It's been a while...

For all of you who have been checking my blog, eagerly anticipating an update, I apologize for taking so long. While "update the blog" was on the list of things to do while home in the U.S. for Christmas, it just didn't happen as I was soaking up valuable time with family and friends. It certainly was a terrific time home, filled with rest and memories. Friends were met, conversations were had, advice was sought, and a calmness enveloped the entire holiday. I am so thankful that God allowed me to come home for the holidays. Follow the pictures and stories below to get a glimpse into the past couple months of Moscow/Michigan life.

What a great picture! A makeshift chess table at Sparrow Hills in Moscow.

Mr. Hays and Mr. Olshefski (student teacher) at the staff Christmas banquet. I had obtained the red blouse as a white elephant gift and quickly donated it to the drama closet at the end of the party!

Flying westward over the Atlantic! Look how beautiful the ocean is!

Plans to visit friends in Illinois fell through when snow fell throughout the I-94 corridor near Lake Michigan. God's hand of protection was surely on me as I barely missed a nasty wreck and pile-up on the highway. I was able to navigate to a small, run-down motel in a town not far from the highway. Renting one of the only remaining rooms in the entire area, I stayed the night and decided to turn around and go back home the next day instead of heading toward Chicago and on into the teeth of the storm. "Old Blue", Grandpa Hays' car, held up just fine!

The Hays men went a caroling at a local nursing home on Christmas Eve. This memorable evening included singing in English and Russian, meeting a World War II vet who had served under Jimmy Stewart, and being touched by the kindness of a father who was decked out to visit his invalid son.

While on a walk one morning, I noticed this interesting phenomenon. A single grain of salt had cleared an area of snow around it that was at least twenty times its size! It got me to thinking about this use of salt, how it can lower the melting point of ice. My mind couldn't just stop there. Recalling that Christ's followers are "the salt of the earth", I began to wonder if indeed "lowering the melting point" of people around us should be one expression of the Love that lives in us. What do I mean? Does our presence and investment in others' lives encourage them to open up, to find their true selves, to gain a tender heart toward the things of God - something that would have otherwise taken much more "heat" and trials to occur?

The annual Wright family Christmas party. Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and her five siblings, with their spouses and children (my cousins). What a grand get together in Ohio each year!

Randomness at its best. While on our near-daily run, I saw this branch by the side of the road and began to carry it like an Olympic torch. This idea evolved into each of us (Dad, Lance, and I) carrying it for 1 1/3 laps around the neighborhood. You should have seen the look on at least one neighbor's face! Dad called it the "Antler Torch Run", or something to that effect.

Mom unveiled her stash of staches...

Back in Moscow, the 5th graders pose with their recently completed biomes projects. This group is a very creative and diligent bunch. It's a pleasure to teach them!

During my first week back, I decided to take advantage of some alone time with my little baby, Ira. We had a photo shoot, but she didn't know that's what it was. A couple of them turned out very well!!

Posing like a princess

One student models his newly invented goggles, which he made from trash items. For their assignment the students were to reuse a resource; instead of throwing something away, they were encouraged to make something new by reusing the old. We had some pretty imaginative creations.

A Will-kintosh computer, made out of a pizza box. Do you notice the words that have been "typed" in "Microsoft Word"?

When given the opportunity to write and act out dialogues, the girls in the class especially come alive!

Soccer at recess. What about football? American football is practically unknown in Moscow. Soccer (football) is king, and it reigns as the daily athletic activity during 4th and 5th grade recess.

The dramatic girls get so excited about their dialogues that they even practice while at recess!

A train of 4th graders on the Hinkson ice slide. Lord-willing, I will be able to teach them next year.

So what's happening in Moscow right now? Well, these first couple weeks have been quite intense. The return to Russia in January is always more difficult for me than in August. Why? Well, it's quite a turnaround in 24 hours to go from home, rest, family, friends, and Christmas in America to being alone in an apartment that desperately needs to be cleaned; amidst a culture and a language that I am still far from mastering; realizing that I once again need to do all my own laundry, cooking, shopping, etc.; knowing that there is a mountain of tasks to complete before school starts on Monday (two days away), when grades are also due; and just generally feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'm thankful that in that first hour back, Dad and Mom were able to help walk me through the emotions in a phone call!

