Remembering Aunt Lee

I am sad today.  Last night I received the news that my Aunt Lee died after a bout with cancer.  Now, the good news is that last week she prayed to accept Jesus as her saviour and that today she is with Him.  Nonetheless, I am still sad.

As a child, Aunt Lee was always there for me.  She was always just a phone call away anytime I needed her.  And, there are many aspects of my adult life and the man I am today that I can credit to her influence.  My broadcasting career started in the school where she was an assistant principal.  When I would come to visit she would let me sit on the counter by the intercom and call different rooms by flipping the switches and talking into the microphone.  My love of photography and photographic eye came from her as well.  She purchased my first camera for me (and many subsequent cameras as well) and she taught me how to properly compose a shot and about the mechanics of photography as well as the art.  My love of travel was also greatly influenced by Aunt Lee.  As I was growing up she made it a point to take me on many trips (always with camera in hand) and we went to exciting places: Colonial Williamsburg, Amish country in Pennsylvania, etc.  My first train ride was with her on the Strassbourg Railroad and ever since then I have been in love with train travel.  She retired from the school system when I was relatively young, and spent the rest of her life traveling the world.  And, she would always return with souvenirs and trinkets from the many places she traveled.  We would look at her photos together and she would tell stories about the different things she had brought home and I would imagine getting to travel to some of those far-off places.  And, even in recent years we were able to share stories about our travels to the same locations.  She even visited Moscow before the end of the cold war.  And now, I write this while sitting in my Moscow apartment.  Who would have ever imagined?

She loved books and literature and had a special love for children's books, which she shared with me.  Her favorite children's author was A.A. Milne and many hours of my childhood were spent having conversations with Pooh, Piglet and the rest of the gang as she voiced the characters from the other end of the phone.

I remember helping set up her first computer, a Commodore 128, if you can believe.  She wanted to embrace and learn that technology as quickly as she could.  And, as computers advanced and email became accessible to everyone, Aunt Lee became the queen of the E-Card.  There was never a birthday, holiday or family event where my inbox was not flooded with E-cards when I awoke.

Aunt Lee was always willing to share one of my favorite meals with me... steamed Maryland blue crabs.  And when I came home, a crab feast with her was always on the agenda.  She even participated in several crab feasts that we threw for my high school buddies.

I could spend countless hours recalling the many stories and important moments of my life that she was involved in.  But I guess the thing that I will remember most about my Aunt Lee is that she was my biggest fan.  If I did it, then (to her) it was wonderful.  

So, today I am sad.  I will miss her very much.  And, I suppose for the last time... To Eel, from Cram.

Blessings,

Marc

Chuvash Videos

It's that time again for Southern Baptists - LMCO - or Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
This annual offering for international missions allows us and more than 5000 others to serve the Lord throughout the world.

This week has been a busy one. Tim Wicker and I have been trying to get some video promotion pieces ready for you and your churches to use as you pray and give and think about joining us in the work overseas.

We got a lot done and the fruit of our labor can be seen at www.engagerussia.org
There you can see some of the videos on the Chuvash People of Russia.
There you can follow the links to download these videos and handouts for use in your churches.
There you can learn more about how to join us as we seek to Engage Russia with the Good News.

Even if you don't plan to use them in your churches, I would encourage you to check this site out, watch the videos and pray together with us for the work among the Chuvash people. The site is brand new and under constant revision - so bookmark it and follow along.

Today is Saturday, and we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with our English Club.

Blessings,
Marc

Don't forget to give to Lottie this year!

With grateful and happy hearts...

What a beautiful thing, God, to give thanks, to sing an anthem to you, the High God! To announce your love each daybreak, sing your faithful presence all through the night, Accompanied by dulcimer and harp, the full-bodied music of strings. ~ Psalm 92:1 (The Message)

It is good to be home again after spending most of the months of October and November on the road. In that time, on two different occasions I spent a combined three weeks in Prague, a week in the Republic of Udmurtia and have just returned from another week in the Chuvash Republic. The remainder of this month and December will be spent at home, and I am looking forward to the time with my family.

I hate that it usually takes a special holiday, especially Thanksgiving, for us to stop and recall all the things the Lord has done for us and for all the many things for which we should be thankful. We really should do that on a daily basis, but it seems that (at least for me) life always seems to get in the way of pausing to reflect on God's graciousness and to think about the things for which we should be thankful, but become part of our daily routine. So, here is an abbreviated list of some of the many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving...

~ Of course, I have to start with my God, who provided the ultimate sacrifice to save me from my sins. That sounds preachy, but really. To just imagine that someone who knows my every thought, motive, and generally crappy nature would still lay down His life just to make sure that I can approach the throne of God. Wow! Now that is something to be thankful for.

~ My wife. I don't tell you who read this, or even her, enough what a special woman God gave me in my wife. Kellye is a truly wonderful woman who supports me in every way. In many ways, she is the embodiment of the Proverbs 31 wife and here are just a few examples from The Message version of that proverb:

"She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast
for her family and organizing her day...
First thing in the morning, she dresses for work,
rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started.
She senses the worth of her work,
is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.
She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth,
diligent in homemaking.
She's quick to assist anyone in need,
reaches out to help the poor.
She doesn't worry about her family when it snows;
their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear.
When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,
and she always says it kindly.
She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
and keeps them all busy and productive.
Her children respect and bless her;
her husband joins in with words of praise:
"Many women have done wonderful things,
but you've outclassed them all!"

Is it any wonder that I am thankful for her??

~ My children. Sometimes, in the midst of life in another country it can be hard to remind yourself to be thankful for your children. Life here can be difficult and life here with three children who share a room in an apartment can be a little challenging at times. And, as a result, it can be pretty hard to remember to be thankful for your children at times. However, they are each very special and I love watching them growing into the people that God is molding them to be. Sarah Beth is silly and compassionate and makes me laugh. She has a great eye for video and photography and spending a week with her in Udmurtia was one of the greatest joys of my time in Russia. She has a great heart for God and for lost people and I am excited to see how God will use her. Hannah is growing into quite the young woman. She understands that following God's call is not always fun or easy, but that obiedience to that call is important, even if what we want to do somedays is go home. Hannah is funny and creative, a great writer, computer savvy, and has a unique way of seeing the world. She is also a joy to spend time with and I love that she still likes to snuggle up with her Daddy just to be close to him. John-John...well, what can you say. He is my boy. Not only does he look like me, in many ways he acts like me too. He is curious and inquisitive. He wants to know everything about everything. He also is computer savvy, even though he is just 7. He, unlike his father, likes to study Russian. He has never met a stranger and is never bashful to tell people about Jesus. He has a heart for God and all of "God's little guys", no matter how repulsive. I am just glad that we do not live in Brazil! I have no idea what John will be when he grows up, but I can already see signs that he will be a great man of God. As you can see, I have much to be thankful for.

~ Our family back home. I don't want to camp out on the fact that life here can be difficult. However, life here is always made easier by our family back home. They pray for us regularly, call for no particular reason, help us deal with stuff back home, spend countless dollars to help make life easier and send boxes of silly things like KoolAid and 3 Musketeers bars. This year I am specifically thankfull for Kay and Cathy, who are the sisters I never had while growing up. But mostly I am thankful for two sets of parents who raised Kellye and I to hear God's voice. I am thankful that we were raised in Christian homes. I am thankful that our parents always held us accountable to standards of Chrstian living, even when that was difficult. I am thankful that our parents made it possible for us both to attend OBU, or I never would have met my wonderful bride.

Time is starting to run short, so I will try to get in as many things possible...

~ Our churches. We could not stay on the field without their help and support. We appreciate everybody who helps by praying, giving, and going. A special thanks also to the many Sunday School classes who have sent cards, letters, packages and donations for things like warm winter clothing.

