Esther, Josh, and Jacob practicing for Church

Jacob singing his heart out

Christina leading devotions this morning:  Galatians 5:13-15

Meeting with the Belorussian youth group

Ashley showing us her moves at the drum set 

Our team preparing for the Sunday service

Jacob Davis' Journal (31 March 2012)

2nd day in Belarus. Woke up in the morning after a great nights sleep. It snowed today, to my surprise. I had 2 breakfasts, one alone, and one with the son of my host, Timo. Both were composed of cheese, sausage and bread with tea. I then had my first debrief in a community center. Immediately after the debrief, we met with LOGOS middle-school youth group. They are definitely on fire for God. They have rappers, guitarists, bassist, singers, pianist, etc. In short, they are very musically gift. After meeting them and playing some games together, our team practiced music for Sunday service, and for the high-school group, U-see. we then practiced are skit, and finally headed back to our houses, however I and my host family had to wait with Issac, as his ride hadn't come yet. All in all, it was an awesome day, the people are very hospitable, and down-right curious! By the way, did I mention that I'm the only one from the team who is at my host? Thank goodness they speak a little bit of English, cause my Russian is terrible! Here's what God has shown me today : I used to think i was pretty good on patience till I came here. Imagine a 2 hour sermon with whole families listening, including the kids, crammed into a upstairs room? This is what I found myself in as soon 5 hours after arriving in Belarus. These people have grand patience, but it has been given to them because they love God and are earnestly seeking him. They've shown me not to get disheartened when I'm waiting on promises that God has told me to occur, that we must trust in him and rejoice for things he tells us, whether they are promises or truths.

Arrival in Belarus: All in a Day's work

Thank you SO MUCH for praying as we headed to Belarus today. For most of us we just settled into our host families and are getting to know them with the little Russian we know (for most of us, anyways). 

It has been great to see the Belorussian families reach out to us and be so friendly as we arrived to meet them today. For some of them this means being a friendly face to smile at, and for others this means opening up their homes to us as we stay with them for this next week. Nonetheless, we have definitely felt the love and support of the community as we arrived, reading to embark on our journey.

Landscape as we made our way to Belarus via Minsk

Tomorrow we will be heading to the community center in Belarus to practice for our first gig -- yes, that's right -- a GIG! On Sunday the team has been asked to perform a song or two in church for those in attendance. We will also have the privilege of having one of our own, Tim Watson, speak. What a joy and blessing it has been to be embraced by the community so quickly! 

Please continue to pray for our team as we reach out in various ways, especially as the team gears up to perform this Sunday in church! :-) I know that they are excited and nervous all at the same time, so I pray that God is able to use them as they use their God-given talents to reach out to those in Belarus.

Thank you SO MUCH again for all of your help, encouragement, and prayers! You are all such a blessing!

In Him,

The Belarus Team

Belarus Team here. We just wanted to update you and let you know the progress that we've been making over the past couple of weeks. Can you believe that in less than a month we will be there!?!?!?!

As we approach our trip to Belarus we have been able to slowly learn more things about one another as well as learn various pieces of information that will help us as we get there. With our missions trip being less than one month away we have began to feel the pressure of using each and every minute of our time wisely, ultimately aware that God will help guide our time together to accomplish His goal of glorifying Him in all that we do.

Learning how to mime

Various things that we have been able to accomplish so far include:  practicing music together as one unit, learning multiple words/phrases in Russian, being taught a mime skit that shows the love our Lord has for each and every one of us, and finding out different things about the culture and community in Belarus. We have been carefully preparing our hearts as we approach this unique experience that is such a privilege for each and every one of us as we serve our Lord.



Please continue to pray for our team as we use these last couple of weeks as wisely as possible in order to accomplish His goal for our lives while heading to Belarus this next month. Thank you so much for your continual support in our journey and process as we prepare our hearts and minds for what God is about to do with them.

The skit we are learning is called "Hands"

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed."

~1 Peter 1:13 ~