This upcoming trip will be different in a number of ways. First of all, I’ve only been home for a week since the previous one. My head is still slightly spinning after three weeks of travel and teaching across nearly half of Russia. Secondly, I am not traveling alone but with a team of Americans whom I will meet for the first time tomorrow morning at the airport. And thirdly, I will not be going to Russia, but to Uzbekistan where, I was told, most of the people still speak Russian, but the country is very different in its history, culture, and background from where I usually teach. The whole trip will be about trusting God for opening doors of opportunity for teaching and sharing my life, about partnering with others who are serving the people there, and about learning from them.
We will spend a few days in Istanbul for training and team building before flying to Tashkent to run an English-as-a-Second-Language camp through the end of the month. I am looking forward to meeting new people, to sharing with them my from my experience, and to following the Lord’s guidance in finding opportunities for new relationships. My prior experiences in Tatarstan, Osetia, Chechnya, and other predominately Muslim regions has been very encouraging and gives me hope for this opportunity to also be blessed by God.
