Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

I have to post about this before I forget it... tonight was one of the most awesome nights. And by "awe"some I mean we were just awed at the Lord's presence. It was one of those nights where you have no idea what the Lord is doing..... but He is doing something, and He was definitely in our midst.

Our friends picked us up on New Arabat Street and after a long hour and 1/2 drive through Moscow traffic we made it to the missionary's home. There were several missionaries there, 5 in total, and then the four of us. Three spoke English and two did not, so there was some heavy translation, but it was great! Introductions were made by our hostess and we quickly came to find out that each of these missionaries has a heart for orphaned children in Russia. I noticed immediately that their eyes lit up upon hearing we would be adopting two little boys. They have a heart for adoption and to see Christian families of Russia adopt more.

They asked specific questions about adoption and how it relates to our country.... and they also shared of the struggle and the stigma that is involved with Russian adoption and orphanage children in general. They shared of how they minister to children on the street and take them in as well. We met two of those older children that evening.

After dinner and dessert our hostess shared of how they will be praying for us and thanked our friends for their continued prayers for their ministry. She asked for us to also pray for them and their ministry of helping orphaned children and helping Christian families in Russia to adopt. We all sat around the kitchen table. First they prayed in Russian for our adoptions and for the ministry. I can not tell you how powerful it was to experience this evening! To hear Sergey pray with such conviction and authority in a language I don't know...but to know they were lifting us up... and then we prayed for all of them as well. It was amazing and we truly felt like we were a part of something much bigger than ourselves.

It was one of those nights when even as huge as our adoption is to us right now... and it is a big thing. It gave us a sense of how big God is... and how His people are all over the world....impacting it for His kingdom. I have no idea what His purpose was for us to be there....but I am humbled that we were included. We arrived that evening as total strangers and left as friends and fellow believers in Christ.