Brian's Cafe

“Church On Fire”

2007-04-02T13:49:00.000+04:00

Here is some information about the church fire, with permission I have taken what's written in blue from Tonia’s blog.

As you all know, Tonia and I are members of Emmanuel church in Moscow. Of course you've probably heard about all the struggles our church has had over the years with property. The Russian Government considers all Protestant churches as sects and cults and tries to get rid of them. It's commonly known that Russian Orthodox priests literally dictate the government about what to do with other denominations. Therefore, it's become extremely difficult to find a place to rent for services and church programs. Also, it’s a challenge to buy or rent land to build your own church. If you buy a building, officials aren’t all that eager to sign the necessary documents which allow you to renovate and fix up old buildings.

Sadly, new churches are burned or the mafia tries to kick you out. As you may remember, our church acquired a piece of property to build its own place for services. For almost ten years we were fighting to get permission to start building but in the end we lost. We used to have an area of land for our Bible school in the Ivanovo region, a few hours from Moscow. We built various buildings there, which were used for conferences, children and youth camps, and classrooms for the students. One day, almost two years ago now, we lost this property. Making a long story short - the mafia bribed the judge! It’s amazing how widespread corruption is in this country.

A few years ago Emmanuel bought a building in the southwest part of Moscow. It's an old building, which had been used as a casino. For a long time the government didn't want to sign documents for reconstruction. Finally, we came across a law allowing us to renovate it without official permission. Our church started collecting and raising money. The first thing was to replace the walls and put in a new roof. After a couple months of work on this, we were ready to completely revamp the inside. It was looking promising with a goal to finish the building by the end of fall 2007. We bought new windows, doors, and different materials. The total cost was more than $150,000 USD. Various church members and students from the rehab center were working there for free, looking forward with the rest of us to having our own building.

At 4 o'clock in the morning while everybody was sleeping, the building was set on fire and only the walls are left standing. As we write this today, we’re still shocked about what’s happened. It brings tears of sorrow. Some of the workers had been staying there, and by God’s grace, they made it out alive! Firemen came to put out the fire. But, and this may or may not surprise you (depending on how much you know about Russia), no policemen came. They didn’t even attempt to start an official investigation to expose the crime. Makes you wonder who exactly is behind this terrible act of discrimination.

Some may think there is freedom in Russia, but it's not true. If you think it's easy to evangelize here it's not true. Yet we know God is with us and is leading us. The Lord is our refuge, our Protector, and our Comforter. By God's mercy and grace we are able to move forward. We believe changes will come. Revival will come! We will not stop. God is for us, then who can be against us? We ask you to remember our church and ministers in your prayers. Russia needs an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Please pray:

1. For God's protection for His people.
2. That God would change spiritual and political situation in Russia.
3. That God would change the hearts of government leaders.
4. For strong leaders and churches to be raised up.
5. Revival in Russia.
6. Wisdom for our church leaders about what to do next.

Thank you for your prayers and support, Alexei and Tonia Pankov

Here is a link to our church’s website, where you can see a short video from Monday morning when our pastors arrived at the fire.

http://russian-assemblies.org/video/07-03-26fire(eng).wmv

Fire is amazing – there are many aspects to it – but one thing remains the same – it changes things!! Its affects can have two entirely different paths – the change can be devastating or invigorating – create destruction, or the purest of gold. What is also true about fire is the fact that fire involves loss. This loss creates a void which can either be filled will bitterness, resentment, anger death; or this void can be filled with truth, hope, a vision and the fullness of life. The bottom line is, where does our hope lie – in the ways and aspirations of what this world has to offer, or is it in Christ the solid rock we stand.

Fire – The final test – we can either choose to embrace it now the way God intended us to walk through it – or we can endure it for all eternity. When I envision Christ holding the keys of Hades His hand, or recall Daniel and his friends walking with Jesus through the fiery furnace without the slightest affect of the flames, not even the smell of smoke – any fire I am put through here on earth seems but the smallest flicker of a flame.

Many of us have been through the fire at times – and it seems that some more than others. It seems that the fire itself is no respecter of persons but it’s affect on our lives will always be the choice we are held accountable for. The Moscow church has experienced a great fire this past week, but they are strong, their hope is in God, the leadership is unwavering in its vision. May the heavens open and pour out the Holy Spirit like a consuming fire in the hearts of the people of Moscow and Russia.

Will the expression “Church On Fire,” have a new meaning to this community as lives are touched by God Himself, pray that the visions will be strong and that the laborers will be many as Christ build his Church and the Church Body in Solntsevo. May such fire be welcomed in each of our lives as we are forced to seek God’s face and not just His hand? Pray for one another, some fires are evident, others are not – some are open and some are behind closed doors, we will all have them, but will we all endure them with an unshakable faith.

Brian

PS: It is my understanding that the poster on the face of the church expresses “May God Bless You”

THE SOLID ROCK
My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood, Support me in the whelming flood;

When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,Oh, may I then in Him be found;

Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain:

On Christ, the solid Rock,I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

—Edward Mote (1797-1874)

Where's Heaven?

2007-03-13T13:34:00.000+03:00

As you can well imagine, I have had the luxury of time on my hands over the past several months, a commodity that I’m sure many if not all of you wish you had more of. I am trying my best to redeem the time I have, and use it in ways which I’ve never much took or made the opportunity before to do. As I’ve mentioned before – I’ve been thinking and reading more about the “End Times” and of course thoughts of heaven and eternity, hope and salvation all become a part of the picture.

This morning I was talking with Shelsea (my daughter), out of the blue I asked her “does a person your age ever think of heaven??” Her candid response to the statement was “once in a blue moon – not really, only when my classmate died.” I wasn’t surprised by her response, trying to remember back when I was 18 and invincible, but I didn’t want to leave it there so I said “certainly Christ will return in your lifetime – and eternity is a long time, your life and goals will become vapor………….. what can you do today that will affect your eternity, not just your tomorrow?? After a brief pause the response was “u’ve been reading a lot about endtimes – ur scaring me.”

For some reason I believe this is a natural response that many of us would give, but sadly enough, does this express where our heart and mind is in our day to day existence. Seems all we think about regarding the end time is the fact that its “scary,” Revelation is full of creatures and beasts and it seems no-one knows what it all means. Heaven will be very loud with 24/7 of praises and worship; I have hard enough time doing that for 20 minutes on Sunday.

When I hear or read of someone referring to heaven, it is usually coupled with expressions of freedom from pain and sorrow, perhaps being forced to face their own mortality, or meeting loved ones who have since passed on. What about our young people who have so many goals and aspirations for their life and have not been introduced to pain and sorrow, their own immortality, or who have not lost someone close……………. there has to be more to it, much more – it seems that the vital thread of Christ’s return and the mandate of salvation is not being woven into the fabric of their lives, or ours for that matter for not teaching it.

If this is the case, where is our desire, passion………… what’s our testimony of what’s really important in our everyday life, who are we trying to please…………. And why??

"If I understand things correctly, whenever you find men or women who are looking to be rewarded here for doing right, they are unqualified to work for God; because if they are looking for the applause of men, looking for reward in this life, it will disqualify them for the service of God, because they are all the while compromising truth." --D. L. Moody

Wow, how easily we can merge our desires with God’s desires and assume His blessing and protection, all these thoughts reminded me of something I wrote almost a year ago – what I wrote were thoughts I had after reading the book “Journey to Desire” by John Elderidge, perhaps you’ve read it, I thought I’d share it with you – hope you don’t mind.

Where’s Heaven

So caught up in the here and now, life on earth,
What can be acquired, what can be done?

God granted 120 years, most seem content with the 80,
Our mortal containers fighting the curse from the moment of conception.

Some form a vision, some aspire to exist,
Some appear to do no right, while others seem to never fail.

Eternity has no substance, bearing, or weight in our processes,
Our one drop in the ocean, our life in relation to eternity.

Are we not made in His image, created to spend eternity with Him?
Created for what – His Pleasure – His Glory – our fulfillment?

Does all this have to wait until we see Him?
How big of a transformation will heaven be?

Will our soul and spirit be renewed, will we change?
In a twinkling of an eye, will we then desire His glory?

Will our desires, passions, values - then become Godly?
What happens to our God given uniqueness if everything changes in a moment?

Is God content to wait to have our heart, soul and spirit once we enter the pearly gates?
Christ paid for our life insurance policy – all we have to do is cash it in one day.

What will we do in heaven, for eternity – sing, worship – anything else?
Does heaven need us for worship, no – not really – the rocks would cry out.

Only we are made in God’s image, although everyone’s unique, how do we fit in?
What is the purpose of this – what will we do – does heaven need us?

The God of all creation – has created a plan which will bring Him glory and fulfillment,
Only those made in His image, given a free will, can participate and experience its completeness.

All of creation is yearning for this moment,
The hand of God is restraining the entire universe’s anticipation.

What percentage of man has ever shared this longing?
Who believes that Eden, heaven on earth will be restored?

Man’s purpose to rule and have dominion over all creation is still God’s design,
God has birthed in each of us our fulfillment for eternity.

A specific task that will bring us fulfillment, completeness,
Every void filled, every desire to fruition – heaven.

What about the here and now – what is your desire?
Your passion, heart, fulfillment was placed in you by the very breathe of God.

Have you tapped into that desire, or been distracted by others?
Will your desire last throughout eternity, or until the end of time?

Will your desires be burned up in the end of time by God’s consuming fire?
Will you be promoted to a higher office with the same desire?

Is life a dress rehearsal for the hereafter?
Will heaven be the next step, or a giant leap?

Do you have an appetite for heaven; is its sweet aroma present with you as you pray?
Does your anticipation grow as you fulfill God’s will here on earth?

If we saw God’s image in everyone – how close would heaven feel?
If our God given desires were cultivated here on earth, how far would heaven be?

If all of our work were complete here on earth, how close would heaven be?
If we all worked to our capacity with our spiritual gifts, how far off would heaven be?

Some look forward to heaven because life here on earth has been so miserable.
Others long for heaven because their God given tasks on earth is almost complete.

With an open heart – will you let God test your desires – will you let them burn?
Have you been grasping on so hard and long that letting go is inconceivable?

Jesus said the Kingdom is come – whose kingdom have you been building?
Can you see this heaven on earth, God’s Kingdom all around you?

In light of your eternity, don’t loose sight as to how significant your life is,
This single grain of sand, will determine your fulfillment or lack of it for all eternity.

Yes heaven needs you – there is a place prepared for you,
God’s plan is not fulfilled until we all move in.

God has promised to give you the desires of your heart,

Who do you think put those desires there in the first place?
If we excel in our God given talents – who wins – could we be any happier?

Be encouraged – the Bridegroom is on His way, heaven is around the corner.
Will we give in to snacking all day when the feast is about to be set before us?

Have you craved only the taste of food, when your body is crying out for nourishment?
Have your false gods of desire given you the nourishment your spirit is desperately lacking?

Has disappointment diminished your desire, has your hope and vision been depleted.
Call it what you want, our God given desires are only reduced by sin in our lives.

How little of life has the father of lies convinced you that you are indeed satisfied?
Has your reason and justification deceived your mind, who has written your script?

Embrace your sorrow, give it time to humble your spirit, only then can you still know joy.
Let your spirit grieve and groan, give it time, acknowledge pain, don’t cover it up.

If since the fall of man, the world and the universe have been groaning in anticipation for restoration.
Can the children of God not learn to groan and wait until His return?

Has your sensitivity been diminished to the dullness that most people accept as normal?
Holiness is sensitivity to our true desires, what we were truly made for.

Has your desire become insatiable? Have your addictions even come close to sooth?
Have you taken your longing for the Infinite and placed it upon finite things.

Let your desires find their place, as you give God His place, with your time and worship.
Let your contentment be – no longer being ruled by your desires; let go and let God.

Guard your heart with diligence; the war has always been over our hearts,
Not of flesh and blood, but our passions, desires, hopes, and dreams.

Whenever in doubt, ask yourself – “What is this going to do with my heart?”
It would be a shame to come to the end of your life without your heart.

