Reflecting on Russia

I’m back in the office today (sort of). I’m working through a little bit of jet lag. I was up most of last night and then I slept until about noon. Now I’m sitting here looking at my desk that I cleaned of all paperwork before I left and trying to remember what I left undone and what needs to be initiated. One thing about preaching is that no matter how clear your desk is, there is always a sermon you can be working on.

I’ve already sprinkled some reflections on my trip throughout my previous posts, so let me see if I can tie up some loose ends in this post.

If you ever get a chance to cheaply fly Business Class overseas, do it. It was the most enjoyable time I’ve ever spent on a plane. Here are some of the things that make flying up at the front of the plane so much fun: hot towels, a five-course gourmet meal, wine and cheese, multiple movies, reclining chairs with foot rests and lumbar support, and an amenity travel pack with ear plugs, eye cover, lotion, toothe brush, and fresh socks.

The only reason I was able to do such a thing was because of Rob’s familial connections to Delta Airlines. He and his family were gracious to make such a trip possible for me. I’m pretty sure this was one of the cheapest mission trips to Russia that has ever been taken.

Rob and his crew are doing a great job at the camp. It’s best described as a seed planting ministry. The short-term goal of the camp is not to get Russion kids to proclaim Jesus as Lord, but rather to plant the content and relational seeds of the gospel in their hearts. Each kid leaves with Russian and English Bibles and they leave having heard a variety stories and lessons from Scripture.

But more importantly I think is that they leave having been shown the love of Christ by the teachers and leaders of the camp. Rob has developed an outstanding relationship with the Russian government and they have given him the freedom to put on a life-changing camp for Russian kids. Rob is using his freedom in an extremely responsible and Christ honoring way. If Rob started using the camp as a “preach and dunk” opportunity he would undoubtedly alienate those who have given him this opportunity and the doors that have been thrown wide open would be shut. Because of the way Rob is doing business in Siberia, he has the opportunity to have a long-term influence in the spiritual formation of Russian youth. I can very easily see the influence the ministry he does at these camps extending beyond the borders of Russia. I couldn’t be more excited for him.

One of the genius moves Rob has made in running the camp is that he has on staff Russian co-teachers who are there to assist their English speaking counterparts with translation and teaching. Most of these co-teachers are not followers of Christ. They are young adults who love kids and want to work on their English skills. These co-teachers start interacting with the American teachers months in advance. They plan activities and curriculum and work out details via email. Really what they are doing is building relationships with each other. When the camp starts, the co-teachers translate what the American teachers say and they help teach the Bible lessons.

Somewhere along the way they find themselves hip-deep in Christian community. Through all of this, the gospel starts rubbing off. This is the third year of the camp and each year one of the co-teachers has been baptized. It is quite common and natural for the co-teachers to come away from camp with as many questions about Christianity as the kids do, maybe even more.

As I told Rob before I got on the plane, I think he is putting into practice a non-threatening, communal, participatory form of evangelism/discipleship that will work not only in Russia, but also in the States.