~ My travel partner, Tim. Getting to travel around the country would not be nearly as much fun without him by my side. More on that at a later day, but you should know that I am thankful for the fact tht he is my partner.

~ Friends around the world who read this blog, many of whom I have never met. Most days I wonder why this blog would be of any interest to anyone other than family or friends, and yet you continue to read and to pray for us. I am thankful for you.

~ Old friends with whom I have reconnected via Facebook. How cool is that, really?

~ Snow on Thanksgiving morning. It would not be a Moscow Thanksgiving without it. Seriously, I love it.

~ Our English Club. Having relationships with this special group of Russians that God has given us to share our lives with is just great and we love them.

~ Our "Mission Friends" here in Moscow and around the world. Too many to name everybody specifically, but you know who you are. I am thankful for you.

~ Our cat, Notchka, who makes our apartment feel a little more like home.

~ A company who makes sure we have a place to live and food on the table and who has a vision of reaching all peoples on earth with the Gospel. We are also grateful for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering which makes us being here possible. Please start praying about what you will give this year.

As you can imagine, this is far from an exhaustive list of all the things I am thankful for. And, if you put them on a scale, they would far outweigh the yucky stuff about missionary life. Thank you again for being part of our ministry and for reading.

COMING SOON...

~ A recap of my trip to Udmurtia.
~ A full report from my trip to the Chuvash Republic.
~ New videos from the Engage Russia project.
~ The world premire of the Engage Russia theme song, "You and I" by the Jud Kossum Band.

STAY TUNED!!!

Where in the world is Marc???

Over the next six months I am scheduled to travel to nearly a dozen cities spread across Russia.  So, it may be difficult for me to sit down and write regular blog entries, however I will attempt to do that as often as possible.  However, in the meantime, I will be posting regular updates on Facebook, which I can do from my phone.  So, if you are on Facebook and have not added me as a friend, send me an invitation, I would love to hear from you.

I have also created, a Twitter account and will start updating that soon as well.  

Thanks for praying and wanting to stay connected.

Blessings,

Marc

On my way out the door...

Well, it seems that time for reflection lasted for only a couple of hours before life started getting busy again.  In less than an hour I will head out for the train station and will spend the night on my way to Cheboksary, the capital of the Chuvash Republic.  This media trip will be the second in a series of trips I will be taking as part of our new "Engage Russia" project.  I will be telling you more about that as we roll out the new website and first video features...hopefully just after Thanksgiving.

I will return next Tuesday and will update you on this trip, plus add a few more comments from my Udmurt trip at that time.

Blessings,

Marc

Time to Reflect--Part One

It is a quiet Saturday morning... something that comes none too often in our home these days, so I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect on the past couple of weeks.

First, an update on the dryer.  

Now that I am feeling just a little bit more calm about the situation I can share with you that I have made my peace with the fact that we will not have a clothes dryer.  No big deal, really, just one of those niceties from home that you like to have, but not a necessity.  Yes, I would love to have a fluffy towel instead of a crunchy one.  And even more so, I would love for Kellye to have the feeling that it is possible to be caught up on laundry. (A nearly impossible task with 5 people in the house.)  But, the fact of the matter is that most people in Russia (missionary personnel included) live perfectly fine lives without a clothes dryer.  Without going into a lot of detail (since it really does not matter anyway), the repair company called later in the day telling us they had found another of the little plastic part we had been waiting for over the past three months.  However, they wanted $300 for the part and another $150 to install it...and that was in addition to the $100 we had already paid for the diagnostic.  So, we thanked them very much for their offer and hung up the phone.  It makes me all the more thankful for the washing machine and thanking the Lord that we are not washing our clothes in the bathtub as some of our other friends and colleagues must do.

A Heart for Russia

I love to travel.  Seeing the world is a great pleasure to me.  A couple of weeks ago we had the chance to spend two weeks in the Czech Republic visiting friends and traveling the countryside.  And it was fantastic.  Wonderfully friendly people and beautiful scenery.  And, I would be lying if I told you that I didn't consider switching assignments to live there.  It would be delightful to serve in that part of the world and to be close to dear friends.  But God has put Russian people and the geographic area of Russia in my heart.   While in Udmurtia this past week I was able to get my first taste of life in Russia outside of the big city...and I loved it.  One of the highlights for me was to be able to attend a small Russian Baptist church on Sunday morning.  There were about 20 people present and I had a wonderful time just sitting and talking with them.  As we were driving back to the larger city, I thought to myself..."God has given me a heart for Russia, I cannot possibly leave this place."  So, though other places in the world may be great places to visit and can be enticing, I thank God that he has placed in our hearts a love for the people we have been asked to minister to.

Engage Russia

We have lived in Moscow for a little over a year now and have spent much of that time studying language, and trying to carve out a ministry with the Russians we have met here.  And, while we have enjoyed most of that time, I have been chomping at the bit to really get to work and to do what I do.  This month I started work on an exciting project we are calling "Engage Russia"  where we will spend the next 8 months or so traveling around the country and creating media pieces which will be used to promote cities and people groups where we do not have any personnel in place.  Our travels will extend as far north as the Arctic Circle, to Siberia, and to the Far East of Russia.  So, it will be an exciting time for me.  During that time I will be on the road for at least one to two weeks a month, so please continue to pray for Kellye and the kids while I am away.  I will continue to blog about my adventures and soon we will have a special website for the project, so stay tuned! 

Udmurts!!

A little more than two years ago Kellye and I took Sarah Beth to Oklahoma to attend a missionary conference.  At that time, the emphasis for the IMB was on a people group known as the Udmurts.  They are located in the western foothills of the Ural Mountains and their religious background is mainly shamanistic.  Well, Sarah Beth fell in love with the Udmurts.  She would leave us notes around the house reminding us to pray for them, she would talk about them and would often joke about adopting a "little Udmurt baby."  So when I found out that I was headed off to Udmurtia for one of my media trips I just had to take SB with me.  We had a great time traveling together and were joined on the adventure by my project partner, Tim, and his teenage daughter, Rachel.  The girls spent much of their time laughing and giggling at nearly every turn.  And the Daddys enjoyed watching our daughters develop a heart for the Russian people and share their faith with them.  It was a very special time and one I will treasure for years to come.

Well, I have had to amend the title of this blog to Part One.  The children are up and going and the house is abuzz with activity.  Today is a great football day, so it is time to run to the store to get the fixins for chili.  There are more reflections yet to come...

Blessings,

Marc

Great Expectations....and consequent disappointment

Today was supposed to be a banner day.  After more than three months of waiting, the part for our broken clothes dryer was supposed to be installed this afternoon.  However, it seems that as we get our hopes up in the morning, we often spend the end of the day saying, "Well, that's Russia."

This morning the company called to tell me that the part from Germany contained a factory defect and they would not be sending a repairman today.  So, where does that leave us?  Back to doing a minimum of two loads of laundry a day and waiting for them to crunchily dry on the rack.  It leaves us praying that they can get the part ordered and delivered from Germany in less than another three months time.  And it leaves us with a clothes dryer that only worked for a week and has since just been something to sit other stuff on top of.

Well, that's Russia.

After my trip to some small towns this past week, I keep telling myself that the things in Moscow that make me whine are nothing compared to the life that other Russians endure every day.  Many have no running water or indoor plumbing.  Many struggle with how to heat their homes.  So, there is much more to life than a dryer that is not working.  However, when away from your home you cling to small comforts that make life a little more bearable, and that was one of them.  So, today please pray for Kellye and I to have patience.  And pray that the company is able to get a new, non-defective part delivered in a relatively short amount of time.

