Going to Church in Perm

I went with Jon to their church our second Sunday, but their American pastor was not there, so they had no English translator. They sang many songs in Russian, so I hummed along. They sang one song I recognized, but I couldn't remember many of the English words. Pasha, Yulya and Galya were there, too. We had to leave early due to a key situation, so we spent most of the time walking and riding on the bus. The trip takes an hour, one way, with about 40 minutes on the bus.

The next week Johanna also went with us. Their church is a plant of Calvary Chapel in CA, and they meet at 5 pm for about 2 hours. The young pastor was back in Perm, having been in the States while his wife had their second child. A young woman translated everything he said. It was a good service. A group of people were coming from the U.S. the week we left and were having a series of outreach concerts with plans to evangelize and have the church help with follow-up and discipleship. This seemed like quite an ambitious task for a rather small church, but I certainly admire their dedication to obeying the Great Commission.

For Sept. 30th, our last Sunday, we all were invited to Katya (Caleb's babysitter) and her family's Pentecostal Holiness Church. They are very conservative and the women always wear skirts or dresses and no make-up. They also wear scarves or hats to cover their heads. Katya and her mother were thrilled that we would come and loaned us skirts, shoes and head coverings, and also had a man from their church pick us up and take us home. One of the pastors, Vladimir, or Walter, greeted us in English before the service and we talked for a few minutes. We were seated on the front row, directly under the lectern, so had to look up to see whoever was speaking. It was a very interesting service. Carrie translated some of what was said for me, and there were good messages spoken. They sang "Shine, Jesus, Shine" which is a favorite of my pastor. Again, I couldn't remember many of the words! I guess it's hard to sing in English while everyone else is singing in Russian. We enjoyed the service, even though no English was spoken. When Vladimir was teaching, I could tell at one point that he was telling people about us being there. After the service a young woman, Tanya, came up to me and spoke English. We had a nice visit and exchanged email addresses. I have already heard from her. The highlight of the morning came at the end of the service when they had a wedding. The couple had married on Friday, as required by law, and wanted to have a wedding in their church, also. This is common among Christians in Russia. It was an honor to be there to see them marry before their church family. The bride came down the aisle first, with a friend, then the groom and his friend. The four of them stood on the stage the entire ceremony while facing the congregation. The bride carried her one flower that I think she also carried on Friday.
It was very touching. Tanya went with me to greet the couple after the ceremony. She translated for me. The bride understood some of my English and thanked me in English. When we were leaving to go home, much later, she said "Good-bye." We stayed and visited with several people for quite a while. It was a beautiful time.