This upcoming trip will be different in a number of ways. First of all, I’ve only been home after the previous one for a week and my head is still slightly spinning after three weeks of travel and teaching across nearly half of Russia. Secondly, I am not travelling alone but with a team of Americans whom I will meet tomorrow morning at the airport for the first time. And thirdly, it will not be Russia but Uzbekistan where, I was told, most of the people still speak Russian but the country is very different in its history, culture and religious background from where I usually do ministry. The whole trip will be about trusting God for opening doors of opportunity for teaching and sharing faith, about partnering with other ministries, churches and individuals, 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 our ministry. My prior ministry experience in Tatarstan, Osetia, Chechnya and other predominately Muslim regions has been very encouraging and gives me hope for this ministry to also be blessed by our God.