2010 Year In Review

The year 2010 has come and almost gone. So it’s time to do a bit of reflection and send out an update as to what’s been happening with the Burches this year in Russia. Recently, one of my favorite movie lines has become a short scene from The Incredibles:

Bob Parr: “What are you waiting for?”

Little Boy on tricycle: “I don't know, something amazing, I guess.”

Bob Parr: “(Sigh) Me too, kid.”

Looking back, I see that this year was something amazing. This letter is a little long, so forgive me; but it reflects how absolutely amazing it has been to be on mission with God.

January 2010- “Away from Home”

The year started for me in Istanbul, Turkey. I was participating in an intensive three-week, four-class session for PhD work with Southeastern Seminary. Being separated from my family during that time, not to mention the class work load, was difficult. It was compounded with my father undergoing back surgery half the world away. But praise the Lord, the surgery was successful, and I was able to return back to Moscow at the end of the month to see my family and start a new phase of our English outreach ministry. I have to say, though, that this particular month left me with a burden to seek the Lord more for His direction in my life.

February 2010- “Spiritual Rest”

During the first week of February, some of my colleagues and I flew to Kiev, Ukraine, to consult on a future training lab process for new team leaders in Europe. Not only did I get to watch a prerecorded Superbowl game with other IMB guys, I had the privilege to personally witness to three young men, Dmitry, Slava and Sergei, in Kiev. Before I returned to Moscow to celebrate Valentines Day with my sweetheart, I was deeply impressed by the men I met at our lab training, most specifically challenged, to walk in a deeper spiritual walk with the Lord and reorganize my personal priorities to reflect things that mattered most- namely, soul-winning and true discipleship. I had the privilege to preach a message of “love” at Golgotha Church on Valentines Day, and immediately thereafter I felt impressed to join in the Russian Orthodox observance of the Great Fast for 40 Days leading up to Russian Easter.  As I was researching the Russian Orthodox Church, I wanted to know more about their beliefs and practices. The Lord blessed me through this with an opportunity to begin a spiritual conversation with an Orthodox delivery guy in our building that would continue to several months.

March 2010- “Spiritual Unrest”

This period of strict observance to a specific Orthodox diet was difficult for me, both physically and spiritually, but I realized that many devout Orthodox believers were also experiencing the same things. It was rewarding as I was able to see people get saved. At the beginning of March, I helped to facilitate a training series for our team leaders in European Russia as we implemented a new ministry accountability process with IMB. We prayer-walked together for one of our break-out sessions, and the Lord opened the door to witness to a guy from Tatarstan. His name is Rustam, so please pray for him. On March 21, the Lord allowed me an opportunity to preach at Golgotha Church in Moscow, and I was able to see three people accept Christ! I had to travel to St. Petersburg on the 25^th, and the Lord opened the door to witness to a man named Arsen; pray for him as well. During March, I also began working hard on an “Urban Missiology” class, so this was also very rewarding. I also began to take my health very seriously, so I began running as the snow melted away in the urban streets. But by mid-March, it seemed that the momentum of our church planting teams began to be attacked. One of the teams I supervise needed some shifts in leadership, but praise the Lord that He raised up just the right team leader to provide what was needed! Another team had to be removed altogether from Russia due to local political turmoil. Praise the Lord, this team is where it needs to be today! And as the 40 days of fasting drew to a close on Easter Sunday, the urban center was rocked with explosions that were ignited by suicide bombers in the Moscow subway system. Forty people entered into eternity and 100 more were injured. It was truly a month that I will remember.

April 2010- “Mr. Mom”

I was able to begin the month by preaching at Golgotha Church, one of the healthiest churches I’ve been a part of in Russia. On April 18^th, I was able to witness one of the sweetest prayers of repentance I’ve ever heard; in simple words an elderly lady cried out in desperation to the Lord, “Lord, help me.” During this month, Leslie was required to leave the country to obtain a new visa just for herself, so she flew back to the states to spend a few weeks on vacation with her parents and mine. She barely missed the eruption of a volcano in Iceland that crippled European flights for weeks to follow. My father underwent a second, more serious surgery, so I was really glad that Leslie was at least able to be there with him. Afterwards, the kids and I shared a 19^th Anniversary meal with Leslie via Skype. Through the end of the month, I played Mr. Mom and helped the kids finish up their homeschool.

May 2010- “Russians on Mission”

One thing Leslie and I prayed for over 13 years ago is that God would allow Russian Baptists to establish their own mission board and send their own to other parts of the world that Americans would not be able to go. At the beginning of May, I began to disciple five young guys, some of whom had accepted Christ in our English class. I was also able to witness about Christ to a friend, Nikolai, this month. At church, we were also able to mobilize a Russian Youth Mission Team to go to Latvia on their first mission trip. As Leslie returned from the states with a new Russian visa, we celebrated at the new Dunkin’ Donuts in Moscow, and the Lord opened the door to witness to a cashier there; please pray for his salvation. I was able to run a 5K charity event for Down’s Syndrome in Moscow as well.

