God has greatly impressed upon me that a mission trip has four groups it ministers to: the body of Christ at home and abroad, the people directly ministered to on the field and the team sent to serve. Each ministry is as important and necessary as the next, at the moment I am finding myself compelled to minister to the saints at home. How do I tell you all God allowed me to see? How do I convey to you the impressions He pierced my soul with? I don’t know that I can completely. I scan my notes… Wow! I forgot that… mmh, I will never forget this!

Before I begin, I want to make a simple truth clear: SIN IS SIN! It is every where! As I consider how God allowed us to travel to and through Russia: the lull of the plane, the rumble of the train, bumbling of the bus or the padding of feet on crowded streets my heart broke with the brokenness of the people of Russia and then too to my own homeland. Much to my surprise I discovered that greetings were sparse, a smile rarely returned and laughter as infrequent as rain in a drought season. I found myself seeking beauty and life, anything that showed hope and happiness. See, during the soviet days they enticed the people from the thatch roof homes to large apartment buildings completely furnished. The draw? Indoor plumbing! These buildings tower over the horizon near and far in the large cities. Unfortunately, no one has loved on them. In many ways “them” could imply the buildings and also the people! The buildings physical structures are chipped and broken, eye sores at best. In the pursuit of bettering their lives, I felt as if their very surrender to these tall buildings drew them one step closer to losing their individuality and separate identities. Their pursuit for bigger, better, newer, and nicer became their snare. As I ponder America my stomach knots and turns over quite unpleasantly. Do we seek the same fate in our pursuit of bigger, newer, nicer?