Church in Russia

For those of you who know us from Minter Lane, you know that we have an ever-so-slight punctuality problem. Well, not so attending church services Sunday here in St. Petersburg! Apparently, all it takes is for us to be on time—or even early—is the following:
(1) live about 30 feet from the church building;
(2) don’t have any clean clothes to change into;
(3) don’t have any make-up to put on (Karen) or don’t have a razor to shave with (Ken).
So that’s a good plan for us to enact when we return home. Don’t be surprised if we wear 3-day old clothes and come looking like the natural beings God made us!

Services were wonderful. The people who spoke were passionate, heartfelt, and kind. We had a translator named Natasha, a kind student at the Institute who did a beautiful job of filling us in on the actual words that the folks spoke. But we could tell anyway about the joy these Christians felt regarding their being together.
Perhaps my favorite thing was when a man called Alexei blessed the children, who knew to come to the front with him, before they went off for “children’s church” during the sermon. This is apparently done every week; he spoke to them directly first, and then he got down on one knee and prayed for the Lord to watch over them now and for always, for their lesson (that they were about to learn) to mean something to them and to bless them, for them to grow up to be faithful examples of believers in the days to come. It didn’t come across in any way as a “token” reminder that children are important; it came across—to me anyway—as I think Jesus would have been with the children whom he so loved. I was moved.

And our clothes arrived toward the end of services; who says that the prayers of righteous people don’t availeth much?!