Our heart – our God given desire for fulfillment – from now to eternity.
Only the commands of God can become the tutor in the healing of our desire.

Beauty and affliction can pierce a hardened heart, embrace both for balance.
Beauty, the closest thing we have to fullness without possession, this side of eternity.

We all have a desire that has burned within us – placed there by God Himself.
We have only three options as to what do with this fire within.

Allow the subtleties of religious arrogance snuff it out as the Pharisees of old.
Trust the world’s wisdom and become a slave to the addictions of false desire.

Or recognize it for what it is, allow it to invigorate every molecule of your being,
Reminding you that you’re fully alive for a purpose, continually thirsty until you see His face.

Come dance with me with the fullness of our mortal soul on the silver lining of humanity.
Let’s breathe in the savory aroma of the magnificent wedding feast God has in store for us.

Let heaven not be a surprise, a foreign land, but a place we feel at home with our loving Father.
Let us begin now to be well suited for our calling both here on earth and throughout eternity.

Brian 06.03.31

May the Holy Spirit stir your heart, breathe life into every corner of your life, may you be challenged and inspired to be the best version of yourself you can be, and may heaven be close to your heart and may His face shine down on you today and throughout eternity.

With much love and gratitude in my heart,
Brian

Solntsevo

2007-03-06T15:42:00.000+03:00

Solntsevo - A place with a history, as familiar a name as Stanley Park for the locals of Vancouver, Solntsevo is also in the mind and lips of Muscovites. Not for the same reasons though. It neither shares such beauty, nor has it a stigma of such positive reflection as that of Stanley Park. It’s not so much referred to for it geographical location, at least not anymore, but the stigma of the name itself.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Solntsevo (Russian: Со́лнцево) is a district in Western Administrative Okrug of the Russian capital city of Moscow. It originated in 1938 as a dacha settlement and was named after the Russian word for Sun: солнце (solntse). It used to be a separate town from 1971. Since May of 1984 it has been included into Moscow.

"Solntsevo has given its name to a major organisation of organized

crime, the Solntsevskaya bratva." (emphasis mine)

The former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov is a native of Solntsevo.

So as you can see this is a district of Moscow, on the edge of the city. The relevance here is the fact that the church acquired some property there many years ago (not clear on the history). When I say acquired, I am not referring to ownership, just the use of, free of charge from the city of Moscow. While this sounds great, it really hasn’t been much to jump up and down about. This property at times has become a “thorn” at time, originally it was the permission to use the building which was built in the 1950, during the height of communism, some believe it was more of a community hall, for meeting, social activities, café and perhaps a few offices. When the city offered the use of it to the church it was an abandoned dilapidated building used by drug addicts and homeless people.

This property has also been in the courts to get clarity as to the conditions of use, originally granted the use of the building but not the land – which has recently been changed to include the use of the land. Anyway, as some of you may have heard in the past, the city is discouraging the use of cultural buildings by protestant groups, although law, it hasn’t been enforced yet. The church currently had a great relationship with the director of the center that they use; they use this cultural center several days a week for various events and activities. But who’s to say how long this will last…………?

The focus since summer has been to do what’s necessary to make this building functional so that if the need be, members can meet there for a variety of activities, at least throughout the week. Pastor Alex has focussed on getting all the necessary permits and documents processed, appealing to churches abroad for financial support, even the bible school has been put on hold as to free up some resources to work on this project. Firstly though several work bees and some dedicated labourers, this building had to install a new roof, and the reason why it was a mild winter here is because of all the prayers of these church members. Once the roof was finished, the outside was re-stuccoed, and now they are tearing down brick walls inside the building.

Talk about having a vision, from my point of view, where does a person start, this task certainly seems overwhelming, just look at the pictures. It’s a good location, many in the community are supportive of the church moving into the area, some are concerned with the drugs and crime in the area and feel the church might be a good influence. This property is right beside a popular open market which is frequented by many every day of the year. There is a bus stop at the entrance of the property, and a small children’s ride park on the other side of the property. This is the same property in I referred to in my Christmas blog, where there was a good turn out from the community for the activities. While still on the other hand, there has been some articles in the local paper discouraging people from supporting the church moving in, with a tone of “beware of the cult,” which is nothing new to the ears of the Christians of Moscow with the Orthodox church as their constant opposition.

May God bless the Christians of Moscow, and increase their vision and faith to overcome the many obstacles which face them daily. Although there are a handful of men living in this building, dedicating their time and efforts, so much more needs to be done. Because of lack of finances the church needs to rely on many volunteers to get things done, willing hands are few in the heart of winter so the process is slow. Pray that the leadership will proceed with God’s wisdom, and the members be inspired to keep their shoulder on the plough in order to reap the current and coming harvest. May the people of God from around the world support the work in Moscow, and the Federation of Russia, with their continued prayers and available resources!!

Christ’s return is a reality, and our generation will see prophesies unravel as we prepare to see Him face to face. Russia is a major player as the stage is being set, with its surge of a healthy economy over the years, the focus of the military minds and their increased military might and technology, and we see the unrest worldwide. Wars and rumours of wars will continue will increase, but so will a mighty harvest for the Kingdom of God. As mentioned above, “Solntsevskaya bratva” – bratva - referring to “brotherhood” like the mafia of organized crime, wouldn’t it be great to see God’s hand turn the tides and show how a location that the devil meant for evil, He can use for good.

Let’s pray that this church property, dedicated to His service, will be a place where there is unity of “brotherhood” of loving Christians, the testimony of God’s saving grace and mercy which will sparks a revival so great that it consumes the hearts of the people of Moscow, and turns the heads and hearts of the people of Russia and rest of the world. No doubt God has a plan for this location, so please pray to see His will unfold in the hearts and minds of His people.

God Bless His Church, and the people of Russia,

Brian

(More pictures to be viewed on the side bar - "Solntsevo")

A Valentine Wish

2007-02-13T12:59:00.000+03:00

A Valentine Wish – hoping that love is in the air, that warm thoughts and true affection is lingering in your presence. Cupid circles high above, all trusting his marksmanship is as equal to that of Robin Hood. Romance abounds effortlessly as a pair of doves fly off to their unknown destination without worry or care; or as vibrant flowers toil effortlessly in their longing stretch toward the noon day sun. The present is vast, thoughts of tomorrow would only distract from the moment. Any thought of yesterday is banished as the morning welcomes you with newness of life, a fresh start to eternal bliss. To love and be loved, may your love flourish as if drawn from an eternal well, may it never know how the heart aches without reciprocity. May your character be as valiant of that of St. Valentine, heroic, sympathetic and as romantic? May you emulate the selflessness and virtue as recorded in the very brief vita of St. Valentine which has him refusing to deny Christ before the "Emperor Claudius" in the year 280. Before his head was cut off, this Valentine restored sight and hearing to the daughter of his jailer. Seems that life for him wasn’t as sereal as one would expect, far from what we long to experience in at least one day of the year, February 14th. He had no "Halmark" words to say, cards to send – the mass media wasn’t bombarding him with reminders and helpful insights of how to live his life – at least that one day a year.

This is not a tribute to St. Valentine, just a perspective of this “Halmark” event. I’ve had many Valentine’s Days in my life, and as a matter of fact I am confident that I have experienced most every known emotion on that day throughout my many years. Not all of my Valentine Days have been as described above. From my childhood to present time – feeling of exhilaration, to great discouragement, fullness of love and warmth, to feeling isolated, lonely and cold. I’ve never known a day of the year when a woman’s expectations are as hightened and poised and her impending judgement seems to loom in the balance for her man who has greeted the morning with a pulse. Seems the true test of a man’s chilvary is on the cusp, and her worth and value lays in the balance as he applies his weight and measures with his tokens and words.

All in all I must admit that what I have experienced in my live, I alone am accountable. For my past and where I am today, of how I’ve let the merged minutes of my life affect me and become who I am today. What if I thought less with my head and more with my heart, listened more, spoke less. More clearly recognized who I was in Christ, and allowing Him alone to be my source and strength. To early on learn the liberty of humility, and the power of vulnerability. Recognized the impact of doing some simple little things consitantly over time how this can make all the difference as to where you end up in life. To living my life in the aknowledgment that the greatest aspiration and testimony in life is “Love,” nothing else.

1Co 13:1-13 I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains---but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned ---but if I have no love, this does me no good. Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear. When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways. What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete---as complete as God's knowledge of me. Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.

“Ya, ya, ya I’ve heard this all before” you might be saying – what about all the romantic stuff – the butterflies, sleepless nights, the pounding heart, the heat of passion, the intimacy of companionship – the chivalry and a knight in shining armor. Maybe 1Cor 13 is too textbook for the couple searching for marital bliss. Perhaps a closer look is needed. With such love, won’t one’s speech be the opposite of a noisy gong or a clanging bell – what if all our words were beautiful to hear, brought peace and tranquility – isn’t the thought of that “romantic,” we could all write for Halmark. What if our words were always an inspiration, full of knowledge and understanding, full of faith which could move mountains, who's love would never give up – wouldn't they appear to be a knight in shining armor. If a person was patient, kind, not jealous, conceited or proud - wouldn’t they make a great companion. If a person was well mannered, selfless, never irritable – had no recollection of wrongs of their mate, always dwelled in truth and integrity, void of deception or dishonesty– how much closer to marital bliss could you be. Then there are the people who would sooner dwell in thier faith and hope, but their love becomes elusive. They let their faith take over their lives in a way that they show little if any love because they are too busy with their local church, bible study, and church work bees and so on - and their spouse and or children feel neglected; or there are those whose only hope is – hope that their mate will change into who they want them to become.

Who better to take some advice from than the “Author of Love” Himself? What better example do we have? How many magazines have you scanned in order to find a quick fix? How frequently do you confide in a friend for some empathy, or perhaps justification to where you are at? Trust me, I know it is often complicated, complex, delicate, scary, and painful – and no one will ever know what it’s like to be in your shoes. But verse 13 tells us someone knows us, completely, – “as complete as God’s knowledge of me” - there is only one you can trust to guide you on your journey of love, whom better. Besides, the other comforter, the Holy Spirit is there to give you the power to obey the author of love.

Forget who is writing these words, coming from a middle aged man writing at the beginning of his second chance of love and marriage. Let truth be truth, I know that most of my pain and agony in my life has been a result of my own pride, selfishness and sinful nature – all of which will tarnish the true love as God intended it to be. So God’s plan is really quite simple – Wives honor your husband, husbands love your wife. What wife would not want to honor a husband who loved them as set out in 1 Cor. 13.
So yes, I have a chance to do it differently, you might even think – "lucky you;" but trust me, you never want to lose at love and marriage, do it right the first time.

I came across this the other day; I thought I’d share it with you – I don’t know who made this list, but I’d like to change the title to “Nine Suggestions for Any Marriage”

Nine Suggestions for (an Ailing) “Any” Marriage.!
1. Never consider divorce an option. It is not a solution to your problem. Divorce is not an acceptable alternative because God says it is not
2. Do not compare your mate or your marriage to others. There is not another person on earth like you. Your mate is also unique. This means that your marriage is unique. Let God make it what He wants it to be. He will make it perfect
3. Forgive your mate. You are to forgive as Christ has forgiven you. You are a sinner. He or she is a sinner. You are not perfect-so be willing to forgive one another. And do it right away before any bitterness can build up.
4. Stop all criticism. Love does not criticize and find fault. Therefore, if you are critical of your mate, you do not have a heart of love. Stop all criticism. Instead, try a little praise. It works like magic!
5. Start communicating with your mate. Communication is completely broken down in many homes and marriages. Start listening to what your mate is saying as well as to what he or she is not saying. Break down the barriers by being vulnerable. Try saying, "Honey, what is the biggest fault I have?" Then say, "Would you please help me, by the grace of God, to gain victory over that fault?"
6. Refuse any relationship outside your marriage in which affection is sought or given. This substitute could even be a relative, a friend, or a neighbor. Do not seek to make someone else a substitute for what you are not getting in your marriage. You will never solve your problem doing this.
7. Trust your mate. Trust your spouse, even if he or she is wrong -you are right in trusting. A marriage must be based on trust. It cannot survive without it.
8. Do something every day to please your mate-something that you know will bring your partner joy and happiness. This is not asking much-to do one thing-but it pays big dividends.
9. Thank God every day for the 25 best qualities in your mate. Write them down. Concentrate on them and the positive will soon outshine the negative.

