My Trip to Volgograd: A Post by Dave

TRAVEL JOURNAL FOR VOLGOGRAD, RUSSIA MISSION 2010


Wednesday, July 14 2010

My family woke up at 5:30 AM. We loaded up and traveled to the Atlanta Airport. The first leg of the trip was to meet John and Stacey McLeod in Charlotte. We then flew to JFK in New York, had a four hour layover, loaded an Aeroflot Russian Airplane and flew to Moscow. It was about an 11 hour flight.

John, Stacey, and I were all a bit tense. We had all worked very hard up until time to leave for the trip. For me personally, I had so much music to prepare it was difficult to get it all done. However, I did feel prepared for both the big band gig that I would play with Camp Kirkland’s Metro Big Band and our small group combo.

I spent the day mostly looking over Luke 10 for the sermon that I would preach Sunday week at Central Baptist in Volgograd. This was the church that we were teaming with for the expedition. As I studied the Luke 10 I found myself focusing on verses 17-24. This would become the body of the message. I got the outline finished.


Thursday, July 15 2010

We arrived in Moscow at about 1PM. I wasn’t really able to sleep on the flight. We got through Passport Control pretty easily and had all of our luggage! The taxi drivers were annoying, telling us that there was no way to walk to our next terminal (which was a lie). We exchanged our US Currency for Russian Rubles. After resting a bit we wanted to take in as much history as we could so we stored our luggage at the Airport and took a taxi to Red Square. Our taxi ride was really expensive so we took the public subway system back. It was difficult since we didn’t know the language. But with help from a couple of English speaking people we made it back.

It was very hot. Moscow had record-breaking temperatures that week, breaking the 40 Degrees Celsius mark. Our layover in Moscow was about 9 hours. We took off from Moscow, headed to Volgograd, at about 10PM. It was a less-than 2 hour flight. Once there Adam and Olya met us. All in all it was about 36 hours of travel. We were exhausted!

We then went to our host families home (Nadia and Family). Nadia had a pretty big apartment. We stayed in the back section which looked pretty updated. She was very hospitable. She spoke Russian, of course, so we had to work to communicate with one other. We got to her home at about 2AM.


Friday, July 16 2010

We woke up at 10 AM this morning. I slept pretty well the first night but struggled with headaches at the outset of the trip. It was very hot during the night. Most people do not have air conditioning, which I am not used to. Because Stacey had a stuffy nose Nadia tried to get her to close the windows. She also wanted me to use covers at night. She was afraid we would become sick with the windows open. I guess they were used to the heat. They didn’t use fans or anything!

After taking a shower we got to know our host family a little better. Nadia is the mother, and a widow. Her husband died about a year ago. Her parents live with her along with her three children, Mark, Kristina, and Evalina. She also has another older child who is married and has a baby. It was difficult for us to communicate due to the language barrier.

Once we were ready to go for the day we had to register with the government at the Post Office in order to let them know we arrived. An English speaking friend of Nadia’s helped us fill out the paperwork. Her name was Natasha.

Nadia fed us constantly. She made very large meals with many different courses. She was constantly preparing food, even when we were already full! Hospitality and food definitely go together in Russia.

We were able to practice some of our music around Nadia’s piano for a while. Later that evening Adam picked us up so that we could meet up with Camp Kirkland’s Metro Big Band. I sat in with the group, which was their last concert. Many of them were band directors and teachers who would arrive home just in time to begin band camps and school. Unfortunately many of them were Troy Graduates. They even gave Adam, a JSU graduate and former Marching Southerner, a Troy hat. Adam had been messing with them about their Troy Fanfare with the trumpet trill. Nonetheless, giving Adam that Troy hat definitely gave them the victory in this battle of wits!

The big band concert was supposed to be in conjunction with a youth music festival but the festival was cancelled due to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin coming into Volgograd. The location was therefore changed to the outside of the hotel where the band had stayed.

The band had a good concert. Adam appreciates them coming over as it helps to provide him with many more relationships in the city.

After the concert we ate supper with Adam’s family. When we arrived home Nadia implored us to eat again.

