Mustard in Russia?:

Before all you burger gurus go into a panic, yes, we do have access to mustard out here in the outskirts of Siberia… yet for some reason it has evaded us up to this point. One thing that is not in short supply on the other hand is mayonnaise! Which thanks to my helpful Russian counterparts, has become a much more involved ingredient in my daily dietary needs… I can sense your jealousy; my heart goes out to you.

All joking aside though, I thought all of you wonderful people might enjoy a touch of insight into what most of my weeks thus far have consisted of.  In DTS , the first phase of our adventure involves roughly 12 weeks of lectures led by colorful characters from all around the world; all of which have a specific focus intended to open our eyes to the world around us, inform us of the finer points of life and work as a missionary, as well as just encourage character growth in general. I recognize that’s a fairly broad summary, but at the rate we are covering topics I’d be hard pressed to flesh out a single week! For instance, this last week we enjoyed the company of the one and only Kelly Hodikoff who was providing us with a deeper understanding of “Biblical Worldview”. An incredible week to say the least, oddly enough… one of the most profound messages behind his teaching was also one of the most simple – if we are called to be salt and light in the world today, how long has it taken us to recognize the spiritual value of callings such as business, media, and even politics in contrast to that of direct ministry… or have we? How is it that we find ourselves ensnared by such a subtle sense of dualism? These individuals are called to the urgency of the Great Commission as well, and in many cases have been blessed with an insight that fulfills a unique role otherwise left unattended. We must continue to strive to realize the potential of the entire body of Christ in order to truly find ourselves within the sights of the Great Commission, together we have been graced with the means to disciple all nations.

A Breath of Fresh Air:

Good morning everyone!

Well… good afternoon I suppose, but I had a splendid morning! Thank you for asking!

It was a clear Saturday morning as I stumbled out of bed to discover that the house was practically empty (bizarre experience with a crew of 14 on average). After finding a single intelligent life form to communicate with, I was informed that those that came before me had ventured into the unknown in pursuit of fame and fortune… aka they went next door to help our neighbors distribute a LARGE load of manure for their fields next year, nothing quite like a breath of fresh air!

It was quite the wake up call to be honest, but you could tell that they were incredibly grateful… so much so that we were bombarded with a slew of home made jams and juices, so good! It just so happens that was just the beginning of their generosity…

… Did I mention that I our well has left the land of the living? Alas we have access to another well about half of a mile away from our home… it’s a shame that it pooped out on us after the first few days as well. So after resorting to a few trips down to the river (over a mile away), followed by a long process of filtering and boiling our liquid treasure we were the left with the prize of drinkable water.

No worries though, we’ve decided it’s just preemptive training for whatever the upcoming outreach may bring to the table. Also after the first week or so our neighbors were kind enough to offer access to their own water source… a tremendous blessing in so many ways. And the only thing the neighbor had to say in reply to our onslaught of “thank you’s” was “God has provided the water… how could I not be generous?” 

The Mystery of Banya Pt. 2:

Luckily we’ve managed to obtain a reliable Internet connection for the next few weeks, so you may get a few regular updates for once! In contrast though, I can’t guarantee any updates after we leave Russia… which could mean a good 3 months of incommunicado Charlie.

On another note though, last time I left all of you on the edge of your seats as to what my true introduction into Russian culture was…

… And you thought I forgot. Anyways, with no further adieu I present to you the Russian banya!!!

While I’ll admit I’m not the most inspirational of photographers, you can see the homely little abode over to the right… she’s a beaut! You see, initially when my hosts mentioned the banya my thoughts first raced to my amassed Spanish vocabulary. Which led me to think it was some kind of sketchy restroom of sorts, luckily I was completely off the mark… apparently Spanish doesn’t apply this far east.

The best way I could describe the experience would be to compare it to a sauna… or more aptly associated with an “Indian Sweat Box”. Point being that friends, family, and associates gather together in close quarters for the bittersweet experience of “sweating out all that ails you”. Apparently this requires temperatures of 100+ (Celsius that is…) in order to achieve the aforementioned goals. The real kicker though is that at regular intervals the participant would leap into the surrounding snow… seeing as we don’t have snow yet, we have fallen back to a relatively frigid shower as our faithful alternative.

Fear not though faithful readers, as the steam has cleared it is safe to say that I have managed to survive the gauntlet that is the Russian banya… and to my surprise I love it! In respect to this discovery I have initiated plans (as well as started rough schematics) for Paradise’s first intercultural banya experience! Patent pending of course…

Thus far my most cherished banya experience took place a few weeks ago on a perfectly chilled night. All the fellas had gathered together, mind you we managed to stash a bunch of tea, kvass (I’ll explain later… maybe), and munchies in there beforehand, as you’ve all guessed this meant we had no reason to leave for quite some time… 3 hours, countless absurd conversations, and at least 11 ridiculous moments later I found myself victor in this battle of endurance. What was my reward you ask? Nothing short of my highlight for the evening – after hearing something outside, I figured that one more trip outside was the perfect excuse to investigate not to mention cool off! It turns out that 12am is the perfect opportunity to enjoy the fireworks of a late night wedding celebration… besides that, I had the joy of witnessing all of our guys becoming family. Something you’d normally consider to be a subtle, drawn out process… this time though, I’m thoroughly convinced I witnessed it happening before my eyes.