So forget about the “Valentine Wish,” it might be as dreamy and far fetched as portrayed in Hollywood over the years – Much like this picture of Oksana and I. Want the real thing in your life; anything else would just be a compromise to God’s best for you life and those you love.

Stick to sharing the blessing of God’s love in your life, not just one day in the year, but every day God gives you breath.

Have a Special Day, Love Each Other,

Brian

Orphanage Christmas

2007-02-07T18:25:00.000+03:00

Hi there, welcome back. I wanted to share with you about some of the work going on in Moscow with the orphanages. I don’t have much information, but I’ve included some pictures which might help aid you in seeing what goes on.

First of all there certainly are a dedicated select people who have committed much of their time and energy to this ministry, and it’s a beautiful thing. Vivian “Vivi” as she is called, I think started with YWAM about 12 years ago came to Russia with a girlfriend and the Moscow orphanages have captured her heart, as many of us from Daystar can attest to this feeling. She is a native of Brazil – has learned the Russian language, and also speaks English quite well. She has dedicated her heart and soul to this ministry, has been here now for over 10 years, formed a ministry with two others and searches for support to do what she does on a fulltime basis.

My understanding is that she works with 3 orphanages on a regular basis – visiting one most every Saturday with a team of workers. On Wednesdays, she goes to a hospital type orphanage to work with the babies and small children, playing, cleaning, and caring for in any way possible. These locations are outside of Moscow, and is always time consuming and tedious to get workers and items to these locations. In June she organizes summer camps for these kids and orphanages and is always looking for willing workers to come and help out – even youth workers from other parts of the world come for a week or longer and participate.

The pictures I’ve included cover two events, both a Christmas celebration with fun and games, brief message of the gospel and gift boxes – many of which have come from your local community or church. The first part of the pictures, the children were bussed in to Moscow and met in a community centre. There were clowns, games, songs, prizes, gift boxes, a message, prayer, and at the end they had a lunch, “McDonalds” and other food which was of course a special treat for all.

The next block of pictures was us heading out of Moscow to a small town.
So to take into account what has to happen – first there is getting to the Metro, the metro to the train station, a 2 hour train ride to the town, a 15 min walk to the orphanage. We were greeted there with a van which had all the gifts, food, and so on for the day. Some of the youth were allowed to help us set up the room with balloons, table covers, preparing food and so on. There were about 12 workers there this time, many volunteers who have been involved with these kids for years, seen some of them grow up, become Christians through this ministry, eventually join a local church and come back and participate in this ministry as a volunteer of their own. It’s wonderful to see fruit like this, and to see all the glowing smiles of guys and girls of all ages. Certainly the joy of the lord is like a medicine, how a person could even measure the benefits of such a ministry.

It is very difficult for foreigners to adopt any Russian children, but is very simple to for Russians to adopt their own. Seems to be some stigma which gets in the way with families willing to do this, there are over 1 million children in care in orphanages throughout the country – with the ongoing incline of alcohol and drug abuse, and the rapid growth of the lower income population, there seems to be no easy solutions.

I work with high risk youth in Vancouver, it seems that most of these youth in the past years have been diagnoses with some sort of or many mental illnesses. Many of them have 4-6 professions which work with them – 1 to 1 workers, psychologists, mental health workers, psychiatrists, social workers, therapists, anger management programs, behaviour modified schooling, drug and alcohol counsellors, probation officers – the list goes on and on. Many of these services are valid and useful. Keep in mind a diagnosis helps the workers in providing appropriate care, recognizing the child’s limitations and learning disabilities and behavioural problems. The care ratio of adult care to youth or child is amazing. Now look at a government which doesn’t recognize mental illness, even learning disabilities, let alone the causes of such. Take these countless children with their complicated attachment issues and disorders – put them in the same living conditions with a hundred other kids – with minimal supervision, attention, primary needs often neglected. Often an abusive environment from both adults and peers – such a place becomes a environment for the survival of the fittest.

God bless these dedicated workers who share the light of the gospel to these hungry ears. Pray for the staff of these places for strength, mercy, wisdom and grace, and may the light of the gospel be receptive in their hearts as well. There are hundreds of such places which will not let such a ministry in their doors, pray for wisdom and creativity of these ministers to find avenues of favour to spread the gospel to more places. Also pray for willing workers for this ministry – it is tiring and takes a great commitment of time and energy, for example – it took us 11 hours of travel and preparation in our day to put on a 2 hour program for these kids. With the fast pace of Moscow – the long days and tedious transportation such time is a huge commodity – the continued sacrifice is great. If anyone wants to contact this ministry directly (not sure of the name) – email me and I will send you the link and email address. bmcammond@gmail.com

Oksana had a good winter session of University; she worked hard and got all her requirements completed. Between now and June she will be working on her Diploma work and studying for and writing 2 intimidating government exams, plus of course more lectures and so on, so please pray for her – this will be her accomplishment of five years of study towards her Law Degree.

It’s winter here now, -15 with blowing snow seems to be the norm. Thank God we are both healthy, and praise God Oksana is looking forward to the coastal weather of Vancouver!!

We long to be in Vancouver with you, seems our paperwork likes it there too as it is still in Canada – has to come here and then back to Canada again.

We love you all, and miss you greatly,

Brian and Oksana

New Years & Christmas

2007-01-24T21:29:00.000+03:00

Yes this is your delinquent poster boy – sorry for the delay – that is if there is anyone out there still that could care less, ha.

Well Happy New Year and all that stuff, I trust everyone is of good health and had a memorable time with family and friends over the holiday season.

God is good, His love never wavers, His peace is abundant, His mercy is free, and there is joy waiting for us each and every morning as we start our day. We’ve had a good holiday season, a time of refreshment, quality time, enjoying God’s goodness in so many ways.

I was reminded throughout the season how sometimes the little things in life can make such a difference – only of course if we take the time to appreciate them. For instance, it seems that the highlight for Oksana this season was to have the smell of a real Christmas tree in her home. So as I laboured, searched the highways and byways for the perfect tree, hauled this humongous tree step by step, inch by inch – down the brisk snowy sidewalks of several city blocks, up hill both ways. I could only smile with shear joy at my darling wife who appreciated morning noon and night, she would often just sit and stare and enjoy the aroma, the glow, lights, the ornaments. As we entered the flat, or when she’d roll over in bed and start to fall off so sleep she once again would comment on the fragrance and how euphoric it was to her. You think I ever regretted one ounce of effort I made with the tree – you kidding. So yes, it was a good tree – We even enjoyed getting rid of it – I threw it out the window of our 10 story balcony.

During the holidays, Oksana and I were invited to Sergey and Natasha’s place for dinner, I’m sure many of you remember them. Sergey has been very active with the church for over 10 years now, and Natasha is a dear friend of Oksana’s. We had a very nice time, good fellowship, and lots of laughs. Their daughter, Lylia is so cute, they adopted her when she was 1 month old and now she is 15 months and full of life, they sure are enjoying her and make such a lovely family.

Christmas Day here fell on the Sunday, January 7th. The church was packed, decorated nice for the service, the orchestra played a few numbers – sure with many of the instruments Daystar donated throughout the years, then there was another musical ensemble, these dedicated people practice together every week before each service. The children put on a Christmas play, later all the children came up on stage and received a goodie bag, too cute. There were lots of Christmas songs and carols, and a few a capella songs from our music ministers.

After the morning service, there was a work bee at the property where the church is fixing up a building to use for ministry the other side of town. This building has been worked on intensively for the past 4 months, needed a new roof – the inside is pretty much gutted, had to re-stucco the exterior walls, it’s beginning to take shape and there has been lots of talk and interest in the community about a church in the area – many welcome the work here as this is a rough part of town.

The community was invited out for a night of celebration, the church provided music, clowns, music, games for the kids, prizes, goodie bags, and hot tea, bagels and cookies for anyone who wanted them. There was a manger scene, and people were invited to pose for a picture which will be emailed to them the following week – seems that hundreds of pictures were taken. At the end of the night the sky was lit up with fireworks, everyone seems to have a good time. The following week there was an article in the paper about the event – some of the article apparently apposing the church and telling people to stay away – seems once again, the Orthodox Church is not too happy.

Please view the pictures I’ve added to the site on the right side – just click on the picture entitled “Christmas” there you will see many pictures of what I have shared with you.

We love you all dearly, and pray God’s Blessings to you through out all of 2007,
Brian and Oksana

Continued Prayer and Support

2006-12-08T11:40:00.000+03:00

I have thought of this man many times since our stay in Egypt, I would like you to meet Ahmed, he lives in Cairo and works at the hotel we stayed at in Sharm el Shiek, about a 5-6 hour drive from his home. He is a well educated young man, speaks 4 languages quite well, he is very personable, polite and professional in his manner. He tells us that he has aspirations to live in another part of the world but that it is virtually impossible to get a visa to get out of the country, especially if you are young and single. Also for the fact that visa's can cost thousands of dollars, US, if I remember correctly it was more than $6000 to the US. Some other parts of Europe might be a little less.

This amount might not seem that overwhelming - so what is the problem you might ask. First of all let me tell you about his work schedule - he works at least 12-14 hours per day, the front desk is usually 0830 - 2030, but usually goes much later. When we talked with him, he just started a 32 day schedule with no days off - he is willing to do this in order to get 10 -14 days off in a row to go back to Cairo where he lives.

While he works, there are staff accommodations, which I am sure are far less that adequate by the look on his face, this is a building far from the resort area of the hotel. He doesn't eat food at the hotel, but purchases his own. He does this consistently for 300 Egyptian Pounds per month, last month he was pleased that he received an extras 100 pounds as his part of the combined staff tips, higher than usual. Yikes - you might say - is it worth it?? Just wait, you haven't heard the exchange rate yet - when we were there, it was about 5.7 pounds to the US dollar. Even at 5 pounds to the Canadian dollar - his monthly income would be $60-$80, that's at best $2.50 per day or .18 per hour. From what we could see, the cost of living wasn't cheap either.

So back now to the $6000 visa application fee, quite unattainable, what about those who are not so educated and don't speak other languages. But interestingly enough, at the end of our brief conversation he pulls out, with a smile, his expensive Marlboro American cigarettes, and then he shows us his fancy cell phone, the best in Egypt he claims. Seems once again all is relative to one's priorities and quality of life and living. He has recently applied to a university in Michigan, hopes to get a response soon. He asked for my email address, I will let you know of any further updates if he contacts me.

As far as an update for Oksana and I, yes, we are happily married just over a month now. At least I am happy, seems that Oksana is beginning to feel like I have lied to her about the beautiful warm winters in the Fraser Valley - just so that she would marry me. As she looks at the pictures of the winter wonderland of Langley, and hearing of the -15c temperatures she has this bewildered, cautious look in her eye- looking at her "weather man" with reservation as she ponders further possibilities of deception on my part. Apart from that - everything is great. Especially the weather here, dry and warm, 5-10c for the most part - no snow on the ground.

Feels good that the wedding and honeymoon are over, and our life can begin in a more realistic fashion from day to day. We are still waiting for my proper documents to be processed in Canada before they are sent to us over here. My original timeline was to be legally married and the Immigration Application submitted by the end of November. Then wait for it to be processed for the 4-6 months it takes to provide Oksana with a visa to come to Canada. It seems to me at this point that our best outlook is to have all the paperwork submitted to Immigration by March.

On another note, Oksana has worked very hard on her Law Degree over the past 5 years, it is a "long distance program" where she studies at home and has lectures and exams 2 times per year, January and June. Oksana and her mom have sacrificed a lot for this education and once she completes this level in June she will hold a Law Degree for all her hard work. My goal has always been to stay here as long as possible, and to wait for her visa to come through and travel to Canada with her. Now our time line has been considersably stretched, and we are forced to rethink a few more things. I had initially thought we might both return to Canada by March. It would break our hearts to leave each other before then, and the thought of her juggling work, university, packing for Canada all on her own I fear is expecting too much.

