Speaking to Our Children's Hearts

There is a Russian family that lives down the street from us. Their two girls go to the same "homeschool" school that we take our boys to. We saw them at the bus stop last week and realized that they were taking the city bus to school every day. We talked to them and offered to give them a ride on Mondays and Wednesdays (the days we attend). This was the first week that picked them up.

I found out that they have lived in the United States for the past ten years. Elena, the wife, did not speak a word of English when she moved here and still struggles with her English, but is able to carry on a conversation with a little help from her 10 year old, Kristina.

Two things really impacted me in our conversation on our trips to school this week.

First, I began asking Elena about their church. They are Russian Orthodox. I wish that I could explain it in the broken English that she used because it was so cool. She said that in Russia, she did not go to church. Only old women like grandmothers go to church, but she was baptized when she was young. Her husband was raised Muslim. When they were married, he wanted to go "see" a church - just look, not for anything else. He began to read his Bible and has just recently been baptized into the Orthodox church. They seem to have a real hunger for a knowledge of God so join us in praying for Dimitry and Elena, that we would be able to help satisfy that hunger.

Second, she was explaining to me that most Russian familes do not teach their children the Russian language. This is very important to her. I asked why and her answer was powerful. "I cannot speak my heart to my children in English. If they don't speak Russian, I will never be able to share my heart with them." I know many families who speak the same language who could learn a lot from that statement.