My parents’ generation, growing up in the 50’s where the shadow of the U.S.S.R. loomed ominously, was raised in distrust and fear of Russia and Russians. Cold, cruel and communist, surely it was a country and people not only mysterious and unkind, but opposed to the vibrant and free American dream for which their parents and peers fought.
Read MoreA generation, a score, two decades, 20 years. It’s long enough to make a difference and be well aware how much work is yet to be done! In March and April 1994, I was working for International Bible Society living in and around Moscow. At that time, I began to realize that the greatest—and most undeserved—blessing in my life was my family.
Read MoreWe were in Paris, a layover on our way back from the Ukraine, and we, our mission team, went out to see the city. I was the youngest member (or nearly), and I remember detesting the decadence, the joie de vive, and the way my team mates, mostly adults, were able to compartmentalize their grief.
Read More“What are we going to do?” It was the first question I asked Doug Patterson when I met with him a little over a year ago to discuss joining the Orphan’s Tree team he was leading to Ivanovo in May 2013.I thought it was a perfectly natural question. After all, weren’t “mission trips” all about doing something? Weren’t we supposed to build things, fix things, provide things to help the people we were going to see?
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