We had been invited for a trip into Moscow city centre. In the suburbs, we could see out of the window that snow had fallen and we knew we needed to wrap up warm for the journey ahead.
This time, Tim turned up with a terrible backache. And it was my turn to lay hands on his back and pray for him. Tim was somewhat better after prayer.
We set off walking to the mission centre to meet Helena, our host and guide into Moscow. She was waiting for us at the door and we crossed the road and headed for the bus stop. As he bent forward, Tim said, “My back pain has gone completely! Praise God!”
We boarded a 35-seater mini bus, which was full. We managed to get seats after a couple of stops, and we were packed in like sardines, and despite being full, the driver kept picking up people. I counted another 20 standing in the aisle!
This was the first part of our journey arriving at the Metro station. The stations were wide, and the trains were older than in London but very clean. We noticed that virtually everyone on the train had a mobile phone or a tablet in their hands. We looked up at window to see it that it was etched with ‘FREE WIFI’!
It was quite an adventure moving from train to train through marble walkways and up and down escalators. We would have been totally lost with Helena! We eventually came out of the metro system to get on another bus.
This time the bus was free, as it was the church bus for Rick Renner’s Church. It was jam packed with Christians going to church, which is so encouraging here in the centre of Russia. A little old lady heard us talking and began speaking to us in English. People were listening all around us.
We pulled up at the building and it was amazing. It looked like a five star hotel, inside and out. They had a cloakroom where everyone took off their outdoor clothes just like we would in any hotel!
We made our way into the auditorium – it was like a theatre with a big stage, where singers and musicians were ministering. It was a presentation of excellence with media graphics as well. Everyone was praising God, and people were so friendly! Rick Renner noticed us as foreigners in the audience and sent his interpreter to greet us – we were both surprised that we apparently stuck out!
We really enjoyed his message from 1 Corinthians 13 as he shared on types of love and agape love. We were really grateful that Helena took us to her church and were really blessed by the ministry and encouraged to see how God is using this church in the centre of Moscow.
It was time to board the bus again and to get back onto the Metro. We were going to Red Square for the changing of the guard, and were able to get our tourist photos in amongst the blizzard of snow. It was time to get a hot meal and return home – what a real adventure! W are so grateful to Helena for her kindness!
