36 hours and counting...

Less, actually. I could figure it out, but I'm too tired. In general, Dan and I are both exhausted. The last week has been jam packed and Dan, the introvert, is particularly struggling to stay engaged to the end. Please pray for us tomorrow - our last day here in Russia and a VERY full one. We'll have lots of goodbyes at church, of course. Dan is preaching and in the afternoon teaching a class for the bible school the church runs for new believers (people newly baptized need to attend once a week for at least a year, though there is a two year program - anyone is invited). In the evening I will lead - and Dan will help me (I hope!) - the youth meeting. The theme will be relationships, dating and marriage. And of course, there is still all the packing and getting things in order here in our apartment before we leave.

Yesterday we had friends over and watched the opening of the Olympics. Last night and today we've been watching round-the-clock news about the situation in South Ossetia. Needless to say, it's sobering to hear about war and to see and hear the reactions of our Russian friends. We have a friend from another city staying with us right now and it's hard to tear him from the television - it's a gripping and distressing situation. BBC news gives one view of the conflict, if you'd like to read up... of course, the angle of the Russian television here is a different one. It's very hard to know where truth is, but it's certainly true that people are dying and the conflict is escalating.

Thanks for your prayers - please pray for strength to make it through tomorrow and finish well. We want to make sure to say our goodbyes properly. Pray for safety on the journey home. And do pray for peace in South Ossetia.

Though it will be hard to leave our friends here, we are also really looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

Lucy

Lucy downtown.

Comparing CNN, BBC and Russian news on Southern Ossetia.

With our good friends, Kostya and Luda.

Countdown to America!

Well, we can't believe how quickly the summer has gone by. Just 4.5 more days and we'll be getting on a plane bound for Chicago (well, first Frankfurt, then Chicago!). These last weeks - this past month, in fact, have been jam-packed. If the first few weeks of our summer started at a leisurely pace, we have more than made up for it in the hectic, activity-filled weeks of July and now into August.

Last week - after being back at our apartment in Ekaterinburg long enough to catch up on a little sleep, enjoy a hot shower and do some laundry - we took a bus back to the city of Chelyabinsk, a few hours south of here. This is the city of Heaven's Open church and the regional CCX (student movement) group. We had already spent much of July with many friends from Chelyabinsk who took part in one of the 3 camps we participated in. So it was nice to be able to spend a week with people already "mid-conversation", so to speak. Rather than just catching up, we were able to go deeper in our conversations and relationships, which is always gratifying. We spent Sunday with Heaven's Open church, where Dan preached. They are so grateful for the partnership they have with Alleluia (and many of you!) through us. I wished that day that many of you could have been there to experience the contradictions of faith here: a weak church, yet so strong in their faith in so many ways; a poor church and yet so hospitable and overflowing in generosity.

The communion table.

Dan preaching last Sunday.


Praying for a church member with cancer.

Friday we celebrated Pr. Ilya and Anya's 7th wedding anniversary with them, their families and many close friends (both theirs and ours). It was a rather impromptu gathering - they invited everyone within a few days and only finalized things Thursday night - but still 21 of the 23 invited guests made it. Proof that Russians are an event-oriented rather than time-oriented culture :) They said 7 seemed like a significant year biblically speaking... and they just wanted an excuse to throw a party! Another reason for them to celebrate this year - they have just announced that they are expecting their 2nd child at the end of February. It is a real demonstration of faith and joy for this couple - who are stretched financially, even by Russian standards - to have another baby. It was evident to us, though, as we looked around the party Friday night how key the ministry of this family is. They have one of the healthiest marriages we know, either side of the Atlantic, which sadly couldn't be said of many of those gathered to celebrate. Russian society has some crippling disfunctionalities (to use an American word), and families inside the church seem to suffer almost as much as those outside. It is reassuring to us to see Pr. Ilya and Anya living a practical faith that gives hope to the people in their congregation.

Pr. Ilya & Anya: 7 Happy Years!

Celebrating Ilya & Anya's anniversary.

We'll try to update some more in the next few days with stories of the last few weeks. This week is a busy one! For now, go over to our Picasa web albums and take a look at the newest photos from the last week & a half. Pray that our final days with friends and the church here in Ekaterinburg would be meaningful and not simply bustling. Pray too for our preparations for Sunday: Dan preaches and then leads a bible class in the afternoon; I will be leading the youth meeting that evening.

