February 12th

Beius, Romania

I arrived in Budapest, Hungary (via Munich ) yesterday around noon local time and met Marshall Reavis. He had come in a day early in honor of his Hungarian roots to see what Budapest was like. After clearing customs we hopped in a van for the five hour drive to Beius, Romania, where we met Dan and Anka. They are both involved in REMM, the Romanian Evangelical Medical Mission, started and led by Peter and Ana Lucacio, and Dan is Ana's nephew. We are here to visit the orphanage and coffee house they started.

Romania is not quite 20 years into its revolution and shows all of the signs of capitalism I do not remember seeing last time I was in Belarus: e.g. small shops and lots of ads. Beius is a town of about 11,000 that is – or at least was – noted for its market. Over a traditional dinner of cabbage rolls and stew we learned:

• Beius (bay' oosh) was initially settled in the 13th century. It is in the region of Transylvania – which was one of the several countries (Moldovia, Wallachia, et al) that joined together to make Romania .

• After the fall of communism in '89 Romania leaned to the West and joined NATO. Last year their associate status with the EU became official but so far membership has brought little more than lots of regulation and higher taxes. Apparently the Romanian government has not been able to put forth the types of projects the EU is willing to invest in. They continue to have their own currency – the lei – but will be converting to the Euro in 2013. Inflation is a problem but is not rampant.

• The country is 94% Christian – of which 89% are Orthodox. Of these Dan says most are “religious but not faithful.” Evangelicals make up four to five percent, Muslims (typically Turkish settlements), Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and atheists make up the rest. Romania was officially an atheist state but even during that time many would have also claimed to be Orthodox, making as much or more of a cultural statement than a statement of faith. Today the Orthodox Church has ties to the state and – as is generally the case when this is the case – a strained and occasionally oppressive relationship with evangelicals.

• Count Dracula is based on Vlad the Impaler, a 15th century ruler. (His father was Vlad Dracul). Apparently Vlad the Impaler ordered the execution of anyone and everyone who broke the law. This was carried out by dropping them on a spike. He is seen as something of a patriot for some victories over Turks and his reputation – which was inflated during his lifetime – kept the crime rate very, very low. Less is known about his father other than that being called Vlad Dracul – Dracul meaning devil – must have meant he was an evil man.

• The population of Romania is 22 million and decreasing. Along with the rest of Europe they are no longer able to sustain their population.

Last night we had a chance to walk to Casa Joseph, an orphanage that was set up by Peter and Ana after the fall of Ceausescu. REMM has 37 orphans in Beuis. Most are living in foster homes, but eight 7 yr old girls are living in this home. They were delightful, happy and energetic – especially Geta, who I thought Marshall might end up taking home with him. All of them have been in the orphanage since they were abandoned by their mothers in the maternity ward. (A not uncommon event here, especially years ago. Ceausescu needed more workers in his factories so he took away all birth control in the country. The result was many unwanted children. These were simply left in maternity wards and became property of the state).

Because of some human trafficking abuses the Romanian government has closed all outside adoptions. Most of the girls living in Casa Joseph have been adopted by American families but are unable to get out. Some of those living in foster homes have also been adopted, but suffer the same sort of limbo. It is unclear when the situation may change.

The girls we were with are all Roma (gypsies), which means that they are unlikely to be adopted by Romanians. Apparently the Roma have not integrated into mainstream Romanian society, and even have their own dialect, which neither Dan nor Anka speak. They are far less educated and have a reputation for dishonesty. Anka said that the girls used to be scared of the Gypsies. They have yet to fully understand that this is their past.

For our part – Marshall and myself – we found them to be among the happiest kids we've been around. The orphanage was simple but clean. The staff were loving and loved.

February 13, 2008

My computer says 2:56 AM. – But I think it's 10:56 AM here

Before B-fast Marshall and I wondered around Beius looking for an ATM. We finally found one though my new VISA card was denied. They may think that it was stolen. Marshall 's worked though, he called VISA and told him he'd be traveling.

We just toured REMM's work in Beius.

