Thoughts on Russia.

Only a few more days in Russia. I was sitting here, thinking about the question I have been asked many times by Russians and I know will be the first on the lips of the Americans:
"What was Russia like?"

That is a question I am hard-pressed to answer. Three months is a long time, and at the same time, a short time. A week-long mission trip is not enough to share in people's lives, to see what they see, to feel what they feel. And yet, it seems like only yesterday I stepped into Krasnodar. It's far too short a time to dwell among such great people. I am not the same man I was 3 months ago, and yet I have only been here a mere 87 days.
What was Russia like?
How do you describe something as big as Russia in a single blog post. I can only try, but I know that whatever I'm about to write will only scratch the surface.

What have I seen in Russia?

 I have seen a once-proud nation reduced to chaos and confusion. I have seen the rejection of truth and the willful choice of ignorance. I have seen people choose what is convenient over what is right, the road most traveled on, rather than the road most true. I have seen the shepherds of the people, charged with the welfare of the flock, instead make deals with the wolves for their personal gain. I have seen a blinding cloud of darkness descend over the land, condemning all who dwell underneath it to enslavement and backwards ignorance.
But that is not all I have seen.
I have also seen a light in the darkness, proclaiming liberty to the captives, wisdom to the foolish, and hope to the despairing. A lighthouse standing in the midst of the storm and calling out, "Here! Here is safety, here is rest!" I have seen the weak made strong by Divine Power. I have seen the captive's chains struck off. I have seen the naked clothed in truth and the hungry satisfied in righteousness. I have seen courage, where once there was only cowardice. I have seen passion, where once there was only apathy.

I have seen vast and mighty strongholds built up to resist truth and imprison the hearts and minds of men, and have seen the same walls come crashing down to rubble and ashes. I have seen both a people content to wear chains, afraid of the idea of freedom. And I have seen a people standing up and casting off their rags and proclaiming, "We will be slaves no more."

I have seen the Cross proclaimed, and I have seen the Cross triumphant.

I have loved Russia, and God willing, I will return. I am excited for Russia's Future. God is working great things here, and the winds of change are beginning to swirl. This summer has radically challenged me in many ways, and made me rethink several aspects in my life that I had never questioned before and taken for granted. God's not finished with Russia, and neither am I, I believe. And I know God's not finished with me.
I could go on for days, and probably will when I get back to the states, trying to articulate what I've felt and experienced here.

But the best (and really, the only) way for you to truly know is to come back with me. Until that time,

до свидания, друзья мои.
Do Svidanya, My friends. 

Да благословит вас Господь и сохранит тебя, пока мы не встретимся снова.