But once everything was put away, a few late nights had been undertaken, and I had seen the kids and many friends again, life settled back to its best sense of normalcy: busy and deeply rewarding. I have gained two students this semester, so now for the third year in a row I will have had the honor of molding the hearts and minds of 17 fifth graders. One new student is a precious Hungarian girl who was ecstatic to join us last week; she told her mother after her first trial day at the school, "Mom, I want to go to school here!" It's a satisfying feeling to have as a teacher to know that your students like coming to school and actually anticipate it!

Contributing to a string of later nights have been added hours of practice for our upcoming school play, "Much Ado About Nothing", a Shakespearean comedy in which I play Antonio, the brother of Leonato - a feisty old man who explodes in anger at one point. Since this is my stage debut, I am gaining a much greater appreciation for those who act. Wow, are there ever a lot of things to think about at the same time ("Mr. Hays, your back is to the audience again...")! While a few details are still tentative, we are hoping to perform during the last weekend of February.

Another unexpected toughness has been the death of one of my students' aunts (the boy above wearing the goofy goggles). When I walked in the missionary family's door for dinner on Monday night, the family had just hung up the phone from finding out that the wife's/mother's sister had died, after a number of months of fighting aggressive cancer. We do not know if she had accepted Christ, but we do know that the mother of my fifth grader felt very impressed on Monday to miss language school and instead spend much of the day in prayer for her family, especially her sister. Amazing timing! The family flew to the U.S. on Wednesday and will be gone for 10 days. In the meantime, I'm staying in their apartment and taking care of their cat, which I don't mind at all. Please be praying for this family.

The English Cafe will resume for the spring semester beginning tomorrow night, January 24, at 7:00 p.m. Moscow time. We are excited to reconnect with our Russian friends after having not seen them for five weeks, and our theme for the night will be "New and Fresh". Please pray for relationships to deepen, for doors to open for us to share the gospel with discretion (sometimes it is more appropriate to be overt, but mostly it is best to share it covertly, allowing our friends to approach us with questions in our table discussion groups).

Below is a schedule for this semester's Cafes, so feel free to join in "live" by praying for this ministry, which lasts from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. on Saturday nights (Moscow Standard Time is eight hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time).

January 24 - New and Fresh

February 7 - Open Mic Night

February 21 - The Times of Your Life

February 28 or March 7 - Movie Night

March 21 - Image is Everything

April 11 - Easter Fair

April 25 - Word Game Night

May 2 - Karaoke Night/Open Mic Night

May 23 - Q & A

Also tomorrow afternoon will mark the first visit to the orphanage with my 6th graders (I lead a middle school group of some former students). Please join in prayer with us, that we would be able to communicate God's love clearly and effectively when we visit the orphans about once a month.

Praises:

• The Cafe is going very well, and our list of contacts continues to grow every week!
• I have been able to make some decisions about the future: how long to stay in Moscow serving in this capacity, how to go about a masters degree program starting in the fall, and other details related to those. Thank you for praying with me for this.
• My students continue to show great faith in God and His character, and it's being reflected in them!
• The dollar's worth is well over 32 rubles! What a deal!

Prayer Needs:

• The missionary family whose sister/aunt died of cancer on Monday
• English Cafe: while the family who first led the English Cafe remains in America, we are grateful that their church has been able to contribute significantly toward our rental costs. However, we still are in need of $200-300 to complete our rental payment. Pray that God will provide the necessary funds.
• Russian-American Christian University (RACU) is really working through some tough legal issues right now. Pray for favor within the beaurocracy.
• For me - My main prayer lately has been "Lord, help me to desire to desire only You!" (yes, the infinitive "to desire" is written twice). Pray for a singleness of heart, wisdom and love in abundance, and creative energy to complete all tasks set before me --- but to put the most emphasis on growing more intimate with Jesus.

More pictures, thoughts, and stories will be coming soon!