• In addition to the orphanage we saw their clinic – which used to serve over 100 people a day but now is mothballed except when US doctors come in. Part of the challenge is on-going regulation. It has made it difficult for Americans to serve. I suspect the need for medical care may not be quite as great as in the past. It looks like it was a very impressive work in its day – built in 1991.

• We then drove out to see the first orphanage building. It is now in disrepair but they are hoping to rebuild it and rent it out for commercial use. It is positioned on a main thoroughfare and they believe the growth of Beius is driving up commercial space needs.

• We then came back to the coffee house for a cup of coffee and to hear more about their desire to expand its services. At the moment it is breaking even. They believe their location right next to two schools means that it could be much more profitable if they could get sandwiches and other things to sell.

I learned that Romania – like Kenya – does not grant tax exempt status to groups like the orphanage. That makes it much harder to fund these enterprises with in-country money.

February 13, 2008

Timisoara, Romania

After our morning in Beius we drove to Timisoara to see Gelu and Rodica Paul-Fina.

Timisoara is over 700 years old, with many of the buildings being built several hundred years ago during the Baroque era. It has a reputation for being a progressive area – and is noteworthy as the spot where the Revolution of 1989 was launched.

Apparently the spark that set things off came from the way the government treated a Hungarian Reformed pastor who was protesting the way the government was treating Romanians with Hungarian blood. The government demanded that he be removed from his post. When the people refused – and formed a peaceful barrier around the church – crowds grew. Within a few days the crowds moved from the church to the center of town and news of what was going on began to spread throughout the country. Ceausescu made the mistake of calling the people of Bucharest together to denounce the uprisings in Timisoara . When he spoke they turned against him and he fled. He was caught the next day and on Christmas he and his wife were tried and killed.

Gelu and Rodica were involved in the upheaval from the beginning. As far back as the early 1980s they were praying at 7:14 AM and PM claiming II Chronicles 7:14 as the key verse

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

They had both previously been involved in a variety of underground (and illegal) Christian student movements. Gelu got involved in the underground college student ministry in the fall of 1981. Rodica came to Timisoara in the fall of 1984 when Gelu and Rodica got married. In fact, during times when it was illegal to have a typewriter he kept a photocopy machine in their apartment that he did not ever let her know about.

Rodica gave us a tour of the city from the vantage point of the revolution. It started at the Hungarian church which is right next door to the Crisis Pregnancy center Gelu and Rodica started about 10 years ago. (They also mange the pro-life network for the nation. Rodica is the president of the foundation. This March they will celebrate their 1000 th baby saved).

From there we crossed the bridge into the downtown where – on day three of the revolution a fire truck that was shooting a water cannon at the students to prevent them from moving into the center of town was picked up and pitched off the bridge.

About two blocks further into town we came upon the Metropolitan Orthodox Church – pictured below.

To the right of the stairs in the front are bullet holes where students, who were coming out of a prayer meeting, were shot by soldiers. (The soldiers had said that if the students did not disperse they would fire. The students said, “We have nothing to live for. You have taken our parents. You have taken our freedom.” They lifted their shirts and said, “Fire.” The soldiers did). Billy Graham spoke in this church during the communist era and it was packed to overflowing. There were about fifty people there while we visited. Rodica says that it is quiet full on Sundays. The services are two hours long and you are expected to stand the whole time. I doubt that would fly in Lake Forest .

About a quarter mile from the church is the opera house. It is from the balcony of this building that Ceausescu would speak when he came to Timisoara . We went there as well and walked out onto the balcony where he often stood, and where many of the revolutionaries were speaking to the crowds. Ceausescu intended to demolish the cathedral as it bothered him to see the building when he cam and spoke from the balcony.

Below is a picture looking out of the Opera balcony back at the Orthodox Church during the revolution.

Rodica and Gelu where in the crowd and saw all of their specific prayers answered: that the army will stop shooting civilians, that the army will join the revolution, that Ceausescu's plans will be used against him, that other cities will join the revolution (as Ceausescu was planning to bomb the city). It was really something as she walked us around to various spots, showing us bullet holes or describing where the tanks were, etc.

