October 12, Friday - Part II

I just viewed my blog and realized  I have duplicated some entries. Forgive me! Maybe Cheryl can clean it up but I am not for now. With little or no internet it has been difficult to capture the whole experience. I have lost sight of time.

Yesterday and today Steve and I have taken the train (one way) into Vlad for around $ 1.25 (43 rubles). We have been teaching at several universities with students of varying ability to speak English. This has occupied us from Monday through today (Friday). When we speak, we engage the students in English about a broad range of subjects: our lives, their lives, politics, food, travel, marriage, children, work, leadership, movies, language, English, etc. We have had as few as two students and as many as twelve. You can see the photos, but let me illustrate the scene: Today in our "Technical Translating" class we had two Alexanders, Tatiana (at least 6'-5" tall), Helen, and Anastasia. These are bright and articulate students who are quite confident with their English and desire to speak it with native English speakers. That's really the basis for our invitation and it constitutes a real opportunity for the Gospel. And the students understand the significance of the English language on the world stage and its importance to their work. Of note is that their instructor Daniel is a Christian. He is around 29, married eleven months and has a one month old baby (Timothy) with his wife Olivia. He wants us in as many of his classes as possible while we are here in Vlad. We will try to take advantage of it. We recognize that we can arouse real curiosity about the Christian faith through the venue of these classes.

Yesterday one very bright young lady (Xenia) who works as a physical chemist suggested we could "Skype" once I get back to the states. I said "Yes", but with my wife. :) Today at lunch Sasha (a graduate student in Architecture) wanted to eat lunch with us. She is one of four children from Nahodka. She lives with her grandmother and is very articulate and interested in English and the USA. At the end of lunch I gave her my blog info; she asked if I was on Facebook. Idea: Tomorrow or Monday I will create business cards to hand out to students with our contact information.

Tomorrow we begin teaching at 10:00 AM at the Bible School. More on that tomorrow night. On Sunday we travel 3 hours to Progrinichny to preach and minister. Pastor Olec is well-respected by Steve. Steve believes that Pastor Olec can play an leadership important role for church stability and cooperation in the Primorsky Krai region.