Finding the Good in Freezing Children

Every Sunday night we "attend" church at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City via their webcast on the Internet. This past month the pastor has been preaching about the life of Joseph -- one of my favorite Bible characters. At the climax of the story, Joseph is sitting in a position of power and prominence in Egypt when he finally gets to address his brothers who tried to kill him but decided to sell him into slavery instead. At this key meeting Joseph tells his brothers "Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good..." (The Message)

Honestly, I meant no harm to the small children in the apartments above us. I really didn't. And there was no harm or evil intended. Honestly! However, as is His way God has used that event for good instead of harm.

As I have said before, Russians are very closed and difficult to get to know. I have been told that once they get to know you they are very welcoming and inviting. However, getting to that point is difficult, at best. I think that comes from a combination of things, not the least of which are long cold winters and years of communist dictatorship. On a brief side-note, I came across these next verses this week that reminded me a lot of the Russians that I encounter on the streets, stores and metro every day. As soon as I read them I thought that the people of Russia must not be much different from the people Isaiah was asked to talk with every day.

"But this is a people battered and cowed, shut up in attics and closets, victims licking their wounds, feeling ignored, abandoned...Their whole world collapsed but they still didn't get it; their life is in ruins but they don't take it to heart." Isaiah 42:22, 25 (The Message)

So, back to my story. On Thursday Kellye and I arranged to meet for lunch along with two other couples to celebrate Valentine's Day at an American steak house here in Moscow. I was really looking forward to it because I have not had a steak since September. Kellye was coming from school and I had a language lesson that morning and was walking from the apartment. As I approached the street I was greeted by someone yelling "Privet, Marc!" Now this was strange for a couple of reasons. The most obvious being that nobody except for missionary friends call me by name. The second was that someone would shout out my name from a distance...Russians are typically very quiet people, especially in public. And lastly, I was greeted with "privet" which is the greeting reserved for friends. Outside of missionary friends, the only other people who have greeted me with this word have been brothers and sisters at our new and wonderful church. Well, I suppose you have guessed by now that the person calling my name was Эдик (pronounced "Eh-dick"), the handyman for our building who had come to turn the heat back on for the poor children upstairs.

He asked me where I was going and we discovered that although we were going two different directions part of the route was the same, so he asked if I wanted to walk with him. We talked about the weather and he showed me a photograph of his daughter as we briskly made our way up the street. (And yes, for those of you wondering, we spoke entirely in Russian because Эдик does not speak English.) When it came time for us to part company we said our goodbyes and turned to go opposite directions, but not before he turn back and invited me to call him sometime!

So I spent the rest of the week trying to figure out what I would say if I called, what we would talk about, etc. And, I had planned to call him today to invite him out to get a cup of tea and talk, but frankly I was pretty nervous about it. I was kind of relieved when I found out that my day would be taken up running business errands and that I would not have time to meet with Эдик. However, God had other plans. So as I returned from my daily walk to the store this morning I saw Эдик outside of my building as he was getting ready to enter one of the other doors in the building. Notice my wording here...I saw him...he had not seen me yet. I could almost hear Jesus out loud as he walked with me down the sidewalk, "Ok, Marc...so now what are you going to do. If you don't call out to him, he will go inside and you will go upstairs and nobody but you will know. You asked for a friend and I helped make the first move, so what are you going to do with it?" It is so uncomfortable when Jesus talks to you like that... So even though I was quite uncomfortable doing it I called out to him. We had a brief chat while new snow fell around us and I took the opportunity to invite him to have tea with me this Thursday after my lesson.

So this week I am thankful that God has heard my prayers and used a simple thing like being too hot in my bedroom, causing me to turn off the heat, which caused the repairman to come, etc. to help me make a friend with a Russian national. As you read this I have two simple requests for you: The first is that you pray for me this week as I will have an opportunity to spend some time with Эдик and hopefully develop a relationship. But the second is that if you come across someone this week who does not speak English. Be kind to them. Speak to them first. Ask them what they are doing and maybe you can go along, even if it is a short distance. But most importantly, give them an opportunity to maybe make the first friend they have outside of people who are just like they are. They will be glad that you did.