From Russia, With Love

I has certainly been an interesting few weeks here in the city of St. Petersburg. Our schedule has filled up nicely. We have a few orphanages that we go to regularly now. Our time there is spent doing one thing, playing. Because of regulations, we are no allowed to go into the orphanages and preach. Rather, we spend out time showing love to these kids with the hopes that they will asks us questions. Once they ask us, the doors are wide open to share the Gospel with them. It has been a benefit to be able to go weekly, as it allows us to become familiar faces and build relationship.

Of course, it has been a little frustrating being unable to be really forward. It is very easy to just play with the kids, but to be able to share the love of God with them right off the bat would be fantastic. It has been the cause of some frustration for me, but God keeps reminding me that actions speak louder than words. He tells me to be patient. He is at work in the city and I am a piece of his plan for my time here. I am reminded that I cannot change the whole city in two and a half months, but can lay important stepping stones for others to follow. That is part of the pioneering of the YWAM base here.

There have been opportunities to openly share the Gospel and our testimonies. Recently we joined Young Life for their weekend retreat at the beginning of the month. We were only there for Saturday, but would have loved to have been there for the entire weekend. It was one of the best days I have had here. We took a train ride 90 mins outside of the city into the woods. It was so refreshing to get out of the urban jungle and into the wild.

A walk through the woods brought us to a winter retreat where we spent much of the day playing ridiculous games and ice skating.




It was great to get back on the ice; feels very Canadian to be on an outdoor rink. Rather than have a game of pick-up hockey, we had a figure skating contest. My Russian partner carried us to victory!

This was an exciting game! Every had a large paper cone taped to their head. The objective was to gather up orange ping-pong balls in the snow.

Every game was separated by an excellent snowball fight!





I was given the opportunity to talk with the group. I choose to share my testimony with a focus on the love of God. Something that was really on my heart to share. One of the biggest take-aways from the lecture phase was how much God loved me. It has really changed me for the better as it has allowed me to love myself; something that I couldn't do before this DTS. It was really positive to get good feedback from the youth there, as a few asked questions afterwards. A wonderful opportunity to help them grow in their faith and understanding.

We were given an chance to take the reigns on the planning for a youth group from United Church. It was our first time as a team to plan an event rather than just attend. It was a lot tougher to plan a youth event than I had ever imagined. It was quite unpolished to say the least. I will take this as a learning experience. The theme was Viking Valentine. We tried to bring as much of Iceland as we could to them through music and food (hotdogs; an Icelandic favourite). The youth seemed to have a fun time though. We played games and shared quick testimonies about God's love.

Things have been ramping up for us here in St. Petersburg. We are doing our best to touch every area of the city as possible, while battling illness. Please pray for health for the team as we haven't had 100% health for quite some time. I would also ask for more opportunities to share the Gospel with the children at the orphanages.

Off to watch the Olympics now!

Go Canada Go!