After very modest expenses for a wedding and honeymoon, a few unexpected events and costs, Oksana never received holiday pay while on her leave and so on. My Canadian expenses and Moscow expenses leave me at least $6000 short to be able to stay with her until her visa arrives and she finishes school. I know this is the most difficult time of year to ask for support or to offer support, but I am humbly sharing this information with you, and asking you to consider supporting us financially in some capacity to help us make it through the next six months in Moscow. As you may be aware, Daystar has graciously agreed to support me by providing charitable tax receipts for any contributions made to us through them, the year is drawing to a close so I thought this would be a good time to bring this to your attention as you may be looking for a charity to make a donation towards. A prompt response to this appeal for finances will greatly help us in making some very important decisions in the very near future.

This is an invitation to partner with Daystar and myself to support my year in Moscow financially and or prayerfully. Daystar is a registered charity under the Societies Act and all donations are completely tax deductible. I would be most grateful for any support you are willing to give.

Please fill out the form below and mail to:

Daystar Ministries

7315 - 182nd Street, Surrey, BC V4N 4G5

Phone: 604-574-0286

Name: ____________________________________________________

Address:________________________________City:_______________

Prov:_________________ PC:_______________

Email: _______________________________________________

Phone: _______________________________________________

I would like to make a one time gift of $50- $100- $200- $500 -$1000-

other ___________.

I would like to make a monthly donation of $____________

for ___________ months.

I have enclosed Cheque(s)- MasterCard Information -Visa Information

Card Number: ____________________________________

Expiry Date: _________________

Name on Card: ____________________________________

Signature:____________________________ Date:________

For your convenience, donations may also be made online. Please visit our website:
http://www.daystar.org/

If you are not looking for a donation receipt you can mail cheques to my sister Dawn, payable to me - she can make deposits to my account.

Dawn McAmmond
7530 Chilliwack River Road, Chilliwack BC V2R 4L9

May God Richly Bless You,
Warmest regards, Brian & Oksana

Happily Married

2006-11-23T15:19:00.000+03:00

Seems I dropped the ball………………………over 4 weeks have past since my last entry, it is now November 23, marriage ceremony and honeymoon have come and gone.

I hardly know where to begin, in my small little world, I am so happy, blessed, so excited to be married – and my lovely wife, I adore her more each and every day.

The Wedding
Oksana has a multitude of friends who are generous, kind, hard working - they have all been invaluable to us over the past few months, this again tells me of the beautiful testimony of what a lovely lady I have, as not everyone has quality friends as she does.

The wedding day was fabulous, my goodness, look how beautiful she is – I was speechless. The ceremony was warm, friendly, sincere – Pastor Alex commissioned us with the keys to a beautiful life together. The reception was wonderful, such love in the room, eloquent but relaxed atmosphere,the music was great,the food was tasty and ample, and people shared from their hearts, beautiful words and talents. So many people gave so much of their time to help look after all the little details, before, during and after the day was over. Oksana and I had no cares or concerns throughout the day – we were blessed beyond measure. At the end of the day, my beautiful bride was at peace, so pleased with the day, she assures me that it couldn’t have been any better.

The Honeymoon
We had no set plans for a honeymoon, we were not sure if we had the means to go away. Two days after the wedding we went down to the local travel agent to inquire what might be available. Seems that we had an offer that we couldn’t refuse, 10 days in an all inclusive 4 star hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, which is on the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, right on the Red Sea. Oksana has never been to this part of Egypt and the sea before, it has lots of coral and beautiful tropical fish – it's world renown place for snorkeling and diving. We were to leave in 1.5 days, our good friend Volodya agreed to drive us to the airport at 3:30 on the morning on November 10th. We were so excited. We were due to come back on the 19th, and Oksana scheduled to restart work on the 20th, all seemed perfect. So as it turned out in the end – it was in fact perfect.

Our hotel was more than adequate, the staff overall were great. I never ate so much in my life – I think my subconscious plan was to eat like a bear and hibernate through the cold Moscow winter. The weather was in the mid to high 20’s, the sea in the mid 20’s as well, just the way I like it. We spent most of our days “crashing hotels,” Oksana has on many occasion flipped through magazines and web site looking at such places, dreaming of the perfect vacation, she is well versed in what seems to be available. But the fact is that “the proof of the pudding is in the tasting” so we ventured out and tasted, and tasted and yes, some of the hotels were definitely better on paper than in real life, and some of course were as breathtaking as advertised. All in all, everything was more than wonderful; there is so much I could say. And I might just do that at a later date. P.S. - the goatee is back, it was only gone for a few days, just curious I guess, Oksana spent part of her honeymoon with a "strange man" as she puts it, she just couldn't get used to it..... you should have seen the way she would stare at me - priceless.

Pictures
As a new feature to my Blog, I have added some photo albums – they are still under construction, but you are welcome to view them as you like. They are found on the side bar of the blog under “Links”, Just click on the pictures, Engagement – Wedding – Honeymoon. Just as a reminder, some of these pictures might bore you as I am unable to screen and edit them to suit each viewer. As far as the wedding pictures go, these are only the ones off my camera which a friend so graciously used at times. We have many more photo’s coming, and we had a semi proffessional photographer as well, this I will add to the mix. All this to say that the wedding album will be updated periodically, so feel free to review it at a later date if you wish.

For those of you who have checked the blog once or more over the past 4 weeks, thanks for your patience, and glad to have you back. Always love to see your comments, and read updates to your lives – please continue to keep in touch.

With much love, Brian and Oksana

Two Weeks and Counting

2006-10-20T22:24:00.000+04:00

It’s been about 10 days since my last entry; sure some of you are tired of looking at the sight with no recent changes. No pictures this time either, but I did take the camera with me, just forgot to check the battery, oops.

Getting Connected: Last Tuesday cool and damp again, little frustrated this morning as my internet is not working, it dials up and gets verified but will not load pages. Oksana thinks the internet company has blocked the line again – maybe needs more money. Later that night I found out that the internet company wants more money, because Oksana blocked the line and I wanted it unblocked before a month was over, they pretty much charged us for the whole month. So in the morning Oksana will point the way to the office where I will pay the bill tomorrow – amazing how long the day is without a connection – kind of pathetic in some ways – but with so many interests oversees I guess it’s understandable. Wednesday was the day I needed to get connected again to the internet, Brielle's Birthday and I wanted to send her some things.

Oksana took me part way to the internet company, close enough for me to remember the area and the building, she asked me if I knew where to go, I was certain I knew from there as I said second door on the right and she agreed. Well it wasn’t going to be open for at least an hour, so I went back to the flat. Oksana wasn’t sure if it was open at 9 or 10, leaning towards the 10. I went out about 930 to check the place out. I got there, thought last time it was a white door, no noticeable sign out front, a buzzer to get permission to enter, I thought it was all under control. I found the door, the light was still off, but it was just before 10 so I waited, and waited. About 1010 the lights came on even though I didn’t see anyone enter the building. I waited for a few minutes for them to open up before I pressed the buzzer. Well to my surprise, once the door was answered, the young lady who spoke a little English told me that she doesn’t know where this internet place is although many people have tried there in the past. Oh my, now what, no proper address, nothing looked familiar anymore, I walked around the entire large building, how I pictured it in my mind was obviously wrong, there were no other possibilities, I was totally stumped. I had asked someone passing by, showed the address from a receipt I had, but this seemed to be of no help. Oksana help, it was Brielle’s birthday, needed to send off something to her, I felt sooo useless and helpless – Oksana HELP!!

I called her, she quickly answered and asked if everything was all right, I told her the door I thought it was wrong and needed a description of the entrance, color of the door – wood or steel etc. she assured me that it was gray or black steel door – as there seemed to be only one like this I thanked her very much, noticed a small sign that looked like “tele"something. Someone entered just before me so I knew just what to do, once I walked in and turned the corner – what a relief – I had been there before. I told the girl that I didn’t understand Russian and passed her a note with Oksana’s user name and address asking for two months of service, she wrote down the amount that I owed, and I paid her the 1450p she requested, signed off the receipts and left. As soon as I got home, I noticed the internet was already up and running – what a relief. First of all I noticed that my document had been picked up by the courier and left Ottawa, yeah.

Special Delivery: Thursday, about noon I got a phone call, I screened the call until I heard the name Brian McAmmond and delivery – I raced to the phone, talked to the gentleman – conveyed that he had the right place, but I couldn’t tell whether he was outside the building and couldn’t get in because he had no code – and I didn’t know how to tell him. I raced downstairs but was not able to see anything like a delivery truck. I went back to my computer – noticed an email from Michelle of Purolator, she had received my inquiry, told me that her records show that the document is in Moscow, it would be handled by DHL and she gave me their direct number or said if I confirmed my address with her and gave her the buzz code she could try to have it passed on to the driver. So it seems I didn’t miss the driver – I fired an email back with the details, and the website confirmed that the package was on the truck to be delivered. Michele emailed me back and told me that her international expert will pass on the information. About 2 hours later, my flat buzzer went off, at the door was the delivery man and a partner, I signed for the parcel and was pleased that it all worked out the first time. Later on I got another email from Michele confirming the delivery and that the file would be closed, I sent back a letter of thanks for a job well done. Oksana was thrilled that the document arrived, seems many documents need to be translated verified and stamped, including, my passport which needs to be re-registered again first. I was hoping to go to ZAGS on Saturday, but it seems it might be next Saturday.

My Pineapple Story: On Thursday I sat at the local café – thought I’d order a ham and pineapple pizza, I know what pineapple looks like in Russian, and ended up with a fruit pizza, actually this was fine with me – I had been craving fruit – all I have had has been grapes. This pizza came with peaches, strawberries, pineapple of course, bananas; apples with type of a strawberry glaze – little sweet – but enjoyed it nonetheless, live and learn – one more thing to inspire me to get busy learning more Russian.

Shopping: Oksana got permission from her work to stop at a store before work – she thought she might be at work by 1100 but as it turns out – the shop didn’t open up until 1100 and she asked if she could still wait for the store and arrive even later. The dresses she says did not appeal to her, somewhat discouraged. Seems Oksana was able to see some dresses today, the one she had in mind didn’t appeal to her once she tried it on, although she tells me she found one she loves even more – the last one in the city, happens to be her size, and they will hold it for her for a day until she decides what she wants to do. Oksana wants to look a little more. The way home Oksana was stuck in traffic for 2 hours with her driver – she had hoped to stop at a dress store on the way home, but this didn’t transpire, frustrated as to all the wasted time. As the night moved on and into the next day, Oksana is certain that she has found the dress she wants, the next day she made arrangements as to when she can pay for it.

Saturday, Oksana’s day to pay for her wedding dress, she’s very excited. We went to the other side of town, I sat in a coffee shop two doors down as she went by herself (of course) so try on and pay for it, Oksana soon joined me, all smiles, and we had a light lunch together, nice place, retro style, I had Borscht and Oksana had her favorite "New Years" salad. Her drink was especially good, spicy and strong, she is so happy, we enjoyed the time together, what a relief for her, putting this day off for so many months. Time now for shoes. We left to go to another part of town – the place to buy shoes when you are running out of time. What a place, never seen anything like it. There were two very large floors of kiosks about 12 by 12 feet, 4X4 m, some smaller, but lots and lots of shoes, but boots in each one. Hundreds of shops in all, all footwear except a few for purses and belts and accessories, never seen anything like it. Apparently the items are not the best quality, looked good to me, but the price is usually good, didn’t see too many deals myself – ouch. But it was the wrong season for Oksana to find flat white, slipper style shoes she wants to wear with the wedding dress. We looked for hours; I kept her motivated to keep on going, (only because she looked to me for directions out of the store), I didn’t want to have to see her go shopping another day for shoes with her schedule when they could be just around the corner. Finally all the shoes looked the same, we looked in a few more stores as we left the area, never seen so many shoes in my lifetime, walked away empty handed. Oksana then told me that in the last 10 trips there, she has returned home with maybe 1 pair of shoes. The next day I got a call from Oksana at noon, explaining to me that she got away from the office and purchased some shoes, what a relief.