At the dacha.


Dan and Lucy near the city center in Chelyabinsk.

Many more pictures online...

Here you can browse the few hundred pictures we've already taken this summer... and even more from last summer. They are grouped into albums which should be pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/lucy.wynard

For some stories and prayer requests, read the post below.

Back From Camp #3!

Friends & family -

Lucy and I are back from 3 weeks of camps. conferences, adventures and more.....
It was a great time and despite some of the difficulties (see posts below) we were both glad we were able to attend. As expected the highlights of the time were the conversations we had with people. We all had lots of time to reflect on who God is, where our lives are going and how God does or does not influence us. One example was a conversation I (Dan) had with an old friend whom I had not seen in many years. He and a few other friends had started up a small Christian business only to see their friendships destroyed when they came under the stress of having to work and make tough decisions together. He was very open in sharing with me about the brokenness in himself and his friends. Because that was at the center of how they treated each other that ate away at both their friendships and their business.

Lucy had the opportunity to pray with a young women that had been married about a year. This woman had experienced a deep betrayal in friendship resulting in public disgrace at church and was at the same time struggling to feel loved by her husband. She felt unable to trust or forgive. By the end of their walking, talking, and praying she said she was feeling hopeful and excited for the first time in a long time.

Dan, Ilya, Slava and Edik -old friends.

The last week was spent at a Russian student conference. It had been several years since we had attended a national student conference such as this. There were some old friends and lots of new faces. It was really encouraging to see how God continues to remain faithful to this vital work after so many years. One huge need that stood out was for new national staff workers. Many of the Russians who have been working with CCX (the student movement) for a number of years are now moving on to other things. There is a huge need for a new generation of leaders to be raised up to replace them. Please pray for this and the funds to support them.

Yura Mark

The main speaker at the national student conference was a man named Yuri Mark, a Ukrainian theological professor from Kherson, Ukraine. He talked about the difference between people on a journey - with clear goals, principles, and life perspective - and those who are simply wandering or stuck. He challanged all of us to think about our own journeys and how to shape our lives in light of the goals, principles and perspective that our faith gives us. He also gave some great seminars on contemporary evangelism.

Alyosha, the new General Secretary of CCX, interviewing
Dan and 2 others about their experiences in the student movement.

Thanks for your prayers! We're off to Chelyabinsk today for a week spent with some of these same friends - leaders from Heaven's Open church and CCX. Pray for Dan as he is speaking this weekend at church and for our time with some of the lay leaders of the church still recovering from deep wounds of sin in their recent past. Pray for energy and focus - we're both lagging a bit at this point in the summer.

Blessings,
Dan & Lucy

Back to Kyshtym

Dan and I are leaving in about an hour and a half for the bus station. We'll take a bus to the city of Kyshtym, not far from our campsite. Someone will meet us there and we'll go by car to camp. We're excited to go back to friends & conversations we were "in the middle of", so to speak, and next week to see so many old friends at the National Student Conference. But we're also both fighting colds and feeling very tired. So please pray that we would have energy and that our bodies would heal! Here's our schedule & a couple of prayer requests for the next two weeks:

* This weekend (July 18-20) we'll join the evangelism camp already in progress for the last few days. Pray that non-Christian students would accept the gospel and/or continue to be involved in Heaven's Open Church or CCX (the national student movement).

* Next week (July 20-27) is the CCX national conference. We'll be seeing old friends on staff and hanging out with staff and students. This is a difficult time for the student movement here - staff numbers are shrinking and pay for staff was just cut due to lack of income. Pray for the staff and student leaders from around the country to be re-engergized and refreshed by their time together. And pray for new partners for CCX! (Let us know if you're interested - we can get you connected!)

* The following week (July 27-August 3 - ish) we'll be going to Chelyabinsk to spend time with Pr. Ilya and others from Heaven's Open church and CCX. Pray that we will be good listeners and encouragers. Pray also that we would be able to pave the way for a team from Alleluia! to come next summer.