Blessings,

Marc

Back from our first adventure...

I have returned from my first media trip outside Moscow. We visited the Republic of Udmurtia and worked with Russian Baptists and a volunteer team from the States. Sarah Beth and my partner's daughter, Rachel accompanied us on this trip and we had a great time bonding with our daughters.

There is much to write about and many pictures to post, but here are a few highlights for you to be looking forward to:
1. Christian lessons from the life of a chicken.
2. "We go to banya."
3. Flaming coffee.
4. RLMs4RLUs

I will try to start writing tomorrow so that I can document things before I start to forget them. In the meantime, here are three photos from Udmurtia to give you a sense of what life there is like.




Blessings,
Marc

When time stands still...

I am a blessed guy.  I really am.  If I were to take the time to write about all of the blessings in my life, they would have to create more space on the Internet.  Of course, Kellye and my kids would have to be at the top of the list, but very close to the top would be good friends.

Have you ever had friends that are so close, so in-tune with who you are that when you are apart time stands still?  You know, the kind of friend that when you are together it does not matter whether a year or 20 years has passed since you were together last, it feels like just yesterday?  While some people are never lucky enough to have those kinds of friends, I am blessed to have two sets...guys that I went to college with, and some people who went through missionary training together in Richmond.  I suppose there are some similarities, we both lived together in pretty close quarters for some time.  But the biggest similarity is that these couple of people in my life just "get me."  And, conversely, I just "get them."

Ya know, missionary life is not always easy.  As a matter of a fact, some days it can be downright hard.  It can be discouraging, lonely and sometimes it makes you wonder why God has called you to serve in this way.  But I think that there are rewards, and one of those is that He provides friends to help you get through those times of discouragement.  Friends who somehow transcend both time and distance.  Friends who will make you laugh so hard an for so long that you don't want to go to bed no matter how tired you are.  Friends who will celebrate your victories with you and encourage you.  Friends who understand that sometimes you want to toss a family member (or two) out of your balcony window...and then stick around just to watch them bounce.  And friends who will tell you that you are wrong when you are.  These are the kinds of friends God gives missionaries.

This week is a special one for our family.  We will have the opportunity to spend time with these unique friends in our life.  We will laugh.  Some of us will cry.  (Oh, man-up and get over it!)  We will eat foods that we cannot get in our own countries.  We will worship and pray.  We will be tourists together.  But most importantly, we will be friends for each other.

I pray that God gives you at least one "time stands still" friend in your life.  And, if He does, that you will get to spend as much time together as possible and that you will cherish that.

Blessings,

Marc

PS-There are more photos and video of this magical cit to come, so stay tuned!

Video from Prague

I love this city.

Meeting with Russian Brothers...In The Czech Republic!

We are spending this week and next in Prague, Czech Republic as we attend some meetings, spend time with dear friends, and enjoy our first vacation since arriving on the field a year ago.  (I know, I cannot believe it has been that long either!)

During this time we have been staying with our good friends, Larry and Melissa, who currently live in Prague, but will be serving in Plzen starting in the spring.  Yesterday Larry was invited to a meeting with the head of the Czech Baptist Union who wanted to introduce him to some Russian Baptist missionaries who will also be moving to Plzen to work with Russian-speakers in the area...so he invited me to tag along.  It is hard this morning to put that experience into words, but I will try.  

First, if you were a fly on the wall you would have needed several language dictionaries to keep up.  The meeting was conducted in English, because that was the most common language.  But it was a strange mixture of English, Czech and Russian.  It was exciting for me to sit with the head of the Czech Baptist Union and hear him talk about his heart for reaching his nation and to hear how excited he is about reaching Russians as well as native Czechs.  And it was invigorating to hear how God is bringing resources from around the globe to this city in Western Czech Republic to bring the gospel to the people there.  In addition to the work they were involved in, God has also brought others who are working with the Roma, or gypsies in the area.  And, I must admit, it was also exciting to be in Prague and speaking Russian with Baptist brothers...one of which spoke only Russian and not Czech or English.

An interesting side note.  When we speak to our friends in Moscow about the time before 1990, they refer to this time as either "communism" or "when we were the USSR."  But here in the Czech Republic they refer to 1990 as "the revolution" and the time before that as "under totalitarianism."  It is interesting how the perspective changes as to whether you are one of the conquering or the conquered.  And yet, none the less, the believers here still have a desire to see native Russians who are living in the Czech Republic come to Christ.  Isn't that itself a testimony to Jesus living in us?

I may have said this in this blog before, but this seems like a good place to repeat it if I have.  A funny thing has happened over the past year.  When I left the States I considered myself a media producer whose job it was to assist church planters in Russia.  But now, after living in Moscow for a year, making friends with Russians, and learning to speak the Russian language, I consider myself to be a church planter who uses his media skills to help reach Russian speakers.  Will we always serve in Moscow?  I don't know.  Will we always serve in Russia?  I don't really know that either.  But, after yesterday morning what I can tell you is that God has given me a heart for native Russian speakers, regardless of where in the world that they live.  Yes, I have become a church planter, and it is my heart's desire to see God use the Russians with whom I am able to share my faith to then go and share that Good news with their Russian friends.  Of course, English will always be my first language, but when I hear Russian it speaks to my soul.  Now really, who would have ever thought that would have happened this year?

We are looking forward to the rest of the weekend before our meetings start on Sunday.  Today we are going on "photo safari" in this magical city and I cannot wait to share some of those images with you.  Our friends from all over CEE will be arriving on Saturday evening and I can only imagine there will be lots of laughter over the next week as we share our experiences from the last year.  It is my prayer that wherever in the world that you are when you read this that you have as good of friends as we have.

Blessings,

Marc

Camping with the Scouts

Showing off his first Swiss Army Knife!

Sitting around the campfire.

Whittling a stick to roast weenies on.

The Hooks Men head for the woods!

Last weekend the Hooks men escaped the concrete jungle of Moscow and headed into the wilderness for a camping trip with the Cub Scouts.  Well, I say the wilderness, but it was actually a dacha about 2 hours south of town, but we were surrounded by a patch of woods so I guess that counts.  Now, for those of you who know me, you know that I love the outdoors.  I like to hike, love to build fires and cook over them, and life is even better if I am near the water.  However, sleeping in tents is just not for me... especially when there is a perfectly good house only 25 feet away.  

This was John's first camp-out and we had a really good time.  Our big man got his first Swiss Army knife and learned to whittle and we built a birdhouse together.  We roasted weenies over the fire and made a "hobo" dinner where you wrap your food in foil and burry it in the coals of the fire for 40 minutes.  So, it was a lot of fun.  The weather, on the other-hand was horrible.  We had rain for most of the weekend and overnight temperatures hovered right around freezing.  As a matter of a fact, when we packed the tents on Sunday morning there was ice all over the rain covers!  Did I mention that I think this is a perfectly good waste of a house?

Anyway, it was great to be out of the city.  I saw stars for the first time in over a year.  And, not just a few of them.  As a matter of a fact, I am not sure I have ever seen as many stars as I did on Friday night.  It was simply breathtaking and caused me to take a minute to sit and stare in awe and remind myself of the majesty of God. 

All in all, the weekend was a big success...but I am glad the Scouts only do it twice a year!

Pirates, Bible Study & Cold Feet

Avast, Mateys!  

Today is one of me favorite days...it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day.  (Don't believe me?  Check out www.talklikeapirate.com )  However, I for the sake of this blog I will keep my pirate talk down to a minimum.  

