My Journey to Get Here

So, as I’m heading out to Siberia in a week’s time I thought I would have a try at starting this blog up again, and this time try and actually keep it updated! If you want to read about what God is doing in my life in Russia, learn a bit more about life as an English teacher in Siberia, stay updated with what I need prayer for, or just have nothing left to look at on your Facebook newsfeed, then this blog is for you J

For many of you reading, this first post will be somewhat superfluous, as it’s a story you already know. But others for who many have joined me on this journey a little later on, or for those who might be encouraged to read an account of God’s goodness and faithfulness to me over the past few years, it seemed fitting to start with an account of how I got to this point, as there have been several years of dreams, disappointments and detours that have lead up to this moment.

On the 4^th of June four years ago I boarded a plane for Siberia, having left the Caribbean sunshine just a month before. Although I had visited Moscow and St. Petersburg before, in going to Siberia I had a distinct sense of terrifyingly stepping into the unknown. However, as I stepped off the plane, bleary eyed from an overnight wait in Moscow, nothing prepared me for the overwhelming feeling that hit me of having come home.  I then spent 2 months discovering some of the magic of this wonderful city, meeting people who inspired and challenged me, working with children whose stories were so sad I could hardly bear to leave them, and drinking in the stunningly beautiful countryside that surrounded me. I left to spend 2 nights on the Transiberian railway, and spent a month in the city of Perm, which God used to consolidate the things He’d been teaching me in Krasnoyarsk, and further deepen my love of Siberia.

I flew home full of plans, already desperate to return. I had spoken with my fiancée every day that I’d had internet access, and had already suggested the idea of taking a team of volunteers back out for the summer after we were married. When I returned I was keen to get the ball rolling, as the aching loss I felt having left Russia was slightly soothed by putting plans in place to return (se moozyhom  = with husband, as I’d promised my friends).  I spoke about my time in Russia and the needs there to his youth group, we mentioned the idea to his vicar, and started throwing around names of who could come on our pilot team.

However, for many good reasons, we did not get married, and along with much of the pain and disappointment of that time was the crushed dream of taking a team out together to Krasnoyarsk. At first I was gutted, but I soon tried to look on the bright side and thought at least it meant I could return as soon as a graduated the next year, rather than waiting for a year after marriage as planned. God on the other hand had other ideas, and took me on detours to Africa, France, and then back to Nottingham for 2 years. At times this was frustrating, and even sometimes painful (the summer I spent in France was some of the most fun, relaxing, and happy times of my life, and yet in that time I shed several tears thinking that it was the summer David and I had planned to return to Russia, and feeling gutted to not have returned yet).

The dream of Russia seemed to be fading ever further away, and yet there had not been a single day I had not thought of that place, and often just a song, a story, or a picture would evoke a deep longing that I could only compare to homesickness.

But this year things started to turn around. My wonderful parents paid for me to take a TEFL course for my Christmas present, and I suddenly learnt to appreciate the luxury of being a full-time student as I desperately tried to juggle my studies with a full-time waitressing job. Somehow I got through it and passed, giving me the qualification I needed to apply for English teaching jobs in Russia – my golden ticket to long-term stay in Russia, something that would have been unthinkable had I chosen to get married, but as a single woman with no attachments, the world was my oyster!

I started casually looking for jobs, which unsurprisingly were quite scarce in Russia, especially that early in the year (many schools do not advertise until May/June to start the school year in August),at the time not even sure if I wanted to work with children or adults, and resigning myself to the fact I’d probably have to start in Moscow or St. Petersburg. But then, after one random online search, I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a picture of the beautiful bridge in Krasnoyarsk, with the title ‘Come and teach in beautiful Siberia!’ I clicked on the link and was even further shocked as they pretty much outlined my perfect job. A language school, in Krasnoyarsk, with a salary and accommodation provided, a years contract working 30hours a week with a mixture of children’s and adults classes, starting in August, exactly when I needed to move out of my flat in Nottingham. It seemed too good to be true.

I sent off my application, hardly daring to hope they would reply, but I received a response asking me for an interview within 24hours. I dressed in my smartest suit at 6:00am, and woke up my lovely friend and neighbour to use his flashy computer with nice webcam and speedy internet for a Skype interview. I was then asked for a second interview, which I thought had gone terribly, but was offered the job soon after. However, then came the catch, they didn’t want me to start in August, they needed someone at the end of June, giving me just less than 2 months to get my things in order and fly out to Siberia for a year.

My instinctive reaction was ‘No, don’t be ridiculous!’ but thankfully I gave myself a few days to think and pray before I responded with that. I went for a walk around the University lake to get some space to think and pray. The long and short of that walk was that every worry and concern I threw at God (visa applications, paying the rent on my flat while I wasn’t living there, work commitments, etc), He replied with ‘Do you believe I can sort it out in time?’ and of course my response was yes; to the God who created the starry heavens in a day, and numbers the hairs of our heads, the Russian visa processing centre is peanuts! In the end I could almost hear Him saying ‘Well what’s stopping you then? Get on with it! You’ve begged me for four years to let you go back and now you’re complaining I’m sending you 2 months EARLIER?!’ Of course there were practical things to sort out before I could say a definite yes, budgeting for the cost of leaving early, speaking to work about handing in my notice so soon after starting, discussing with my housemate me leaving so soon – but with each potential obstacle I was struck by the support and love I received from people. People, who although me leaving was going to be a big annoyance for them cared about me enough to put that aside and encourage me to go for my dreams.

It has not all been plain sailing since then. Getting my visa processed has been an ongoing drama, and I’ve been plagued with ill-health which has meant I’ve struggled to get things done as efficiently as I would like. I will not gloss over it and say it’s not been very stressful at times, but through it all God has provided the strength and peace I’ve needed to get me through. Not only that but he has provided people around me to offer support, practically, emotionally and spiritually, whether that’s doing the washing up, letting me rant over a pint, praying for me, sending an encouraging text or offering to pick up my visa there have been so many times in the last two months that I have been blown away by the amazing support network of friends and family God has placed around me, but it would take a whole new blog post to do that justice (and this one is already VERY long!).

For now I am excited to announce I now have a visa in my passport, and am looking forward to getting on a plane on Tuesday June 24^th After nearly 4 years of waiting I feel that the two 4-and-bit-hour flights, and 4 hour wait in Moscow will feel like another 4 years each, but I am focussing on the excitement of finally arriving in Krasnoyarsk once again. It has been a long wait, and at times the disappointment of my own broken dreams has been crushingly painful, but God in His goodness had a better plan for me all along, He just wanted to teach me some things (possibly about patience, as well as about His amazing love for me, and showing me teaching is what I love!) along the way, and now I can’t wait to start living out this wonderful new step in His plan for my life.