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!