Kellye is outside of Moscow for a few days with the teachers from Hinkson during their annual staff retreat and that left the English Club teaching duties to me last night.  So guess what the theme for last night's lesson was?  You guessed it....pirates!  We watched a few sections from Muppet Treasure Island, learned some pirate vocabulary, and created a comic strip about pirate life.  But the best part of the day actually came this morning when I received an email from one of our students written entirely in pirate-speak.  Now, how cool is that??

Bible Study Update

In my last post I wrote about our attempt to move people from English Club to Bible study and I am pleased to report that we had one of our students show up the following Sunday.  He had never read the Bible before, so I gave him one (an NIV Study Bible that had been translated into Russian) and we started with the basics.  "The Bible is divided into two sections.  It contains 66 different books, etc."  After which, we started to read the Gospel of Mark together.  We have been reading a chapter a day and then discussing on Sundays.  And, last week the student who came brought his younger brother with him.  So, just like English Club we started with one person, then went to two.  And, in the near future, I am hoping that we will continue to expand and have more and more people coming to our home on Sunday's to study the Bible.  One of the things that we, as a team, have adopted as one of our core beliefs is that "The Word of God is the change agent in people's lives."  While I considered using some books, study guides and other tools, I have to believe that if we really put stock into this statement that spending time reading and talking about God's word with lost people will result in life-changing faith.  So, that is exactly what we are doing.  Is it church?  No.  But it is the first steps of exposing a group of people with no religious background and no knowledge of God's word toward finding out the special purpose God has for their lives.

Please continue to be in prayer for these two special men.  Pray that the Word of God will penetrate their hearts and minds and that the Holy Spirit will draw them to Himself.  Pray also for Kellye and I as we lead these discussions and teach.  Sometimes explaining Biblical concepts can be difficult enough in your own heart language, but even harder in a language that you are learning.  (Our lessons are a strange mixture of Russian and English and sometimes there is a dash of German thrown in.)  Pray also that as these men study that they will feel led to bring their friends with them so that we may study together.

Cold feet!

No, I am not nervous or scared.  My feet are quite literally cold!  The weather really took a turn last week and the temps dropped and the rain and wind moved in.  Everybody in the house got sick and Kellye and I are still coughing and have runny noses all day long.  (Nice visual, huh?)  Even though it is a little warmer this week (low 50s), this is still my least favorite time of year in Moscow.  Usually once the snow starts there is a strange sense of warmth about the snow, even when the wind is blowing.  Ugh, but the rain, now that is another story.  It seems that no matter what you wear you always feel cold and wet.  And on a related matter, I think I am going to write a book called "Moving to Moscow: What they don't tell you in the brochure."  One of the first chapters will be called "A thermostat?  What is that?"   If you didn't know before, now you will know that the heat inside all buildings  is controlled by the government and no matter what the weather is, it only operates from November 1 to March 1.  Not only does the government control the heat, they control the temperature, so you can usually count on the inside temperature being anywhere from 80-100 degrees.  I only wish I was exaggerating for effect.  Chapter two will be called "What do you mean I have to take a cold shower?"  Another quirk about living here is that  the government (remember the guys who control the heat?) also controls the hot water.  And, in the summer months they do maintenance on the city's hot water system.  So for around two weeks (if your are lucky) each summer there is no hot water available in your apartment.  Fortunately for us, our landlady installed a contact water heater for the shower, but that still does not help with things like washing clothes and dishes.

There are more chapters to the book (those of you who are hoping to visit or live here will have to stay tuned for more), but right now my feet are so cold I cannot remember what else I was gonna write about.

Next weekend is the big Cub Scout father/son camp-out, so my blog will be delayed by a few days, but I suspect that it will be chock-full of John-John stories.  Speaking of which, Long John Hooks (his pirate name) is waiting for the Captain to make his way to the galley and fix him some pizza and grog 'else I may have a mutiny on my hands and have to walk the plank!

Arrrrrrr!

Spending the day with my Russian friends...

We were invited by a group of our English Club students (Jane and Dasha) to a picnic today and we could not pass up the opportunity.  It is always good to get these invitations because Russians are usually pretty guarded about inviting new people into their intimate circles, let alone foreigners.  So, even though Kellye and the girls had prior commitments John and I went out to enjoy what will probably be one of the last warm weekends we will see for the next six months or so.

Little did I know that Jane actually lives in a small city outside of Moscow that took us about 40 minutes on the Metro and another 30 minutes by bus to get to.  (Which makes me appreciate even more the fact that she comes to our home every Thursday night.)  And, after the two-mile hike into the woods after the bus ride I was more ready for a nap than for a picnic.  As you can imagine John was enjoying being in the woods and looking for and then talking to all of God's "little guys."

We joined the many others who had made the trek to the large lake in the woods that was surrounded on most sides by a sandy beach.  Frankly, it was hard to believe that we were as close as we were to a city of 15-million people because the setting was so quiet, beautiful and totally different to what we have become accustomed to in the city.  The men (John-John, Sergey, and myself) built a small fire so we could grill our meat while the girls spread out blankets and the rest of the spread.

They had asked me to bring some recreation stuff, so I grabbed John's frisbee and at the last minute decided to grab the football off my shelf.  When I unpacked my backpack and they saw the oblong ball they nearly went crazy.  It was the first time any of them had ever seen, let alone touched, an American football and they were dying to learn how to play.  Now, I don't know if you have ever tried to explain how to play football to someone who has no concept of the game.  But try then to explain it in another language...one that you have only scratched the surface in learning!  We had so much fun they have asked me to organize a football party for them in a park nearby our home.

On a more serious note, we have been working with these students, along with about 25 more, in English Club for the past six months.  During that time we have tried to live our faith out in front of them and be an "incarnational witness" for them.  This week we sent an email to each of them inviting them to join us for a Bible study in our home on Sunday afternoons, starting tomorrow.  We are praying that God's spirit will move in them and draw them to our home on Sundays to study more about what God might have for their lives and how they can join us on our journey of faith.  

On the walk back to the bus station, Sergey asked me about the invitation.  "It is something about the Bible, right?"  

"Well," I said.  "Our family studies the Bible every day."  

"Oh yes, I know that," he replied.

"So it is something that is important to us and we wanted to share it with our Russian friends," I said.

So, please start now to pray for Sergey, Jane, Dasha and the rest of our English Club students as they consider our invitation to join us to learn about what God is doing in their lives.  While we will be surprised to see any of them tomorrow we would be thrilled if any of them decide to come.  I do feel that God is moving in their lives and that we were prompted to make this invitation when we did.  So, we are excited to see what God is going to do in the lives of these young Russians.

Finally, it is time for Sooner Football, so this is were I wrap things up.  It was an interesting day and I believe that God is orchestrating these opportunities for us to live our faith out in front of folks who don't have any more of a concept that Jesus can be a real part of their lives than they do of how to play American football. Fortunately, I happen to have a copy of the rule book...for both! 

Blessings,

Marc

Feeling like I should blog...

This Morning...

It is Saturday morning and Kellye and the girls have gone to Mega to shop and pick up a few things.  John and I are hanging out at the house for a few hours before we join some of our Russian friends who have invited us to a picnic this afternoon.  We treasure these invitations because they are tangible signs that we are being accepted into their everyday lives.  I cannot tell you how much we have enjoyed working with these young people each week and how much their friendship keeps us going some weeks.

Now, I must admit that I have been feeling a little discouraged as of late.  The details are really not all that important.  However, when discouragements sets in it is a hard feeling to shake...even when you can see external signs that things are looking up or that your discouragement is not really rooted in reality.  So, as you pray for us this week, please pray that God would help me work through this season quickly and that discouragement will be replaced with enthusiasm for our lives here.

We Finally Made It...

