It is Saturday afternoon now and we have just cleaned the apartment. Today is our day off and we plan to go to the beach. Vladivostok is surrounded by the ocean, but in the city itself the water is pretty polluted, it even has a sign ; no swimming (which doesn’t mean anything here in Russia). But there is part of a beach about 40 min drive from here, where it is quite nice – but every one else with a car thinks the same thing – so it is usually quite crowded. But even that I do not mind, since I am sweating, just sitting in front of my faithful pink apple laptop. Thank God we can use a van, belonging to Masha’s church. This makes life a lot easier.
Last week we had guest from YWAM Irkutsk. A Kings Kids team of 36 South Koreans went to Irkutsk through Vladivostok. On their way back they had three days in Vladivostok – the two YWAM staff from Irkutsk accompanied them on the train. We knew that they were coming, but didn’t really know for how long. As we thought they haven’t bought a ticket back yet, and the earliest they could get was almost a week later. We didn’t mind at all having the two Korean girls staying with us. It was actually a really precious and bonding time, very encouraging for both of our teams. Sometimes you get gift from God just like that.
Yesterday we also went to look at a place to rent for the upcoming DTS. Yes, DTS is starting in less than a months now, actually we need a building not later than September 10th. It was the second floor of a big house. The landlady wasn’t very pleased with us – oc course she would rather have a quiet couple living in her house than a bunch of young people who sing songs. The flat was big and nice, but not what we need. After witnessing how the landlady treated her current ‘renters’ we were glad to leave the place again. ‘ Not everything that shines is gold’. We continue to trust God that he has the perfect place for us. Of course we don’t just sit and wait, but we pray, contact people and have several agencies looking for a place. This is partnering with God. I know he will lead us in this process.
We are very excited for the DTS. We have amazing students (from what we can tell so far) and great teachers. I’ll keep you updated! Now its time to put my swimming suit on!