Cinco de Mayo is almost here. That means two things a great time is to be had at Los Compadres Mexican Restaurant and I am leaving with a team of 13 others to serve for 10 days in Russia. This is definitely by far the longest I have ever been gone and the farthest I have ever gone before. There are quite a few on the trip who have never even been out of the country in their entire lives. We will be working with a ministry called “Casa Betel.” This mission is not limited to Russia alone but also has centers in Italy, Spain, New York City and Mexico. “Casa Betel” is a Christian mission to reach men and women ages 18-25 who are struggling with addictions to various drugs. This center is not just an overnight stay rather a program that each addict is committed to and goes through over months. While we are there each of us will have the opportunity to lead a morning devotional through a translator. We will be doing some skits in local churches. The trip will also include various manual labor projects. I think what excites me the most is that we will be in the midst of this mission field all the time. We will not be on a Christian compound and go out for hours a day before returning to our air conditioned (not that you need it in Russia with a low of 26 Tuesday) rooms to relax and play cards all night. We will sleep in a room full of cots with every rehab patient, brush our teeth next to them, eat meals with them, travel with them, hang out with them and do daily devotions with them. This excites me because this is a true opportunity to live out the Christian life 24/7 as a light in a dark place. This is also stretching and trying where each of us will continual to learn what it truly means to live a missional life style. This being my final post for the next ten or twelve days I wanted to post some things to pray for the trip, so here they are:
- Travel: Safety goes in here I guess. Smooth travel in the various airports (Tallahassee, Atlanta, Paris, St. Petersburg)
- Opportunistic Attitudes: That we would carry the attitude of the Armor bearer in 1 Samuel who says “perhaps god will show up” and then goes boldly. We would see the opportunities from start to finish and take risks.
- Russians: The hearts of those who God already knows we are going to encounter
- My Saturday message: I am speaking at workshop about the need and dependence on the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. Pray for my continued preparation, my nerves to be calm and that the communication would be clear with the translator (this part is hard for me with a translator)
- God’s will: As a team we would trust and lean on the sovereignty of God throughout the entire trip.
- Impact: The trip would leave a spiritual impact not just on the people we meet in airports, or Russia but that each of us would continue to learn to live like the missionaries we are at all times not just for 10 days.