June 2010- “Ta Ethne”

On June 8, President Dmitry Medvedev did something astonishing. He declared that July 28 would be set aside as a national holiday to honor Russia as a Christian nation. This actually opened the door to continue a deeper spiritual conversation with the Orthodox delivery guy in our building. From the 12^th through the 17^th of this month, all of our IMB missionaries throughout Russia were able to gather for a week of training and rest outside of Moscow. Immediately following that meeting, I was able to join a colleague to complete a people group probe and media trip to the republics of Chuvashia and Mordovia, homes of some of the largest unreached ethnic groups in Russia. On that trip, we were able to witness to a young mother, a train conductor, and a single woman from Moscow. Each time, I was reminded that the gospel is for all nations- all peoples.

July 2010- “In the Smoking Section”

The heat in Russia was intense. I was still running 5Ks as the smoke from Russian forest fires began to pour into the capital. At the beginning of the month, our family was able to celebrate American Independence Day in a Moscow park, where the Lord opened the door to witness to Vladimir and Natalya, a young IT couple. On the actual 4^th of July, we celebrated again with some American friends and had the privilege of witnessing to a young American marine and a foreign construction worker. After these initial days of celebrating, though, the smoke began to thicken in the city with temperatures reaching up to 102 degrees. Even though it was choking, people still attended church and came to our English bible study. We were able to share the gospel with a new lady this month. By the third week of July, I was running 9Ks but in thick smoke. The Lord provided a clearing of smoke for our English Ministry Summer Picnic. One of the guys I was discipling preached his first sermon at church! I was also able to continue sharing with the delivery guy about Christ.

August 2010- “Casualties and Blessings”

The kids started their fall semester of school on August 2 to make sure they would be done before our planned stateside assignment began on December 18. They did their best, but by August 6^th the smoke was choking us and the heat in our apartment hit close to 108 degrees. Some city residents were able to either drive away or fly out of the city, but we were hoping things would clear soon. On August 7^th, Moscow was declared a “state of emergency” by the national government. It was reported that about 700 people were dying every day in Moscow due to smoke and heat. I preached a message at Golgotha Church on the 15^th to a slim crowd of chokers. On the 17^th I read the headlines that 10,000 Moscovites had already died this month and entered into eternity. As I read this, we prayed intensely for those who still had time to accept Christ as their Savior before it was too late. We also prayed intensely for rain! During the night on the 20^th, it dropped to 50 degrees and rain poured in. We finished the month with a VBS at church where I had the opportunity to teach the teenagers. What started as a month of heavy casualties ended with showers of blessing.

September 2010- “Parties”

Now that the rains had come, we got the family out to complete the physical examinations required by our mission board. I was able to preach at Golgotha and attend a friend’s wedding. Ashlyn turned “sweet 16” and Amielle celebrated her 14^th birthday at home and church. We ended the month with Leslie helping to facilitate a Women’s Ministry Conference at Golgotha and with friends from Texas.

October 2010- “Church Mission Probes”

By October 2, the temperatures had dropped to 45 degrees. During this first week, the mission pastor from Sherwood Baptist Church of Albany, Georgia, came to visit us on a partnership probe. This is the church that is hosting us while we are on our Stateside Assignment in 2011. We had waited all year for the Lord to send new missionaries to European Russia as well, so on Oct. 8 we rejoiced as a new Journeyman arrived- and a Georgia girl at that! I preached at Golgotha on the 10^th, and thereafter we had our first snowfall as the temps dropped closer to freezing. I was now running 14-18Ks, but I started suffering from shin splints due to old running shoes. I took 2 weeks off, bought new shoes, and hit the ground running again! At the end of the month, we facilitated the pastors of First Southern Baptist Church of Del City, OK, as they came to visit Saransk and the Mordovian people group. I was so glad that one of our “Russian missionaries” from the Latvia trip went with them as their translator.

November 2010- “Evaluations & Thanks”

We were blessed to connect with Dr. Robert White of the Georgia Baptist Convention early in the month to give an update and evaluation of the Georgia Baptist- Moscow & St. Petersburg Partnerships; that was a lot of fun! I also was able to say goodbye to our colleagues throughout European Russia and our co-workers throughout other parts of Russia before we headed back to the states in December. The temperatures were now staying below freezing, but my runs were back up to 14-18Ks. I took the latter half of the month to complete the end-of-year evaluations on my direct reports, and I praise God that He has given me such quality men and women to work with! Two more young adults got saved at church, and we were able to celebrate our American Thanksgiving traditional meal with 35 Russians in our English ministry. At the end of the month, Luke celebrated his 11^th birthday with his favorite uncle- Uncle Ed Tarleton.

December 2010- “Goodbye”

As the temperatures reached negative -9 degrees Fahrenheit on the streets, I ran my last time in Moscow on December 10^th. I expect my next run will be on Georgian dirt roads or small town sidewalks. The Lord gave another pastor and me the privilege of praying with a 73 year old woman to accept Christ.  I was able to preach on Dec. 12, and we were humbled at the outpouring of love from our church and the English class. We shared a large meal together and said our bitter-sweet goodbyes. Lots of hugs and kisses. Lots of knowing looks and aching hearts. We’ve grown so close to these sweet people in Moscow. We are now sharing meals with colleagues and friends and sharing our goodbyes with them as well. Oh, and today, the Lord granted us a final opportunity to say goodbye to our delivery guy. We shared another short testimony about Christ and gave him some children's bibles for his kids. Now, we look ahead to 2011, after an amazing year, we are waiting for yet something else. What? I don’t know, truly “something amazing I guess.”