Hello everyone!
I hope that you have all been having a good couple of weeks. Things are really busy here at the moment, although it sometimes feels a bit like we aren’t really getting anywhere.
We have now moved into our new flat. It is really great, and I am really appreciating having my own room again, and not having to move a mattress off the floor every time people come round. It was also exciting, as it meant that we had a team trip to Ikea, to buy all the things we needed, like things for the kitchen, bedding stuff, etc. It was a very interesting experience, as it was so similar to Ikea in England, except there was a lot of maths to be done to work out how much it was going to cost. And the hot dogs were only 10 roubles each, which is the equivalent of 20p each. We had lunch before we started, and then had supper when we had finished about three hours later. So in total, we had 4 hot dogs, and an ice cream each. It was a very good day! We also persuaded Luke to buy a toy ferret (can’t remember why) and we bought some plants and cacti to liven up our flat.
We used lots of the crockery and glasses we bought last night for the Believers Group, which had a record number there – there were 9 students, 7 of whom are Christians. The other two are very interested, and I think they enjoyed it. The good thing, is that I don’t think we could have fitted everyone into the old flat comfortably. We seem to be growing week by week, which is awesome!
We haven’t had a lot of time this week to follow up the SSK diaries, but we are hoping to do some more there over the next week. So far we have had five meetings, which have all been with students ready to listen to what we have to say, and to have questions. We will be having a follow up Connect course (a bit like Alpha) for anyone who will be interested in that.
I have also been meeting with some of the students after church – we go to this café which sells amazing pies! (although they had sold out of the nicest one this week – annoying!) There is one Korean girl who is already a Christian, and another girl who is Chinese who became a Christian last summer. Last week we were joined by another girl, who isn’t a Christian but has loads of questions for us. It was a really great opportunity to share the Gospel with her and also some of our testimonies. We also managed to talk a bit about assurance of salvation, which is always good to hear. I think we will try to do that every week. It is great for my Russian, as I don’t speak either Korean or Mandarin!
I’m trying to take as many opportunities as I can to speak Russian, although sometimes I give up – it is so hard! I did make a friend in the cake shop a couple of weeks back, when I went in to get a cake for the Believers Group, and she wanted to practise her English. One marshrut (minibus type bus – they stop anywhere you want them to, and cost 30p to go anywhere!) driver thought that I was Finnish for some reason, and Anya my language helper helped me to say my ‘r’ s properly, although we discovered I can’t say my ‘l’s at all. And I say ‘law’ wrong in English. Hmmm.
Tonight we are having lots of people round to watch England beat Russia at football. Should be great fun, plus there will be lasagne and snacks! Luke has a new housemate called Chi-Chi, who is a Nigerian professional footballer. He is in St Petes to learn Russian before he goes to play for Dynamo in Moscow. I think he will be coming too, so it could be interesting.
Right, I think I had better go and learn some Russian!
lots of love
Sarah
xxx

PS I should have posted this one yesterday, then I wouldn't have to retract my words about winning against Russia. We tried to be inconspicuous to the room full of Russian boys, when they won!