Russia Day Six

Things are moving along well on this years trip. Our team is doing a great job at both sites. Let me update you on what is happening to date...The Desna roof project had grown quite a bit. What started as constructing a new roof has evolved into a second floor addition. Mike Berry(our crew leader) has taken on quite a task...they have to date put in the floor and 8-foot walls to double the space at our Desna center. They will begin on the roof sometime today.
Mike is unbelievable on these trips. With Dan leading our Pevamaisk team, it leaves him as the only "experienced" builder on our team which means he has to be very hands on....we could sure use more men with building experience on these trips... The flooring was a "tongue and groove" (I believe that is what they call it), and lets just say that it didn't go down easy...lots of bending and prying...but it looks great.

Monday, the team was out until 11:30 at night trying to get the first wall up. Did I tell you it doesn't get dark until about midnight this time of year in Russia.
For those family members following this trip on my blog, here are the names of the crew working with Mike: Ryan, Ben, Monty, Josh, Debbie, Kelly, Jeff, and some or our Russian partners.
Sunday, Mike, Chuck Ward, Dan Muller, and myself worked all day out at Desna while the others attended the Smolensk Christian Church. The size of this project mandated us getting an early start.
We had our own "church service" over breakfast as I read 1 Corinthian 13 from the message translation. If you have never read this famous passage out of the Message translation I would highly recommend it. It sums up at the end of the chapter...Trust faithfully in God, hope unswervingly, and love extravagantly! Man, if that doesn't say why we are here than nothing does.
We were able to get all the support beams (6x6's) set in place for the second story walls and floor. Most of the wood is still wet from being recently cut so you can imagine how heavy some of those 20 foot 6x6s were. Fortunately, two of our Russian brothers (Yuri and Andre) showed up about 2:00 to help us out! I was reminded that day how glad I am that God didn't call me into the construction business, but what a cool thing it was for the 4 of us to get out there and hit it together. These three men have been my "band-of-brothers" when it comes to Russia. God has burned the vision of reaching people here for Christ into their hearts. This is their 3rd or 4th trip here...they love Russia and give their all for it!
Monday, we took our entire team out to Desna to keep the momentum going. Because the new center is larger than the original that burned down, we decided to "move" the playground. The team jumped on it...took it apart into 4 sections and actually moved that thing! It was amazing! By the end of Monday the playground was moved, set up, and repainted! It looks brand new.
Tuesday, we took out second team to Pervamaisk to begin the playground. Dan Muller is leading this team. It includes Dan H., Stu, Leslie, Alli B, Alli C, Morgan, Katie, Aaron (he was a beast at digging the holes for the posts) Chuck, Emily, Jess, Sasha, Rachel and Veronica. They are literally throwing this playground up. I have never seen one go up this fast. It should be ready to paint by Thursday. Dan is also and amazing leader when it comes to building. His patience and steadfastness are something to behold.

While all this has been going on, some of our team has been working at the Vacation Bible School in the church at Desnagorsk. Chrissy, Emily, Jess, Alli C., Alli B., Josh, Jess, Rachel, and Sasha have been working with the kids. Chrissy and Emily have really taken to the children and have worked at the VBS everyday. Yesterday, Sasha, Jess, and Emily, had to wash their hair for lice before leaving the VBS. They bring these children in from the villages and you should see some of their condition! Talk about loving extravagantly...

We have had some bumps and bruises along the way. Rachel stepped in a hole and hurt her foot early on in the trip and we are looking for some crutches for her. She has stayed very positive in what could easily be a very discouraging situation for her. I tried to stay up with 16 year old Ben by jumping off the second story at Desna into a sand pile and lets just say I didn't land as successfully as he did. I have been limping ever since. When my daughter Alli asked me why I did such a stupid thing I tried to explain to her how men are..."Alli, I walked to the edge of the ledge and stepped back because I was afraid...in other words, I wasn't going to let fear get the best of me so I jumped"..."So it was your pride" she said back to me. Ouch! She is so like her Mommy it is scary! The stinging flies and mosquitoes here are famous. Everyone has their share of bites. I always try to stay near Dan Muller because they seem to like him best and leave me be when he is around. Please continue to pray for our group.

It was so encouraging to log on and see that some of you are reading the Blog and staying up with us. Thanks to Ray, Anne, and Paul for your comments. In my experience today will be the toughest day physically and mentally on the group. After today, it is down hill from here. Pray for our safety and unity. Also, pray for the funds to come in for this project. As of last Sunday we were only half way to our goal of $16K. I have not had an update on last weeks offering. We are doing much of this work by faith. We had to purchase $3K in tools and the second floor lumber will be an added expense as well.

Buddy Thigpen continues to lead a dynamite ministry here as we see much of the fruit of his labor. His sons Jeff and Jeb have been a huge help to our group as well. Thanks for praying...all are safe and doing well.
They all send their love to their families!

John