The rest of the week went by quickly. Tuesday night I finally was able to meet with Alesha. He had not been able to come the previous two appointments but he made it and we had our English class. He knows some which helps. He read a little from the Gospel of Mark even. He is dating a church member and we hope to reach out to him through this English class. He’s a web designer. Pray for him.

Wednesday afternoon I cooked up some chicken jambalaya and 8 of the students going to Wisconsin this summer for Work and Travel came over and we had an orientation for them—or a disorientation as I call it. We talked through some of the spiritual perils they will face, the importance of dealing with and recognizing culture shock, and interpersonal conflict. It was a long evening but a good one. We hope they come back to us with not too much damage. A Church of Christ near where they will be has agreed to help them out. It has 6 members.

Thursday night was chicken cacciatore and a planning meeting for our Friday meeting and Sunday worship assembly. We planned some special activities for this weekend and have hopefully created a work group to do a better job planning and coordinating the evening assembly. That was also a long but good night.

Friday I helped prepare the cell meal with Vitaly and we were pretty busy with the special activities for Friday night. Our cell meeting was transformed into a long period of silent meditation on the suffering of Jesus during his last 18 hours. Each room at the Center had a particular focus and during this time everyone was invited to go into a room and meditate in silence on the theme there or just to sit in the hall and read the Bible. Some aids were provided to guide the meditation. Long periods of corporate silence are challenging to the soul but needed every so often. It was a very powerful experience for many of us. Others I don’t think have learned much of the contemplative life so it’s harder for them. But we did read of his Gethsemane prayers, of his thirst, of his light overcoming the darkness.

Today we visited Natalya in the hospital. She has been battling various health problems and cancer for quite some time. She gave a great testimony of how God has been faithful to her through these difficulties. She is now in an oncology ward on the outskirts of the city. Pray for her healing.

I appreciate all of you who read the blog. Friends are so important. Thanks to Ken and Loren for listening to me this week.