The Ukranian Blessing
...six Russian speaking men
...dangerous contraband
...international borders
...flashing police lights
...interrogation and searches
What do these things bring to mind? A cold war border incident? A post cold war enriched uranium smuggling operation? Although we intimately identified with each of the above phrases last week, I must remind you that I am writing from the House of Cornelius on the US / Mexico border! I will give you the account as it unfolded.
The Truck
Last Sunday at 7am a 48-foot tractor-trailer arrived here at the House of Cornelius weighing 79,440 pounds, a mere 560 pounds shy of the truck's legal gross vehicle weight. We had heard rumors over the past month from Georgia Baca of a possible "donation" but we weren't expecting a deluge! The driver was the most delightful, bright-faced, joy-overflowing Ukranian named Dmitriy. As he opened the truck and began handing things out to us, he explained that everything was from various Russian-speaking churches and ministries. The truck had been filled and sent under the direction of a brother "Nikolay" with whom Dmitriy worked. Dmitriy said brightly, "We do this because we love Jesus! And he has given us a burden for the poor in Mexico."
At first Dmitriy just handed things out to us and we took them into our old school building for storage. Gradually it dawned on us that the truck was 48 feet long and that we had only made a tiny dent! We thought we had a large crew with nine of us, but three of those were under 12 years old. We unloaded for several hours and thought we had made a significant dent when we came upon 26 55-gallon barrels full of pre-packaked soup mix. At 300 pounds each, they were quite an obstacle. Val Mojica drew my attention to the vent holes on the side of the truck near the barrels, then outside to see where those holes were in relation to the truck's length. We were only 1/3 of the way through! Val came up with a brilliant idea to put boards out the back of the truck and roll the barrels down and then move them with a hand truck. This worked beautifully and we were back in production. We unloaded for about 4 hours when we stopped for brunch, after which we finished the job in a few more hours. 
Just to give you some idea of what an incredible blessing came to us, there were 26 55-gallon barrels of soup mix, about 500 5-gallon buckets and some boxes of dried peaches, two palettes of trail mix, 3 palettes of ready-mixed bread flour, and countless boxes of various canned items, pasta, cereal, dried milk, etc., and Thai-Kitchen brand Thai food! Along with the food came boxes and bags of clothing. At first we put the clothing in a large room in the school until it was full, then we just put the bags on the ground to deal with later. The resulting pile was huge!
All the while, we got to know Dmitriy, who proved to be a man of uncommon quality and love for God. It was refreshing to our souls to talk with him. 
After the truck was unloaded and we all showered and power-napped, our family took Dmitriy into Mexico to take some goods to a women's shelter and to Agua Viva. Dmitriy pounced on the idea of going to Mexico when I suggested it to him. He is a commercial truck driver and was planning to put his truck to work the next day, but it was clear his heart was over the border. We had a glorious time of fellowship with him in the car and with the brothers at Agua Viva and then over Mexican food at Taco Cabana. What a heavenly day! During our time with Dmitriy he spoke often of Nikolay and gradually the pieces of the puzzle came together in our minds. The largest piece was that Nicolay and four other Ukranian brothers were on their way, driving from Sacramento, California. They would arrive the next day!
Nicolay
On Monday afternoon a new, bright white, International Sprinter cargo van arrived followed by a sedan. The Sprinter was completely full of food and contained a cheerful, Godly, and very driven man named Nikolay who speaks only Russian. There were four young men with him as helpers and translators. So here were six, delightful Ukranian brothers (in the Lord), five of them exhausted from driving over 20 hours non-stop, sitting in the dining room at the House of Cornelius, eager and ready to keep going. From my perspective, they were at the end of their long journey and were welcome and expected to stay with us at the House of Cornelius. All further plans could start tomorrow. From their perspective, this is where they were to meet Dmitriy and then continue their journey which ended in Mexico, and this stop was taking too long. Nikolai was all business, he had a cargo van packed full of food and he wanted to take that across the border to meet his friends...right now! But that gleaming van might as well have "Stop and inspect me!" written on the side in ten langauges. We talked for a while. I told him of our adventures last year with getting flood relief supplies accross the border (Click here to read about that), and expressed my doubts that they would get that van across. Strangely, ironically, sadly, the Mexican government treats donated food and clothing crossing the border almost like the US treats drugs. I'm sure there are myriad reasons for it; from the desire to make money (through duties or bribes or both) to injured national pride. After much discussion and advice giving, we all concluded that if God wanted those goods across the border, then nothing was going to stop them.