For months I have praying for us to just hold on long enough for September 1st to get here.  Why September 1?  Because that was a couple of weeks after the start of school.  That was the date I was praying that our lives would feel just a little bit easier.  And, you know what?  It does.  Thanks to some very generous gifts from people back home we were able to enroll our kids at Hinkson Christian Academy and have our first semester paid for.  Kellye is also teaching a couple of classes there to help defray the costs.  Why has this been so imoortant?  Well, I think the biggest thing is that this school is where all of the missionary kids in Moscow attend.  So, to be a homeschooled kid many times means that you get left out...even if it is unintentional.  It also provides tremendous social opportunities for our children who have not grown up in a home school atmosphere or on the mission field.  So, to be honest, this has released our family from feeling like prisoners in our own home.  Sarah Beth is playing on the girls' soccer team, Hannah is taking piano lessons and John-John is getting involved in Cub Scouts.  And, Kellye is getting to exercise her gifts as a teacher and is starting to have a ministry at the school in addition to all that she does for our family and through English Club.  So, this is a time to give praises for the changes in our lives.  Does that mean that every day is a good one?  No.  But it was not at home either, right?  Thanks again to all the people that are helping make this possible.

Football and Feeling a Little, No...A Lot, Home Sick...

For those of you who read this and know me pretty well you know that on most occasions I am a pretty happy guy.  And not just happy, but joyful.  I love living in Moscow.  I love the big city, all the different things there are to do and see here, and even riding on the buses and metro.  But last Saturday I was swept by a wave of homesickness that was pretty hard to overcome.  As you know, I am a nut about college football. (BOOMER SOONER!!!)  And at home my day usually started early by making a pot of chili and then watching CollegeGameDay on ESPN followed by 12 hours of football games.  Last year I missed most of the college season.  On a few rare Saturdays we were able to watch a few games during our field training in Richmond, VA.  But once we got to the field I was limited to watching the little game-tracker graphic on my computer with no audio or video.  In December our family purchased a piece of technology that allows us to watch American television through the Internet on my computer.  So, we were able to watch the bowl games and enjoy those, despite yet another Fiesta Bowl Sooner loss.   So, I had spent month looking forward to last Saturday.  We were gonna put ESPN up on the computer and watch GameDay and all the games into the wee hours of the morning.  And, as the show started, I stood in the kitchen and wept like a little girl for what was only minutes, but felt like hours.  I was so overcome by homesickness.  Silly, isn't it?  I was doing exactly what I wanted to do.  It was not that I was accustomed to being AT the games, I was watching in the kitchen just like I always do.  But I was so homesick and lonely.  I eventually got over it and was able to watch and enjoy the games and plan to watch the Sooners tonight.  But, this one little thing reminded me how much my life has changed over the last year.  In most ways I would tell you that it has changed for the good.  But, man, when homesickness and discouragement come, they come heavy and hard.

FaceBook

This past month I became part of the FaceBook generation.  If you don't know what this is, you really should try it.  It is an Internet tool for networking with family and friends.  Well, in the past two weeks I have made contact with and become reacquainted with friends that I have not seen or talked with in 20+ years.  It really has been amazing and such a tremendous blessing to me.  So, to all of my FaceBook friends, thank you for encouraging me over these past two weeks and making me smile.

Well, I had planned to tell a few more stories and share more with you, but the time of the picnic has just been moved up by two hours and I have to get going.

Blessings,

Marc

Address Change

Since arriving in Russia we have asked  that when you send packages that you send them to our office address.  However, we are in the process of relocating our offices and have been asked to have to have all packages sent to our personal addresses.  So, if you are planning to send a box of goodies from America to Russia, please use our apartment address.  Thanks!

Moscow 117485 Russia

Ulitsa Akademika Volgina

D. 8, K.2, Kv. 54

Marc & Kellye Hooks

RUSSIA

A lot of catching up to do

Well, it has been ages since I sat down to write a blog.  And, I could make lots of excuses for why I haven't done that.  But instead I will try to just bring you up to date on all the things around here.

UNEXPECTED FRIENDS

  Several weeks ago we received a phone call from one of our friends and colleagues who serves in the Far East of Russia...the area that almost connects Russia with Alaska.  It seems that due to a SNAFU with the airlines there was a team of volunteers headed for the Far East and they were stranded in Moscow.  Of course, I suited-up and headed for the airport to pick them up and helped arrange for a place for them to stay while they were in Moscow.  Now, as it turns out, some of those folks are regular readers of the Hooks family blogs, so it was great to get to meet and spend time with people who pray for and support our ministry.  After several days of negotiating with the airlines we were able to finally get them to their final destination so they could help with a youth camp.  (By the way, there were a large handful of youth who accepted Jesus as their savior during that week.)  I cannot tell you how wonderful it was and how encouraging it was to spend some time with these new friends of ours.  It was a very special time for our family and we enjoyed getting to know them.  Sometimes it is easy to forget that there are faithful friends back home who pray for us regularly, so this was really a time for encouragement.

STONES OF REMEMBRANCE

  It is good to have times and places where we stop and evaluate our lives.  For Kellye and I this usually takes place every summer as we celebrate our anniversary.  I can honestly say that I never really expected to celebrate an anniversary in Moscow, Russia.  And I really never expected to call that place my home.  However, God has done some great and mighty things in the 18 years that we have been married.  I think if I were to recount them all I would probably overwhelm the servers of the blogging network and cause a world-wide shutdown, so I won't do that.  However, let me say how blessed a man I am that God gave Kellye Hodges Hooks to me.  She is a tower of strength and the premiere example of what it means to be a godly woman of faith.  She is not only my wife and best friend, but a wonderful and loving mother to my children and I am a blessed man.  If you want to read more about the kind of woman she is, turn to the last chapter of the book of Proverbs and start reading in verse 10...you will see her described there.

SOME BITTER WITH THE SWEET

  Unfortunately, our anniversary will also remind us of the passing of our dear friend Teri Tarleton.  It was on this day that she went to be with her Jesus and left the rest of us to carry on the work here without her.  She was not only a dear friend, but a godly wife and mother and example to us all of how to live on the mission field with hearts filled with joy regardless of circumstances.  She will be missed by our family very much.  We will miss her smile, her playful attitude, her cooking, her patience, her love for us and our children, and a myriad of other things.  And, while we are saddened at her passing we celebrate a life lead for her Lord.

MOVING INTO MID-LIFE

  We also celebrated Kellye's 41st birthday recently.  It is amazing that a woman that looks so young and beautiful could be "into" her 40s.  Wow!  How blessed am I?

THE QUEST: MISSION UKRAINE

  Most of the folks with our company who work in the Moscow offices are in the process of obtaining new work visas and work permits that will allow us to stay in the country long-term.  Now this is a rather difficult process and the Russian government does not like to make life easy for foreigners.  ("The Russian government does not like to make life easy for Russians either," said Dema, one of our Russian friends.)  So several weeks ago we packed our bags and headed for Ukraine to obtain our new documents.  In the recent past our folks had been able to get their new documents in Kiev.  However, two weeks prior to our trip the Kiev office decided they were not going to process those kinds of documents anymore, so we had to go to Odessa.  So after an overnight train ride to Kiev, we got Kellye and the kids settled into a company-owned apartment in Kiev and I jumped on a "bus" (it was really an 18-passenger van) headed for Odessa.  Maybe one day this week I will write the full account of my very interesting trip, but for this blog's purposes I will summarize.  Six hours later I arrived in Odessa... aptly named because the dictionary definition for odyssey reads "a long and eventful or adventurous journey."  I arrived on Thursday night and was told at the consulate on Friday morning that my new documents would be ready that afternoon.  After sitting in the waiting room for the entire day on Friday I was informed at 4:30 that getting the documents that day would be "impossible" and that I should return after 10am on Monday.  So I spent the weekend exploring Odessa and then spent the entire day on Monday sitting in the waiting room waiting for my paperwork.  Finally, around 4:30 on monday the consulate handed me our passports with the new visa stickers.  Woo-hoo!  Then it was back on the "bus" to Kiev.  We spent a fun day at the zoo with friends of ours who live in Ukraine and that night we were back on the train to Moscow.  OK, as I write this overview I now know that this week I need to tell the whole story, so stay tuned for that one.  Needless to say, we arrived home safely and realized that we are starting to think of Moscow as "home."