The sad thing is that Romania has found that it is harder to install a good government than it is to overthrow a bad one. There were one hundred fifty parties vying for power after the revolution. Many have come and gone. She said no one has been able to lead without being compromised by power. She has very limited hopes for government. She is happy to have the freedom to preach the Gospel and the freedom to travel – something she never expected in her life as only those who sold secrets to the government could hope for a passport.

Today the square is undergoing a slow remodel, but you can still sense what happened – especially standing on the balcony of the square and imagining it full of people.

After seeing the opera house we walked to dinner – I had a Romanian meat dish with boiled corn meal, liver pate and quail egg – noting other sites, such as part of the ancient wall that used to surround the city hundreds of years ago.

Miscellany:

• The state run Romanian orphanages – that were exposed as being such horrible holding tanks – became overrun because after Ceausescu took all of the birth control away from women he did not adequately staff those expected to care for the infants. One woman was expected to care for 15 newborns – and to do so without enough food or medicine to care for them. Ironically enough it was the products of the orphanages – a group of people who are now in their forties – who overthrew Ceausescu! They are often maladjusted today and unemployable.

• It is not only inflation that is making life hard. The fall in the US dollar makes things even harder for missionaries depending upon US funds to help finance their work.

February 14, 2008

Timisoara

Gelu picked us up about 9:00 this AM, after getting in late the night before from a meeting with Hybels in Bucharest . He has been working to have the Leadership Summit run in Romania even though some have been fighting it. They had an advance team of about 200 people at a conference, which he was thrilled with in part b/c he had not subsidized it at all. (When they started their training programs they were providing up to 90% scholarships for people. This was the first one he had not offered any aid, even when 70% of the pastors are living below the poverty line).

The night before – two nights ago – he arrived in Romania from the US late and didn't clear customs until even later (three hours ordeal). He got home at 1:00 AM and had to leave the next morning at 4:00 AM. (And I'm feeling a bit of jet lag?)

Anyway, Gelu picked us up at 9:00 AM and we made our way out to a large mall in the industrial part of town for B-fast. There we got his more complete story:

• Gelu grew up in a Christian home in Oradea . In the 1980s he was asked to translate for a Campus Crusade for Christ staff member who wanted to hold some training sessions. (Gelu did not know that the group was Crusade until some time later). He did, and when the student leader who had asked him to translate moved on, Gelu ended up in charge of the movement. During the next few years he helped arrange a dozen underground training events in which up to ten US college students would come into Romania and do three camps a summer with up to 70 Romanian students for training in evangelism and discipleship.

• In '87 he was arrested and shown a file about an inch thick that contained reports on his activities – most all of which were illegal. Remarkably, the police did not pursue the most obvious leads. He was accused of teaching the Bible in his house, and wanting to defect – which was grounds for imprisonment even if not proven true.

Gheorghiu Dej was the president in power before Ceausescu wanted to wipe out the church. At the beginning of 1948 there were 560 Baptist pastors shepherding 1000 Baptist churches. In the four years of bloody persecutions, 400 of them were tortured, taken to mental institutions, exiled from the country. It is assumed that the others were “compromised” and were allowed to remain free only because they were reporting on their colleagues. Gelu believes that some of these folks might have turned him in, as well as US students taking pictures of him, despite his frequent requests that they not do so. When their film was confiscated he would end up being identified.

• Gelu was pressured to turn informant but refused. He was released by the police after he was told that his days of freedom were numbered. From this point on, however, he was on some sort of list. His 18 months of mandatory army service (1978-1980) were horrible. After graduating (1987), he was unable to secure a job despite an engineering degree with high marks. When he finally got a job a government agent checked in on him twice a day.

• Reports of how hard life was during this time are unthinkable. It was not uncommon to wait in a food line for 24 hours to get basic necessities – sometimes only to find out that while you were standing in line they ran out of rations.

• In 1989 the Revolution hit. Gelu and friends were in the thick of the crowds – which swelled to 100,000 – from the third day on. He describes the situation as very confusing because no one had a clear understanding of what they could believe. (At various times they were told that the government was going to bomb the city and that the water had been poisoned). He rejoiced when their prayers were answered – such as a prayer that Ceausescu's plans would be used against him, which happened when a counter revolutionary rally he called in Bucharest turned pro-democracy and he was forced to flee.

