A Flood of Activity

For once there is more than one thing to write about. There is a flood of things to write about. So if you are really interested then you will have plenty of reading to do. If you are not so interested I will not be offended for the skimming you are about to do. I will try and give you headlines so you know better where the skimming should take place. If you can only pick one area to read I would suggest District Conference.

Transportation and Health
This week I had some transportation problems. On an average it takes me 40 minutes to get to school. I normally leave my house just after 8 and arrive around 8:45. School starts at 9. Well on Monday I left at 8 and an hour and ten minutes later I finally made it the 5 miles to school. The next day I tried a different route and made it to school in 20 minutes. I ended up at school before 8:30, well before even the teachers had arrived.
I realize that this isn’t very interesting news but just wait. On Thursday I again arrived at school early and was feeling good about my new routine. Then at about 11 am I started feeling very ill. I went into the bathroom and threw up. I made it until noon when I finally just left in the middle of class. I took a taxi and arrived home in 10 minutes. I didn’t want to risk vomiting on the bus.
Why was I sick? Did it have to do with the transportation? Well, not really. The connection is that life here is harder in every way than it was for me in America. My body is feeling the effects. I believe I had my first major diabetic warning. I have been getting faint and dizzy on and off here. On Thursday I had fruit for breakfast and then someone brought pie to school. I had a piece of pie at break. I think my body had a sugar rush and then it dropped. I didn’t know how to handle it. I haven’t been taking very good care of my body here. I have just been trying to get by. I have had my warning and I now it is time to be more careful. If I’m not it is only a matter of time before I am diabetic.

District Conference
This weekend I had the privilege to attended District Conference here in Krasnodar. I was able to meet many pastors and here what God is doing throughout this area. It was extremely encouraging to me. One of the churches looked like they had a fairly good children’s ministry. They even work in an orphanage on a regular basis and feed the homeless every single day. The ministries that this church was involved in gave me tremendous hope. They are a church of less than 200.
Many of the pastors expressed the need for prayer in regards to their children’s ministries. They see it as a need and they are praying for God to provide. God is certainly at work among the pastors and the ground is beginning to be worked for children’s ministry.
While I was at District Conference they elected a new District Superintendent. For those of you that came with me to Russia before you will be interested to know that the new District Superintendent is the pastor of the church in Mykop. He is also the DS of the district that his own church is in as well as the pastor of a church of over 200. He definitely has a lot of work on his shoulders. He could use your prayers.
While at District Conference I was also able to meet Sveta. She lives in a town on the Black Sea a few hours away. She graduated from the seminary here in Krasnodar four years ago. She currently works with troubled teens. She has invited me to come one weekend to see her ministry. She really seemed excited about me visiting. So hopefully in a month or so I will be able to visit her and see ministry first hand.
To be honest I wasn’t looking forward to going to District Conference. I knew the entire weekend would be in Russian. I didn’t really feel like meeting new people. God truly blessed me through the experience. Not only did I meet some amazing people but I have a better understanding of what God is doing in this part of the world.

Choir Practice
Yesterday I went to my fist choir practice. Some of the English speakers at our church are going to put on an Easter musical. It is called “The Eyes of Faith.” We will be practicing twice a week up until Easter. It really isn’t a lot of time. I am excited to get to know some people from the church better. We are a small group of different cultures, with only two Americans. I am thankful for the opportunity to finally serve again.