Reserving the Restaurant: On Sunday we had plans to go to the restaurant we had chosen for our reception. We were to listen to the piano player, to see if Oksana approved, and give the manager a head count and a deposit for the night of the reception. As it played out, the manager was sick as well but gave us the name of the person to talk to and make all the arrangements with. We took metro then a bus to the restaurant, cool night, crisp air, place looked lovely in the fall leaves on the ground, afraid there will only be bare branches in 3 weeks time. The piano player was playing, Oksana met with him briefly, older man, long gray beard, nice fellow Oksana says. She spent time talking with him at the end of his session at 1900, turns out he used to teach at the music college Oksana went to - conducted bands. He was more than pleased to play for our reception, said he might bring with him a violin student he has to accompany him. He was so kind that he even offered his cottage to us to stay in, he said he would like to know what this foreigner (me) might think of it. Very kind and generous, Oksana feels he may be lonely and enjoyed the company. Lovely night together, listening to music, anticipating the event in three weeks time, so happy together.

Katya’s Family Visit: (Daystar members will remember her, she did some of the translating for us and often at the Bible School, young girl, talented musician as well, plays keyboards and sings, close friend of Oksana’s) Today was my day to get out of the flat, had to meet up with Oksana at a metro station the other side of the city about 1915, so I left the flat about 1400 to spend some time at the center. I got my exercise in and did some shopping, book store, couple of malls, always interesting when you are a people watcher. Made my connection on time – took me a minute to navigate to the gray line, Oksana even counted out for me – six stops to the change and 9 stops after that on the gray line. I arrived at 1900 and waited for Oksana to come find me, it’s always a joy to see her face, especially when I am stranded in public. We hired a taxi to the flat of Katya's parents, Maxim (Max), Olga and her little sister Elizabeth (Liza), what a delightful family. Looked at pictures with Maxim, pictures of his stay in Canada, lived there as a family in 94 for 3 years. The family met an American woman there who took them under her wing, brought them to church and they became born again. Maxim calls her his second mom, and is so grateful for her devotion and care, has since lost touch with her as she moved back to the states and Maxim back to Moscow. We were served up a delicious meal, two salads, potatoes, fish in a cream sauce, an apple flan for dessert with lots of chocolates, some of which we brought. The fellowship was sweet, they certainly love Oksana and have cared for as a daughter since Oksana has moved to Moscow.

Maxim is a little squeamish around weddings, we shall see how he does, seems to approve of me. Katya plans to get married in April or June, seems dad hasn’t warmed up to the idea yet. Well educated, a scientist, the family values education highly, Katia has studied well and long, music and English. Katya provided the entertainment for the night, each time she poured a coke for her dad, it never failed to fill up over the glass and onto the table, no matter how hard she tried to not do it, was a good time. Maxim took his camera for a photo of the visit only to find the battery dead, I reached for mine as well, only to fine out that mine had also run out, we had a little chuckle about that. Maxim is the Russian director for Jews for Jesus, has been with the for 8 years now, seems to really enjoy his work, love the fact that it is more like ministry rather than work. Spent a month in New York a while ago, with many other Russian Jews, handing out tracks, seems to be one of his highlights. The first person to inquire about my previous marriage and how long I have been single, I briefly shared with him and he confided with me that while they were in Canada, they almost split up, but once they got born again they knew it was against God’s will and have taken great effort to restore it, so lovely to hear, they look so happy as a family, isn’t God good.

On Sunday I saw Peter Paluch at church, just arrived Saturday night, on his way on Tuesday to Africa with 6 others for a couple of weeks. Nice to see him, he’s as gracious and kind as always, regrets he will not be around for our wedding. Later he called Oksana on the phone and gave her a special greeting, she was delighted. We have plans to meet up with each other before he flies back to Canada, perhaps on the 31st.

Interesting reading lately in the Moscow Times, first up date is regarding what I mentioned about the real estate prices, seems the market has had a 100% increase over the past year. Here are some interesting tidbits of information:
$4,000 for a Square Meter of Apartment Space By Dan Shea
Moscow real estate prices broke through the symbolic ceiling of $4,000 per square meter Monday, according to the authoritative web site IRN.ru. ■■■
Residents Don't Mix With Retail By Dan Shea
Moscow's city center now has more shopping space per capita than major cities in Western Europe and the United States, real estate consultancy NAI Global said in a report last week. ■■■
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/indexes/01.html is the link to Moscow times, check it out.

Articles about Russians with disabilities, how times are even more difficult for then today than in communistic times. Yesterday I saw my first person in a wheelchair. It seems they simply lock them up in asylums if at all possible. There seems to be no considerations for them in public, even in the work place – should read some of the articles. Lots of murders in the past months, significant people, politicians, businessmen, several journalists – non of which seem to raise an eyebrow from the police, politicians or the general public. As a columnist, Richard Lourie, puts it “Russia is simply becoming more Darwinian. It is not only democracy that is dying, but civilization itself. Democracy is just a sign of advanced civilization. It is based on the assumption that individuals are of significance and their voices should be heard. Exactly the opposite message is projected when a leader and a party stifle any opposition to its power in the polls and the courts.”

Just a comment, as you read my entries – you will notice that my tenses might be all mixed up, this is because I keep a daily journal and often cut and paste some of the information into my blog, so it depends when I write in my journal not my blog, so I don’t usually go back and fix everything – so read between the lines if you could. This would also explain why some of the entries are as detailed as they are.

Anyway, I wish I had some more pictures to share with you; pictures seem to be far more articulate than I am. Apart from sharing this journey with you, I have done some writing in the past, sometimes something will stick in my mind until I write it out – could be a thought from a movie, sermon, newspaper article, conversation with someone – if anyone is interested in picking my brain, thoughts, philosophical or theological tangents let me know, I could share some of them on the blog. These entries would be like one of my first one entitled “Words.” If there are those that want this blog to be free of this type of stuff – let me know that too.

Again thank you all for you love and support, we so much love to hear from you as well. If you don’t want to leave a comment on the blog, please send me an email, bmcammond@gmail.com tell us what’s going on in your life – there are some pretty great things going on out there – right Janice and Cara.

Anyway, we love you dearly, continue to keep us in your prayers.

Brian and Oksana

Wedding Plans

2006-10-11T18:07:00.000+04:00

Hi there, time to update my Blog, thanks for checking in from time to time – now I feel a little pressure to add something for your entertainment value – but sorry to say, this last week was not as eventful as the past few. Just the fact that the weather cooling off significantly, with overcast skies and rain, almost makes me homesick, ha.

As you can imagine, wedding plans are on their way, found a nice place to have a reception dinner after the wedding. Nice, unique place, not too extravagant, will accommodate about 70 people nicely. Lots of stone, plants, 4 different singing birds, Armenian/Jordan style menu, ceiling is like an atrium, live music playing throughout. The gentleman seems very nice, quite accommodating, showed lots of pictures of previous wedding receptions, many of the plated dishes on display. The food will be served per table of 10, with a large assortment of foods, starting with appetizers, then the main dishes. We are able to supply our own desserts and extra soft drinks if we like. Very strange meeting for me – lots of talking going on, and I understood nothing. I made a few inquiries from time to time, but I was not used to being in the loop about such things and the opportunity to ask various questions was virtually impossible. We discussed the option of hiring the musicians, a piano player and a violinist for parts of the night, as they played throughout the other part of the restaurant, I could see Oksana’s eyes light up as she spoke of this, as apposed to playing cd music through the night. The manager blessed us with coffee as we spoke and later prepared some appetizers which we could sample. Seemed like a profitable night, Oksana seems pleased with the place, I like it too – just a matter of formalizing a head count and to submit a deposit to hold it for us.

A number of people have been willing to help us out with wedding planning and preparation, trying to keep it simple and practical, beautiful and memorable, not always an easy task. Tonya told Oksana that the ladies were putting on a bridal shower for her on the 21st, Oksana was thrilled, more of a Canadian tradition, Tonya thought she would take advantage of. Oksana had some questions for me as to what to expect at a shower, of course I teased her, then could only explain what might happen – besides, I’ve never been to one either.

Church is always good – seems to always be 3 hours as well, then protest from 1800-2000, every Sunday. This was their Harvest Sunday, not as formal as our Thanksgiving, although the stage was filled with a nice assortment of foods for display. No holiday here, or even recognized apart from the church it seems. Nice part of the service was a baby dedication for e couples, our dear friend Bakor and his wife dedicated their baby daughter, cute kids, all of them. Sorry I didn’t carry my camera around this week, I have no pictures to share of this event.

Not sure if I had mentioned this, but I have been waiting for a document from External Affairs in Ottawa, it’s a document that Russia wants from the Canadian government declaring that I am eligible to get married here, without it, I can’t get married. Well I have been getting a little concerned. Ottawa received the documents they needed on September 7th, and I have been checking the courier to see if it has been shipped to Moscow every day since I have been here, and nothing has moved. I called a few times, only to get a call back stating that they didn’t see my paperwork, seems they had my name spelled slightly different so I asked them to check again. Days passed before just yesterday they called to verify my home address to add to the document they prepared, the same day the courier picked it up and it’s on its way to Moscow. It seemed to take 23 days rather than their usual 14. Oksana says, that’s nothing, a promise of a few days here, could mean a few months realistically. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her it was on its way, she’s so precious.

Continue to pray for her, she works such long days and has so much she needs to do. She is now looking forward to a long needed vacation, she has been granted by her employer to have the 1-19 of November off, so looking forward to that time together.

Not much else to say besides God is good, and I am blessed. Difficult month for me to be away from home, all three of my kids’ birthdays are in October. Already looking forward to next year, I’m certain we will make up for lost time.

Love you all, nice to hear from some of you who have read the Blog, and finally told me you were doing so – so please keep in touch, we love to hear from you.

Brian and Oksana

Engagement Sunday

2006-10-04T10:03:00.000+04:00

Ever wonder what it would be like to shop for items when there was no labels on any of the packaging, well that’s exactly what it felt like. For example, later when Oksana came to the flat, she noticed a container in the fridge, I though maybe it was soft butter, I wanted some butter in a container so it wouldn’t absorb the flavors in the fridge, so I picked up a container with a lid that had a cow on the front, with a picture of something yellow and spread able – how could I go wrong. Well it appears that this is a cheap margarine, one that Oksana used when she was young – only because this was all they could get – not impressed, forbidden to use it, maybe only for baking or cooking. It wasn’t all bad, but quite an experience. I put some tomatoes in a bag and brought them to the counter with the rest of the groceries, before I knew it the cashier was calling out to a floor clerk, not just once, but more than I cared to hear – seems I was to weight and price and label the produce myself with their scale and label machine – oh my. Now she had to yell across the floor to make sure he did it properly, I felt I was shrinking, with a sheepish smile on my face. Of course this made it even worse as only foreigners smile around here, Russian folk are pretty solemn, rarely smile at the best of times. At least the walk felt good, and I had something to cook for dinner.

The other day I spent about 6 hours out on the lam, shopping, coffee break, little dinner at the mall, found an MMC card, also a map that will have to do. The metro isn’t that difficult going from A-B, the difficulty now is when there are many exits from the station, left and right, to know which one to take to get to where you want to go – it’s easy to get turned around, trust me. I must have zigged when I should have zagged, I left the station and couldn’t recognize any of the buildings, so I made a mental picture of the spot in order to return if needed. A few blocks later I found some more familiar territory, I definitely should have turned right out of the station, which would have helped. Sure I found things and purchased things, at times would feel rude and embarrassed because I couldn’t respond to someone’s comments, oh well, maybe I’m one of the reasons why foreigners get a bad name – my apologies to the rest of he nation.