• Following the revolution they briefly considered forming a church, which they felt was a necessary step and one they were prepared for given the 60 plus leaders they had trained in their college ministry. In 1990, with the Josh McDowell rally in Timisoara, the student ministry gathered over 1,400 new converts. But one of the pastors who was previously providing information to the secret police told him that at age 30 he was too young to become a pastor. He was offered a chance to come to the US to study and took that up. From 1991 – 1995 he did his M.Div. at Gordon Conwell.

• In 1995 he came back and started teaching ethics at Emmanuel Baptist Institute in Oradea . A year later, however, he resigned because of his personal ethical beliefs. It took another three years before he was able to be ordained in the Baptist church, one of only 14 denominations the government recognizes. The student ministry Gelu started in the early 1980 now emerged as OSCER – the Romanian equivalent of InterVarsity – of which he remains as Chair. (The office is in the church).

• In 2008 Gelu together with five leaders from Timisoara college student ministry started Vox Domini Church – which now has about 500 people attending. They built a multi-purpose facility that is designed to be a training center for churches. (We are staying in the residence part of the church). The church itself has just moved out of this building into a theater and he recently stepped down as a senior pastor because of his PhD studies. He remains Strategic Coordinator. He has never taken a salary so he can demand that everyone else put in significant hours as well). At the moment Vox Domini meets as a large group every other week and in house churches every other week.

• In 2001 they started a kindergarten – which is much like a Day Care. It grew and is now its own enterprise and is operating outside the church.

• In 1995 Gelu started a publishing house. They do about five titles a year – almost all translations of English works into Romanian. They have forty titles in all and an office out of the church.

• His most recent project is BIG – which is an acronym for Global Impact Churches in Romanian. It is a training center for church growth / planting.

After B-fast and the run-down on his life we walked around downtown and grabbed coffee at a McDonalds (it was cold outside). While we were there Gelu learned that a distance education extension program that he's been trying to set up with Fuller and a university in Hungary has finally gone through. He was quite jacked.

We were joined by Rodica and their two children (Ionna is 7 and Johnny is 4) for lunch and a tour of a Revolutionary Museum . (The presentation there helped me appreciate how chaotic it was in the days following the revolution. In most revolts some guerilla leader is in charge. This was very much a spontaneous revolt. As a result hundreds of people started to jockey for power in the hours after independence was declared).

We returned to the church for a meeting with his leadership team before racing back to their home for dinner. Rodica cooked Romania Cabbage rolls for us. It was great food, though their boy had a fever and I don't think Gelu got anything to eat.

I spoke to about 75 college students at some sort of Valentines' Day event to wrap up the day. The group normally runs closer to 200 but many have just finished finals and left for home.

February 16, 2008

Minsk, Belarus

We flew into Minsk yesterday via Warsaw. I've never been to Poland and it is hard to judge by the airport, but it sure looks more developed than Romania .

We arrived in Minsk around 2:00 and proceeded slowly through customs. Neither Marshall nor I had gotten a Visa beforehand. We'd been assured that it would not be a problem to get it at the airport.

And it would not have been, if we had brought enough money. But on nothing that we read before hand – including the forms we'd filled out for a Visa prep agency – had we been told that we would need $180 cash. The agent kept saying $108. I gave him $120 but he was asking for more. Meanwhile I was handing Marshall – who had $92 – money and we ended up giving the agent all we had for the two of us. He gave me some back and we thought we'd both paid. I got my Visa and we thought Marshall was about to get his when the guy asked for more money. We argued that we'd already paid for him. He got a bit frustrated and came out from behind the counter and demanded that I give him my passport back. At this point I thought I was going to get kicked out, but he simply showed us – via a receipt he watched me put in my passport – that it was $180. He kept saying $108, but it was $180. We didn't have enough cash. He said we couldn't use credit cards. I thought we might be stuck – or rather, I thought that I was in the country and Marshall was going to be living in the terminal!

