November 20 Moscow

Moscow is incredible at night

I arrived in Moscow at just after 6 AM. I did not know where to go or what to do. My train for the city of Voronezh was late that night. I had the whole day to shlep around my bag and do something. Being the lazy kid that I am, I just found a place with a couch and fell asleep. I slept for several hours and then walked around till I was ready to get on my train.

November 19 Night Train to Moscow

This is a standard Russian train engine

This train ride was not like the one to Ukraine. I was in the same car as the director of marketing for a prominent Vodka company. This man did not like flying so he took the train. Our conversation was fascinating. Now it is illegal in Russia to advertise liquor on television. This guy went into great detail on how they try and get around these laws. One example he gave was of a designer suit company. His Vodka brand wanted to do a promotional drive. They created a company that designs suits. This company then sponsored the Russian National Hockey Team. They made designer suits for all of the players and then created some commercials. Each of these commercials not only advertised for the suits, but really it was an advertisement for Vodka. This was a fascinating ride on the train to say the least. Pictured is representation of a "cupe" or a Russian sleeper train cabin.

November 18-19 Kiev, Ukraine

I had never been to the Ukraine before. I have several Ukrainian friends and I have heard much about this country located so close to Russia. I was traveling with the Vice President of Russian Ministries on a scouting trip. For the past few months I have been in open dialogue with Russian Ministries regarding my future and I was invited to see their ministry in the Ukraine.

I was very impressed. Russian Ministries has a very dynamic ministry in this former Soviet Republic. They have recently purchased an old bakery. They plan to turn it into a center where they can train and raise up the next generation of Ukrainian Christian leaders. I met most of Russian Ministries in Kiev staff. After spending several hours with these men, it was apparent how much these men really loved the Lord. I am pictured with Vitali in Maidan Nezalezhnosti. This square, meaning independence, is the center of Kiev.

I also attended a large church in Kiev. Ukrainian is just slightly different than Russian. It is different enough that I can only understand every fifth or sixth word. Listening to the service was quite a challenge. Ukrainian is easier to read. They have more Latin letters in their alphabet.

November 15-17 Aids Conference

Directly following the conference for children at risk was a conference on AIDS. Specifically, this conference was geared towards faith based organizations who address and combat the issue of AIDS in Russia. Russia currently has the largest percentage of AIDS growth in the world; more than Africa, more than Asia. AIDS is spreading like wildfire through the country.

Pavel, Sergi and I pictured at the AIDS conference

Unlike the children at risk conference, I did not really get a chance to attend any of the lectures. I volunteered to help with the logistics and operation of the conference. One of my closest friends in Russia, Sergei Sokolov was the designated driver for the conference. I had the privilege of spending many hours with him in our van being the navigator on Moscow’s torturous roads.

November 11-14 Vladimir Conference

It was wonderful to come home. I had not been in Vladimir for almost a year and a half. It was great to be back in the city where I spent a large portion of my childhood. Unfortunately, I was tied up with the conference. The cite of the conference was several miles outside of the city. I did not get a chance to look around or see friends.

The theme of this conference was how to reach out to children who are at risk. I was excited to see just under three hundred Russians and foreigners gather together to discuss a topic that is so near and dear to my heart. Generally, I thought the conference was all right. It was not what I expected. I was glad that I had the opportunity to help with logistics. Now that I know more about the background of the conference, I have a greater respect and appreciation for how the conference turned out.

November 9-10 Moscow for CoMission and Children at Risk Conference

After being dropped off from my taxi ride, I met with the organizers of the conference. It was good to finally meet the people who invited me to Russia. Almost immediately, I was put to work. There had been a mix up regarding accommodations for conference organizers. In communicating with Russia, rooms had been ordered for specific "nights." Our dear Russian friends took that as the day we needed to check out. We were stuck without an apartment (we had a lot of people and apartments are cheaper than hotels in Moscow) for the last night. After looking at many different options, we settled on a three room apartment.

Now is when things get interesting. Andrew was arriving in Moscow and he was "slated" to stay with us. I could not go to the airport and I did not want him going through the mess of bargaining for a taxi. I arranged for him to be dropped off at this new apartment me had rented. Andrew arrived before I could get to this new flat. He was left standing outside in snowy Russia. WELCOME buddy! Anyway, we ended up finding him, things worked out fine.

Now we have five men and three women who are supposed to stay in this three room flat. This is not a three bedroom flat, but a three room flat. We had a room with a couch and two bedrooms with two double beds. Late in the evening, another woman had problems with her apartment and she also had to stay with us. Nine people stayed in that small flat that night! Andrew and I ended up sleeping on the floor, together, on a really small mattress. I believe that this was a great introduction to three years in Russia for my friend.

The Conference then started the next morning. All in all, I would say that it went smoothly. The speakers were good, the ministries represented were interesting and the I liked being back in Russia. The first day was in Moscow. We met a the second baptist church of Moscow. I was in charge of making sure everyone was on a bus list and all of the luggage was stored properly. This meant that I was the first person people met at this conference. I loved it!

Andrew and I greeted people all day. Then that night, I really got to work. None of the buses wanted to drive up to the church. they said they could not make the turn and the tree branches would break the skylights. Now we had to get just under 300 people to the buses. This was a logistical nightmare. The road was several hundred yards from the church. These people had bags and other items that needed to get on the bus. After devising a plan, we got all of the people on the bus. We now had another problem. We had $25,000 dollars of sound equipment to move to the buses. These large soundboard crates could not be carried by hand for such a long distance.

As I stood by the rush hour packed streets of Moscow, I new I had to do something. I bus load of people were waiting for me to make this happen. At that point I saw a "gazelle" in the middle of the street. Gazelle's are the equivalent of an American pickup truck. I ran out into traffic to see if I could hire him. He was not available. Another gazelle was several car lengths up. I weaved through traffic. Sure enough, he was empty and he agreed to move our stuff.

November 9 Arrive in Moscow

This trip to Russia was unique. First off, I did not have any plans for what I was to be doing when I returned to America. Secondly, I did not have anyone meeting me at the airport. I have been to Sheremetyevo airport what seemed like 100 times. I had never arrived with two 72 pound bags and two carry-ons without anyone meeting me.

Praise the Lord all of my luggage arrived. If I would have lost a piece, which happens more often than not, it would have been hard for me to retrieve it. I navigated my way through the hoard of people who crowd the exit of customs. Then the fun began. If you have ever been the Sheremetyevo, you know that there are a lot of men in black leather coats, trying to sell you a taxi ride. Given that I needed a ride, I started talking with them.

Do these men look creepy to you?

First off, I was told that I could not make it to the center for less than $150 dollars. Knowing that this ride will cost me between 30 and 40 dollars, I knew I had some work to do. After talking to about eight men, I became really frustrated. No one wanted to take me for less than 60 bucks. Now, I had this kind of money, but there was no way that I was going to pay it. After talking to two more guys, I started to make my way to arrivals. I thought that maybe if I caught a car that was bringing someone to the airport, I could get a cheaper ride. Sure enough, as I entered the elevator, a guy approached me with a realistic price. One thousand rubles (about 37 dollars) and I was on my way. This was much better than the $150 that I had started with.

November 8 Fly to Russia

After the craziness of the past month and a half, I was about to start another adventure. Much of what was to come had been expected, but several twisted events will shape the way I remember this trip forever.