Finally....About Russia

So the “few minutes” in my last blog has turned into a few days….

OK here goes...a report about my time in Russia……IT WAS GREAT!

But maybe you would like a little more detail.

Well I should start with my impression of Russia before I went. I am a little ashamed to admit it but I guess I imagined Russia to be a place of serious, poor people who lived in poor conditions and did not have the same access to “stuff” than the western world. And while this still maybe true in many places….in Murmansk (and I have heard in other bigger cities), my perception was exposed to be at least ten years old.

Buildings are still the lego block apartments that look run down and dirty; city buses are old and still have the original Norwegian or Germany signs inside (even saw a bus that said it was going to Oslo!) and of course the famous boxy Lada’s drove around the streets.

I have seen Murmansk advertised as a city of contrasts and that is very evident as you looked around. Beside the Lada’s are the latest SUV’s and I even saw a PT Cruiser (OK many could be Mafia cars though because there is a strong Mafia presence in Murmansk, but not all). The outside of the apartments are run down, but I heard that most are nice inside. And nearly all have the trademark fur hats and full length coats. They are very much a status symbol and may take years to pay off, but everywhere you look people are dressed in fur coats and Italian leather shoes.

I can honestly say that I liked this area. We were warned of how we can be ripped off by officials and people hoping to make a buck off foreigners, and that is very true and does happen (as evidenced by the outreach team being charged 4000 NOK by the administration office in Naryan Mar). But I found the people we dealt with to be honest. The bus attendant never over charged us, and in all the shops I was not worried about getting a different price. Of course this is my experience of a one week trip, and I am sure many have stories that would tell otherwise, but I found no more rip off artist here than anywhere else. A big factor has been that we had Russian friends with us, and that helps A LOT!

It was great to be with the team. The days were full because once we had a morning meeting we had to leave to town (one hour bus ride) to have a hot lunch and then onto the school or children’s home, then the bus ride back. Some days ended up starting at 8am and coming back to the hotel at 9pm, and then I was having one-on-ones with everyone so I did not finish to 12 each night. But then there were the days we got to sleep in!

This bunch of staff and students are very talented and great initiative takers. In all we did there was never anyone hanging back and not joining in. The normal challenges of living and working closely together at a group of adults were turned into opportunities of growth and learning. It is always a challenge in how do we turn all the theory we learnt in lectures into practical application….especially in regard to loving your neighbor, or in this case your teammates! But everyone was rising to that challenge!

In the North here there has been a lot of talk about Russia and how it seems like the religious freedom is under threat. Also how is it more difficult now to get visas for the Northern Regions, such as Murmansk because of the military areas. In particular this area of Norway keeps a slightly wary eye to the east. During the Second World War Norway was occupied by Germany and this area had a lot of activity being so close to Russian boarder (Russia POW’s were kept here). Even now, because of the geography, if an invasion came from the north east, it would pass through the valley we live in.
So while some the Finnish and Norwegians in the north may be questioning what could happen, the Russians I talked to were not too concerned yet. And while it is true that the government wants all religious meetings to be registered, they have done so for years; it is just becoming a little stricter in its registration process.

A Russian friend said how when Russia opened people came and preached the prosperity Gospel, and in a land where people had nothing...it lead to a lot of disappointed and disillusioned people. Now you can buy anything you want or need if you can afford it (in the big cities at least). And the Church struggles to disciple Christians into 24/7 God lovers...rather than the Sunday Christians.

So how can you pray? Pray the personal relationships with God would become real and that Russians will see their place in reaching this world with the Gospel. Because it will be the Russians who will be well equipped to go into the communist nations of today, as they understand where they are coming from. So pray for more Russian missionaries to be raised up!
I recommend anyone to visit Russia, it is not easy I you do not have a Russian translator, but it was awesome to see this new culture and the people!