In the end Marshall got escorted – via a woman guard – through customs to an ATM machine, where he was able to get cash. It took him about another 20 – 30 minutes to emerge. Meanwhile, I had been escorted through customs and had met Dima, but had no idea where Marshall was. Oh well, a few moments of fun.

Minsk has changed a fair bit since I was here in 2000. Lukashenka, the president (four of the last five men to run against him have disappeared) appears to be able to keep the economy moving slowly forward, though no one knows how. (For the last five years experts keep saying that tomorrow the economy will collapse). Seven years ago Dima and Alona moved out of the small two room apartment in the city that they shared with her mother and grandmother and into a 1200 square foot home about twenty minutes outside of town. It took another six years to complete it (it is about 90% complete – which, as he said, is 100% complete in Belarus) – which meant it took 15 years to build. Why 15 years? B/c: 1) a loan from the bank would run about 17% interest; 2) if you save money in the bank until you have enough to build at one time Lukashenka simply takes it. (He has emptied the banks in the past when he has announced that the country needs money). So, in this subdivision in which Dima and Alona are living about 20% of the houses are partially built and appear to have been partially built for about 10 years.

We came out to have dinner at their home and then went back into town to the hotel were Marshall is staying. (We were told by the Visa service – the same one that failed to mention the $180 fee – that it was best to book a hotel because it helped to get into the country). I was very surprised to see so many lights. It is not that there are that many places of business, it is simply that all of the government buildings are lit up.

After dinner the Lazoutas took us to the Circus. We had asked for some of the local culture. When Sheri and I were here before we went to a Russian ballet. They had thought about taking us to the opera but noted that many international travelers slept through it – largely because of jet lat. So, we took in a one ring circus that featured a lot of high wire acts and tumblers who were very good.

Dima is as focused as ever. He is the senior pastor of Good News – the church where I will preach three services tomorrow. It meets in a building on a normal residential lot that can hold about 120 people when packed full. They have planted several other churches and, just this past year, have started a four service off site. (The plan is that this service will become its own church soon).

The fourth service / church plant is called “New Land.” It is the most contemporary and is the one growing the quickest. (Their first service is traditional and they become more contemporary as the day goes on). New Land recently held an evangelistic meeting directed at the 1000 people who signed up to take a Business English class they set up. (He said that one of the KGB agents who was there told them that he liked the service!)

The government allows them to meet but has never granted them a permit. Consequently they could be shut down at any moment. (He told me that it is illegal for me to preach and that there is a chance that I will be arrested. If that happens I'll be sent out of the country and never allowed in again. But it is very unlikely.) I told him that I was going to preach two messages this summer on politics. He said that if he did something like that that they'd close them down in a minute.

In Belarus the Russian Orthodox church is the state church and receives funding from the government. The Baptists and Pentecostals have some recognition but not much. Dima is a leader within the Baptist denomination, which has 300 churches, but is dying. There is a strong fundamentalist wing that is very legalistic. He is considered a trouble maker because of the music they play. After years of fighting to try to convince the established churches to make some changes (less legalism / music to appeal to younger families) he has started a church planting movement instead. This is also being fought from within the denomination but not by many. (He appears very tired of the fighting). But there are others who are coming to him to ask for help because they realize that they are dying. There were 200 baptisms in the denomination last year. Forty-seven were at Good News. Of those 23 were at the mother church and 24 were at New Land – which has only been open for 18 months.

The Lazoutas are facing some big decisions: there are a few family and extended family issues in play, Dima wants to start a PhD; and he is considering stepping down from being senior pastor to focus on starting new churches. In terms of the last, he has been told by many that their church is one of the few stable churches in the denomination and he can't leave it. The fear is that if he steps down to be associate pastor – making his associate pastor the senior pastor – that many will read into the change that he lost a power struggle, and that this will effect the progress they have made.

Apparently it is unthinkable that anyone would give up power.

Alona is as delightful as ever. She is working full time with the church, doing everything from women's ministry to secretarial work.

Like the Paul-Finas the Lazoutas have been hit by the declining value of the dollar. Part of their income comes from families in the West.

One thing that is new in Minsk is the new national library – which Lukashenka calls their national treasure. It is quite impressive – and the light show every night is something I have watched with fascination – but I must admit that the critics are right when they suggest it looks a lot like the Death Star on Star Wars.