THE RUSSIA FAMILY

  Immediately upon our return to Moscow we started final preparations for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was being held at a retreat center about 2 hours south of Moscow.  Kellye's description of this event in her blog does as good a job as any of describing the week-long meeting with our colleagues from around Russia, so I will refer you to her blog for more information.  But let me add that there is something refreshing about sharing time together and swapping stories to be reminded that we are not alone here.  In many places where we have personnel, their nearest contact with anyone from our company can be as much as several thousand miles away.  So it is nice to be reminded that we are not alone here...that we all hate language school...and that we all face similar struggles and though we may not be seeing them in our own back yard, there are success stories from across Russia.  God is at work in this place and this was a good reminder of that.

So, as we spend the weekend sharing a few more precious moments with dear friends who serve on the opposite end of the country, let me say to you that the one thing that we all have in common is that we are grateful for the people around the world who read our blogs, who pray for us, who give to missions offerings, and who remember that God has called all of us to missions whether we are living in the States or in a city or village where the language is not our own.

Blessings,

Marc

PRAYER NOTICE-Tarleton Family

Friends,

I will write more personally in the days to come, but want to share a press release from our office with you. Teri was a dear friend of our family and will be missed greatly.

"It is with broken hearts that we inform you that Teri Tarleton passed away Monday, July 28, 2008 at her home in Moscow from an apparent heart attack. She was 49 years old. Teri was scheduled for heart tests later in the week.

At this time arrangements are being made. However, it will be several days before final arrangements can be confirmed. We will notify you of those arrangements at that time.

We know that Teri loved her Lord and we do not grieve as "those who have no hope" yet our tears are shed for our loss and for our friends. We encourage you to join us in prayer for her family and friends at this time."

MAT Video (Part Three-Bible Study)

MAT Video (Part Two-Our Strategy)

Moscow Arts Team (Part One-Events)

The past few weeks have been like a whirlwind. We have all but stopped taking language lessons, brought new people into our English Club, moved a Bible study to our home on Sunday and said goodbye (at least for now) to our dear friends Jeff and Karla who are headed back to Florida for their Stateside Assignment. Before Jeff left we worked long and hard to produce a couple of videos about our work here in Moscow so he could share them with his students at Baptist College of Florida and the churches where he will have an opportunity to speak. So here is part one of our Moscow Arts Team DVD. If you would like more information about our team or would like to contact Jeff about coming to your church while he is in the States, please visit our website at www.hope4artists.com or email Jeff at: jefpul@everyheart.net

Photo from House Church

Since it was Jeff & Karla's last Sunday, we posed for a group photo.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

In many ways this week has been no different than most here in Russia. There have been soaring highs, crushing lows, days that you desperately want to pack up and go home land later (even on the same day) you can't imagine being anywhere or doing anything else. The week was filled with both language failures and successes. And, in a period of a week, the Russian Football (soccer) Team took made our spirits soar and then brought us crashing back to the ground as they just barely missed being able to play in the championship game. With all of that being said, it is funny to me how we have started to feel nationalistic about our adopted country in such a short time. Even when we are at our lowest and the suitcases come out of the closet we stop and ask ourselves "but what about..." and then we start to list the names of Russian friends we have made who have not had the chance to give their lives to Jesus. And that list is becoming longer. Every week we seem to make new relationships and we pray that God will use our friendship to allow the Gospel to be shared. And I don't think we will ever feel that the work here is finished because as soon as one gets saved, there will always be another new friend that we couldn't bear to leave until they were saved too. In a city of around 15-million people, I think we could be here for quite some time.

Let me add this on a total side note. I am finishing a video about our team and their strategy and I hope to post that here sometime later this week. However, I think it is important to remind folks back home that most of the people that we work with are"totally lost" in the sense that they have no background or concept of religion to work with as a starting point. Many who are a little older (25+) have told me that under the Soviet Union, Communism was their god. "Lenin and Stalin were our gods and we worshiped them," one lady told me. So, sharing the good news of Jesus and his sacrifice for our sins is not as simple as meeting for a cup of coffee at Country Cabin and finishing lunch with the "sinner's prayer." It is about forging deep relationships and personal trust which then gives us the right to share our faith. It is about them realizing that our lives and our family is different from theirs and them developing a hunger for wanting to understand what about us makes us different. The work of sharing the Gospel here is slow. However, in the end what we will find is that we have made a host of new friends and pray that they will one day meet us in heaven. That makes the daily struggles worthwhile.

OK, my sidebar is over.

Our team leader, Jeff, and his family head home this next week for their year of Stateside Assignment. Jeff and Karla will be serving as the Missionaries in Residence at the Baptist College of Florida in Graceville, Florida. Our whole family will miss them very much. They have not been just our team leaders, they have been our friends and I assure you that without their friendship, guidance, advice, shoulders to cry on, etc. that we would have given up and left Moscow long before now. So, I am grateful to them and ask that you pray for them as they transition back home this week.

And that brings me to the long list of changes that are in process...

First, let me tell you about church yesterday...all six and a half hours of it!!! That's right, you did not misread. We met as a church for 6 1/2 hours. For weeks you have been praying about our decision to host a Bible Study and yesterday was the first meeting in our home. It was truly amazing. Jeff and his family joined us for their last meeting with the group and we were also joined by another missionary family who has just moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow. But more importantly, there were 7 Russians who were with us yesterday! That meant that we had more than 20 people crammed into our living room as we sang songs of worship and studied the Bible. Our worship time and Bible study was at least three hours. Then we shared a meal together and fellowshipped. We played cards for awhile and then we had another spontaneous time of praise and worship again. It left us so excited about the decision we have made to host this group and it is so encouraging as we watch our new friends wrestle with the Word of God and see the Holy Spirit working in them. We are also excited by the fact that they are already stepping up and sharing in the leadership roles. We thought it was very important that they begin taking ownership of the group and started leading as well as participating. So, one of the guys has volunteered to play guitar each week and another (very shy) girl has agreed to facilitate the Bible study portion...a huge step for her. Next week we will start a six-week study on the life of Peter. Please be in prayer for our group as we use the life of this disciple to draw us closer in our relationship with Jesus.

Change number two...we are down to just six hours left of language learning!!!! As the Russians would say, "Oooo-rrrrah!" Our teacher in on vacation in Turkey this week so we will have the week off as well and then will study for three days next week and be finished...at least for awhile. Now, before you think us arrogant, know that we are nowhere close to knowing all of the things we need to learn and still struggle just to watch television and understand what is being said. However, we are grateful for what this break means in our lives. We are looking forward to spending more time with our children and doing things as a family. And, we are looking forward to our language learning taking on different forms...like actually talking with people. One of the drawbacks to full-time language study is that when you spend your day studying lessons and doing homework from textbooks it leaves you very little time to get out of the apartment and actually talk with people. So, I am especially looking forward to that. There is a possibility that in the fall I will start taking lessons again for six hours a week. But, none of that has been set in stone so we are reveling in our accomplishment and looking forward to the freedom it will bring to our lives.

