So much to see...

We made it safely to Russia and have been going full speed since we arrived.  It is amazing the changes that have taken place here in the last few years.  It has been a lot of fun revisiting some of the familiar places and showing the kids around the country that has been a big part of our lives.  Today as we stood outside of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg I wondered if they will ever realize how much history has happened in the places that we have visited.

One of our biggest worries before this trip was how the kids would handle all of the various forms of transportation we would be on and the crowds we would encounter.  They have adapted very well and we almost pros at the subway system in Moscow.  They certainly weren't intimidated at all!

We have been preparing for going to Camp Elema tomorrow.  We will be helping to host a camp there and doing whatever needs to be done to help with all of that.  The kids are excited about going to camp and it will be fun to be out in the country more after our days in the city.

We have taken lots of pictures and will have more to share when we return.  Internet access is limited here and so we will leave you with this update and look forward to sharing more with you when we return.

Why are we going??

Today was one of those days where the overwhelmed feeling of preparing for a big trip like this hits.  I had been working on Russian visa applications for more hours than I can count and was frustrated by all of the hassle.  I even jokingly said that I would rather prepare our taxes 5 times than apply for 5 visas....yes, it really was that bad folks!

As some of you know we have also been in the process of selling our home and moving for a little over a year now.  We finally sold our house in April and as timing would have it we will be closing on our new house 4 days before leaving for Russia and moving in the day we return.  We thought it would be great fun to combine two of our favorite activities....jet lag and moving!

So in the middle of all of this chaos and planning today I had a moment where my vision for our reason for going on this trip became cloudy.  I was really overwhelmed thinking that we had all of this on our plate in the next month.  I had a brief moment of wanting to retreat and just forget about the chaos.

Then a little eight year old voice reminded me why we are packing our bags and taking our kids halfway around the world:

Caleb had show and tell today at school and he wanted to take his passport to show all of his classmates.  He stood in front of his class and boldly told them all about his passport and when his teacher asked him why he was going on this trip he quickly said "I am going on this trip because I want to be like Paul...I am going to be a missionary"

My eyes teared up but my vision quickly focused back...our children are getting a chance of a lifetime to see the world from a different viewpoint.  They get a chance to see that there are places that are different from ours but that God's love shines just as bright there as it does in their part of the world.  

And my prayer is that my children will look at the Russian people and love them the way that I did the first time I set foot on their soil some 20 years ago.

ahhh....now I remember why we are going.  Thank you Caleb for opening your heart to your class today and letting me get a peak inside.

Please Support Us With Prayer

We have created a SignUp Genius schedule that allows you to sign up for a day to pray for us while we are traveling.  When you click the link below you will see a list of the days of our trip and specific prayer needs for each day. 

Prayer Calendar

Camp Elama

As part of our journey to St. Petersburg this summer we will assist in hosting a team at Camp Elama.  Our hope is to begin preparation for taking a larger team next summer. 

If you would like to learn more about the camp you can visit the website:

Camp Elama