On Saturday Oksana planned to do a little shopping, looking for something for Oksana to wear for the engagement Sunday. There is a mall where we went to have lunch with Tonya and Alex, we will go there and have lunch at Moo Moo’s as well. We have been invited to Galya’s later on in the day, evening. Close to 3 before we got out the door. Shopped many stores but came away empty handed. I noticed that these stores had expensive clothes, at least for me. It seems that many people like to buy nice clothes, for example, even if it costs more than one or two month’s salary for a pair of shoes. Considering the cost and the average income, and the fact that Moscow is the most expensive city in the world – I could see how this place with its long cold winter, and its long tiring days could lead to serious depression for the locals. Keep in mind, most people are well dressed, perhaps their wardrobe isn’t at expansive as others, some would choose quality over quantity. Still shows that there isn’t much of a middle class population here, either very rich, or quite poor. Seems the poor are quite content to do without, with the hopes of getting a few quality things from time to time. As a rule of thumb, the average flat here in Moscow starts at $2000 per square meter of living space, so an average 1500 square foot home might cost 1 million dollars here. Or Oksana’s 400 square foot flat might sell for $270,000. All of this is US dollars of course. I think shopping for items in Canada might be much easier for Oksana, I know it will be for me, we will wait and see. During lunch at Moo Moo’s, I gave Oksana a gift, earrings, she seemed shocked, pleased and thankful at t he same time, my little engagement gift to her. We had fun shopping together, before long I was holding her purse, and giving my opinion when asked, ha.

Engagement Sunday (the non-condensed version)
Went to the church early, waited for Serge and Natasha to arrive,(Natasha is one of Oksana’s dearest friends) Serge was to take me to this special flower shop where the flowers were the freshest and the cheapest. I found out from Oksana what she wanted, 30 off white roses, I think I can handle that. It’s tradition for the groom to present flowers to his girl, the one he intends to marry; others who know of the engagement often bring flowers for the couple as well. So I guess point number one, is to make sure your flowers are hopefully a little nicer than those offered from friends. I was told that this flower place was close to the church, I waited patiently as Serge set up the elements for the communion service; we finally left the church briskly at about 1030, church to start at 1100. On our way through the parking lot, Serge waved a car down with a family, the driver was delighted to take us on our mission, not sure of the gentleman’s name at this moment, spoke a little English, better than Serge.

We drove and drove, the streets are difficult to navigate for me, I am used to driving a grid, but here, everything seems to be in a circular layout, and to get from one highway to another is not so easy. Seems like we drove for ever, keeping an eye on my watch, we arrived at the place about 1050, took a little walk, then saw this market full of flowers, people walking towards us with bouquets of flowers, marching as if on a mission, soon I would be one of those. Rows and rows off beautiful flowers and roses, merchants calling out their best deals of the day, ignoring them as I marched up and down the rows thankfully knowing what I was looking for, the nicest white roses I could find. My companions were also scanning the place, on their own mission to also pick up some flowers for this newly engaged couple. I quickly saw where the nicest quality was and pointed them out to my new friends; they nodded and said there were a couple more rows to glean through. We went on only to confirm what I saw was absolutely the best in the market. With help from my friends we negotiated what I wanted, I initially said 30 roses, and my new friend instinctively ordered 31, as only an even number were sent to funerals and such, so sticking with an odd number was tradition in this case. I was aware of this and smiled, said I thought 35 roses would be best, with babies’ breath, wrapped in a white netted material which was laced with a few threads of gold throughout. Seems my companions were impressed, as they asked me with wide eyes if that’s what I wanted, da,da (yes, yes)– I was certain.

The merchant meticulously picked out 35 of the finest roses she had, grouped them with great skill and dressed them up to be delivered to the most beautiful woman in the world. We marched back to the car, it was about 1115 and we had a ways to go. Once we got in the car, the driver asked us to use our seatbelts, un-custom like as I mentioned earlier – I wasn’t going to argue, he said we will go fast. I had a little smirk on the drive back thinking what it might be like for the pastor to call on me and I wouldn’t be there, and thinking what Oksana might think, ok, not so funny, but interesting. We arrived safely at the church about 1135 and the elements were being served.

As we slipped in the side door, I was quickly whisked away to Tonya and Alex who saved me a place, so they could translate for me. Tonya’s eyes widened as she saw the flowers gave me a big smile and said, very nice, the service proceeded, my lovely bride scanning for me as she played, finally we could all relax. Oksana tells me that she kept asking Marina, the keyboard player beside her, if there was anyone sitting beside Alex and Tonya yet, Marina being glued to her keyboards and music would need to be interrupted more adamantly as to whether I had arrived yet, well into the service, Oksana was trembling in a cold sweat, wondering where I was, this inquiry happened probably every 2 minutes. What a trip, what a morning, what a thrill to declare my love to this special woman who has worked for this church in music ministry for the past 10 years.

Some time had pasted before I heard my name, and the name Daystar, and the pastor motioning me to the platform. After his greeting he asked me to find my special woman, this didn’t take long as she was about 15 feet behind me; I greeted her, big smiles as she embraces the flowers as we stepped forward to greet the pastor. Pastor Alex mentioned to the church that he has met with us, and was certain that it was God’s provision for each of us to be together, something like that from what I could gather. He asked each of us if we loved the other and we declared the same, the pastor continued with prayer, and a flood of prayers came forward from the congregation, cameras flashing through my eyelids countless times, wish I could have understood the prayer and blessing of the pastor, maybe I can get the video tape. As we made our way down from the platform, girlfriends greeted Oksana and I with more flowers, offering their congratulations to us, this continued for a few minutes as the service continued. Oksana and I sat together, yeah, fingers gently enjoying each other’s company as we sat together in church for the first time. At the close of the service, Oksana returned to the platform to play, soon after the service had ended and I was motioned to join her on the platform. We were greeted there by the music pastor Olek and his wife, and the rest of the musicians and singers. Gave us their warmest wishes, presented us with the most beautiful white and red rose bouquets. We were prayed over and greeted for several minutes by the musicians and others who made their way to the stage.

Arms loaded with flowers became almost unbearable, such gracious loving people, so sincere in their words as they embrace Oksana and show their deep love for her. This continued a couple more times before we left the building, what an experience. I was greeted by a lady who speaks English well, she had mentioned that Oksana was a wonderful woman, and that I was very fortunate to have her, I told her that I had no doubt to what she has said and that I truly blessed to have such a woman. The flowers and I barely fit into the back seat of Galya’s car, she offered to help us get back to the flat. Quite a process to find water and containers for all the flowers, the flat is full of beauty and lovely fragrance, all which paled to the beauty and glow on Oksana’s face as she admired all the symbols of love from her many friends. Many had enquired throughout the day of Oksana’s plans to go to Canada, of course disappointed to eventually have her leave; they continued to share their love and support. Oksana seemed to be ok with sharing her plans to move to Canada with me, I’m so blessed. What a perfect day in so many ways, this nice feeling lingered on throughout the night, we are so happy together.

Once again, thank you all for your love and support; we love to hear from you. Please don’t make this a one sided conversation – We’d love to hear what’s going on with you as well, for example I’m sure some of you have some good stories about the Daystar trip to Seattle.

Talk to you soon,

Brian & Oksana

Lots to Celebrate

2006-09-26T16:20:00.000+04:00

I must confess, it seems I have mislead you about the weather here in Moscow, I said it was cool, about 10C, seems that this was the case only at the time of my entry. It had been beautiful and warm since I have arrived, mid 20’s, sunny and calm. I don’t think it has rained since I came to Moscow.

Well I guess when I left you last, it was to be the night Oksana and I met withPastor Alexander and his wife Elena. We were to meet at 2200 clear across town from Oksana’s flat. Since there was no possible way for Oksana to meet me after work then take me to the meeting on time. Oksana arranged for Galya(on the left)to pick me up at 1530 because our meeting place was not accessible by metro – clearly the other side of the city. Galya picked me up with a girlfriend, early because she had a job interview to go to, and new because of rush hour she couldn’t pick me up after. The interview didn’t take very long and soon enough we were off to the mall where we were to meet at a pizza place at 2200. The traffic is a little different here, pedestrians have no right of way, signs or lights don’t always mean what they are suppose too, when there are three lanes on the road, there might be 4-5 lanes of traffic. Muscovites also don’t use seatbelts – just their horns. Arrived at the mall on the far side of town, where pastor has a home, before 1800. The mall is huge “Mega Mall” most high end stores, Ikea, indoor ice rink, lots of food courts, etc. Galya and company speak no English, at least they could talk to each other which took pressure off of me to converse. They went from store to store – kind of shopping, don’t think they planned to buy anything – but were killing time just for me as I waited for Oksana maybe as late as 2000. So it seems that Galya and friend took about 6 hours out of their day to tend to me and make sure I arrived safe, although being very grateful, deeply humbled at the same time – inspiring me to learn the language and the lay of the land even that much more quickly.

When Oksana showed up – what a delight, I had someone to converse with, and someone to assist me as needed. We had a lovely time with pastor and his wife, lots of stories, Elena converses well in English and is able to keep the conversation rolling smoothly. We had a chukle when our drinks arrived, seems the guys got the "girly drinks" and the ladies with their more conservative tea, this will explain the expression on Pastor Alex's face. Even though there were many laughs throughout the dinner, we were able to discuss many items about the wedding, engagement and ministry; seems that all our questions were answered. Being full of their love and blessing Oksana and I retreated late sat night to the longest metro line in the world to make our way back. We stopped at a 24hour store to pick up a few necessities before retiring for the night.

Oksana’s birthday is fast approaching, as anticipated, Oksana fielded birthday greeting phone calls from the wee hours of the morning until very late at night. We had plans to go out to a nice restaurant with Ivan and Elena and their middle son Alexander about 1930. I was to take the metro on my own to city center and wait for Oksana to find me. I left early, nice day, took in the sight before catching the train. As the subway cars progressed towards the center, it was rush hour and the cars became increasingly crowded the closer I got. My only task was to count the stops, and get off at stop 7. Good thing I wasn’t listening for the name, it was too noisy to hear it above the crowds of people – that is if you don’t know the language. The train stopped, I bolted towards the door, cm by cm until the door was an arms reach away and it closed for the next stop. Another reason why I left early – I got off at the next stop and took the next train back. I spent the afternoon listening to my mp3 player, I felt that if I was intent on listening to music – it was less likely for someone to try to stir up a conversation with me – it seemed to work, and I was happy, it also helped me pass the time as Joe Cocker and I waited for Oksana to show up. Being one of the busiest stations, in the peak of the day, three levels of trains converge to this location. I did as I was told (from Oksana) sit against the wall and I will find you. There are stairways and escalators everywhere and she didn’t want to loose me. I sent her a text message and explained where I was waiting – trying to be considerate and all. Once she found me, I asked if she got my text – she explained yes, but that there was no need, as she could find me in a multitude of people in a moments notice – first of all it seems I stick out like a sore thumb as a foreigner…………… and secondly and endearingly so, because she is highly motivated to be with me, ha. What a beautiful sight, arms full of beautiful bouquets of flowers, gift bags draping from her arms – seems that today she has been blessed, and rightly so. Many co-workers, drivers, cleaning ladies greeted her with gifts, flowers, stuffed animals, and perfume through out the day. Nice lunch outside, too many flowers to carry home so many of them stayed at the office to welcome her the next day. Seems that this has been one of her best birthdays ever, her hard work at the office has had the opportunity for her to feel appreciated.

The restaurant is next to Red Square, nice place, Oksana has been here on a few occasions, mostly for birthdays. All you can eat buffet, and good service – what more could you ask for (except for a non-smoking section) seems that the thing to do there is smoke in a social setting, cigarettes are very cheap, 20r or less, maybe .75 CAN. As our guest were to be a little late, I presented Oksana with a white gold, diamond cross necklace I had purchased for her a couple of months back – I so enjoy shopping for gifts for her. As it turns out, she likes it!! And it looks so lovely on her, I was pleased.

