August 14, 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord!

The summer season is now at an end. All summer, Meg had planned to write the newsletter for the summer months. She was such an integral part of everything we did this summer that we thought you would enjoy hearing from her. By the time we got to the end of July she was so tired that she couldn’t think straight. As I was just as tired, we decided that maybe we would just pull some photos together for you when we were finally done. Meg will still be doing this for us, but the past two weeks have given me reason to pull out the computer and write.

The summer has been very busy, but I think the car problems have tipped the balance. We do have the car back, duly repaired. Al managed to get it inspected (without help, something even Russians don’t usually try), but it is in dry storage once more while we wait for new documents that allow us to drive it. The saga has moved like a wave throughout the entire summer, peaking at the most inconvenient times (as if there could have been convenient ones). The inspection issue peaked at the end of July. It took Al three or four days to settle that one, delaying him from setting out with Emma and me with the last group of summer. As Meg had by that time fallen victim to a very nasty virus, it was in some ways just as well.

This is the group of Russians, Americans, Roma, and Ukrainians who came together in early August for the Roma evangelization event in Kostroma.

The last group of summer (a youth team from Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church in Fair Oaks, California), arrived on July 31, and on August 1, we headed to Kostroma by bus. When we arrived at the bus station, they told us there was no room for our luggage, even though I had paid for luggage space when I bought the tickets. I’m afraid the team saw a side of me I prefer not to show as I became rather insistent about the luggage space issue. The Russians were not happy with me, but they did oblige. Much of our luggage was stacked up in the rear exit of the bus. The bus ride was educational, if not as bad as I expected.

We arrived in Kostroma at 8:00 p.m., and we were met by our colleague, Piotr Romme. It took five taxis to get the 12 of us and luggage to Piotr’s home, but Olga, his wife, had dinner ready. After dinner, others from the church arrived to get us and the luggage to the hotel (about a mile from the house). Piotr and I went along to get them checked in (in Kostroma I always stay with the Rommes to save on hotel costs and because they are dear friends). It took me at least an hour to fill out registration forms for the group in Russian and in duplicate, doing my best to be obliging to a very grumpy hotel clerk who regularly demanded more information. By midnight, Piotr and I were able to walk back to his house. I could tell that Piotr and Olga were exhausted from all their preparations for the group without a car (Piotr’s car was totaled in a wreck two years ago). I was feeling pretty tired too and counting the days until Al could get there to help us.

 Lyuba and Shura, Roma friends from Kirov, singing on the patio.

Over the next couple of days, we were all walking at least five miles a day, back and forth from the Romme home to church for a vacation Bible school program, and accompanying the group to and from the hotel. On the second night, the group was introduced to the Russian banya (like a sauna with steam), which they loved, especially since the hotel had no hot water. I also managed to get into the banya, which felt very good at the time. The next morning, however, I woke up with pain in all my joints. By the end of the VBS that day, I was dragging, and by evening I was feverish. I did not go out the next day. With the able help of an excellent translator and our Russian friends, the group carried on without me. I stayed in bed all day, feeling worse and worse. Fortunately, Al and Meg arrived in mid-afternoon with the car.

By Saturday, everyone was beginning to worry, as my fever and symptoms continued. By evening, they called in a doctor, who put me into a regional hospital. I will not try to describe that here, but I do not believe we have anything comparable in the United States. Al and I did feel that the doctors were very capable and caring, though they were limited in their diagnostic equipment. They got me rehydrated Saturday evening and by Sunday morning I was feeling much better. By Sunday night, though, I was beginning to get dehydrated again. Still, I was determined to get out of there. After tests on Monday morning, which showed only conditions I already knew I had, I was able to head back to the Rommes. Unfortunately, the Rommes also had no hot water. Here I made a big mistake. Everyone encouraged me to take a banya instead. Reluctantly, and with the door open to let some of the heat out, I went in very quickly to get cleaned up.

It looked like I was doing better, so Al and the others headed out to the big event of the week, the second day of one of two Roma evangelizations. Roma friends and colleagues from Kirov, Kursk, and Belgorod had come to help with this part of the program, preaching and singing in Romany, while the team from Fair Oaks played with the children. Within an hour after they left, I had crashed again, my fever rising rapidly and other symptoms returning. Olga was beside herself with worry, but called Pastor Sergei and together they got me to a private clinic, where I fell into the hands of an extraordinary doctor. Once again they pumped me full of fluids to get me rehydrated. The next day they continued IVs, trying to keep me hydrated, and also gave me an antibiotic to try and attack any possible infection. Unfortunately, I reacted very badly to the antibiotic, but a doctor was nearby and quickly started epinephrine shots. After about five hours of IVs, I was able to head back to the Rommes, where almost immediately, my eyes began to burn. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but soon I could not keep my eyes open for the burning pain and tearing (probably residue from the allergic reaction earlier).

I spent the next three hours lying in bed with a cold compress over my eyes, listening to the sounds of our friends outside my window. Through those hours, I heard our Roma friends draw music out of Fair Oaks teens, who had claimed to be unable to sing (they sang very well). I heard Meg singing a Russian song. Then our Roma friends began to sing. As they had drawn song out of the teens in the group, they began to draw the pain out of my eyes with their music. One particular song was so joyful, so full of praise, I found myself wondering what the neighbors must think. Almost immediately, the thought came that if they were silent the very stones of the patio would sing out. Such a song I have never heard before, but I very much want to hear it again. I was able to slip outside to bid farewell to our Roma friends as they headed home.

Al had to get the car back to Moscow by midnight Friday, when the document giving us permission to drive the car expired, and we did not know when he would be able to return to Kostroma to get me. The doctor reluctantly gave permission for me to travel, on the condition that I would do nothing for two weeks, and see a doctor in Moscow on Monday. Fortunately, I made the trip without difficulty and I am now resting in Moscow.

I share this story with you because it is clear that I need to make some lifestyle changes. When I travel across Russia, I rarely get enough fluids. After five weeks on the road, my body was already vaguely dehydrated. Everyone has pitched in this summer, even Emma, but with the many car problems, we were frequently pushed to our limits and all of us were completely exhausted. Unfortunately, I have added health issues, and the combination of all these things led to my being as sick as I have ever been in my life. Our family is in the process of reviewing, reflecting, and reprioritizing. We do not want you to stop coming by any means, but I trust that you will understand if I learn to delegate more and learn to protect the special days in my children’s lives. I have missed far too many of them in the last six years. I will not stop traveling, but I hope to be more careful about it.

We know that many of you have held us in prayer during these difficult days and we are deeply grateful. We know it has made a difference. I am still weak, but I am improving and we are now in a quiet spell, at least in terms of my work. Al started back at Hinkson today, and the girls start school next Tuesday. We thank you for your love and friendship.

Love and blessings,

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 186