Quick side note: there’s something wonderful about the sensation rain leaves as it hits your skin, my favorite part though is watching the steam rise back off into the cold surrounding air. Yet another reason why I love the rain…

The Mystery of Banya Pt. 1:

There’s something that I just love about the rain… honestly I’m not quite sure if I could fully explain it, but there’s something so wonderful about it. Cleansing the night air, leaving life just a touch lighter as we embrace that first breath of fresh air.

I’m beginning to realize just how hardy the Russian people are, and not just the stereotypical cold resilience that they’ve been labeled with… the pride the people take in their heritage is a joy to discuss, while most are very conscience of their country’s past and the struggles it still faces, my favorite conversations are those when the individual has an unflinching resolve to represent their nation properly to the “foreigner”.

And while I could go on for some time about what I’ve been learning about the people here, (and probably will sometime soon) the focus of this entry is to investigate the Russian banya in all of its glory.

You see when I got here, after having been introduced to everyone; I was led through the grand tour of what would become our home over the next few months, but one thing that was left unexplained was the guest house on the ridge overlooking our house. Just a few days later I’d discover that this was the birthplace of what I’d like to consider my true introduction into Russian culture…

Tangential:

Long time no talk everyone! I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for the part you played in getting me over here to the “the end of the world”. I wouldn’t be here without each and every one of you… so thank you!  Thank you for lending a hand to kick off the next chapter of the life that is me, I can’t begin to describe the impact it’s had on so many things… ha, for the moment just know that’s it’s very good.

I now find myself on the lesser end of week number 4. It’s fairly ridiculous how quickly the time has been passing by now that I think about it, I could say in confidence that it’s managed to catch me off guard. Ha, that aside… the weather is still something heavenly over here, a cool 22C with a generous ocean breeze to boot!

My submersion into the depths of the Russian language haven’t gone quite as well as I had hoped… I was always prone to improperly estimating long-term goals. Best to learn in a safe environment though I suppose, I’m still ever inspired to keep chase though… the language is so beautiful, linguistically as well as how it illustrates some of the most subtle points of Russian history and culture. I love it!

The Lives We Live:

If you haven’t noticed already, many (and probably most future) posts are a touch outdated between authorship and posting. No worries though, as long as it heads out over the wire eventually.

We just finished our second week of lectures, which was focused on mercy ministries and the many ways that it could be displayed. The fella that came to teach has spent most of his recent time in ministry wandering between roughly 40 nations… we’ll just say he wasn’t in short supply of stories to be told.

This last Sunday we actually were asked to help out with one of the local homeless ministries as well (one of the students here actually organizes it). Initially they had asked for 2, but they ended up with 8 of us. I really had no idea what to expect going into it, but it was an incredible experience!

Honestly, it broke my heart in a lot of ways… surprisingly enough they asked if I’d stick around as security. Luckily nothing happened, but I guess they’ve had some issues in the past. The real kicker during the service was when the men (there may have been one woman out of the whole crowd), were asked to tithe!? At first I thought it was absurd, but as I saw each one take his place at the offering box… I was suddenly struck with the reality that this wasn’t just a beautiful example of sacrifice, but also a means to restore the hope and sense of humanity these folks had enjoyed so long ago. It was really sobering to witness the reverence some of those men had for that Sunday evening and what it represented. I may have served only a small role, but I’ll never forget how my heart was touched that day… ha, and I’m supposed to be the one helping!

Enjoying the Finer Things:

Privet!

So… seeing that we have yet to stumble across any Internet access, you’ll be receiving quite a few of these in rapid succession. With that in mind, this may also be one of the few times I have the chance to bombard you with my experiences as well.

Having safely arrived in Vladivostok I was surprised how beautiful the city is! It turns out that one of the gals that had arrived prior to us lost her luggage somewhere within the vast expanse of Russian customs…

Ha, I also managed to bump into a fellow student on his way to Vladi in the Moscow airport! Which proved to be an awesome diversion from the 10-hour layover we had ahead of us… we ended up venturing out into the city for a few hours where I was introduced to the grand Red Square and a few other lesser-known landmarks. Awesome experience!

In respect to the home we’re staying in now, I’ve discovered that “less than cold” refers to 40d water… which is what we get to look forward to for our showers. I met our mascot Zhuzha the dog, cute little pup, but we still don’t really know where she came from.

On a more serious note, I have already been floored by many of my experiences here in Vladivostok. One of the most overwhelming is realizing that hearing my native language is a courtesy provided by my gracious hosts… not an entitlement. I’ve also been so inspired by our times of worship thus far; there’s something about hearing a throng of voices in near as many languages (5 I believe!), be lifted up in an act of worship! We’ve already discovered so much about each others’ history and why we’ve come or more accurately been drawn to this place…

There’s so much more I could share, but there’s also so much more to participate in here… so with that in mind, I’m off for the night. Have a wonderful morning/day/evening/night yourself!