When applying for a student visa, we were given 90 day visas that we could renew to stay for a longer period of time once in Russia. A part of this renewal process involves being tested for HIV. So, Tuesday morning Shannon and I set out to take care of this on our own. Went to the clinic and had probably the most major communication problem we have had yet. The whole experience probably would not have been nearly as frustrating for us had there not been a room full of people staring at us during the whole process of trying to figure out what we were supposed to do, where to go, and when to be there. (Side note: the fact that someone is not able to speak your language very well does not mean that they can’t tell when you are talking about them/making fun of them… just so ya know!) Eventually, we found out that we would need to come back the next day because they were no longer accepting patients for blood testing that day. Needless to say, this experience put us in a not very good mood.
After this lovely experience, however, we were able to get our pictures taken (along with the HIV test, we had to have 5 b&w passport style pictures) and explain how many and what size and color we needed. Then we treated ourselves to McDonalds for lunch. When we had calmed down enough and regained some confidence in our ability to accomplish anything, we were able to put money on our tram cards by ourselves… and this lady was SO nice and happy. We were able to explain how much we wanted to put on each card and she was smiling and being so very nice. Shannon and I were almost ready to cry tears of joy at this point. She completely made my day! And then later that evening Eileen taught us how to make bleeny! I can hardly wait to try this out with my family in a couple of months!
A day that began with such discouragement ended in such a great way! Yes, we had a great deal of difficulty in the beginning, but God then allowed us to have a successful rest of the day and get quite a bit accomplished!
… the next day we went back and were able to get our blood drawn for the test with only a little bit of confusion (nothing like the day before!) and 2 days later we were able to pick up our results with no confusion. All of our paperwork and such is turned in, so now we will wait for the international office to get our visas renewed.
In other news…
One of our classmates, Peter, came to English Club this last Monday! Shannon and I were quite excited! We were able to help him meet a bunch of new people. Peter knows a fair amount of English already, but wants to continue to improve and he doesn’t have a whole lot to do outside of school right now because he doesn’t have a way to communicate very well with most of the people here. He told us that he had a lot of fun. He is going to be here for 6 years getting a degree, so he needs to have plenty of friends to hang out with. Hopefully he will make some lasting relationships through English Club. He said that he is going to try to make it every week! J This was quite encouraging to Shannon and I!
Every Thursday night, Shannon and I have been trying to have a study night at McDonalds. Until last Thursday, no one had shown up. But last week, Mirena, a woman from Serbia came! We did do some homework and study a little, but then we talked a little and walked around for a while. We were able to build on our friendship with her. It was so good. I am hoping that eventually she will feel comfortable enough to come to English club as well and meet some of the believers there.
Shannon and are making a point to get the people we’ve met so far plugged in with some of the groups of believers here before we have to leave in December.
Shannon and I made chocolate chip muffins for our class on Monday. It was so much fun and everyone seemed to enjoy a little treat in the middle of our 3 and a half hour class.
A new Chinese student has joined our class now. Again, we have had some communication problems due to the fact that neither of us knows enough Russian to hold a decent conversation, but Shannon and I will continue to pray and watch for God to open a door in some way.
Coming up in the next week:
· Craft night at our apartment next Wed. we will be making Halloween-themed crafts that we will use to decorate Chris and Eileen’s apartment for Women’s Club which will be next Friday!
· Women’s Club this month will be Halloween-themed and Eileen will be using the process of making a jack-o-lantern as a way to demonstrate how God wants to dig out all the junk inside of us and shine His light through us.
Prayer Requests:
· Getting our new friends plugged in with believers somewhere
· We would be able to continue to build relationships with our friends
· More and more opportunities to discuss the Gospel and our testimonies
· Shannon, Kelly, and I will be saying good bye to one of our good friends here Saturday, because she will be heading to America to work in Minnesota for a year. We are excited for her, but we are also going to miss her. She is not yet a believer, but we have seen signs that she is searching. We are praying that she will get connected with some believers in America.
· Health- I’m still feeling a bit under the weather… so far it isn’t bad enough to keep me from participating in anything, but just enough to wear me out faster. It also looks like Shannon may be catching what I have (the joys of living in a small apartment and sharing everything...)
Answered Prayers:
· Peter coming to English Club
· Building a relationship with Mirena
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