Headlines from Moscow

(After some gentle chiding from a missionary colleague I am making myself sit down and write a post for my blog. It is not that I have forgotten or lost interest, but have started three or four entries that never got finished. So, here is a catch-up blog.)

Many of you know that in one of my former lives I was a newspaper writer and editor. While that was not my favorite job in my media profession it did have its own set of rewards, one of which was writing headlines and seeing them on the paper the next day. You see, writing a good headline can be an art. It needs to be short, snappy, grab people’s attention and sum up the story in just a few words. So, when I start writing blog entries my brain automatically switches into “reporter mode” where I begin thinking of a headline at about the same time that I start writing the blog. So I got to thinking, how would I convey our Moscow experience thus far by using only headlines. And this is a few of what I have come up with…

“Nat King Cole may have loved Paris in the springtime, but I love Moscow in the fall.”

“Deaf, Dumb & Blind—Going Shopping in a foreign land.”

“Life lessons from playing charades.”

“Are you there God? It’s me, Marc.”

“Frustrated missionary murders tutor at dining room table using nothing but a Russian Language textbook.”

“The fetal position…not a bad place to be.”

“Baby, it’s cold outside.”

“Dancing Bears and a good night’s sleep.”

“Lewis & Clark could not have found good Internet in Moscow.”

“Patience is in a jar on the top shelf next to the peanut better…oh wait, they don’t have that here either!”

“Let’s play ‘What’s That Smell!’ That’s right Sergi, it’s fish and cigarette smoke…again!”

“I’m a katchka in a shopka!”

“Spa-see-ba Bog and other dinnertime prayers.”

“WWLMD…What would Lottie Moon Do? And other questions from the field.”

“We’re still having tacos for dinner and Kellye can tell you how that reminds us of Jesus!”

I hope you have enjoyed the headlines from Moscow. Trust me, there is a story for each of them and one day I hope to be able to write them all. If you see one that has peaked your interest, leave a comment and ask for the whole story. I will try to write and publish them as as soon as possible.

Thanks for joining us in prayer. I wish I could report that life here is easy and fun all of the time, but I cant. I wish I could report that 20 new churches have been planted since we arrived, but they haven’t. I wish that if you called me today I would be able to talk back to you in Russian, but I won’t. But what can report is that the God of the Universe has called us to this country to help spread the word about how people here, including missionaries, don’t have to live in a world without hope. I can report that our God is alive and well in Russia and that my family is happy to be part of that work…on the good days, the funny days, and even the bad days.

I will leave you today with words that God gave me this week from the book of Isaiah. Now I understand that when they were written they were speaking about Jesus and well we all know that the comparison stops with the fact that we are both Jewish men. However, they spoke to me this week and so now I share them with you…

“I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.”

Wherever you are this week, and whatever you are doing, remember that the Lord has called you too to be light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and to those who dwell in darkness from the prison. Won't you take your light and search the darkness of your workplace, your community and your own family so that the light can be seen?

Blessings,
Marc