After adjusting to life back in Russia, things are starting to take off. For example, today I (Dan) led a seminar in church on the ten commandments and the importance they play in our lives. About 14 new believers - people who came to faith in the last year - attended. It was refreshing for me to see and hear their eagerness to learn about God. They had lots of insightful and difficult questions - like, "How do I honor parents who have spent most of my life hurting me?"
We also went to the youth meeting this afternoon/evening. (As an aside, any church activity here seems to be about twice as long as its American counterpart would be - so the youth meeting was 2 & 1/2 hours long.) One of the interesting observations we had was how many similarities there are between Alleluia! and Living Word church, our church here in Ekaterinburg. For example, the pastor announced to the youth today that he plans to start having a second Sunday morning service in the fall to accommodate the growth the church is experiencing and make room for more people to bring their friends and neighbors. He also challenged the youth to step up and serve more. He hopes to have youth-led worship services perhaps once a month, also beginning in the fall.
Saturday we spent the day outside the city at the home of one of the elders, along with Pr. Leonid (the senior pastor at Living Word). We grilled sosiski (hot dogs), had tomato and cucumber salad, and drank hot tea - a VERY typical Russian meal. We spent our time fellowshiping and discussing all sorts of topics, eg.: how does one observe the Sabbath (Pr. Leonid was working on his sermon for today!), the American presidential elections, the influence of the church on the culture in our respective countries, the difference in prices between Russia & America (everyone wants to know if it's true that our economy is in crisis) and how to keep bees! (Pr. Leonid has two hives that he tends and keeps on Kostya and Luda's land. We find in Russia people have the most interesting and useful hobbies!)
This week we'll be spending more time with various people and preparing talks, etc. for the camp next week. Thanks for your prayers!
Dan & Lucy
Clockwise: Luda, Lucy, Dan, Pr. Leonid, Kostya at Kostya & Luda's house outside Ekaterinburg.
Pr. Leonid & Kostya after tending to the bees.
Luda keeps a fantastic garden, something many Russians do - it's usual to have a plot in a communal garden or at the "dacha". You can see the bee hives at the back of their property.
Pr. Leonid sat outside for a while to work on his sermon for Sunday morning.
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