Average life expectancy in Belarus is in the 50s for men. Most of the blame is directed at alcoholism.

The birth rate in Belarus, like Romania, is very low. The state has a backlog of orphans that no one will take. The government runs all adoptions and will pay parents a monthly stipend to adopt a child. Commercials on TV are advertising this option all the time.

February 17, 2008

Minsk

Yesterday we headed to Baranavichi, a town of about 200,000 about two hours West of Minsk. A pastor had asked Dima for some help, and in exchange for a pledge of 50 people to help plant a church in that area, Dima agreed to do a five hour training session on leadership.

We arrived at noon to a cross section of about 40 men and women of all ages. I was given the first hour, and spoke on self-leadership – which was basically a call to grow in Christ. Dima took the rest.

While he was teaching, Alona, Marshall and I went into town to walk around. Most shops were closed after 4:00 and it was cold – negative 11 degrees C – so we went into anything we could find open. This included an Orthodox church, an art museum and a coffee shop. The later featured a flat screen TV playing European MTV, surely the height of culture anywhere!

Belarus is called the museum of the Soviet Union . It is one of the only places that still has statues of Lenin. We toured that as well.

Dima finished his training at about 8:00 PM. We got back around 10:30 PM and had dinner at 11:00. Dima has a similar training session next Saturday in another town two hours in the opposite direction. The following week he goes to Lisbon to attend a church planting seminar where he will be teaching as well. In the interim he has an article due for a Russian magazine on Freedom in Christ. It's a hectic pace.

BTW, most of the questions he was asked at the training sessions – and, for that matter, that I was asked – had nothing to do with leadership. I was asked basic questions of theology, along with a couple of questions about American politics that Dima told me not to answer (e.g. the former town police captain asked me, “Is original sin the answer for American foreign policy?”. Given that everything has to be translated it is hard to tell whether it was meant as a joke or if it was a serious question. The pastor of the church jumped up and said something. I looked at Dima and he told me not to answer). Dima was asked questions about worship music, about whether Christians can watch TV and if they can attend weddings for non-Christians, etc. It is not hard to see the fundamentalist strains.

On the way back I was trying to explain to Dima that no one asks those questions in the US and that evangelicals are gaining a reputation for taking more steps to help the poor, fight for justice, stand up against racism, etc. I asked if they were doing anything along those lines. Dima and Alona laughed, saying, “There are no poor in Belarus!” Apparently they approached the government and asked for the names of any families that were struggling so they could help them. They were informed that there were no poor in Minsk . And they got in trouble for suggesting that there were.

They did say that they know of no racism. During the Soviet era there were 15 different ethnic groups who were told that they were brothers and sisters. That mindset has carried over and so today they do not know of racial attitudes among people.

Other insights from our day of talking and driving:

• Gas prices in Belarus are the same throughout the country.

• The temperature in Belarus has warmed considerably in the last few years. This was the first snow they have had this year. In the past there was snow on the ground constantly from Oct – April. Alona says that she has heard that Global Warming has had a bigger impact on Belarus than on most countries.

• People receive about $150 per month in retirement from the government. Dima and Alona spend that much on gas. But the idea of saving for retirement is foreign b/c: 1) it was not done during the soviet era; 2) you can't trust the banks. Alona's dad saved all of his life to buy a new car. The government recalibrated the money and he lost it all.

• Belarus was totally destroyed by the Germans in WW II. There are virtually no buildings in Minsk older than the late 1940s.

• If you are wealthy in Belarus you are likely in jail. No one believes that you can get rich legally. If you are rich you have taken from others. They have a zero-sum mentality.

• Lukashenka is especially hostile to small business. He taxes and regulates them so severely that they can not make it. When they complain he tells them to work in the factories. (He was in charge of collective farming and believes that their best days as a country are behind them. He is trying to march them back to the glory days of the Soviet Era).

• The fallout from Chernobyl 's nuclear meltdown spilled into Belarus . They know of on-going health problems faced by people – especially children born to those exposed to the radiation – but the government does not talk about it so they do not have any clear idea how extensive the problems are.

