Back From Finland

I got back successfully from Finland on Monday. Unfortunately I had to spend a total of 5 days because of the weekend. The fastest that the Embassy is able to process a visa is 3 days and since I wasn't able to file until Thursday, that meant it wouldn't be done till Monday. I say unfortunately, but really it wasn't that bad. Of course it cost me more money, but I was able to really relax and see the nice little city of Helsinki. Next time I plan to leave on Sunday, file Monday and come home on Wednesday, we will see.

Finland is actually a relatively new country, their history has been one domination after another by the Swedish then the Russians. It wasn't till 1917 that they became an independent nation. So there is a lot of cultural influence there. However Finland is coming into itself and maturing into a nice little nation with Helsinki as the cultural, artistic, and actual capital. It is a small city, I would say the city itself probably doesn't spread much farther than where I used to live in Minden-Gardnerville, Nevada. I liked that in the city center, where a lot of the sightseeing in Helsinki is, everything is close enough that you can walk. They also have a great public transportation system, so getting around is really easy. The only negative thing I can say is that everything is expensive. Of course the Euro is a kick in the pants, but from what I heard from my German friend, everything is just more expensive.

I had a great time taking a lot of pictures, there were tons of interesting sights and the weather was pretty beautiful most of the days. My favorite place was the Fortress Island of Soumenlinna. There are some people who live on the Island and I think there is a naval academy of some sort there, but mainly it is just an abandoned fortress. It takes a short ferry ride to get there and then you have all day to check out the cool old artillery guns, even older walls and bunkers, and great ocean views. I got most of my best pictures on the Island. I think next trip I will be back there again, and there is another island that has a zoo on it, I think I will check that out as well. There is supposed to be this cool lookout tower thing I really want to see. Though I would rather not have to make these visa trips, because they cost time and money, I view it as a blessing from the Lord that I have such a cool place to renew my visas.

Things are starting to come together for my permanent residency. I am starting to collect all the papers and documents I will need. I hope to be filing everything in a month or so. I need to get the papers filed for the private visa in time for me to be able to get the letter of invitation back by June so I can get my visa, file and wait for the temporary residency. I am hoping to move to Cherepovets by June as well. I just found out I might have to move my plans up a week or two, because if I want to stay in my apartment into June I will have to pay for the whole rent because my roommate is leaving June 1st. No big deal. I hope to move everything in increments over the month of May. We will see. Once in Cherepovets I hope to be teaching much more again, and to really get involved at the city shelter. Until then I am focusing on getting everything together for me to go, getting as much training as I can, and learning as much Russian as I can. I hope to get to a point in my language skills so that when I move to Cherepovets I will be able pick things up very quickly. I am praying for the Lord's hand to be in all this and that I will be sensitive to his leading. Praise the Lord. I just can't get over what has gone on over the past year or so. I would have never imagined this is what God would have for me, and I am almost clueless as to what is ahead. That is scary at times, but cool most the time, even comforting sometimes to know that the Lord is in control and though it will be quite the ride, He will not fail.

Good Times in The Lord's Service

Looking back at these last two weeks I have to ask, "where has the time gone!?" The visa trip I am going on tomorrow seems to have just snuck up on me. But am a little excited that I get the privilege to experience riding a bus to Finland tomorrow to get a new Russian visa. This should have been a quick easy trip and turned out to be a little more complicated. As I said this trip snuck up on me and I didn't file the proper paperwork in time, making this last week a stressful week of problem solving. There where several ideas in play before I finally found the right one. What I will be doing is going to Finland this time and getting a one month tourist visa. Then when I get the other paperwork back I will have to go back to Finland and switch to the three month business visa. It seems like a lot of wasted effort and time, but it is actually the cheapest and least time-consuming option. Hopefully after all this not only will I not make the same mistake, but I will have to do this only one more time. The next time I will be starting the process towards permanent residency and that should eliminate all visa trips. However I am looking forward to this trip I will be meeting a friend, I get to see a new place and should get to take some cool pictures.

Also I would like to add that the visa excitment has not been the only intersting thing this week. It seemed like a normal week at first, but I had the great privilege of making some new friends on Sunday. The people I have been meeting here are very interesting. They all have different backgrounds, interests, and stories. I have never before been in these kinds of circles. It has been an amazing growing experience, and I am being stretched to do things I would have never done previously. Just this last week I was invited to do Salsa dancing at St. Petersburg Christian University, and had a great time. This group of friends do this every weekend and I think I might start going. This will give me a chance to hang out with more Russians, and possibly a chance to reach out to some nonbelievers.

I have also been very encouraged how the Lord has been providing for me. I still have one student and the money that brings in isn't much, but it something. Also the Lord has blessed me some people who are willing to help me, and I can't thank them enough. But I was blown away when I was talking with one of my friends here. He suddenly asked about my financial situation and how much my Russian lessons cost. Then he offered to pay for my lessons, which is one of my biggest expenses. I was touched, mainly because he is a student and doesn't really have tons of money to through around. It is encouraging to see how the Lord can impress things on peoples heart, with out any effort on my part. We have an amazing God who can not only move mountains, but the hearts of men! And it is encouraging to see Christ's body in action, loving and helping each other.

I just want to thank everyone for there prayers and support. I am grateful and will continue to keep you in prayer as well. If you could keep this visa trip in prayer that would be great, as well as the plans for permanent residency. I will post a blog when I get back from Finland, so keep your eyes pealed.