We finished the day with a great time of prayer, asking God to bring together all of the logistics of the upcoming expedition. I stayed up much of the night, falling asleep around 4:30 AM. Contending with the heat was difficult and unfortunately I had another headache.

I had a good time in the Scripture, preparing more of the Luke 10 sermon. I was able to talk to Lisa. I was really missing my family and had to pray about that. However, I think what I was missing most was my comfort zone!


Saturday, July 16 2010

I woke up rested after 3 hours of sleep and took a shower. Adam picked us up at 9 AM. Nadia fed us breakfast (lots of it). Afterward, we went with Adam to tour Mother Russia. This was the site where the Russian Army defeated Nazi forces in WWII. The city at the time was named Stalingrad, which intrigued Hitler. The 200 day standoff which culminated in victory for the Russians is commemorated by the tallest free-standing structure in Europe. It was a great day to be there. About 100 officers and troops were being commissioned for service. Every male must serve at least one year.

I had a great conversation with Adam about his needs for the Volgograd mission. He said the needs are people, not money. He needs missionary teams to come to Volgograd. In fact, they can host teams during much of the year, not just the summer months.

He didn’t really know much about Central Baptist, the church we would be partnering with. It is not his home church. He likes the Pastor (Michael). Adam says that he is a progressive, strong leader. Pastor Michael is probably in his 50’s, a very talented man, who up until recently worked in construction. He can do anything with his hands and is also a great musician (violinist). He is a great speaker as well. I guess you could call him a renaissance man. He is new to Central Baptist, probably about 6 months into his tenure. With his leadership, what was once a struggling church has now become a vibrant, missions-minded place.

After touring Mother Russia, we met our translator for lunch and were then off to a 2 PM meeting at Central Baptist. Our team consisted of about 28 members, many of whom were youth. Central has a great group of youth. The church is filled on Sundays and many of them are teenagers.

It is difficult to be a Russian Baptist believer. They are slandered greatly, being labeled as a cult. These believers, however, had so much joy. It was obvious that they were different. They were also very prepared and very organized.

At this point it became obvious to us that we were simply here to help this church. This was a relief to us (and Adam) as we realized that we were here only a short time. We needed local leaders to carry on the work. They had a great plan for reaching out to the Oblast. We planned on spending about 3 days in each town (Kalach and Surovikina).

At this point the youth had already gone door-to-door in Kalach, distributing tickets for the upcoming concerts. We discussed our daytime service projects, as well as the evening concerts. We learned that we would be traveling with the Christian Rock Band, the “Most-X”. They are a really good group headed up by a Russian Pastor. They are very missions-minded as well.

The idea with each evening concert was to make it one big Gospel presentation. Each musical group would deliver testimonies and the Gospel as they went. We were glad that the youth were planning to participate as well. In fact, they were more musically prepared than us!

At the end of the meeting we locked in the details regarding Sunday’s Corporate Worship Service and had tea together. We were able to spend some time talking with the Pastor.

We asked him how the church was doing. They are doing well. They have a lot of good things going on at the church. As far as study they are doing different things on their Sunday AM services. They actually have 3 different men preach each week. During the middle of the week they are doing some Bruce Wilkinson small group expositional stuff. The men meet on Wednesday nights and they choose from that group who will preach.

The Pastor’s position is now a paid position. This is new to Central Baptist. They have not paid their pastors until now.

Although Michael is more progressive the Russian Baptists are still very conservative. There is no clapping or raising of hands in a service. Married women must wear head coverings. As a church member you must not drink or smoke as this would bring about excommunication. You must also be careful of your humor in the church building. Church is typically a somber time to mourn over the issues of life. Most of their music is even in a minor key.

Russian Baptists ban together. They are a brotherhood. One reason this is so is because they are heavily persecuted from the outside. The Russian Orthodox has spread many lies about them throughout the years. As a result, the Russian Baptists hold tightly to “their doctrine”. It is not so much what Michael himself believes as much as what “they” believe as Russian Baptists. Overall, they are pretty Arminian in their belief, even denying the security of the believer.