We stayed up until about 11:30 talking about what Dima should do next. For five years he has been trying to decide if he should do a PhD or not. He feels as though he must make this decision quickly b/c he is already 42.

He advocated very strongly for a distance learning program through Regent University, b/c he would not have to leave Belarus, but I told him that CISF would not support that program, in large part b/c Pat Robertson, president of Regent University has become little more than a joke. He would really like to do this program b/c it is cheaper and he could stay here.

I preach today at the 9:30, 11:30 and 2:30 services at Good News, and will be going over to visit the 11:00 service at New Land, where Dima is preaching. Marshall is sharing his testimony at Good News at the 9:30 service and then heading to the airport.

February 17, 2008

4:30 PM

I am back at the Lazoutas home with an hour of down time before a group of men arrive for some sort of discussion. In the end I only preached twice – at the 9:30 and 11:00 services because there was a special evangelistic service at the 2:30 service aimed primarily at the young people. Alexander Patlis – a Belarusian pop musician who attends the church – was there to sing and share. Apparently he is quite the heartthrob. Equally apparently, I am not. So, I was bumped from the 2:30 service.

• The early service is more traditional. Probably 80 folks. Music was mostly keyboard and guitar – no drums. A young Belarusian opera star – who serves as their worship leader – sang a solo. He is very good and is apparently being courted in Moscow and Berlin. Marshall shared his testimony as well. He did a good job.
• The second service was not much different musically, though they dropped the solo and added drums to the songs. There were probably 110 people.
• The third service – featuring Patlis and the evangelistic sermon by a young pastor Dima has hired to run this service – was packed. I'd guess 150? (There were people sitting in the stairwell where they could not see.

After preaching at the first service Alona and I went over to New Land, their new fourth service, which meets at a rented hall in the center of town. They can't believe that so close to the university and government buildings that they have a church meeting. About 200 people were there – mostly under 30 – and it was a full-fledged contemporary service. In addition to rock music there were two clowns putting on a skit. Dima said, “This is unlike anything ever seen in Belarus before, Mike. If the counsel finds out about this I will be in so much trouble.”

We got home around 4:00 – obviously there were no KGB agents at the service – and then a couple came over for dinner and 3 ½ hour conversation about Dima's future. Joe – a missionary from Georgia who has married a Belarusian wife and who says Dima can't leave because he is “the man” in Belarus – and I talked, debated and prayed over Dima's future. There was a powerful moment when I asked Alona what she wanted to have happen. Her quiet reply, “I really like my life right now and I know how hard it was for us to come back to Belarus after we did our masters degree, but I also know that my husband was very refreshed from his time at Regent and that this has always been his dream, so of course I will support him in whatever needs to happen,” was very moving. Dima just about started to cry.

The night ended with no resolution. Joe and his wife needed to leave. Dima and Alona went out for a walk – in the sub zero snow. He is stuck. I think we (CISF) might consider sending him to spend a day in Romania with Gelu. That trip may help him decide one way or the other.

Tomorrow AM is some meeting here at their home w/ various folks and then I head to the airport.

Just turned on the BBC to discover that Kosovo has declared independence. In our initial itinerary Marshall and I were slated to head there next. Not sure whether to be happy or sad that we didn't follow through.

February 18, 2008

Last Morning

A long discussion this AM about retirement savings. Dima is trying to figure out what to teach on this topic and steps he should take to help pastors on this front. I suggested that we set up accounts in the US but he said it is illegal for a Belarusian to have a savings account outside of the country. I suggested that they buy land but the government will not allow you to own land you are not building on. The government is “promising” them $150 dollars per month in retirement. That is not enough and, given the country's demographics, may not even be reasonable.

February 19, 2008

Chicago

Later yesterday morning Dima had two young pastors over for B-fast and a two hour conversation about church leadership. Most of their questions revolved around finding and training leaders, though some were about the worship wars going on in their country – not that different in nature from what goes on in the US .

Flights home were uneventful, though a bit long. About an hour outside of Minsk – on a Lufthansa flight – I figure I am back in the West, which for all of it's problems, has some big upsides!