It Doesn't Feel Like an End When Love is Left, but a Beginning...

      I am home in San Diego. Finally I can sit down, gather my scattered thoughts from the last five days of our trip, and share how the Lord worked.

       As our time in Kaluga came to an end it was obvious there was something different about this trip. At the concerts a few teens dedicated their lives to the Lord; it was so touching that the Lord would use us to save the souls of others. Pastor Dima shared at devotions, “It may seem like a small matter that we walked all over the city advertising the concerts and only a few came to the Lord, but lives were saved and that is all the difference to them. I don’t know about you, but if it was me I would say it was worth the effort.”

       There was something different in the air and I was too exhausted to truly see what was happening. With record high temperatures in Russia that caused a great amount of fatigue within the team and thanks to the many bug bites on my right foot it was complete swollen and hurt to walk on, needless to say I was worn. This is the Lord’s work not ours; He moved this city in a way my pathetic efforts could never accomplish. That Sunday, to all our surprise, around twenty of our friends from the concerts attended church. I was shocked. The pastor wrote this a few weeks later after our departure:
“After the outreach was over, the new kids that came to church on Sunday kept coming to every meeting we have during the week. And they wanted to meet even more, so we started a new believers study of the Gospel of John… Kids are bringing their friends. Almost every night we have a new person joining the study. Some received the Lord already. Those that have been in church for a few years now revived and want to reach out, the Lord has given them the heart for the lost… God is just bringing people to Himself, it’s amazing to witness that.”

      I have a new appreciation for, “in our weakness He is strong.” It wasn’t about our strength it was all about our willingness through weakness. Even though, looking back that even seemed insufficient, the Lord worked in ways that leave me at a lose for words.

     After returning to the Dorm, we prepared for one more visit to the Starista (country) orphanage. It was heart warming to see the beautiful smiles and receive the warm hugs from the precious ones.  I loved spending the afternoon with my little friends Maxium and Sasha. I met Maxium for the first time during our previous visit; it was hard to get him to smile at first but once he warmed up to me he was constantly giggling. I have known little Sasha for a couple of years; she is so precious. She is very quite but her smile melts my heart. Despite the heat, the children were so excited to play with us. The TN team surprised the children with a pool! They were ecstatic; gathered around their gift, watching it fill with water, and donning the biggest smiles. Good-byes were hard, since it is unknown if hello will happen again with these same faces. I don’t like to think about this…

   Then it was time to go home, again… I never like this part. I couldn’t control my tears as I walked towards the customs line at the airport. I looked back to see a group of faces I have come to love so dearly… These faces I have known for years and served the Lord along side. This fosters a deep connection I have never experienced until now; saying good-bye stopped my heart. When it all ends, it feels like a dream. I come back to a world that did not skip a beat when I was away. Though my experiences were life changing and altering to me, all is the same here. Pictures are the only tangible evidence that this was real. One of the hardest parts about leaving is knowing all this. When returning home from trips before it came as a sudden shock, now it is just expected. I come back to find a world that does not understand my self-revelations; perhaps part of coming to another one of life’s truths is this life does not accept it.

   Looking back the whole trip went by in a blur of color and love. So many places, so many faces, they all have a story and a heart that wants to be heard and understood. Some of these are from the past and others new, all beautiful people of Russia. I may be gone across the sea but the love of many is still here with me; my prayer is my love is left with them. It does not feel like an end when love is left, I believe it is only a beginning.

   Thank-you for supporting my family and I have through love, prayer, and donations; without these the trip would have been impossible.  We are truly blessed by all of you.
Love,
Shannon

Kaluga!

Dear Friends and Family,

As I write this letter we are in the beautiful city of Kaluga!  It is so good to be back in this place serving with an amazing church and team!
Last night we had a first concert and many teens from the city came out to the show.  I met two girls that were Christians who were so excited to meet us. As we spoke they told me that they felt a burden on their hearts to pray for a spiritual revival in the city. It was so encouraging to see two beautiful Russian teens that were so devoted to serve the Lord and spread the love of God. Another huge blessing was that we were able to rent a venue in the heart of the city. For prior outreaches, the halls we rented were a 20 minute bus ride from the city. Please pray that the Lord continues to bring out teens that are yearning for truth.

The last few days have been bitter sweet. We had a great orphanage visit with the Starista (country) orphanage after our Tver outreach, but we also had to say good-bye to dear friends from NJ. The kids were so excited to see us again. It brought tears to my eyes when Pastor Bruce asked the orphans what Jesus did for them  and they answered “He died for our sins,”  before he had the chance to tell them! These orphans have been visited continually for the past four years by CCCPM and they definitely have an understanding of the Lord’s love for them. What a blessing to see!