It might be that their aversion to reformed principles is based on a misunderstanding of terms. I watched closely throughout the week to see what kind of future work we might have with them, if any. As best I could tell they never had a problem with our Gospel message, even though we preached “God must open the eyes of the people or they won’t believe”. Likewise, we didn’t have a problem with their message, “You must come to Christ or you won’t be saved”.

On a side note here, as we got started for the week our team was really catching a glimpse of our future hope. We were sitting down with Russian Believers that God brought to himself all because of His covenant. I was getting a small glimpse of Revelation 4 and 5. Except in Heaven there will be complete understanding. Language will not be a barrier!

I stand amazed because God is bringing people to Himself in other parts of the world. God is doing it! In our American arrogance we doubt that God is doing it. We doubt that other people can believe, at least not without our help. But here it is! In this little Baptist Church in Volgograd, Russia God is redeeming men and women. What a great lesson for us to learn!

Later that afternoon we went to rest at Nadia’s house. We prepared music a bit and then went back to the church for practice. It did not go well. We struggled because we didn’t want to cast a bad impression on Adam or ourselves. We knew that if this was going to come together then God was going to have to do it.

I am hopeful about the partnership with Volgograd. Adam thinks just coming over time and time again is how the partnership will take place. His family will be on stateside assignment next year while he finishes his MDIV at Southern Seminary. I would love to bring him to Grace Fellowship during that time to speak to the church about the work there.

At the time of writing this it was 2:18 AM. I was very anxious about Sunday (and too hot and thirsty to sleep). It was to be a busy day at church, as well as a busy travel day to Kalach-on-the-Don, our first city on the expedition.


Sunday, July 17 2010

I was not able to sleep at all Saturday night. The heat in the house was pretty intense. I was not used to not having what I needed on hand. I was very thirsty during the night but not able to drink their water.

Up to this point sleep has been sparse throughout the entire trip. And unfortunately I was in a very bad mood. I knew it was going to be a great battle with the flesh throughout the day.

The church service was great. We were very impressed! There were three preachers, evidently no Sunday school, and very congregationally driven. They interact with one another pretty freely. They had open time for prayer, open time for poetry, open time to give greetings from other churches, etc. They are truly a brotherhood.

The choir was amazing. In fact, I found most of the Russian people I met to be very serious about music. Not just anyone can be a part of the church choir. They actually hold auditions.

John, Stacey, and I sang By His Wounds and Amazing Love. I gave my testimony and John preached from 2nd Corinthians, a message titled “We Preach not Ourselves”.

The “Most-X” played during the service. Russian Baptists are very conservative, so this was a momentous occasion. However, Pastor Michael is more progressive than most. He even rides a motorcycle!

After lunch we loaded up and drove to Kalach-on-the-Don (river). When we arrived I thought we might be able to rehearse. We first talked through what we might sing/play. Adam thought it best not to play/sing the jazz music. As the concert was unfolding it looked as if the concert would consist only of Christian music.

After talking through the program we had to forgo rehearsing in order to eat. They eat a lot here. I think they eat at least three meals a day plus snacks. I can’t see how they are all so skinny! So, we did the first concert without any rehearsal. It was rough, but we made it. There wasn’t much of a crowd anyway.

We talked to a number of people after the concert. One of the friendlier guys was named Andre. He was enthralled with America. We also met a few others who spoke English and went to the University there.

Overall, the people of Kalach did not at all seem interested the first day.


Monday, July 18 2010

John, Adam, and I woke up late, got ready quickly, and hurried over to the House of Culture. We met up with the rest of the team and ate breakfast. John, Adam, and I installed trash cans. All of our projects took place at the House of Culture (sort of like a community center). Each town has one. We then built the tops for the park benches.

After lunch we went swimming with the youth and Pastor Michael. We had a great time chicken fighting and diving off of one another’s arms. Everyone wanted to fight the Americans. We won all but one of the battles.

The evening’s concert went better. We actually got time to practice. Woohoo! They had a great auditorium with a piano on the stage.

We met a lot of people after the concert. One of the guys that stood out was a friend of Andre’s, who was at least open to hearing the Gospel. He was a nice guy. He offered me a cigarette. Many more came to the concert this particular evening.