Our guests arrived, bearing gifts and flowers. Lovely roses and two towels, one towel is the most luxuriously soft towel I have felt in my life. I later found out that Elena asked what she should buy, Oksana asked her to consider buying a large towel, one that I could use, as all of her towels in the flat were small. So what a surprise and a delight to find this gift in my hand to use for myself, selfless to the core, my angel. Dinner was very enjoyable, and it lingered for a few hours – later we walked Red Square briefly as we went to our guest’s vehicle. What a wonderful time together.

Later Oksana wanted to take me out of the flat, stop at a couple of stores, her favorite coffee shop down in the center. We walked to the metro rather than taking the tram, only a 20 min walk, autumn is so strongly in the air, the leaves are scattered about the ground as the leaves shed their brightly colored cloak. The fragrance of the air captivates Oksana to a moment in time she recalls playing in the leaves as a child with so many fond memories. I have never met anyone with senses so heightened from touch, to smells, sounds, tastes and sight. For example she can be mesmerized by the look or smell of a flower,
she will linger in it as to soak it all in, just to be remembered all over again. The other night we were sitting on the balcony, and lofting through the air was the smell of potatoes and onions being cooked in a nearby flat. I chuckle to myself, acknowledging my prayer and desire has been to have a loved one who is able to “stop and smell the roses.” Now I have a woman who can even stop and smell the potatoes, yea!!

Anyway, back to my story, once we arrived to the center, we walked for quite a ways, I was enjoying the exercise, seems that there is not an exercise mentality here as there is in Vancouver. Here it is called life, getting from A to B then to C, seems to be enough exercise for the average muscovite. As we came through the last underground walkway a 10 string orchestra was on a break, Oksana had hoped they would be playing today, finally they began, the music was amazing, no one reading music, just feeling their part and the piece as a whole. Complex classical music lingered in the hallways of marble and concrete. Most people welcomed the music and with appreciation would drop in coins or notes in to the violin case. Today, 9 violinist’s and one cellist, men and women all contributing to what they love to do. Apparently musicians have a very difficult time in making any money in Moscow, even though there is so much talent, not much of a paying audience.

We came close to Red Square, not Oksana’s favorite place to be, not a big fan of the touristy places. We walked through the park, sat on the grass for a few minutes until an officer with his whistle was motioning for everyone to get up and move on. We later came upon Oksana’s favorite coffee shop, beautiful sculpted ceiling, fashionable rustic artwork, antique style furniture. The service was not quite as efficient as a Starbucks, so as I patiently waited for Oksana to bring me her favorite drink, I sat back and took a picture. Those fortunate few from Pacific Academy last February whom Oksana took on a tour will remember it well. We savored the coffee, shared a decedent desert as we conversed, and competed with the occasional blinking contest.

On Sunday we went on the tram to church, Oksana showed me the way. At church I sat by myself, of course people all around me, Oksana mentioned that Tonya might sit with me and help me out with the content of the service so I saved them a place; it appears they came in late and were not able to join me. The worship is always sweet, fortunately this is one thing we can easily do together, I would try to sing along, and get used to the words on the screen.

I love to watch Oksana play piano, such ease and talent, my mind fails to comprehend the joy and release of such beautiful sounds. Music has no such boundaries as language and customs, heaven will be so glorious, one spirit, one voice, one God. Many of Oksana’s friends were here today, all delighted to catch up on each other’s news, she looks so happy, and I am so pleased – even to wonder what she is saying. I am constantly being greeted by the biggest smiles and warmest handshakes of those who know in a small way who I am. Allan from Chechnya was one of the guest’s, he went out of his way to greet me, tell me how much he continues to enjoy Daystar’s music. He spoke the word today, wish I knew of the content, seems his heart is as big as he is. Oksana received many flowers today, some for birthday, and some who thought today was engagement Sunday. She was so pleased, chuckling to herself that next Sunday we may need help to bring the flowers back to the flat as there maybe too many to carry. We met up with Alex and Tonya for lunch at Moo Moo’s, sat on the balcony, what a beautiful afternoon. As the ladies gathered some food, I was able to catch up on Alex’s story of engagement and marriage to Tonya, his exciting vocation, what a wonderful story, a man full of faith and joy. Later Tonya was able to give me her side of the story, what a gal, love the way God has directed her to Moscow and later to be married to this kind hearted man. She has been here for 4 years now, teaches English, currently only a 10 min walk from Oksana’s flat, and has put up with Alex being on the road a lot, but is seems he will remain in Moscow for many months now. She is at home in Moscow, and handles the language quite well. What a sweet couple, what more can I say.

After lunch when we were waiting for the train at the metro, it became very windy, seems I got something in my eye, and over time it began to annoy me lots. Throughout the protest, my eye would water and I could feel scratching ever so slightly, but always in the same spot, it wouldn’t move around. I was looking forward to getting home to flush it out with water; later only to find that this technique would not help. Oksana joined Elena to do a little shopping after the protest, looking for something to wear for the engagement Sunday, after just over an hour of shopping Oksana returned empty handed. Been another long but eventful day, looking forward to sleeping, anticipating that this foreign object would find itself out of my eye by morning.

It appears that Oksana did not sleep well; she called in sick to work today, of course that did not stop her from fielding call throughout the day as the office needed her. Oksana at her first chance went to the drug store for me and picked up some eye drops with antiseptic to assist in removing this particle. I woke up with my eye glued shut, although not as irritated as it had a chance to rest – the object seems to have made its home where I wished it hadn’t. Oksana graciously took care of me, full of empathy and gentleness, my angel stayed by my side throughout the day. Tonight Oksana was heading to the center to meet up with a girlfriend and spend the night with her and her mom, plans to discuss plans for the wedding.

So that’s most of our week in a nut shell, I must admit that some of our highlight were getting emails or comments from our special friends from Canada. Please continue to share with us through the blog or by email. We feel and appreciate your love and prayers, pray for God’s wisdom and guidance throughout this next month, as we have so many plans to arrange, and decisions to make before we are married. You ought to see me smile when I type that word, ha. We love you all and will talk to you again as soon as possible.

With heartfelt gratitude,
Brian and Oksana.

p.s. my eye is much better today, still something there that shouldn't be, but less irritated, nevertheless, please pray for our health and safety.

Finally Here!!

2006-09-19T11:59:00.000+04:00

Well I have arrived and all is good – well actually GREAT!! I am so happy to be here, honored and humbled at the same time. The flight of course was long, but uneventful (thank goodness). It would have helped if I had been able to sleep the previous night, no big surprise though. Maybe I can blame my lack of sleep for accidentally leaving my passport at Shelsea’s (my daughter’s) as I stopped there to drop off my car and make a photocopy of my passport, I left it in the scanner. Fortunately 15-20 from her house I realized what had happened. Not only that but my parents and my sister took me to the airport, as I walked down the sidewalk with my luggage I could hear “wait, wait, hold on” seems my wallet was laying in the back seat of the car, yikes.

Since I packed up my home in mid July, my heart and home has been in Moscow, it had been a long wait to be on my way, staying in both Chilliwack and Surrey at friends and family was wonderful, but still not my home. Sitting in the boarding area in Frankfurt waiting for my flight to Moscow, lots of emotions began to well up inside of me. Hearing the Russian language being spoken all around me, how something could be foreign and so wonderful at the same time. Intimidated and excited, so isolated yet longing for my new home, Oksana and I have dreamt of this day for many, many months, and nothing could get in our way……………well at least until that vast holding pen of intimidation and gloom – Immigration.
Just before arriving in Moscow, everyone has to fill out declaration papers, I began to stress a little as the flight attendant was not able to answer a question of mine and referred me to talk to immigration my self for the answer – probably the last thing I wanted to do. I did not have a hard copy of the details of the business visa – name and address of organization, this was on my computer, but I had no way of retrieving it to enter the information on the declaration card. Return date was also required, and this detail of course is still unanswered. Once I left the plane and arrived at customs, there was a multitude of people. Seems a flight had just arrived before us, and there were hundreds of people to be processed before us. No lines, just a mass of people, with about 8 booths to process visitors, seems as if the line would never move. Every passport is processed and details entered into their system. I had my heavy back pack on in the middle of this mass of people, nervous about entry, feeling totally powerless, I prayed. To avoid any questions as I was being processed, I copied the name of the company from my passport, spelled it out in Russian, not English as on the rest of the document, this name had no address and I had no idea if this might be good enough. I made my return date at the last day of my visa. Lines would all of a sudden be closed, the people in those lines would gravitate to other lines, this happened about three times, for some reason – always the line I was heading for. Even though a flight arrived after mine – I was still one of the last ones to be processed, I was not about to pick a fight with the many who would butt in line ahead of me and others. About two hours had now past, patiently waiting, tired and bothered, this confined area for me is the most intimidating place on earth, knowing that there is always a possibility of problems to prevent me from entering the other side of the booth, the place where my new life will begin. I felt bad knowing Oksana would have no idea why I was taking so long, anxiously waiting to see clearly who the figure was who was coming from behind the frosted glass, then wondering why it was not me. I submitted my papers, seemed like forever, trying not to look as anxious as I was, after a few very long minutes, my documents were returned to me with no questions asked – what a feeling, yeah. Only a few bags left to be claimed, I couldn’t leave that secured area fast enough. My angel stood waiting, face close to the glass, a gently smile and a little wave, I was greeted at I approached the door. We embraced briefly as I received a gentle kiss on my cheek, then I was introduced to Nastya, our driver and close friend of Oksana’s. Although I was where I wanted to be, I had wished I was in better form, very tired, hot and bothered still, then I would look at her and know all that was in my heart was confirmed once again, my life would never be the same.

Arrived at Oksana’s flat, a lovely place on the 10th floor, my new home – she has been so gracious and arranged to stay with a girlfriend - hopefully only until we are married. We shared a meal together by candlelight; she opened letters and cards of greeting from my kids and parents, Oksana being bashful and as adorable as usual. Not so many cards and gifts, but with a flood of phone calls from many of her friends checking up on her, it took quite some time. But I didn’t mind at all, to hear her speak in her native tongue, as expressive language as it is, I could listen all night long. We shared family photos of each other growing up – what a special time together. Seems all is well and we are off to a good start.

Although I fell asleep quickly, seems I laid awake for most of the night, my body in rebellion of the time change, 11 hour difference. Oksana had taken the day off of work; we went off to the bank, paid the internet provider for a couple of months, bought some groceries.
Although the sun was shining, the air is much colder here, much more like fall, only topping 10c for the most part. Speaking of internet, it took us about five long days to get the computer up and running, a friend of Oksana’s graciously stopped by one day and labored long enough to get it fixed. So if this blog entry is long time coming, this is my reason, and I am sticking to it. Nice to finally be back in contact with the rest of the world.

Perhaps many of you Daystar members remember Ivan, our burly, red haired equipment transport driver. This goes back many years, what a joyful man – and now, what a wonderful family he has. Wife Elena, sons Mark (12) Alexander (6) and Matthew, not even a year yet. All big strapping boys like their dad, Elena is lovely, and of course has her hands full. They are close friends of Oksana’s, and we all had a wonderful visit together on Saturday.

Church on Sunday was exciting as you can imagine, saw many familiar faces. There was a drama group there from Brazil. The church is full, and the pastor and guests spoke to the congregation I didn’t catch much of the service, not until Tonya of Saskatoon came to sit beside me to help me out. Pastor had caught my eye and gave me a big smile. Later Pastor made reference to me, “Brian of Daystar” being in Moscow for quite a while, with no reference with the reason for my visit. This of course will happen for us on October 1st, when traditionally an engagement is announced at church when the groom walks in with an armful of flowers for his bride, with sometime only speculation at to where they will end up………. The couple is then presented on the platform, each stating a declaration that this engagement has resulted out of love for each other. Then the pastor and the church pray for the couple and those who were privy to this engagement bring flowers of congratulations to the couple. As you can imagine, many friends have been asking Oksana if this is the Sunday which they should bring flowers, she graciously smiles and says perhaps…………We will meet with Pastor Alex and Elena tonight in preparation for Sunday.

