October 23, Tuesday

We woke up to 2” of snow on the ground and very cold, windy conditions. Left for the train station at 10:00 AM and almost slipped on the ice coming out of the building for the proverbial “face plant.” Disaster averted! We had a great conversation with a Russian as we stood on the platform waiting for the train. Let’s call him Leisha – see his photo on my blog. We understood him to say he has visited Tacoma, Washington in his Russian navy days. I am not sure how to corroborate the truth of his statement, but he could not have been warmer in speaking to us.

Our afternoon was fascinating. We spent from 12:30 PM until 4:45 PM with Cristina Kuzmenko. I want to tell you her story. Check out her pictures on the blog. Her story is about an 18 year-old Christian growing up in post-Perestroika in the Far East of Russia. Remember that Russia has around 125 million people, but only 6 million in the Far East region, an area with millions of square kilometers that are virtually uninhabited. Cristina is in her first two months of the medical university her in Vladivostok. She is from a small town (village) in the Primorsky Krai region named Novoshakhtinsk, located several hours from Vlad. She is on a 5 year track with a 5 year commitment to work as a dentist for the company that is providing her 95,000 rubles/year education (+/- $ 3,000). It was a miracle she got in to medical school, as her grades were not especially high. Yet she prayed earnestly about this during her high school years – and God graciously answered her prayers. Cristina had desired to be a dentist from the time she was 7 years of age. It was important she received financial aid. You see, she is one of three biological and ten adopted children raised in the house of her parents Sergei and Lena Kuzmenko. Apparently the children have been gathered from all over the Far East region. Her father is the pastor of a small “house church” which meets in her home. It was beyond cool to see a young lady committed to the Lord Jesus, His Gospel, and giving testimony to her roommates about our great God. My heart was so encouraged. She was even gracious enough to help me select some gifts for the children of GBC Taylors to bring home in another week.

We met her mom, Lena, at the wedding Friday night in Pogrinichny. While Cristina is the youngest of the three biological kids, the children range in age from 5 to 26. They have 26 pigs they raise to feed their family. And they raise the normal large amount of vegetables in their garden plot to feed the approx. 15 adults and children living in their home. The good news is that the government does provide the Kuzmenko family with financial assistance. The kids are the Kuzmenko family’s life work. We will be privileged to visit the family in their home this weekend. I’ll be sure to take plenty of pictures. Cristina frequently takes the bus home on weekends, so we hope she will be there on Sunday. Perhaps she will ride back with us. Stay tuned for more…got to get to bed!