We were much more pointed in our Gospel presentation. In fact, the whole concert seemed much more Gospel-centered.

Throughout our time in Kalach there were never large standing crowds. The people would typically drive up, sit in their cars for a while and eventually leave. Not many got out and stood up front. Overall, this town was not bearing much fruit.


Tuesday, July 19 2010

We woke up ready for our last day of ministry in Kalach. We walked to the House of Culture and started the day with breakfast and devotion. After breakfast we began our work. We worked together on welding the bottoms of the benches. It was a long day of getting those finalized. Adam had to take Olya home due to her mom becoming ill.

We practiced during the afternoon, finalizing the evening’s concert program. We decided to throw in some jazz music, Canteloupe Island. Pastor Michael asked that we not give a direct Gospel challenge on that particular evening due to government officials being in attendance. He wanted the concert to hinge primarily on testimonials of how we came to Christ.

The concert was poorly attended. However, there were many kids in attendance. Our youth set up a trampoline which drew many. They also played with a parachute. This all culminated in teaching them the Gospel from the evange-cube.

Overall, the people of Kalach were not very receptive. They even complained about the amount of service projects that were done. They wanted more. After the concert we had a showing of the Jesus Film.

Probably one of the more exciting moments in Kalach for me and John was meeting a young man in the auditorium during on of our practices. We talked with him for about 30 minutes. He was very open to talking with us. Even though there was a language barrier we were able to communicate pretty well. He was a great musician and showed us some of his music on both piano and guitar. He asked why we were there and we were able to share with him what we were doing. It was a great conversation.

Another exciting aspect of this particular day for our team was the youth’s visit to Surovikina (our next town). They went door-to-door throughout the town giving out tickets to the upcoming concerts. They said that the people there were receptive and very excited. They couldn’t wait to meet the Americans. It was great to see the students come back excited.

After the final Kalach concert, we loaded up and went to Surovikina. We got there really late (about 1AM). John, Adam, and I slept out on the balcony of the home/church. It was nice to feel a breeze!


Wednesday, July 20 2010

We woke up in Surovikina and ate breakfast (and maybe a few flies). Afterward we waited for our team leaders to return from meeting with Russian city officials before moving to our work site.

John, Stacey, and I spent a great amount of time in prayer. One thing that God showed me was that my motive for serving Central up to that point had been pretty skewed, that my serving them was due to the fact that I thought they needed me, when in fact God was showing me that these guys really didn’t need me. When it came down to it, God was already doing a great work among them. And as far as talent goes, forget it! These guys were much more talented than me! They didn’t need me in the way that I had once thought. And I didn’t need to serve them for that reason. For my service to be pleasing to God it would have to flow from my worship of Him. The rest of the week pretty much fell into place after that!

A large number of us went to the public beach and cleaned up trash. This was where we would later host our concert that evening. We built them a stage that could be used for future concerts and other events. The area looked really nice when we were done. Victor was the guy who led our service projects. He was a strong leader with knowledge of pretty much everything.

After our work, we went swimming for about an hour. When we finished swimming we asked Pastor Michael about his testimony. It was very encouraging to hear.

He grew up in a Christian home. His parents were a Godly people, Russian Baptists, and very devout. Michael grew up during Soviet times, after the revolution, at a time when persecution was pretty heavy for Christians. Because his dad was in the ministry the government was persecuting his parents.

Michael remembers the Soviets shutting down churches and shipping pastors off. His parents remained faithful, communicating to the children their need to be able to recognize one another. They would say “remember one another’s scars, birthmarks, and anything else that would identify you. If something happens, find each other and share Christ with one another.”

His father came very close to imprisonment but was at the last minute released. Men that he worked with who were at first involved in his court proceedings could eventually go no further. He had been too good of a friend, too loyal of an employee. The men who at first helped to slander his father’s good name were in the end backing down and asking officials to let him go. All of this made an impact on Michael.

As a teenager Michael struggled with rebellion and belief like most teenagers. However, he finally came to faith at about 19 years old as a result of a near-death experience while deep-sea diving. It was that moment that God helped him to see his personal need for the Savior. What a great testimony!

