Ministry Insights from Concordia Students
Every couple of weeks we will highlight ministry insights from various Concordia Students. Their stories and experiences are wonderful examples of the various ways in which the Holy Spirit gifts people with talents to spread the Gospel of Christ. This months student is David Johnson.
David is a Junior in the DCE Program at Concordia St. Paul
I had the great opportunity of going to Vborg, Russia this summer for about 10 days. I went with my church on a mission trip there to work with a Local church helping teach a language camp. From the morning to the afternoon we would help teach English to the children. Then after the camp we would invite all the kids to go back to the church to have a VBS like program.
There was obviously a big difference in culture and language, thankfully we had two people in our group who spoke Russian and we able to help translate for us. Even though there was a lot of cultural differences, we were able to work with the people of the Church and come together to teach the children not only some English, but most importantly share with them the love of Christ and all he has done for us.
I had the privilege of teaching a class of nine and ten year olds. Most of these children were from a local orphanage and spoke almost zero English. Each class is supposed to have a translator in there class to help them. The first day went really well, and my translator and I worked together very well. Unfortunately by day two my Translator could not come. So I spent the rest of the week pretty much teaching without a translator. It ended up going really well though, I was still able to communicate effectively and teach them basic English words and sounds.
I also was in charge of all the games and activities with the children. This is what impacted me the most, just hanging out with the kids, playing games and having fun. Even though we could not really have a conversation, we could still communicate and get to know each other. I was able to teach them games from the US and they were able to teach me some Russian games.
The hardest part of the whole experience was having to leave. I had gotten really attached to to everyone they, and they had gotten attached to me. You would not think that just after a week we would have bonded so much, but we had really become close to each other. Some kids probably gave me over 100 hugs that final day. It was really sad to leave, but also looking forward to going back and reuniting with people and continuing to spread Christ's love.
My trip to Russia truly changed my life. It showed me that no matter how far away we may live or how different our cultures may be, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. You don't have to speak the same language with someone to show them Christ's love. I am really hoping to go back this coming summer, at this point for our church it is a matter of funding. God willing, though he will provide and we will be able go go back to Russia and share Christ and his amazing love.
