The Pneumatic Tube

Larry, Jen and I just returned from a delightful day of worship and fellowship with the church in Kirsanov. Young Pastor Anatoly Alipichev is a superstar among the brothers here. He just finished preaching through the entire Gospel of John, which he accomplished in a year and a half. Anatoly has taken the crown as the youngest ordained pastor in the Baptist Union of Russia.

Scott Freeman, Dick Shaw and Marsha Harris: Greetings from Kate, the dear sister who teaches English there. As soon as I regained my breath after her bear hug she told me to greet you. Dick, she's the lady with which you sang "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." I'm pretty sure she now understands that Scott is not my son.

Heritage Bible Church: Greetings from Alexander and Luda, the couple who adopted all the kids when the orphanage closed. They're the ones HBC raised money for, so they could get gas heat in their two houses. Several of the kids are out of the house and the "little" ones are growing up fast.

Coalition Leaders: The money we designated to start the well-drilling business in Kirsanov has been multiplied incredibly. Our $2000 investment has grossed $20,000, provided employment for 4 brothers, drilled 75 wells so far, provided similar equipment for three other places to start the same business, and provided money to start the business (in the renovated space next to the church) of cell phone repair. They get the concept of doing business to enable the church members to support the pastor, and they show no signs of letting up. As soon as I get home we'll release the $500 (from Praise International) we have been keeping on hand for starting the phone repair business. We thought we needed $2000 for it to start, but they did it on their own. The money we send will allow them to purchase more equipment and parts.

For Larry, Jen and me the only remaining portion of our trip is the journey home. Before the Eberhardts left I suggested they think of themselves as entering a bottle that goes into a pneumatic tube to be sucked to its destination. The good news is that this tube averages over 200 miles per hour. The bad news is that the trip is over 7000 miles. Lord willing we'll leave the church between 4 and 5 AM (6-7 PM Sunday in Idaho) and we're due in Boise just after 11 PM Monday night. Our "bottle" has several stops and some connections to make . . . please pray that it goes smoothly.

One of the brothers from the church who has a good car will drive us straight to the airport, saving a lot of money and bypassing the overnight train ride. We get to have Anya with us all the way through check-in at Domodedovo Airport and she will watch to make sure we clear passport control without snags.

There's no doubt in my mind this has been the most eventful of my 10 visits to Russia. What a joy to bring a team from HBC and to do so much! They want us back for camp next year :)

I'll pray for your worship and fellowship to honor our precious Lord this morning, and expect to see you next Sunday at the latest.

Слава Богу!
(slava bogu, Praise God!)

Спасибо за молитву!
(spacebo za moleetvu, Thanks for praying!)

- Jim