After swimming we went back to the church, had some concert preparation, and ate supper. It was a great first concert. There was a very loose, party atmosphere on the beach that night. Many of the people were drinking (or already drunk). It was very loud and boisterous. They did accept us though, and were glad that we came.

This was all a new experience for me. I had never experienced people slow dancing (almost to the point of fornication) during Praise to the Lord, the Almighty. Adam said that it was clear that the children of light were singing to the children of darkness.

The people of Surovikina loved jazz music. I performed Canteloupe Island and Summertime. Pastor Michael played one song with us on his violin, How Marvelous. We presented the Gospel in a straight-forward manner. Many just laughed and carried on, but some listened. After the concert we signed books and gave them away. One of the books was a Campus Crusade publication about famous Russians who had come to Christ. The other book that we gave away was the Russian New Testament.


Thursday, July 21 2010

We woke up, ate, and went back to the beach for more work. Upon arrival we were surprised at how trashed the beaches were again. The people evidently partied long after we were gone. We cleaned up for hours. After cleaning up we built a shower house on the beach. I feared what this might be used for! We were, however, able to build it quickly.

Afterward, we went back to the church and began preparing the evening’s concert program. We decided to insert Fly Me to the Moon as a jazz tune as well as a blues with the Most-X.

Many of the same people returned that evening for the concert. However, it was a much more tamed crowd, at least at first. We thought that maybe the word had gotten out about the nature of the concert. We also thought that maybe this was a group of people who sincerely wanted to hear the Gospel again.

However, at a certain point in the concert when Pastor Michael asked “who is ready to sing” we heard through the woods, from the parking lot, a couple of drunken men yell “I am!”

So, here they come, four drunken men tromping through the bushes, ready to party. And they start dancing. And they danced all night!

They weren’t mocking us. They sincerely wanted to listen to music, dance, and have a good time. They had heard the concert in Volgograd with Camp Kirkland’s All Star Big Band. So, when they heard that we were going to be in town they decided to come hear us. It was wild. I had never seen such bad dancing in my life. One guy got down with the airplane. And near the end of the concert when no one would join him, he decided to do a fly-by (by every single person in the audience). He later asked Adam what he thought of his dancing. Adam told him that it was very active.

After the concert we signed and gave away the Campus Crusade publication again as well as many Russian New Testaments. Giving away the Bibles was the highlight of my trip. It was by far the most exciting thing we did because we knew that we would be leaving Surovikina soon. Ultimately, the people’s hope would be in reading the Bible (Romans 1:16). This was our goal for the week, to push people to read the Bible.

We met a man name Nicolai, who presented us with Russian Army artifacts from World War II. He was a drummer himself. He plays set in a band that meets at the House of Culture. Nicolai was glad that we were there. He had recorded much of the concert to show to his friends. His band wanted to meet with us the next day. In fact, they wanted us to move Friday’s concert out to the House of Culture. We were glad to do it. We knew it would make for better attendance. They also wanted our musicians to sit in with their brass band. We agreed to meet with them on Friday afternoon. They were a small band of about 10 guys.

Adam and Michael were excited as they were able to meet more people for possible future friendships. It appeared that people were becoming more interested in the Bible. Some even showed interest in meeting for weekly Bible Study.


Friday, July 22 2010

We woke up, ate, and went to our meeting/rehearsal with the House of Culture Brass Band. They were very glad we came. It was mostly older men. These were interesting guys. We spent a great amount of time playing. They tried to get us to eat some Sala with them. In fact, they had a lot planned for us to do. They wanted to take us fishing, cook some food, invite some women, etc. When we told them that we were married they just said “Hey great! Like I said, you eat some of that Sala with garlic and the women will be all over you!”

The first trumpet player was a unique fellow. He talked throughout the entire rehearsal, mostly arguing with the director. He kept counting rests wrong and coming in early. I tried to get Adam to swap places with me. He just laughed.

I was very tired after the rehearsal. I was shot and knew I had to play that evening. We put together about four songs for the joint concert. One was St. Louis Blues, the Louie Armstrong arrangement. Another was a Russian March. It was the first time that I had heard a march played with a back beat. That was unique. After the rehearsal we were able to get away without drinking shots with them.

