Prayer request

Mike is in a stable condition. The doctors aren't excited about where he is at, but Sheri says that when she visited him he was smiling and in good spirits. He is being flown out to Germany sometime in the next 24 hours. He is in need of some very specialized equipment to get him there.

Our team just went through a challenging and difficult day. Mike's problems began in the morning just as we were about to start the last day of our English program here in Pushkin. We had a large graduation ceremony in the evening that involved a lot of planning, as well as the emotional process of saying goodbye to our Russian friends (we travel to St. Petersburg tomorrow for the second half of our trip).

We have felt the Spirit of God strengthening us and encouraging us throughout this day...it is a miracle we made it through as some of us were sufferring from sickness today as well. As the emotions start to come out over the next few days, we anticipate some difficulties. We will start a new program on Monday.

Prayer requests:

1. For the process of moving Mike to Germany, for recovery for him, for Sheri and the Bedient family.

2. For our team, for our encouragement and strengthening, for our emotional and spiritual well-being.

3. That God would use this for the advancement of his purposes in all our lives, especially the many Russians who have heard and are deeply affected.

With love,
Steven and the Russia team

Listening well

So, I leave for Russia in only a few days, so this will likely be my last post for a while, other than occasional small updates from the land of Putin and Medvedev (what a great last name, btw).

Here are tips for listening well, taken from material I'm going to take our team through in preparation for four weeks of intense relational activity. Here, listening would be in a one-on-one context, vs. listening to a talk or speech.

What is it to be a good lisener?

1. Listen contextually. What is the speaker's purpose in sharing? What do they expect from you? Peer to peer sharing rarely looks for advice, but rather support and encouragement.

2. Give advice and input in very small doses, and then only when asked, and then only after the speaker has expressed himself fully. Ask questions.

Note: A lot of times when we are in listening situations, we think the speaker is looking for us to say some brilliant or insightful thing that will suddenly solve his situation. Probably we expect this because of some story we've heard where a person gave that one piece of advice that caused an epiphany. Or because we are used to movies or TV shows in which someone says some brilliant thing that breaks through, a la Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. This is fantasy, or at least, extremely rare.

3. Try to grasp not just what the person has said, but what they are striving to say. Ask questions to clarify.

4. Repeat back to the speaker what you have heard. This forces you to listen carefully, and also affirms to the speaker that you are listening carefully.

5. Always affirm the uniqueness of the speaker's situation. Avoid the temptation to relate the expressed situation to your own experience, or someone else's experience. This will be very tempting! But it is almost never what the speaker wants.

6. Look always for truth as you listen. Ask questions that force the speaker to process through his experience more fully.

On prayer

So...I created this Facebook group called "Committee for the Proper Use of the Word 'Just' in Prayer." I was expecting thousands of people to join in the first few days of its existence, perhaps get spotted by some trendspotters, and eventually get profiled in Christianity Today. But now, several days later, there are only four members.

I guess the world isn't ready to be boldly confronted on their annoying misuse of the word "just" while praying. Or perhaps, I am the only person (besides the three other people) who this annoys? Is anyone else out there even remotely bothered by it?

Example...Lord, I just want to say...

Or...Lord, we just want to ask you...

Usually, it is in the form of "I just want to say" or "just want to ask."

Now, the definition of "just" in this context is "only or merely." So what you are saying is, Lord, I only want to say... But of course, you then go on to say many other things.

How did this happen? Why do people use this word so much in their public prayer? I have several theories.

1. The Emergents-- Because of their atonement theories they are trying to water down the use of the word "just" in Christianity.

I'm totally kidding.

2. People who want to sound really sincere

I think this is probably it. Using "just" in that context seems designed to hammer home the prayer better...another definition of "just" is "actually, really, positively," as in "This day is just great!"

Does this not annoy anyone else? If it doesn't, I'll drop it posthaste.