Why Russia?

Russia is one of those places you either love or hate – or even both, but I’m not sure that you can feel mediocrity about it. It’s a land of extremes. Extreme temperatures, extreme wealth, extreme poverty, dramatically turbulent history, dictatorships, harsh living and dying (think rampant alcoholism and an average life expectancy for men of around 59), amazing beauty, and conversely at times – an amazing disrespect for nature. And, let’s not forget that Russia is known for extreme bureaucracy!
The fact that Nickolai is Russian probably helps to explain his heart for this rather, um, challenging place, but mine?
I first went to Russia when I was 21. My church at the time often had a short term mission going to China that I had an opportunity to go on. While it sounded interesting, it didn’t particularly stir my heart. But then I was told that there were plans to take a team to Russia. Something leapt inside me and I just knew I wanted to go. I worked like crazy to save for the trip and we left for my first overseas trip on my 21st birthday – what a present!
The moment we stepped off the plane onto Russian soil I knew I was ‘doomed’. A piece of my heart would always be in this Russian Wonderland. I could not even explain the fascination, because the next three weeks I spent being shocked at how different life was there and increasingly frustrated by so many things. And yet Russia gets under your skin.
I knew I had to come back, and I did. A year later I returned with another team and the sense of destiny was the same. This was the trip when I met my husband – a story for another day . It was most definitely not even one of my remotest thoughts to marry a Russian, but it helped to confirm to me that Russia was meant to be a big part of my life.
The following year, Nickolai and I got married in Australia, and 15 years later, here we still are. Four children and a handful of short trips back to Russia later, it’s just never been the right time to go (having small children does manage to consume a lot of time and energy, I’ve discovered!) But things are changing and we believe God is stirring us to go.
We’re still not sure exactly when, but much sooner rather than later. And we’re still not sure exactly how, or what He wants us to do there, or for how long at this time. We have so many questions for Him, but we trust that He will open and close the right doors as we obey His calling. It is a very big step to be considering, especially as our children will be along for the journey. That is why we really covet your prayers. Please pray that God will make things really clear for us, and that the way will be smooth. I can’t wait to see what God has in store!