September 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

It is hard to believe that we have been in Moscow for over a month now. On the other hand so much has happened that it seems we’ve been here much longer. Where do we start? Let’s begin with the family. We have wonderful living arrangements. It is a very spacious apartment which is a rarity in Russia. Rachel and Bethany are happily sharing a room, Naomi has taken over the guest room, and Bob and Stacy have converted the study into the master bedroom/study.

The girls started school at Hinkson Christian Academy the last week of August. They absolutely love it. Rachel has already been involved in a talent show where she played Largo perfectly. Naomi proved to be the fastest person, boy or girl, in all of third grade. And Bethany has just recently gotten over a nine-stitch injury on her foot which kept her out of school for a few days. They have all made great friends and are happy to be living in Moscow. Thank you for your prayers concerning our family’s transition—they were answered.

The girls are also going to be starting tennis this month. God provided a brand new tennis club right around the corner from our house. We had prayed that they could be involved in a year-round activity with other Russian children so that they could be exposed to the language while keeping active. We are continually reminded of God’s provision.

Bob and Stacy are going to start intensive Russian on September 4. We are so looking forward to being able to speak to the wonderful people that we see around us. We can smile, say a few random words and laugh, and that seems to go a long way. We can’t wait to be able to actually say a complete sentence and have people understand us and vice-versa.

We’ve started riding the bus and metro system here. You can get anywhere in Moscow in about an hour. It seems that no matter where you go it takes about an hour. The kids love the metro, and actually it is quite beautiful. It is a mix of stone, marble, arched ceilings and some relief work along the way. Who would think that a subway could also be a work of art?

Our work here so far has been extremely rewarding. We knew that we had a diverse congregation but the wide range of this diversity has absolutely amazed us. On any given Sunday we will have a refugee sitting next to a business person who has been very successful financially. It has been a bit challenging to preach to this diverse of a congregation on a week in and week out basis, but it is a challenge that Bob is enjoying. We are also enjoying the worship services. They were using the old Armed Forces hymnal which not many people seemed to enjoy. In a congregation that is mixed ethnically and has a medium age of about 30, we thought some praise songs and well-known hymns presented in a lively way would be better received. We don’t think the church has been disappointed.

The Sunday School year began on the third of September. It was wonderful to finally begin to get to know the children. What a great group! One sixth-grade boy had to help Stacy ask a girl what grade she was in, and Bethany had to help her teacher pronounce a couple of words in the story. It was lots of fun and the beginning of a great adventure.

We have learned a lot about the ministry of MPC through spending time at the Parish Center. Currently there is only one soup kitchen. We had thought there were two. We recently found out that the services that are being provided have just within the last year been cut back dramatically. It seems that we have arrived at a fairly crucial time in the life of MPC as it decides the extent of its outreach ministries. Since we have only been here for just over a month it is difficult to tell in which direction the church council will want to go. For that matter, it is difficult for us to create an informed opinion in such a short period of time. We are trying to hear from all involved as we prayerfully seek to determine the direction of the outreach ministry.

A couple of things happened that caught our attention and reminded us of a potential contribution that we might be able to make in this ministry. There is a young man, let’s call him Matthew, who is beginning to teach Bob some realities of living in Russia as a black man. We see him daily. In the evening he spends time with friends, many of whom are parishioners at MPC. At night, he pays $5 so that he can “sleep” at the desk of an Internet café. Some time soon Bob will go with him and his friends and then at midnight take some pictures at the Internet café. We hope to find a way to help. One never knows where these things lead, but we’ve heard somewhere that if you knock it will be opened and if you seek you will find.

There is another man, let’s call him Mark. He is helping us find our way around the city. He gets stopped routinely by the police while Bob is with him. They have yet to check Bob’s paperwork but don’t miss an opportunity to check his. Ethnic profiling is a very serious and widespread practice in Moscow, and Bob is able to see it first hand almost daily. Again, not sure what is to be done, but give us time, and hopefully we can come up with some ways to be involved in this issue as well.

I guess that can be all for September. Please know that you all have an open invitation to visit us at any time here in Moscow. We have plenty of room to sleep families, individuals or groups. The weather has started to change, but we still have about a month, maybe a little longer, before the bitter cold sets in. They tell us the winters are a little different than the ones we experienced in Florida these past eight years. We wonder what that means.

We remain your servants in Christ,

The Bronkema family

P.S. We discovered this wonderful computer phone system called Skype. It allows us to call people who have Skype for free. If you are at all interested then just hook up, buy a microphone, and we can stay connected.