Shots, Special Meals & Church Doctrine...Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

As you can see from the title, we have had quite a week here at ILC! The week stared off with a bang when I had to take SB to the dentist on Monday. Over the weekend she broke part of her back tooth on a peppermint, so first thing Monday we were in the dentist's office. Next week she will have a root canal and the week after that she will go back to have a crown put on. Of couse, we are trying the best we can to look for the brighter side of every situation, so we are grateful that she is able to have this situation taken care of here and not by a Russian dentist. So, that is how the week started.

Now, those of you that know me well know that two of the things that I dislike most in life are needles and trying new foods. Well, I think that God spent the better part of the week laughing at me. One of the things they do here is try as best they can to prepare us to live in other cultures, so they have the cafeteria staff fix for us "special meals." We had two this week at lunch time. On Wednesday we had a North African/Middle East meal and Thursday we had a Hungarian meal. Now, let me say that the fresh bread the made was amazing! I loved it! (See, the brighter side.) Wednesday we had small spicy meatballs of some sort served with a diced tomato, onion and cucumber salad. We were not allowed to use silverware and had to eat with our hands. It was actually pretty good, though I didn't much care for the texture of the meat. However, I quickly learned that if you ate a small portion of meat with some bread you can make it more palatable. On Thursday we had Hungarian goulash with cabbage and more bread. I ate it. And, the bread was very good. We only have one "special meal" scheduled for next week, but don't let that keep you from praying. On a related, but side note. My quiet time lead me to Proverbs 23 on Thursday morning. Give it a read and think about our "special meals". I think you will find the humor that I found while studying the passage!

If you see misspelled words in this blog, you will have to forgive me. Today (Friday) was shot day. Kellye and I each had three shots and my arms are still pretty dang sore. John-John was the big hero though, he sat up in the chair and played his Gameboy while they stuck him in each arm. He was a trooper. The other kids did great too and I don't think anything ever phases Kellye.

We had an interesting exercise during class this morning. We had been studying Luke 10 where Jesus sends out the 70 on a short-term mission trip and instructs them to look for a "man of peace" in each of the towns they come to. While this is not a commandment of the Bible, it is good teaching and we have heard story after story from the field where missionaries were taken in by a person like this. So, it was time for a little role playing. Two people from every group were assigned to go to a village and encounter the people and talk with them as we sought for the "man of peace" among them. I am sure that our experiences in Russia will be vastly different from our collegues who are serving in small African villages, it was overwhelming to be surrounded by a group of people who were all talking to you at once, asking you questions, wanting things from you, picking your pockets, etc. Sometimes it was hard to think of anybody but the man of peace while other times you just wanted to go running from the room. Altogether an interesting experience.

The highlight of my week was two days of teaching about church doctrine from Tom Elliff. He is an Oklahoma pastor, former SBC president, and also a former missionary himself. Not only is he a delightful man and an inspired speaker, but he is a gifted teacher as well. You also have to understand that I love to study Southern Baptist doctrine. While my family may have raised me to be Southern Baptist, I am Baptist by choice because I believe the SB doctrine comes straight from the Word of God. Anyway, it was a great week and I learned a lot from his teaching. On a side note, I was introducing myself to Brother Tom before the session on Tuesday morning (I was on duty as the audio engineer that day) and mentioned the fact that I had graduated from OBU. He looked at my name tag and I watched his face as he recognized my name. (I thought the reaction was kind of strange) "I was on the OBU board of trustees when you graduated," he said. Now, that is impressive, my friends.

I am also taking a seminary class while I am here these two months. We had class Tuesday night and I am doing fairly well at keeping up with the reading and writing. Pray that I am able to continue to juggle that with all the other things I have to do.

Rachel and Rebecca Tarleton (Ed and Terri's twin daughters who have been here at ILC with us the past couple of weeks) flew back to Moscow this week. They are such sweet girls and we know that God arranged for them to be here, and in our quad, so they could help SB during this transition time. The night before they left we stayed up late playing Phase 10 and laughing. I know there will be many such nights like that around our table in Moscow and I thank God for their friendship with our family.

Well, that is what kind of week it has been around here. Next week we will be studying Church Planting Movements and have another round of shots and another "special meal." However, next Saturday is the start of college football season. BOOMER SOONER!

Know that God is in this place and he meets with us and challenges us daily. I hope that you are meeting with Him every morning as well. If you get a chance, give Luke 10:2 a read. Notice that Jesus says to the people whom he is sending out that they should pray for workers. Our family is praying that there will be others who feel called of God to join us as we enter the mission field. We all have our mission fields. Won't you find yours and commit yourself to go?

Blessings,
Marc