Terry's Russia Blogosphere

From 1964 to 2008

When I was a kid back in the 1960's I never imagined the roads that life would take me down.  Of course, as a kid you never know what's coming in life. 

I didn't have so many goals but as a military family we lived on many bases.  I always enjoyed watching the planes fly over and thought I'd like to do that when I grew up. 

One thing is for sure, I have been around and have seen many things.  I feel that traveling and living in many nations has given me a broad education in life.  I can see things from several perspectives now.

Our boys have a broadened understanding of things as well.  This, to me, is a distinctive advantage in life. 

When this picture was taken of me and my little sister, Patty we lived in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I had a pretty thick razorback accent going then and just as we got used to living there Dad came up on orders for California.  Talk about an adjustment in school.  It seems like I have always been the new guy.

Come to think of it, I even looked like a preacher way back then in 1964.  You should have seen the hat to go along with that suit.  Very '60's.

Now, from that farm house in Cabot, Arkansas to Moscow, Russia I have traveled around the globe.  I'm always up for meeting new people and sharing customs.  I find that people are the same all over the world.  They just look different. 

Good News Seminary Kicks Off 2008/2009

On Monday night the Moscow Good News Seminary welcomed a classroom full of eager, new students.  They came to school for the first time with us with a desire in their hearts to know more about God and His Word.

We sensed a deep desire amongst our new class on Orientation night in Moscow.  As each of our instructors spoke, the students became more and more excited about their upcoming classes.  Each of us shared from our hearts about the individual classes which we teach and gave a taste of what is to come this year in the seminary.

During the orientation, Terri went over the student handbook as the students listened.  The first night is always a little overwhemling for some.  The rules usually weed out some of the potential students when they hear what is required - but this year I haven't seen that happen.  In fact, there were not only no students who didn't return for the next night's actual classes, there were additional students coming in who couldn't make it to orientation.  In short, this is going to be a special group this year.

The next night the returning students from last year filled the halls with their smiles and excited voices.  Friends greeted after not seeing each other for the summer, hugs and smiles were seen everywhere. 

There were also returning graduates who came back for more!  Thirty-seven graduate students signed up for the pastoral counseling classes. 

We know that this year is to be a powerful year in the Lord at Good News Seminary.  Our full time Moscow staff (right) is already working over time and making sure that touching the lives of those whom God has sent our way will be trained and ready to do the work of the ministry when they leave us.

Our classes in Kiev, Ukraine have also started as well as in the city of Vladimir, Russia. 

There is no limit to what God can do when His Word is preached, believed and acted upon.

Please pray for our students and staff in all three campuses.  We are expecting a true move of the Spirit here in Russia and Ukraine!

Terry & Terri Home Again in Russia

Home again, home again, jiggidy jigg.  Our old stomping grounds, i.e., John F. Kennedy Airport, was the scene of our latest adventure.  We are becoming quite familiar with the terminal there as well as the hotels, Sky-Train, Restaurants and the ticket counters where we line up to reschedule our flights.

It isn't quite so nerve wracking anymore though because of our familiarity.  It is however tiring to miss your connecting flights.  After leaving early from West Virginia then driving over the Appalachian Mountains to Dulles airport near Washington, DC we carted our bags to the check-in counter, payed for the extra luggage, then carted that to the x-ray screeners.  We then made our way through security with the now customary shoe removal and carry-on baggage checks on the way to our gate.

After we sat down there in Washington, we saw the sign which said "on-time" below our flight number.  That didn't last long though, our plane was coming in from Atlanta after being delayed by the left over tropical storm.  Then, as 1:30 hit, all the computers on the east coast went haywire.  Our flight then said, "delayed".  There still wasn't all that much to be concerned with since we had time.  The only drawback though was that our destination was the dreaded JFK airport.

Since it is so busy with air traffic from all over the world we want to get there on time.  Our connecting flight to Russia never waits in order to keep on schedule.  It hasn't always happened, but more often than not we get to reschedule.  We didn't want to fly to somewhere in Europe hoping to find a flight from there to Moscow so we opted for a hotel instead.  Who knows, we could get to go uptown and have a hamburger by the Kennedy Center and enjoy the city lights for an evening.

Instead, once we got to the hotel we decided to rest.  To make an already too long story short, we got the same flight a day late.  We got to Moscow without any of our baggage though.  It finally found us a couple of days later with no big problems. 

Now that we're home, we're getting everything turned back on and re-registered so we can get back into the full swing of life.  Today, I ate lunch at the stolovia (cafeteria), so I feel like things are back to normal. 

I can tell you this - it is fantastic to see our Russian family again!  To be greeted with such smiles and open arms does not compare to anything I know of!  By the way, my friends at International Fellowship celebrated by birthday with me Sunday.  I'm glad too because I spent that day in the airport terminals and flying across the Atlantic.  To be truthful, I wouldn't have it any other way!