I was speaking to Nikolai, who only speaks Russian, through Dmitriy. Nikolay had friends he had previously arranged to meet in Juarez and wanted to take his van full of goods over right away. After much discussion back and forth, Nikolai and Dmitriy conferred seriously. Then Dmitriy announced that they would like to try taking the van across the little bridge near to the House of Cornelius. Just two of them, Dmitriy and his 19-yr-old friend Daniel, would go and they would call if they made it across. If they got turned around, then not too much driving time would be wasted. If they got across then they would call and wait for us to cross and meet them. I was very skeptical, but hey, it was certainly worth a try. Twenty minutes later Nicolay shouted with joy and said (in Russian) that they had called and had made it across and were waiting for us! Praise God!
We loaded up more things into our own van and then drove over to meet Dmitriy and Daniel. We made it over without incident and drove about five miles toward Juarez when we saw flashing police lights! Nikolay had swapped with Daniel in the Sprinter van when we got across and was now driving. He pulled the Sprinter over. I was one vehicle ahead of him and pulled over too in case I could help. Then something inside me told me to drive on and let them deal with it alone. I, and the other car with us, drove on and around a bend in the road. We turned around and parked on the side of the road so we could watch. My sons Jeremy and Daniel were with me in our van. Jeremy had his little spotting scope so we could watch the action. All the doors were open on the Sprinter and people were walking around it. After what seemed to be about ten minutes, they started driving and we all resumed our journey to Juarez. A while later we stopped for fuel and I got the whole story. As it turned out, the police had been telling them something about papers and making motions for them to turn around and leave the country. In truth, the police had no juristiction. They were really looking for a bribe. Nikolay paid them a trifle and they were on their way. But what had ultimately saved them was the fact that they only spoke Russian and English and the police only spoke Spanish. Finally, in frustration, they just asked for some money (using universal language I assume) and then waved them on. Praise God I had kept driving! Otherwise, with my nearly functional Spanish, the police may have pressed the issue further.
The Big Top
After the briefly unnerving police stop, our trip into Juarez continued fairly smoothly, but late; it was starting to get dark. We were still over 20 miles east of Juarez on a very slow road through the Mexican countryside. We made phone contact with Nikolay's friend, pastor David, and his group several times along the way. Eventually we were instructed to drive through Juarez to the west side and keep going until the road stopped. It was a long drive! We arrived at the edge of a neighborhood and the end of the road near 10pm. We called and within minutes pastor David and a bi-lingual friend came and met us and led us back to the Big Tent.
In a high, bare place in the neighborhood stood an enormous tent, lit brightly from the inside. Going in, we found it empty (the activities were over for the day) and a group of 6 to 8 men sitting around a table, clearly enjoying each other's company. They turned out to be pastors from the area, some having churches within block of each other. It was striking and so encouraging to see them there in unity. There was a sweetness hanging in the air, as if it had been an awesome day and they were still there, savoring it.
There were many bear hugs and greetings between Nikolay, David, and the other pastors. Then we all greeted one another and set about making plans. How could we get this truckload of supplies across the border? Where were the Ukranians brother going to stay tonight? What were we going to do right now? Since Nikolay speaks only Russian, and Dmitriy only speaks Russian and English, we had to have all our conversations in three languages! I spoke Spanish with the pastors, then English to Dmitriy, who then spoke Russian to Nikolay. My Spanish is pretty basic, but the Lord seemed to give me extra understanding that night. Praise God! Meanwhile Daniel and Jeremy, who were very happy to be on their feet, set about pacing off the interior of the tent and counting all the chairs. Pastor David noticed what they were doing and gave me the actual specifications. The boys actually got pretty close in their calculations! It was decided that we would go from the tent back to a neighborhood church where the revival team was staying. We would unload the cargo van there.