Change number three...we are getting a vehicle!!!!! Our Moscow leadership decided this week to let us use the van assigned to Jeff and Karla while they are in the States. We are so excited about this decision because it will make our lives here just a little bit easier. It will also allow us to pick up Lilliana for church each week. She is 82 and could not attend if she had to take public transportation. We are trying to be cautious about how we use this new asset because it could be re-assigned at any time and will certainly go back to Jeff's family when he returns next year. And, when that happens we are back to using our feet and public transit, so we will try not to over-use the van while we have it. However, in the meantime it will allow us to transport groceries in large quantities from the store...and that, my friends, is worth the price of admission.

Change four...this week I officially transfer to my "real job" as the Russia Field Media Coordinator. This change, for me, is probably the most exciting of all because it means that I finally get to put my concentration on the things I am good at, and to finally be able to do the things that God called me here to do. I will tell you more about my new job throughout the summer, but my primary functions will be to (1) visit cities where we do not have any personnel and produce media pieces that will create interest in future personnel serving in these areas; (2) assist current personnel in the field with creating media pieces about their work in Russia; (3) work with the Russia Leadership Team in creating support pieces for our work here. As you can see, my life is getting to be radically different and I will most likely spend around 10 days a month away from home. Please pray for Kellye and the kids as we transition into this radically different lifestyle.

Change five...and this is not a good one...visa laws. The government changed their visa laws again this week and fellow colleagues are having trouble obtaining their new visas/work permits. We are scheduled to get our new documents in August. We were supposed to travel to Kiev, Ukraine to get this done, but have now been told that the Kiev office will no longer issue the documents we need, so as of today we really don't know what the plan is. Please pray that God will make a way for us to stay in Moscow to work with our friends here.

This week is the corner we have been waiting to turn for some time now. It is hard to believe that we have been in the country for nine months. It is hard to believe that we finally feel we have at least a base knowledge of the Russian language. It is hard to believe that we have made relationships with Russians and that there is a group of them studying the Bible in our home each week. And, it is hard to believe that most days I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life right now. That does not mean that all days are happy ones. As a matter of a fact, it generally means that we are under attack much more frequently and that makes life hard. If you never have before, I ask that you pray for our family over the next two months. If you have been praying all along, I ask that you double that amount this summer. While most of these changes are great ones we are aware that this time in our missionary career is a particularly sensitive one and is usually the point where a family either takes off and soars or crashes and burns. Pray that this week especially will be the one where we begin our ascent.

Blessings,
Marc

Here are some photos from house church yesterday:

I didn't have a wide-angle lens for my camera so you can't see everybody, but this gives you an idea of what our very full living room looked like.


Our "Russian Cowboy", Cyrill, singing during our praise and worship time. Notice his sweatshirt. Cyrill loves all things American and usually wears cowboy boots and a cowboy hat...quite a sight in Moscow.


Jeff leading us in worship.

Dema and his nephew Vita.


Lilliana...'nuff said. :-)

By The Numbers... (June Edition)

Because next month holds many new changes in our lives and because we are looking forward to those changes, this past month has felt rather monotonous.  School is out, but Kellye and I continue to study language.  We have said goodbye to friends as they have left the field, some for good and others for just awhile.  And, we have suffered through Moscow's little annoyances like our dryer breaking after having it for just a week.  So, as I took time this week to get excited about the week ahead (there is some fun stuff coming and I will tell you all about that next week), I also decided to take a look backwards and let the numbers do the talking.  So, here is the June 08 edition of "By the Numbers."

265 - The number of days we have lived in Moscow.

492- The number of classroom hours we have studied Russian.

328- The approximate number of hours spent doing Russian homework.

820- The approximate number of total hours spent studying the Russian Language.

23.54- That is how many Russian Rubles we get for every American dollar.

232- The cost (in Rubles) for a kilogram of cheese.

424- The cost (in Rubles) for 24 half-liter bottles of Coca-Cola.

1,997- The monthly cost (in American Dollars) for the rent of our 2-bedroom apartment.

3 to 7- The number of miles we walk each day.

1- The distance, in miles, to the nearest Metro (subway) station.

25- The number of Russian students "enrolled" in our weekly English Club.

2- The number of students we started with on the first week of our English Club.

9- The average number of Russian students who now attend each week. 

90- The number of blog posts I have written.

3,740- The approximate number of visits to this blog since October 2007.

40- The approximate number of countries represented by the people who read this blog.

14- The average number of visits to this site each day.

So, whether you are one of the 14 people who check this site every day, or just one of the people in one of the 40 countries around the globe who are interested in what and how we are doing in Moscow...THANK YOU!!!  Thank you for reading.  Thank you for caring.  Thank you for praying.  We could hardly do more than get out of bed without your prayers and support.

Next week... "Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!!"

A lot of catching up to do

They say that you start to slow down once you hit 40, so that is the excuse I am using for not posting since my birthday a couple of weeks ago. The truth of the matter is that part of the reason I have not written is that I have been pretty busy over the past couple of weeks. The other half of the reason is that nothing of consequence has really happened and therefore there is not much to write about. However, at the prodding of my family I am going to attempt to bring you up to speed on the not-so-exciting adventures of daily life in Moscow.


Let's start with my birthday. My wonderful wife, Kellye, went above and beyond to make this a special birthday for me. As you can imagine, living the missionary life does not leave you with a lot of money in your bank account for extravagant birthday gifts. So Kellye took this opportunity to make this a memorable birthday not with the expense of the gifts, but for the sentiment. At a dinner party with our Moscow missionary family, Kellye presented me with a scrapbook filled with letters from friends and family around the world wishing me a happy birthday. Many of you who read this blog contributed to the book and it was truly wonderful. I heard from friends that I have not seen in over 15 years as well as missionary friends from around the world. Those of you who know me well know that I am a "weeper" so it should be no surprise to you that as I read greetings from these important people I had tears streaming down my cheeks. In addition, Kellye's parents sent a truly amazing quilt made from t-shirts I have collected for 20 years. There were shirts from Oklahoma Baptist University, from radio stations where I have worked, from t-shirt logos that I designed and a variety of other memorable times in my life. It is really cool and very special. During English Club that week we had another party to celebrate my 40th and my students wrote acrostic poems using the letters in my name to describe me. Also very special. They also were very generous and gave me a few gifts, including a t-shirt with the Russian flag on it.

Our language lessons continue. And, while they can be very frustrating some days, I feel like we are starting to have some degree of success with the language. We even felt comfortable enough with our language skills that we returned a DVD to a store the day after we bought it because it was not working properly. And, while we did not get our money back, we did get them to let us choose another movie. All in all, a language success.

Our "new" clothes dryer that Kellye has been so excited about died a week after we got it. We are currently waiting for a service man to come out and tell us if it can be revived or not. Until then it is back to crunchy jeans and underwear from the drying rack.

I am about two weeks away from transitioning from the Moscow Arts Team to the Russia Field Administration Team. What does this really mean? It means that after nine months on the field I will finally get to start doing the things I came here to do. I will start working on media projects, traveling the country, and creating media pieces which will hopefully draw new missionaries to the field. It also means that I will spend more language learning time in OJT and less in the classroom and I am looking forward to that.

As Kellye has mentioned in her blogs, we have a lot of people from Moscow who are moving back to the States. Some are going just for the summer, some for a year and some for longer. While this is difficult, we are celebrating that God has brought friends from St. Petersburg to Moscow to live and our children are already becoming fast friends. Tomorrow is movie night at our house and we will have a full house as we watch Horton. We have also started a weekly Phase 10 night with friends and this is one of the highlights of my week.

Many of you have joined us in prayer as we were presented with the opportunity to host and facilitate a Bible Study/Church for Russians in our home. We have felt God's leading in this matter so this week we will start meeting with the existing group and three weeks from now we will officially move the group to our home. We are excited about this because it will be yet another opportunity to share our faith in a very real way. And, having the group in our home will also make it easier for us to invite those attending our English Club to our Bible study. Please continue to make this a matter of prayer.

