Life As A Missionary in Russia

Six weeks of my three months in Moscow have now passed at the Church of God Eurasian Seminary. There is plenty of noise; someone practicing the piano in the room below me every night, traffic all day and night on a major boulevard in front of the building, small children of some married students running down the hall with a toy, etc.

Missionary Cravings

Russian food is nutritious here at the school but the budget does not allow for a lot of creativity and the menu is repetitious. It is normal for me to start thinking often of American food after I have been in another country over a month. Funny thing is that I crave things that I rarely order in the U.S. because of awareness of eating healthy. But at the moment a big fat hamburger with everything on it and a chocolate milkshake with real ice cream would taste mighty good.


Ministry Trips

My teaching is scheduled during the middle of each week so that I have long weekends for ministry/teaching trips to cities where I have established relationships during the past 16 years. The first one was in mid-February. I went to Izhevsk near Siberia, my adopted Russian town since 1995. Four days were filled with fellowship, church services, dinners in my honor and much tea drinking and food.

Church members wept on my shoulder, hovering around me with hugs and Russian kisses. These expressions of love come from the closeness developed during seven years there, living like they live, helping them be established in Christianity and teaching the Bible. I am now introduced as the spiritual mother of the people, a title I feel humbled to hear.

The Need to “Own”

The current situation for all denominations in Russia has been hard on the growth of Christianity. The Russian Orthodox Church has much clout in the government and has always objected to evangelical growth. They pressured the government to issue an ordinance preventing any public building to be rented to a religious organization.

Of course this did not affect those with their own building, but those are few, and churches with sizable congregations that formerly rented a large cultural hall or theater were forced into small places rented by private individuals. Attendance has declined greatly everywhere. The seminary building is presently being used by three different congregations.

~ Jeanette Chesser (Missionary to Russia)