A small update that doesnt really tell you anything. Sorry.

This is going to be short since I'm working on a wireless internet connection thats the equivalent of dial up speed.

I guess its been an OK trip if you consider a difficult sister in law and her 2 crazy cats, 2 semi ferral nephews out of 3, an AWOL brother in law who happens to be your favorite inlaw of them all, and a skinny husband you've barely seen becuase he's been off doing other stuff. (I'm cool with not having seen him becuase I knew thats how it was going to be). Tack on all the people making snide comments about how I dont feed Alex well, and all the people who make snide comments about me, thinking that becuase I dont speak Russian I must not understand it, and sure, I guess its been ok. Not good, not terrible, just ok. I dont really care what all those people think of me. I'm not there to impress them. But I do get a mean sense of pleasure when I look at them with slight scorn after they say those things and they realize I understood what they said.

And the trip has had its good moments, like when my difficult SIL was going on and on about wanting to live in Miami and I scared the crap out of her with all the stories about Alligators I had heard over the years, and then went on to discuss roaches and the Mafia. That was a fun 15 minutes.


But here are some impressions so far:

People arent really allowed to think for themselves here, so while they seem content on the outside, thats really just a thin veil over an ocean depth of sadness and hopelessness underneath. Belarus needs Jesus.

I can stand outside the apartment building and listen to several different arguments at one time, and children crying. I rarely see happy children over the age of 1. People turn on each other in their frustration and desperation and all the sounds I hear the things I see are evidence of it. Belarus needs Jesus.

It sad to visit your friends who work among and minister to these people and see how burnt out they are, while filled with admiration that they keep going. Thats spiritual endurance in real life. They need more of Jesus to keep enduring.

I probably wont post anything more this trip. It will just be more of the same. I think you all get the idea.