Fall has settled in here in Ufa. The temperatures have cooled and the leaves are changing color and falling from the trees. It really is a beautiful sight. I myself can’t help but look at this and see God through His creation. Other people here have mentioned to me in conversation how God has spoken to them through the beauty of this time of the year as well. For people like me who don’t get to see changes in seasons like this it truly is an experience that I appreciate! For me, I have seen God at work not only through nature, but also among the people here in Ufa. It is so nice to see people who desire to know God more and to make His love known to others. I have a friend here that always shares her spiritual life with me. How God is working in her life, where she is struggling and the like. It is so encouraging to me to see how God is working in her life and to share with her where I see God working in both my life and in others here in Ufa. Another thing that has been encouraging to me is reading through the Gospel of John with other locals. The discussions that we have had together over this section of the Bible have really lifted my spirits. I can see the word of God really changing some of the lives of people who attend the group. Just as the seasons are always at work, so is God, all around the world and in each person’s life. I have been blessed to be a part of and see how God is at work here in Ufa! Kelly W.

Learning to Love

Thanks to Saint Valentine February is often thought of as the “love” month. Some people dread it, while others can’t wait for it. I, personally, am not against it and not particularly for it either. However, it has brought me to think about what love truly is.

As a follower of Christ, my idea of love has been transformed and may not match up with what most think. I look back at my life and remember how not long ago I was in such a stage of rebellion and only looked out for my own desires. I wanted to do what I wanted to do and didn’t even consider looking at the consequences brought on by my actions. Do you know that the very people whom I told I ‘loved’ I was only hurting? The God that I said I loved, I cursed with the very same mouth?

About 5 years ago I was really weighed down by this fact. How could I say I love my mom but rebel against the rules she put in place for my good? How could I say I loved God, but live a life that only brought shame to His name? I had to get things straight. It was during that time that God taught me what love truly means. Regardless of everything I had done and said, He reminded me that all of my past actions were no surprise. Only then did I understand what it meant to love. You see, He, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, put aside the fact that I had fallen short and accepted me anyway.

Now it is my life long desire to grow in love, to take the example that I have been given and live it out. It is NOT easy. There are so many times where I am tempted to fall back to the way I used to live serving myself and nobody else. It’s almost easier to just write a person off when they aren’t meeting your expectations. I mean why become friends with someone if you get nothing out of it, right?

Well, that’s not the example I’ve been given and that for sure is not true love. So as I live my life here in Russia, I reflect on how I have been stretched. Some have been easy to love, others difficult. The difference in culture has added some pressures as well as eliminated some. However, with God as my source and example of true love, I will push on in any situation I am in and try to LOVE others!

Time has flown by here in Ufa! Some days I feel as if I just walked off the plane and others as if I have been here for ages. Overall, I can say that I am blessed to be here in Ufa. My experience as a student at the Bashkir State University has only been pleasant. The professors are all more than willing to help, not only with learning Russian, but also with adapting to life here. The International Department is always interested in knowing how I am settling in, if I’d like to go to any ballets around town or other cultural events, and how they could be of help to me. This has made it easier to feel more at home in a country so far away from close family and relatives.

Another thing that has helped with settling in here in Ufa has been the amount of locals that have been willing to help me. Through everyday events I have come across people that give me the right directions if I don’t know the way, talk with me about my dog and how I can make life better for him, people who have an interest in learning English, and many others. Though there have been events in which I did not feel welcome, those also happen where I’m from. People are people all over.

One of the biggest things I have realized since being here is that I will always be a learner. I am constantly learning the Russian language. I am learning the culture. What I consider most important is that I am learning how to interact with people, how to ask questions that bring a conversation deeper than the everyday surface level stuff that most people stick to. How much can you really get to know a person if you stick to the usual questions that everyone asks everyday? I can learn how to be a better friend, how to meet needs that I might not have known about, otherwise.

One thing that I can share that I think I will never get used to is the lack of orderly lines. I don’t mean to poke or make fun, it’s just that I am so used to the queue system of a line almost everywhere in America. Here, I have had to get used to crowding and being more assertive than usual. One thing that I can say I will always value and probably miss when I go back to America is the system in place here to pay for certain services such as internet and cell phone service. All around town are little machines that you can enter info into as well as put money in and it adds it to your account. Though some may argue it may be easier to do all that online, I have really come to appreciate those machines and how easy it is to use them.

Oh, where to begin? God has been doing a major work in my life and has transformed my thinking in so many areas in my time here, but I think I am going to just focus on one.