That night at the concert there was a great crowd, definitely the best of the whole week! Many of the same people returned. It was obvious that they were at least okay with hearing God’s Word. Many took Bibles home.

After the concert we took many pictures as this was our last concert together. The men who played in the band left to go drink shots but they came back for pictures.

We were glad to see so many in Surovikina who received the Word gladly. For those who showed interest in meeting for Bible Study, Pastor Michael planned to come back on Sunday evening to meet with them (in both Kalach and Surovikina).

We were praying that someone would come back to harvest the field in Surovikina. We are praying especially hard for one of the Central Baptist guys to pick up that Mantle.

Heavenly Father, may the people of Surovikina read Your Word. I pray that they will be saved and that you will send a missionary there who will help to establish Your church.

The town of Surovikina was very nice to us. They presented us a very nice book about their town. On a side note, there were a lot of cats there. We thought the slogan for the town should be: “Surovikina: Cats Live Here”.

After the concert we loaded up and went back to Volgograd. We arrived at Nadia’s apartment at about 3AM. On the way we were stopped at a police checkpoint and issued a ticket because John didn’t have his seat belt on. Americans!


Saturday, July 23 2010

This was a day to relax and finish up any last minute shopping. We went to Adam and Olya’s apartment and had chicken sandwiches with chips. Thank God for American food! We then went to the mall and then back to Nadia’s to sleep. She had been waiting up to feed us supper. Olya came in and told her that we had already eaten. We felt bad. I think she turned the heat on after that (not really).


Sunday, July 24 2010

We woke up, ate, and prepared for church. At church we sang Above All with the Youth. We sang two other songs from the concert program as well, Open the Eyes of my Heart and Hosanna. We also did our joint song with Pastor Michael, How Marvelous. I preached from Luke 10:17-24. The message was titled “God’s Glory in the Redemption of Man”.

After the service John and I recorded a greeting video for Grace Fellowship. We had to record it a couple of times because I looked so not-joyful.

After exchanging gifts with each other we ate lunch with the mission team and then saw Pastor Michael and some of the others off. They were headed to Kalach and Surovikina for Bible Study. It was neat that we were seeing them off instead of it being the other way around. Going to lead a Bible Study in a new town is a big deal. In fact, that is the real deal. It is the kind of real stuff that happens when the short term missionaries pack up their trinkets and go home.

Adam said it was great that we came. None of this would have happened without us coming. I am glad that we were able to help. We were able to provide the funding (thank you Grace Fellowship and Seeking Him).

It was a really great experience. Everyone was prepared and executed their part. Because of that it all came together. Adam communicated well. He told us exactly how we fit in to this mission. Pastor Michael and the church took ownership. They did the expedition. It was their baby! We were simply there to help. That is the way it is supposed to be!

Upon leaving the church we went to Adam and Olya’s apartment. We relaxed throughout the rest of the evening. I was able to chat with Lisa on Skype for the first time in a few days.

I played UNO with Adam’s girls. They had a good time being able to play with new friends. That evening Adam and I walked around. We wanted to hang out but couldn’t decide what to do. He wanted to go bowling. I had no ideas as to what to do. I asked him how much he had on his debit card. I never could get a straight answer. He just laughed. We went to the mall and then back to the apartment.

I went to bed anticipating our travel day that would begin at 3:30 AM.


Monday, July 25 2010

Upon arrival at the Volgograd Airport they gave me a really hard time, claiming that my ticket had been deleted because I missed a leg of my flight. The fact that I was standing in front of them was not convincing. However, Adam was with us and had been through this before so he just argued the case until we were on our flight and headed to Moscow.

From Moscow we flew over the water back to US soil. It was good to hear the English language again! From there we went to Dulles and finally home to Atlanta where Lisa and the kids met me. It was good to see their faces!

Overall, our trip was very successful. We had a strong connection with Central Baptist. They want us to come back next year. I think we should go back. We should consider focusing on Surovikina again. We could possibly take a music team, some medical persons for clinics, some builders, etc.

The people of Surovikina want us back. I would like to see us solidify that work. I pray that God will bring men and women to Himself as a result of our visit!