Prayer Vision Tour update in four parts! Part One

["bobbismisko" <bobbismisko@erols.com>]

Dear Prayer Partner,
Apparently there was some problem with my sending this large document, so I
am going to try breaking it into four parts and sending it by e-mail.  I
forgot that some of you might not have Word.
Bobbi

Prayer Vision Tour - 2000: Russia and Ukraine
May 19 - May 28
Prayer Tour Coordinator: Bobbi Smisko

Have Prayer; Will travel!

Part One:
There we were in Russia - at two o'clock in the afternoon - three ladies -
one in her late twenties, the other two on the far side of fifty - lying
scattered around the wooden platform - sound asleep!  Chloe lay on her side,
Yoni spread out on her stomach, while I rested on my back with my sweater
rolled and tucked under my head, my hands folded peacefully on my
mid-section.  We had denied the effects of jet lag for the six days we had
spent in Russia.  We had been too busy to stop for tiredness, but this day
the effects of the long flight, and the marathon pace of moving from city to
city had caught up with us.  A two-hour delay between prayer visits
permitted us this long-awaited luxury.  Without a word to each other, one by
one we gravitated toward the only quiet place in the Volgograd ministry
center.  The multi-purpose room we were in served as worship center on
weekends and as dining room and other activities during the week, and for
just a little while, it was silent . . . a pleasant escape for three weary
souls.

We were unusual traveling companions: our differences in ages, backgrounds,
and interests would probably not have drawn us together at any other time.
And yet, here we were, on the other side of the ocean experiencing the
intimacy of prayer - of conversation with our Lord - in the company of
strangers.  What we found was that strangers do not remain strangers very
long when they enter into communion with God, and with each other, through
the medium of prayer.  As often as we prayed with those who only spoke
Russian or Ukrainian we realized, as well, that love is a language that has
no cultural boundaries.  We were one in the Lord with all believers no
matter in which city or which country we found ourselves.  This was a
comforting and somewhat awe-inspiring reality!

It is interesting how we arrived in the former Soviet Union (now called the
CIS) in the first place.  As the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)
Partnership Prayer Coordinator for the past four years, I have often thought
how much better I could pray for the missionaries if I could be with them
and experience their work and their lives.  Upon returning from my
four-month trip to Romania last year, I realized anew how much closer I felt
to the people there because I had spent time with them.  At that moment, I
had one of those "light bulb" experiences!  "Of course," I thought, "I will
just go to Russia and Ukraine and see for myself what are the needs."  As I
pondered this thought, the vision grew and grew, and eventually I was
convinced that others would want to join me in such a venture.

I contacted Carla and Chuck Sunberg and then Merritt Mann, who were not only
encouraging but also thoroughly excited about the idea.  Merritt immediately
dubbed it the PVT, or Prayer Vision Tour, and the rest is history.  I
e-mailed the several hundred CIS prayer partners as well as advertised in my
local church and then awaited responses.  Several people throughout the
country e-mailed and assured me they would like to go, but timing was not
right for everyone.  Eventually, Chloe and Yoni and I made up the team.
Expecting at least fifteen or twenty to join the group, at first I was
disappointed; but it was not long after we began the journey before I knew
that God had put together a perfect team for this particular mission.

My partners in this adventure were Chloe Schweitzer and Yonette Moorgan.
Chloe is a retired teacher who has been spending up to six months every year
for the past six years teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) courses
in Moscow.  She spends the other half-year at her home in Miami, Florida.
Yoni lives in Miami as well, is a daughter of a pastor, and niece of a
former missionary (Joe Murugan) and has a heart for missions around the
world.  (We think the Lord may be calling her into missions herself, but
that is for her and the Lord to determine!)

Yoni met me in Philadelphia on Friday afternoon, May 19, and at 5:45 PM we
flew from Philadelphia to St. Petersburg, Russia arriving early the morning
of Saturday, May 20, 2000.  Missionary Jon Mowry met us at the airport and,
after joining up with Chloe, spent the next two days ushering us in and out
of ministry locations and warm encounters with loving and hospitable Russian
Christians.  We worshiped with them, listened to their sufferings, rejoiced
about their victories, ate meals together, prayed with them and for them,
and asked for them to pray for us.  In all of this we praised God for what
He has done and what He is going to do in the future.  We even spent time
going through a building in its early stages of restoration praying in each
room and asking God to bring a great harvest in that city for His Kingdom.

A special time was spent at the Mowry apartment as we laid hands gently on
Kathy Mowry (the other half of the Mowry & Mowry mission team in St.
Petersburg) to pray for her and the baby she was carrying.  The mother of
two young children with a full load of ministry work to fulfill, she was
finding it difficult to just lie there, but she was being obedient to her
doctor's insistence on complete bed rest! What delighted us a great deal
while visiting them was how Jon so capably and seamlessly moved from
ministry task to household task to parenting responsibility without skipping
a beat.  What a model he is for men throughout the world!  I understand the
mission team lovingly calls him "Mr. Mom," but really he is doing what Jesus
would do.

At one point in the evening, we realized that we only had a few minutes to
meet our train to our next destination on time. At 11:00 PM Sunday the 21st,
Jon and we three ladies could be seen moving at a near run down the platform
as we pulled in tow all of our very heavy and cumbersome luggage to catch
our overnight train for Moscow.  We looked like a comedy routine with
carry-on luggage slipping off shoulders, rolling luggage occasionally
twisting and nearly knocking us over, and Jon way ahead of us trying to get
to our compartment to begin loading what he could.  He just got everything
on board, stashed over head and under seats, waved and hugged good byes, and
returned to the platform, when the train began moving.  We breathed a sigh
of relief, whispered a prayer of thanksgiving, and then moved on to the next
adventure.

Of course, the overnight train itself is an adventure.  What is proper
overnight train etiquette anyway?  Do you stay dressed or undress as for
bed?  Do you sleep immediately?  Since all that was there was a bunk, how
would one sit and read?  I kept wondering what people did who were in
compartments with people they did not know, or even worse, mixed genders!
Mercy!  We had an empty bunk, so I wondered if anyone would fill it . . .and
what gender that person might be?  Such were the concerns of a first-time
overnighter!

We giggled as we shared some of these concerns, and then each of us chose
different methods of personal comfort.  Chloe chose complete comfort as she
changed to nightclothes and settled in to her bottom bunk for the long night
's journey.  Yoni changed as well and climbed into the top bunk, a most
cumbersome thing to have to accomplish.  (Again I whispered a prayer of
thanksgiving at having no other passenger with us!)  Unlike our next
overnight voyage, this one was uneventful, although not much sleep occurred
in our compartment that night.  Clickety-clack, clickety-clack . . .screech
. . .

To be continued . . .