The orphanage down the street is a huge red and gray brick structure about 3 minutes from our door. We pass it all the time on the way to the Metro or for groceries and have long hoped to see the inside and made acquaintance with the director. In January Lyle wrote about the miraculous…

When I asked my future teammate almost two years ago how we could possibly function as a team, he couldn’t think of anything. He teaches at the local Christian University and didn’t see any open doors or reasonable fits with his work there. I remained puzzled over this misfit with my philosophy of ministry until…

People keep wondering what it means for me to say that I’m a coach, or that I am coaching someone, so it’s time to clear this one up. Coaching is a field that I barely knew about before I enrolled in the training I got. What little I did know made me realize that it…

Remember the saying “Truth is stranger than fiction”? We have living proof. Last Thursday a transportation/timing issue required that I (Diana) take the boys to school, while Lyle escorted us to the Metro and continued onto the little town of Pushkin to teach. Being 8 am, we decided to let Lydia stay home. We’ve been…

Ever since my first cry over the plight of the poor here, they have been getting my attention more and more. As has become my practice, I wait for God to show the way. Marina is a young woman Lydia and I had seen a few times on the subway before I spoke to her.…

Not long after we moved into our apartment, I noticed that this building, which is on our street, less than 100 meters from us, is an orphanage. I knew from my research that you don’t just walk into these places. You need a relationship or some good reason to be there. But I would pray…

Here are some of the things that God seems to be laying on my heart for the new year that I hope to pursue, given that some of the most significant aspects of our transition appear to be behind us. One way of formulating my overall vision is to say that I hope to be…

Lydia has written about her new art class on her blog with pictures.Below is from a mother’s perspective. Lydia loves art. Every free moment finds her either reading or sketching. Therefore, we earnestly prayed for an art class possibility for her. After all, we do live in the cultural capital of Russia. In October an…

I was in the cafeteria chatting with some of the staff at the boys’ school a few weeks ago and was offered a new drink to try. They asked, “have you ever tried mushroom?” I though I had misunderstood them. Did they say, “greeb” (mushroom) or “greepp” (the flu)? Neither made much sense, to say…

Just to give you a good example of how thoroughly permeated this society is with evil, I’ll relate this one little problem to you: Most homeless here are not mentally ill or drug addicts. There are three categories: the elderly ex-cons middle-class single people How do the elderly end up here, when they should be…