It was sad saying good-bye to our close friends in the Jesus Fellowship team. They were so wonderful to work with in Tver and we miss them dearly. They have such servant’s hearts and it was so apparent that they wanted to reach out to the lost in Tver. It was really encouraging that after our last concert night a couple of different teens said that they wanted to attend Max’s church! One of them, named Dema, even came and visited the orphanage with us! Praise the Lord!

Love,
Shannon (Taylor) Whitten & Crew!

For Such a Time as This...

“For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

    This verse seems to be a personal theme for this trip for me; the Lord keeps making it apparent that He has put me in this place for such a time as this. Everyday since my family and I decided to come back to Russia the Lord continues to make it overwhelmingly apparent with so many circumstance that this is the place we are to be right now. From little things such as bringing dear friends together to larger aspects such as fully funding the trip; there is so much more in the in between as well I marvel at. This is such a comforting thought.
 
   The last two nights we have had concert in Tver, the shows have been going well. The turned out has been smaller than other cities we have played in before, but this has given the team the opportunity to really meet and engage all the teens that attend. It has been such a blessing to see this team reach out to the youth. One of the biggest praise reports, in regards to the show, was some of the orphans from Staritsa came to our show last night! A few of these kids we have known for four years. There were ten of the kids total, with their orphanage the director, and they all heard the gospel message. This is very signifcant break through, we have never been able to do this before, praise the Lord!

The Lord has also been showing me “in our weakness HE is strong.” Last night at the show I was fairly confident in my own strength, right before we were to go on stage the New Jersey team did a skit to the song ” I can only imagine.” When I heard the song I broke down in tears. The song reminded me of my Grandpa Taylor who went to be with the Lord a year and a half ago. It was a huge challenge to perform after that, but the Lord gave me strength. I ended up sharing with the audience, while crying, about my Grandpa. I shared how I miss him so much but I know he is with Jesus and they too could have that assurance. Afterwards some of the Russian girls told me how what I shared really spoke to them. I give glory to God because that was not my idea AT ALL for the show, but it was apart of His plan.

      Only a couple of hours ago we spent the morning with the Tver city orphanage children. This was one of the orphanages that many of you prepared shoe boxes full of presents for two Christmas ago. This orphanage is more of a temporary house, none of the kids were ones we recognized. We had the chance to run a VBS type of program full of Bible stories, crafts, games, and skits. So today we made all new friends, their precious smiles and laughter broke my heart. I pray all of these precious little ones understand the love of God we tried to share with them. Tomorrow we will be visiting the Starista (country) orphanage, this is where the orphans live who came to our concert. 

   Please pray that the Lord would use us in this place tonight during the concert and at the orphanage tomorrow! Thank-you for all the wonderful emails of support, they are really so encouraging to receive!If you would like to see some pics from the trip thus far I have an album on 

facebook:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=91900204#!/album.php?aid=2004584&id=91900204

Love,

Shannon (Taylor) Whitten & Family

   

It Starts Again!

Beloved Friends and Family,

Three planes rides and thirty plus hours later I found myself in the country I love. My tired eyes met smiling faces and open arms; it feels so good to be back among these dear people. This place has truly become a second home that always seems to beacon me back.

The last two days have been filled countless hours of catching up with dear friends and preparing for our first trip to the city of Tver. We are so excited to help our dear friend Max (originally from Tambov) with the new church in Tver!  For the past three summers we have seen first hand Max's love for reaching the Russian youth; we are so excited to be apart of this church’s birth! Please pray for the upcoming concert outreach, that the Lord would use us according to His will and bring the lost to Him.

Today, when I boarded a train to Moscow for sightseeing with the team, a bright eyed Russian lady stopped me and asked if I was from America. I engaged her in conversation and quickly learned she was a Christian who ran Christian summer camps for youths. She was accompanied by a teenage girl as well. As we conversed I learned that this beautiful young girl had been adopted from Russia by a Christian family from Florida, this was the first time she had returned to her home counrty. It was so encouraging to hear her story of becoming a Christian and her life with her new family. It was such a blessing and made me think of all the orphans we work with. I wish their story would all end in the same manner of Julia’s. This encounter was such a blessing!

After arriving in Tver tomorrow, my family and I are excited that we get to visit the four orphan siblings we have become so close with over the past years. Like my dad wrote in his last update letter, these precious kids have been moved to a different orphanage we have never visited. Despite some struggles, the orphanage director has allowed us to come and visit them for a short amount of time tomorrow. Please keep this encounter in your prayers!

Well it is time for sleep, tomorrow is a full day and will come early!

Love,
Shannon (Taylor) Whitten