In early August we'll head back to Ekaterinburg, but we'll be offline probably until then. We LOVE hearing from folks so please comment or send us an email. And we do rely on prayer, so please pray.

Blessings,
Lucy (and Dan)

Camp Pictures & Update

The view from our camp site:


A mother-child afternoon activity:


Pr. Dan and Pr. Ilya catching up:


The worship team getting a little help from an aspiring musician:


Our evening campfire & part of our circle:


Well, we're briefly back in our apartment in Ekaterinburg after an interesting week at camp. It was full of both wonderful and terrible experiences! Among the highlights (and lowlights):

* We shared our camp site with a number of snakes, both venomous and otherwise. One woman was bitten and had to spend a few days in the hospital. A couple of others were bitten but only by garden snakes.

* The mosquito population at this camp site is significantly higher than the place we were at last year, which made our evenings especially challenging. It was almost humorous each night looking around the circle of folks constantly swatting themselves and their neighbors as Dan valiantly tried to preach effectively. He now has a new record for number of bugs swallowed during a sermon.

* Lucy had cases of both heatstroke and food poisoning. If there is anything more miserable than food poisoning itself, it's food poisoning in the middle of a wilderness filled with mosquitoes and snakes and without clean water or a conventional toilet. Enough said.

* Once again, we had some fantastic conversations and opportunities to build significant relationships. We continued relationships with folks who need encouragement, prayer and just a compassionate friend to talk to. Believe it or not, this makes up for everything above!

* This may seems particularly hard to believe, but the spot we are camping in this year is truly beautiful and restful and there were some times of real joy as we relaxing with the people from Heaven's Open Church, who have so little chance to enjoy the outdoors or spend so much recreational time together during the rest of the year.

We had originally planned to come home for a week in between this camp and the national student conference (at the same camp site) but were talked into staying a little late and going back early (yes - we are just that crazy!) to be a part of the student evangelistic camp going on now. We came back to Ekaterinburg Monday afternoon and will return to the campsite Thursday or Friday. Please pray for us this week that our bodies, minds and souls will recover in this short time at home. Also pray for those at the camp still this week - especially for the non-Christian students taking part in the camp - which has a Lord of the Rings theme - to hear, understand and receive the gospel. There is also a team from a church in London there to help for the week. Pray for them as few of them speak Russian or have been to Russia before. Several of them also had food poisoning.

For more pictures from camp, check out our Picasa Web Album. Thanks for your prayers!

Off to camp!

It is late Saturday night, we are all packed and ready to go. Tomorrow morning we leave for the Heaven's Open church retreat. For those of you who do not know, this is when we head off into the woods, and spend a week camping, studying, praying, sharing, worshiping, and resting together with folks from the H.O. church. This is often one of the highlights of my (Dan's) trip, not because I enjoy camping or anything remotely similar, but because of the relationship building that goes on during this week. It is a time to seek God, to contemplate, to worship and to experience a unique form of fellowship. It happens because everyone leaves their day to day lives behind and focuses on God. Lets face it, our lives (whether in the US or in Russia) are hectic and loud. There is so much screaming for our attention it is hard to stop and just listen to God's voice. It is difficult to just sit back and experience Him and only Him. That's why this week is so importyant for me personaly and for everyone in attendance. It provides the time we need, at a pace that is benificial, to make contact with God. To be restored, encouraged, or changed.

I am also keenly aware of how much both Lucy and I will need your prayers this week. We go in order to participate and be a vehicle by which God will touch peoples hearts. But we are imperfect tools that need your prayers and the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Some ways that you can specifically pray for us.

• Pray for me (Dan) as I will be preaching each evening (mon. thru Sat). The texts will be from 6 different moments in the life of David. We will examine how our choices can have such a huge impact on how we and those around us expereince God. Pray that God will speak powerfully through me.
• We will also do a lot of one-on-one counseling. Pray that we will understand people clearly as they share with us and that we will know how to respond (in Russian) to their needs. Pray that God will give us the strength to encourage and engage people throughout the week.
  
• Many of these conversations come at the end of the week and may feel rushed. Pray that we will be able to connect with people early thus leading to more in-depth conversations.
• Pray for us personally, that God will also allow us to rest and be touched by Him and others at this camp.

Next Update will be in a week when we return from the retreat.