the market. The room Kevin and I shared was quite nice, even compared to London. When you check in you get a pass which you exchange for a key with the woman who is stationed on each floor. There’s someone there 24 hours a day and when you leave, you give her your key and she gives you back your pass.
The market was a great experience. Miles of stalls with trinkets, clothes, antiques, wooden carvings. Got birthday presents for Robert and Adrienne and an antique icon of Michael the archangel.
Then headed for dinner in Arbatsky. Took the metro which is quite amazing. It was crowded every time we rode it, morning, evening even Sunday. Even though it was pretty cold, maybe 20-24 F, the streets were filled with vendors and musicians performing. Very fun. Went to an Uzbek restaurant we found in my DK guidebook and had a nice meal. Then headed to Red Square which was very beautiful at night.
Impressions: Everybody is very fashionably dressed. Lots of fur coats. Casinos everywhere. People walking around drinking beer everywhere. Classic scene was a young woman sitting on the subway with a full-length mink drinking a MGD.
When we returned we checked email and learned that Jesse and Steve had missed their connection in Paris and were not coming into until the next day (they’d taken a later Air France flight while we flew Delta).
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