We had a good day of preparation today. The Americans and Russians met together at the House of Prayer (the church) to talk about next week's VBS. Then we hit the streets to let children and families know about the event. We spent about an hour playing in the courtyard of an apartment complex. The idea was to connect with children and their parents. We probably started a little early because the crowd was sparse. Those who were in the courtyard noticed us and the Russians were able to talk with a few families. We hope to see more kids tomorrow.
After about an hour, the Americans took to the streets for a little sight-seeing and souvenir shopping. The Russians went to another complex to meet more families.
The sight-seeing tour led us to The Church on the Blood. This Russian Orthodox church is built on the exact site where Romanov czar Nicholas II and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War.
We rode the metro today. I've only ridden subways in New York City, Ekaterinburg, and Moscow. Ekaterinburg's subway stations are extremely clean. New Yorkers ought to take a lesson from the Russians in this. Ekaterinburg has a population of over two million people. Although the streets were packed with cars today (Saturday), the metro stations are packed through the week. Lots of folks move through these areas every day. Deana found a little shop underground that sells rings that she really likes, among other items. It is operated by a Russian Orthodox convent. Most of the shoppers in our group picked up a thing or two here.
Our next stop was a shopping area near the circus. This is an outdoor gathering of merchants selling products ranging from old collectable coins to hand-made crafts to Martrioshka (nesting) dolls. A lot of money changes hands in this place that is packed with people looking for a bargain or a souvenir.
Back to sight-seeing. The next stop was the Memorial for the Politically Oppressed. The site is built around mass graves found several years ago. In the graves are the remains of tens of thousands of people who were executed for their religious beliefs during the communistic rule of Stalin. While people of all religious faiths were persecuted during his regime, Christianity seems to be the center of the persecution because the Christian cross takes a dominant physical, architectural position in the memorial. Many people died for their faith. My prayer is that the current inhabitants of Ekaterinburg will come to and cling to Jesus Christ even though such decisions may lead to persecution.
Our last stop on the sight-seeing tour was the border between two continents: Asia and Europe. We stood on the line! One foot in one continent and the other foot in another continent. The border is a popular stop for wedding parties. Russian weddings begin at the government office where it's all official. Then the wedding party makes the rounds of popular places in the area. The entire wedding party and families move through the city. Several were at the border while we were there. Their traditions are a little different than our. They probably would say the same thing about a traditional American wedding!
Then we shopped some more, had supper in the food court of Mega Mall (the name is accurate), and headed home to the Home Hotel. We'll attend the House of Prayer tomorrow for worship services then spend the afternoon decorating for VBS. Please pray that we can help the Russian Christians make an impact among families for Jesus Christ.
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