Reflection on Russia (round 2)

On a bit of a tangent from the type of writings which I normally have a proclivity for, this post is actually the final update for my internship in Russia.
This post will also be found on the SunErgos blog (<--link) along with a few neat pictures :)
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"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

It's like, no matter what, sometimes there are places that you are just supposed to be. Coming into this summer I had a lot of different opportunities that came my way, and a lot of things that threatened to keep me from traveling to Russia. There was the difficulty in raising funds, the worry about not having a job when I return, and the fact that I had a great job I could have taken in lieu of this trip and been living completely comfortably right now. Stress and difficulty aren't the only things that threaten to keep you from doing the work you are supposed to, but temptation of an easy life can as well. 

Yet, we are not called to easy life. 

Through all the time preparing for this trip, I kept having to just tell myself to trust in the plan that God had laid before me, and to block out the distractions and doubts. The place that you are supposed to be does not always have to be the place that is the easiest to be, because, to be honest, He often has more in store for us than we can see with our own sight, limited as it is.  And now, looking back on the time that I have had here, I know without even a shadow of a doubt that this really was the place that I was supposed to be this summer. The people that I have met, the friendships that I have built, and the work that I have been able to do and assist with while here demonstrates that to me clear as a bell.

Now I sit here, on my final day in Russia this summer, reflecting on what I have seen God do in my life, in my heart, and in the hearts and lives of those around me. The last week has gone by in the blink of an eye. The Vanguard team wrapped up the last few days of their Olympics themed camp by taking the kids on a boat ride on Wednesday, creating an Olympic-color themed handprint banner and doing closing ceremonies on Thursday, and then finishing installing a new Volleyball net for the center and saying goodbye on Friday. Even with the goodbyes fresh on their minds, the Vanguard team went into debriefing for their trip on Friday afternoon (which I was given the responsibility and privilege of leading). Friday night we had some celebration for another birthday on the team, and then the team got to work packing and cleaning the church where we had been staying the past couple weeks.

I hardly slept at all Friday night, knowing that in the morning I would be leaving Novgorod with the team. So much has happened this summer there, and it honestly felt like I was preparing to leave my home. But morning came, and I departed with Marina and the Vanguard team towards St. Petersburg and Pulkovo airport, from which the team would be departing for Moscow, and then home to America. The remainder of my time back in St. Pete has been spent simply catching up the last of the accounting for the teams, and finishing up the sightseeing with the third CBU team that is still here in the city.

I could never have made it through this summer without the amazing people that God has put here to lead this ministry and to help along the way. Marina, Ksusha, Olya, Valya, Misha, Alena, Nastya, and all of the people that came out to Novgorod and St. Petersburg this year to serve; thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have been blessed by the way that you live, and by the example you have set of the way in which God's love is shared. Also, you have touched so many children's lives in a way that will stay with them for as long as they live. You have made a difference.

I ask, as I get ready to leave, that those of you reading this blog please continue to keep the ministry of SunErgos, and all of the lives that have been touched this summer in prayer. There are still some more teams coming this summer, but those people that live here in Russia will continue to minister to the children for the rest of the year as well. Pray for strength, for wisdom, and that God would continue to pour out His love through them. Thank you all so much for the support that you have given me, without which I would not have made it here.

Goodbye for now Russia, I will be seeing you again.

On Hope

Hope is the recourse of the faithful.

Let me explain.

We are given reason to hope in our faith. Not because of the act of having faith, but because of the One in which our faith is placed. That is to say, His promises, powers, consistency, and love give us a reason to have hope for the future in the first place. When we cannot see what is ahead of us, when there seems to be no escape from the mire that we have become solidly rooted in, we let our faith give us hope that there will be a way out. It is our recourse by way of, when all else fails, it is there to fall back on, and we know this because of the promise we find through out faith.

Hope is the inextinguishable candle that lights the darkness. 

And yet, at the same time, it is so much more. Hope is a reason to move forward, to hold on when the odds are not in your favor. It is the strength of those that have nothing else, because hope cannot be matched for the simple power of motivation that it holds. Furthermore, to hope is an exercise of the Spirit; Lamentations 3:26 says, “It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

But returning to my initial statement, I think that it is important to more closely examine the roots of hope, and why it is so different for those who have faith.

For the man who does not believe, hope may still be come by. It is not a singular attribute of those who have found salvation. But it is a hope of a different sort which that man finds. Whereas our hope stems ultimately from faith (to be addressed more in just a bit), his comes only by what is temporary and fallible. He may have hope by a person, but people can fail or change. He may put hope in a system of some sort, be it government or something else, but where power is established and dispersed, corruption pursues. The face is that man’s hope in that which is of the world may in fact come to pass, but what is the result afterward? Where does that hope go, or the energy which was put into it? And what happens if that which the man had hoped so dearly for does not come to pass at all, or comes about and the result is lackluster? 

Hope in worldly powers is often misplaced, and just as soon it is replaced. Hope, in the end, can only go so far as the entity to which the hope has been ascribed. If the reason for that hope changes or disappears, the hope dies, leaving the man who dared hope in the first place more despondent than when he first began.

Do not take this the wrong way though, because I am by no means saying that hope has no reason outside of faith. I am making a comparison of reliability not purpose. Many of the greatest stories that we tell, whether fact or fiction, revolve around a central theme of hope.

My point is just this: hope built upon anything other than our faith is not longer assurance, but liability. It is a similar idea to the parable of the man who built his house on the sand and the man who built his house on the rock.

To bring a bit of a happier tone, let’s look back to that original point shall we? One of my favorite passages from Romans explains the concept rather well:

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." [5:1-5]

Paul illuminates the reason for hope with his words. By the Holy Spirit, who is in us, we have the love of God poured out into our lives. This love is what allows us to glory in our tribulations, which in turn with give rise to hope. By our faith we are filled.

We know that there is a power that is in the world, yet not of the world, and that it is greater than all else. When the faithful man is found in want, he will always find that he has an assurance upon which he can cast his hopes. 

Note that word: assurance. It is confidence that what we have been given reason to hope for will come to pass, and it is what has been given to us through the gift of salvation. Whether we see the result ourselves or not.

Look, God didn’t save the world so that we would continue to live in darkness, but so that we would see that He is the One always there, even in the dark times, holding the candle that will not be put out.