Whew! So, that about sums it up. A lot of activity, but not much else to say. Life here continues to be interesting. There are good days and bad, but the days we want to get the suitcases out and come home have all but disappeared. I still don't like Russian food, but am starting to look like "an olive on a toothpick" because Kellye keeps my belly nice and fat with her great cooking and my legs are getting skinnier and skinnier from all the walking we do each week.

Know that we love each of you and enjoy hearing from you.

Blessings,
Marc

PS- Each Saturday we write a prayer letter update from the past week that is sent to the leadership of our partner churches. Some of you have expressed interest in getting this letter so we have started posting our weekly letters on a different blog site. The address is: www.hooksworldprayer.blogspot.com Please feel free to share this address or print these updates and share them with your Sunday School classes, WMU groups, etc.

Also, if you would like to read stories about how people in Russia are finding saving faith in Jesus Christ, you can read our new newsletter "Blessings 4 Every Heart." It can be found at www.hope4russia.org/blessing or you can subscribe to the weekly email by filling out the form in the top left of the page.

The up-sides of 40...

So, I woke up this morning another year older.  No big deal.  Just another day, right?  Yeah, sure...until you say it out loud..."I'm 40!"  Wow!  That kind of stings a little.  However, I am determined to make my 40th year a banner year and to do and see things that I have never done before.  Pretty easy considering that I live in Russia, but none the less...

Now by nature I am a pretty optimistic guy, so I thought I would try to take an optimistic view as I enter my fourth decade.  One of the best things about turning 40 is that I am the last one in the club.  Among our friends I have always been the youngest.  I am younger than Kellye, Cathy, Kay, Mike, Teressa, Neil, Robert, and Larry (ok, only by a couple of weeks, but it still counts).  So, while this worked to my disadvantage (and I took quite a bit of teasing about it) 20 years ago, I can spend the rest of my life knowing they reach the great landmarks of time before me!  

It is tradition for Russian men not to celebrate their 40th birthdays.  When I asked why, I got a vague explanation about something about Moses and him being 40 but they were not really sure of the reason.  I have chosen to embrace the day, but I also decided this morning that I would do a Biblical search for the phrase 40 years.  I mean, 40 is one of "God's numbers", right?  That would imply that there was some pretty good stuff happening when you turn 40.  Here is what I found:

- Isaac married Rebekah at the age of 40 (Gen 25:20) and Esau married Judith when he was 40 (Gen 26:34)  Those are both pretty good.  I am glad that I found my wonderful bride 20 years earlier and didn't have to wait until I was 40.  But getting a good wife is certainly worth waiting 40 years.

- The books of Exodus and Numbers provide no comfort.  They are filled with references to the Children of Israel suffering for 40 years.  I think I will pass on that one if God doesn't mind.

- Deuteronmy 2:7 is a good one.  It says, "These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything."  That is certainly true.  My family is a living testament that God has been with me and has blessed me.  Of course, this verse refers to the 40 years of suffering in the desert, but it is good to know that even in the midst of suffering that God is with us and provides for our needs.  In other verses the Old Testament talks about the children of Israel not even needing new clothes or shoes.  Considering I have already gone through one pair of shoes since we moved here that would not be too bad either.

- Joshua was 40 years old when Moses sent him out to explore the promised land.  (Joshua 14:7) Like Joshua  I feel like the important part of my life is just beginning.  Everything I have done before now has just been training for the mission God has given me in Russia.  Sure, I get homesick and there are days I would rather do anything but speak Russian.  However, I can tell you that most days I feel more comfortable here and with what God has called us to do than anything I ever did in the States.  He has gifted me with a wonderful and Godly wife who stands by my side and encourages me every step along the way.  It is exciting to look back over the past 40 years and see how God has used my different experiences (both good and bad) to shape me into the man I am today and to prepare me for what lies ahead.  I am sure that Joshua felt excited as he crossed that first ridge into the promised land.  I can relate to that and am glad that he did not send me when I was younger.

- Saul's son, Ish-Bosheth, was 40 when he became king of Israel.  (2 Samuel 2:10) Now that is a pretty good gig.  He only reigned two years though and kings usually lost their thrones by winding up dead, so there might be a few drawbacks there.

- In Acts 4:22 we read of a man who was 40 years old when he was healed by Peter and John.  Not a bad birthday present.

- It was at age 40 when Moses left the palace of Pharaoh to visit his fellow Israelites and witnessed their suffering.  (Acts 7)  Just before I left for training I found that part of my family immigrated to America from Ufa, Russia.  While I would certainly not presume to compare myself with Moses, I think I understand a little bit how he felt when he left his place of privilege at age 40 to see his kinsmen.  I am inexplicably drawn to Russia and her people.  Even on the worst of days I love them.  Perhaps because in some way their history is my history.  Regardless of the reason, I am always a little awed that God would wait until Moses was 40 to start using him for His purposes.  I hope that in God's timeline I am coming to an age where I can be used by him more and more.

So, on my 40th birthday I choose to celebrate.  I choose to celebrate that God has redeemed a worthless life and allowed me to live this long.  I choose to celebrate the wife with whom He as gifted me.  I choose to celebrate the family He has surrounded me with.  And I choose to celebrate that no matter how old I am, I am still younger than my friends!!

Recovering from RamCorps

We have had a great week ministering with the students from the University of Mobile. Their group, RamCorps, spent last week in Moscow playing one or two concerts each day in various locations around the city. While the concerts were certainly great, the students quickly came to understand that their purpose was less about the music and more about making connections with the Russian people they got to meet along the way. As a result, we already have seen three new people join our English club this week and have deepened relationships with people who were already familiar with our cultural exchange work.

As you can imagine, we are exhausted. So today our schedule is clear and although there are many things to be done, not the least of which is housework, we have dedicated the day to resting and getting our bodies back on schedule. I plan to write more about the RamCorps visit in the days to come, but in the meantime here is a brief video from their week in Moscow.

Blessings,
Marc

PHOTO ESSAY - Victory Day 2008

On Friday, May 9, Russians celebrated their victory over Hitler (or Gitler, as they pronounce it) and the Nazis in World War II. That afternoon I went to Парк Победа (Victory Park) where millions gathered for concerts and to celebrate and honor veterans of WWII. Here are some images...

This is a victory gate located just outside of the park. It commemorates the Russia's victory over Napoleon.

The park entrance. The sign says "Victory!"

This emblem was at the top of a long column near the entrance to the park. Notice the letters CCCP (or USSR). Russians continue to use these initials on Victory Day because it was the Soviet Army that defeated the Germans, and not just soldiers from Russia.


One of the many veterans that donned their old uniforms and medals so that they could be honored.


Notice the flowers in this soldier's hand. It is customary to present the veterans with a long-stemmed carnation.


Their were flags everywhere. The wind was blowing this one backwards, but if you put it up to a mirror it spells "Russia"


To me, this is what a Russian WWII veteran should look like.

Many of the millions of people were carrying Russian and Soviet flags.



I was surprised at how many female WWII veterans were at the park proudly displaying their medals.


Veterans and babies...could you stage better photo-ops?


I love this monument. It is to memorialize the cooperation Russia received from other countries in fighting the Nazis. The two soldiers on the left are Soviet, the right-center soldier is an American and the soldier on the right is British. On Monday in Red Square we met a Veteran Soviet General who told us we should remind our folks back home that "Americans and Russians fought shoulder-to-shoulder to save the world."

And finally, this is me with my Russian Federation flag (that is now in my bedroom) in front of one of the monuments.