Every Sunday, the church still meets downtown at a park outside a large McDonalds, and put on what they call a protest. They have continued to do this for years now. In the winter it still continues, but only every 2 weeks, even in the -30C weather.
The local police have become more tolerant over time, even though just last week they were asked not to pray while there. Pastor continues as usual, assured that there will not be difficulties. There are always many people walking by, young people drinking and smoking, drawing attention at times. Many from the church attend and hand out leaflets, lots of music and singing of all sorts, many verbal addresses to those gathered, they are a bold dedicated people full of the joy of the Lord. These protest go on form 600pm to about 800pm and are well attended.

Well this is the end of my first entry of my blog here in Moscow, thanks to those who have already visited the site and have left comments, I love to hear from you. Maybe what I have written is too personal for some of you, or maybe not detailed enough for others of you – please let me know what kind of things you would like to hear about, or not. I’m to send warmest wishes back home from your Moscow friends, and of course Oksana and I am so grateful for your love and support, we are so happy…….. words fail me to what God has done in our lives.

Continue to pray for us, Oksana works long hours and has many music obligations, she is weary and I wish more than ever that this is a joyful time, not a stressful time for her. We love you all so very much, until next time.

Brian and Oksana

To Russia With Love

2006-07-12T12:03:00.000+04:00

For those curious minds that have wondered what has happened to me in the past year or so.

As a bit of back ground, I have been involved with a ministering gospel music group, called Daystar, a non profit organization Daystar Ministries. I have been involved with this group from it’s inception about 15 years ago, we hold concerts in local churches, communities, the interior, western Canada and we have traveled over seas to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Russia.
http://www.daystar.org/

Since our first Russia trip in 1999, we have left our hearts there with the people of Russia, Daystar has returned in 2002 and 2005, and has committed and has continued to support a pastor and his family in St. Petersburg. Since not all of the Daystar members are not able to make it for all the trips, our trip in 2005 was lacking a keyboard player to play the string accompaniment for the group. The local church in Moscow approached one of their talented musicians to see if she would consider learning the music and touring with Daystar for a few weeks, she graciously accepted and Oksana Kosonova became a valuable member of Daystar.

Oksana was introduced to the group when she joined us on the bus and sat next to me in an empty seat. A sweet girl, little timid and shy – then again so was I, in that type of situation. We conversed a little; Oksana fortunately displayed a firm grasp of the English language, it seemed as if I was the one feeling awkward. I was absolutely oblivious to the fact that there was a beautiful, brilliant, eligible woman sitting next to me.

Oksana and I spent some time together on the bus, conversed a little, nothing out of the ordinary – couple of days later I recall her asking me some personal questions about spouse, children and so on. I thought to myself, oh great,
I had sensed that she liked me, but thought now maybe she would not be as social if she knew how old I was, the ages of my children, and the fact that I had been married. I was taken back, and surprised that these thoughts had entered my mind – I must have been enjoying her company, and hoped it wouldn’t change. I saw the look on her face as I explained my situation, it looked as if her heart sank, her countenance shifted. I began to do the math, and being almost 15 years her senior, I gave myself a reality check and my head a shake, and told myself how wrong it would be to consider any romantic thoughts towards her, despite what she might think.

This continued pretty much for the rest of the tour, we periodically conversed – I would watch her from a distance, too shy to take any pictures of her, even though I wanted some.
It wasn’t until the Moscow circus when I pulled her aside and asked someone to take a picture of us; I acknowledged to myself that this felt nice – as we modestly stood side by side. In a couple of days we would be far apart, but we seemingly would innocently enjoy this time together. The last day was eventful, she lavished gifts on many daystar members, and we had all grown to love Oksana and her sweet disposition. Other members had inquired to me about “us” as they suspected more than what I refused to admit.

We wandered Red Square, took some photos – our unspoken agenda was to be by each others side and savor every moment…………. The night lingered into the wee hours of the night, we had a late dinner as a group, and now had come the time to say goodbye. Oksana was visibly distraught to see us go, as she had grown to love us as well. We politely said our goodbye’s with no promise of anything further. The bus pulled away and my heart sank, wishing her well, and beginning to anticipate how my life will carry on when I get home.

The next couple of weeks, Oksana’s email address began floating around the members of Daystar. I wrote her a note, and shared some pictures and she would share her days and ask questions of mine. I soon realized we were not on the same page, I had no intention of pursuing a long distance relationship, which I felt had no future. Oksana continued to write – I was left speechless – confused – awkward, not knowing myself at this time what I wanted, in a relationship or otherwise. I ignored her, and she went away – she sent Birthday greeting to my youngest a month later, with no response from me.

Our first concert of the new year, we had not had a concert for months because of Christmas, it was the last Sunday of January, good to see everyone again. There were Christmas card greetings from Oksana for each member of the Daystar’s Russia trip. One personally addressed to me – seemed to be a little thicker than the others. Apparently these cards were sent in November, but only now were they made available for the members because of the break. I was anxious to read it, curious more than anything. I had no idea that what I was about to read would change my life forever. If I had received it in November, I honestly don’t believe it would have impacted me in nearly the same way, I would not have been ready to hear it, and there would be no story to tell.

I had been doing lots of soul searching over the past couple of months, my heart was dry and thirsty for true love and all of a sudden it was looking right at me. My heart leaped and my head shook in disbelief at the same time. I revisited past pictures and previous emails, how could I have been so blind, I could see how happy I look in these pictures standing next to Oksana, this is what the others must have noticed. What a beautiful girl, how could have I ever walked away from such a woman? It’s like I gave myself permission to take notice and love again.

Before I knew it, we were corresponding by emails and laying all our cards on the table, deep discussions and playful snippets, pointed questions and unshakable truths. Only two weeks had passed and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was conversing with my new life partner and wife.
I had heard all I needed to hear – it reached to the depth of my being, every word she shared seemed to be like a salve which would heal and restore me to become the man I longed to be. Valentines Day, I proposed and she accepted – both of us almost in disbelief, but never happier.

Now for the logistics, and a seven month wait. Plans are to take a leave from work, fly to Moscow in September, apply for a marriage license, wait the required 30 days for an appointment to be registered (married) at Zaggs in Moscow, and then have a church wedding the next Sunday. Apply to sponsor Oksana to Canada as a spouse and remain in Moscow for as long as it takes, 9-10 months, to be issued a visa for her to return with me. Sounds simple – well trust me, it’s not. I am so looking forward to spending a year in Moscow, hopefully learn the language, customs, way of life, values, traditions, ministry, political climate, sociological aspects, besides, what’s Moscow – unless you have been there throughout the winter. Initially I told Oksana I would come to Moscow for a year, then she could come to Canada for a year, and only after this time will we chart out where we would live. Oksana assured me that she looks forward to the change, that Vancouver area would be a welcomed home.

After my daughter graduates the end of June, I will move out of my rental home, live with friends and family to cut down on my living expenses. I have enrolled in an online course to get a diploma to teach English as a foreign language, TEFL diploma. My intention is to get work in Moscow to meet my expenses and get involved with the local church. Landing such a work contract will take some prayer and a lot of hard work. The multiple flights, cost of immigration, consultants, wedding arrangements, hopefully a honeymoon – all costing thousands of dollars, at times I feel financially overwhelmed, but I know who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and who is able to supply all my needs.

Oksana and I are so in love; we converse constantly through email, letters, phone calls and mostly chats – three cheers for technology!! I never in my life knew that 7 months could feel so long, we long to be with each other, and envision that day over and over in our minds. My kids know it’s true, they have seen the transformation, and are thrilled.

If you have made it to the end, and are reading these words, well I am shocked, either you don’t have a life – or you might still believe in true love – or think it would be nice to do what I am about to do in the next year………………..either way, feel free to stay in touch, leave a comment. I will continue to express myself, document what I see and learn, hopefully share some truth and provide encouragement to someone.

Thanks for your prayers and support……………..they will never be unnoticed. If you would like to be notified each time Brian’s Café adds a new post, let me know and I will add you to my members list. So wish me well and follow me if you like on my adventure “To Russia with Love.”

Words

2006-06-27T02:09:00.000+04:00

Words

Living entities are in the words that we speak,
So are the thoughts in our mind that we dare not speak.

Thoughts do lead you down a chosen path,
The direction is yours, blessing or wrath.

You arrived where you are; it is not just by chance,
The beginning of the end was your second glance.

Your fed thoughts are not harmless, because they will grow,
Be accountable and use, the wisdom you know.

A harsh word you know can break a human spirit,
While a soft answer can mend it when you hear it.

All that there is, has been spoken into existence,
Miracles are unleashed with the prayers of persistence.

Secret sins, a lustful eye, it’s all rather important.
If God knows our thoughts, how can they be insignificant?

You choose life, or you choose death, it’s in the power of your tongue,
Truth is life, non-truth is death, listen to how your song is sung.

You speak life or death into those who will hear,
Who will draw near if you are speaking in fear?

Words either spoken or heard, direct your thoughts upwards,
Do not despair; you can be the master of all words.

Hold every thought captive, you decide to reject or accept,
Words void of emotion are powerless, and not to be kept.

Words have no impact unless attached to emotion or feelings,
Whether spoken or heard, you decide if they play on your heartstrings.

The enemy condemns you when you think something bad,
Hold the thought and reverse it, and then you will be glad.

Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath, for this is smart,
Deal with the feelings or they take root in your heart.

Thoughts and feelings, fuel the subconscious mind at night,
Self-fulfilling, no matter if it is wrong or right.

Think on whatever is pure, wholesome and lovely.
To know the secret to long life, this is the key.

Renew your mind; use the gatekeeper within,
Unaccountable thoughts can lead you to sin.

So take control of your mind, don’t point fingers or blame,
Lives are weighed in the balance; this is sure not a game.

Victory or failure is first played in the mind,
Please acknowledge this, or it will rob you blind.

So don’t get discouraged, you can start it today,
Be positive and truthful and guard what you say.

Your environment can’t harm you, just don’t let it in,
Exercise your right; it’s never too late to begin.

Brian 04.01.26

Summer Solstice

2006-06-27T00:46:00.000+04:00

What a glorious day, a day that seems to know no end, as the sun floats towards the horizon ever so slowly, its longest journey of the year is drawing nigh. A walk on the beach, the pace is whimsical and free. The sun slithers to the ground, the breeze subsides and the radiance of the earth and rock is subtly embraced.
The tradition continues with a rendezvous at Crescent Breach in South Surrey, BC. A meeting with long time friends, my, the children have grown, coming into their own, some bringing their friends to join the annual event (weather permitting). Getting re-acquainted with smiles all around, little snippets of information, and entertaining stories are shared. The fellowship is sweet, as each carries heartfelt memories of days gone by. There is a new member to the group, a hearing dog in training, “Angel” certainly a welcomed addition and enjoyed by all.
The hours have slipped away with the sun, a time well spent, and appreciation all around. Though an unspeakable void, has lingered in the back of my mind, as I’m sure with everyone present. The void is thirteen months old, the loss of a dear friend, husband and father of 4 strapping boys. The bright light of any gathering always has a query of sideways questions and answers. Mr. Hypothetical, initiates fresh ideas, or discredits another. A lovely wife – going it alone. The boys scurry about with no visible presence of their loving father.
The end of the longest day of the year, only a reminder that our tomorrow will be shorter, how short, who is to know. Enjoy this day – and every “this day” that welcomes you as you wake. Take a walk on the beach; hear the tides of time caress the shore again and again, at least if not only in your mind. Count the blessings of the day, not the worries of tomorrow. In light of eternity, do what matters. Let the sun of Summer Solstice chase away deceptive values, and let the light of truth shine in your heart.

Caricature - not Character

2006-06-23T14:29:00.000+04:00

We are soooooo in Love!! Can't you tell by the expression on our faces............ Shelsea (my daughter) invited a caricature artist to a class party, it went really well, and Shelsea had this done for me.

Russia Bound

2006-06-23T13:59:00.000+04:00

I can hardly believe it - but it's going to happen. Wild horses can't keep me away. I fly from Vancouver to Moscow September 11. Should be a safe flight,lol.