I have attended Middle Tennessee State University for the past 2 ½ years. On my first week of school I showed up at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry and wanted to get involved right away, so I did. I heard a lot about the International Ministry through it. They did things like conversational English groups with internationals, retreats for them, and a Thanksgiving dinner for them. Most people, myself included, didn’t seem very interested. It just didn’t seem a priority. I am not proud of that in my life, but it happened, and thankfully God has allowed me to learn from that since I’ve been here in Russia.

It took me walking in the shoes of those internationals to realize how much they need to be reached out to. Coming into another country where you don’t know anyone and barely know the language is intimidating. I was blessed and am so thankful that I was able to make friends so easily here, but it doesn’t happen like that in America, at least it didn’t on my campus or among me and my friends, who continually said that they wanted to reach the nations for Christ. I’m not saying we weren’t doing that in some capacity, but we just didn’t recognize or grasp that the nations were so close. The people in my campus ministry love the Lord and have a desire to make Him known, but somewhere along the way, reaching the nations on my own campus was lost. I didn’t even think about it much. I helped at one event for them, and that was it.

God has changed my heart and given me a desire to reach these people that I have neglected the past two years. He has brought the nations to us. The nations are right next door to the BCM every Tuesday night to practice English. What a better way to meet them and begin to build relationships with them than that. Yes, conversation may be awkward at first because you don’t know what to say, but that often happens when you meet new people anyway.

God has begun to give me ideas of ways to reach out to internationals at home. He has also given me the chance to talk to some people on the ministry team at the BCM about it, and they are ready to reach the internationals of our campus.

I see God working in the lives of believers at home in this area, and He is definitely working in my life. I am excited to see how God is going to use this for His glory.

Shannon Selby

We are blessed to have three Russian language students from America working with us as they attend a local university.  They all arrived in September.  Since they are new to Ufa, I have asked them to write a short summary for this blog on their first impressions of the city.  This is this first of three posts.  While reading this first post, you will see that not everything conforms to the way we often romanticize life in another culture.  However, when we have a greater purpose in mind, it often keeps our eyes forward as we press toward the mark.

So, Bashkiria. The food's not that bad. And neither are the bathrooms.
 
And what else do we need to be comfortable?

After a somewhat lengthy flight, I arrived. At last at last, RUSSIA. The euphoria lasted for about 2 weeks, but came to a crashing halt when the cashier became angry on account of my inability to understand the question "need a bag?" I spent about a week with my lips pursed in public, but I've gradually crept out of the shell.  I can even laugh or joke with people in public now. OK, sometimes.
The language studies are hard but, like everything here, it shocks you at first then you adapt. Signs are in two languages, Bashkir and Russian.  Sometimes Bashkir is on the left, sometimes on the right. You never really know, but you get used to it. You get used to not finding what you want at the grocery store. You get used to the tasty sour cream in your soup. You get used to the trams, the trolleys, the crowds, the snow, the darkness, the “Are they speaking English?” glances.
 
 But what makes the city tick?  It seems to be a city of many students. But then again, I've certainly seen more babushki (grandmothers) in public than ever before.  This is the industrial center of the republic, so many people come here from the villages seeking work.  Cars are generally for those with a little extra money, so we pack in tight in the tiny buses, with little concept of space to yourself.  Surprisingly this ties in with the stern face many people wear in public.  This is ironic.  We live so close together, but keep each other at a distance.  Though, I think the vestiges of the Soviet Union, like the stern public face, are gradually washing away.
 
This is especially true among the youth, so many of whom are eager to practice English and hear about America.  It's a neat tool-- who ever thought being a dumb foreigner would draw people in instead of pushing them away?  Just being American makes a lot of people want to befriend you.
The people here often are unwilling to have a heart-to-heart conversation with people who aren't close friends.  People they don't know, they can’t trust.  Religion is mostly viewed like ethnicity; it’s something your born with but not something you must act on all that often.  It’s part of your group heritage, not your individual life.  However, there are seekers.  Cornelius’s so to speak. There are those who are seeking GOD, who know the SHEPHERD’S voice, and who are getting ready to respond.  All we can do is present the gospel; the power lies with the Holy Spirit.  So, we push forward.  But hey, are we called to be victorious or persistent?
 
So, we persist.  We persist in prayer.  We, persist in righteousness.  We persist in standing firm.  We hold out the Word of life.  We take part in the ministry of reconciliation. "We implore you on CHRIST’S behalf--be reconciled to GOD!"  What honor is comparable to having our KING invite us into His work?  And behind all this, I remember a man on a cross, all for the sake of love.  So, I go to them outside the camp.  It's not important that I am comfortable, or wealthy, or safe, or even happy.  My GOD loves me, and remember his words to Levi "Ekolouthei moi!" ~"FOLLOW ME!"