The Ukranian Connection
The story of how this truck and these glorious brothers came to be at the House of Cornelius in the first place is amazing, and it begins with a 25 year old Ukranian woman named Galena. Five years ago or so, Galena met the Savior and was transferred from the dominion of death to the Kingdom of eternal life. As she grew in her faith she felt the call to missions, specifically in Mexico! She became aware of a wonderful, travelling revival ministry in Mexico that moves from city to city with a giant, 200' by 70' tent that holds a stage and 1200 seats. They set up in a city for 3 to 8 weeks and hold nightly revival meetings in partnership with local pastors. Seven months ago she came to Mexico, speaking only Russian, and joined the ministry team. Now, a mere seven months later, she is practically fluent in Spanish! I had a chance to sit and hear Galena's testimony (in Spanish) and tell her about IFM. Later, I had a long conversation with Nikolay through Galena. Needless to say, my Spanish-speaking skills got a good workout. Praise God!
Nikolay knew of Galena from the Ukraine, and through her got to know pastor David who leads the revival ministry. Nikolay and Dmitriy had visited them on the Gulf Coast of Mexico several months ago, learned that they would be setting up the revival meetings in Juarez, and made plans to meet them there...with a giant truck of food and clothing! The revival tent was set up in Rancho Anapra, which is the extreme, western neighborhood of Juarez. It so happens that Jose Luis Torres and his family go to church there. (For those readers who don't know, Jose Luis is the head of IFM's Mexican non-profit organization.) So their pastor learned of the coming truck and started to ask around to find a way to unload it in Texas for storage and eventual transfer accross the border. Jose Luis suggested Georgia and in a short time Nikolay (through his English-speaking daughter) made arrangements with her to bring the truck to the House of Cornelius.
We unloaded the cargo van, visited with Galena and Nikolay, and ate an 11:30pm dinner with the Ukranians and various church workers. It was decided that the best place for the Ukranians to stay was with us at the House of Cornelius since they had not brought any bedding with them. I was so glad, as I was looking forward to more time to get to know them! The Ukranians got into the cargovan and their car. Daniel, Jeremy and I headed home in our van. With the long border crossing and drive, we got home at 2am! The boys were no worse for wear though. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy an "adventure with dad" almost as much as I enjoyed an adventure with my sons. May God bless us with many more adventures together in His Kingdom.
Disappointments
The next day we all got going slowly. Those poor Ukranians, after all they had been through in the last 48 hours, slept very well. Georgia came over to the House of Cornelius and made them all breakfast. Jose Luis' pastor's wife and a helper came over from Mexico with a van to try to bring some of the truckload over the border. Before noon, Nikolay and the brothers had loaded the cargo van and the Mexican van and were ready to make another delivery. They were cheerful and encouraged by the previous day's successes. Off they went about noon. But within an hour, I got a call from Dmitriy. He said they had been turned around and that they were coming back. He sounded very disappointed.
At about 4pm they all rolled into the House of Cornelius and we all went into the dining room. Over a snack and drinks, I talked with the sobered Nikolay and Dmitriy. I encouraged them. I said, "Brother, if God wants those things across the border, they will get across. Be encouraged!" I then went on to tell him more details of our harrowing experience with the flood relief supplies and how we had exhausted everything from diplomacy to the mercy of every border guard until, at the very last possible official, we begged for mercy and God granted it. Nikolay listened and had an expression that said, "I know what you're saying but..." Dmitriy then turned to me and said, "We know what you're saying and we believe it, but we're a bit tired. Let me tell you why we are back so late." He then went on to explain that they had crossed at the little crossing just five minutes from the House of Cornelius, yet it had taken more than four hours to get back!
What had happened was that they immediately got turned around on the Mexican side and when they got to the US side two minutes later, they were six Ukranians and a large cargo van of unknown contents. Not only were they inspected, but the customs officers unloaded every box and every barrel, down to the bottom. Then they took the six men, all resident aliens of the US, into a room and put them through an intense interrogation. It was a grueling and unpleasant experience that they were not eager to repeat! But it seemed taht telling the story gave them courage because only moments after, Nikolay stood up and said (in Russian), "Let's go!" Dmitriy explained that they had decided to take a smaller load over a different border. Praise God! They made it over this time.
Ministry Partners
The next few days were uneventful as they visited in Mexico, took small loads across the border, and tried to connect with local ministries with which they could partner for future shipments. God has burdened Nikolay and Dmitriy, and a large number of Ukranian churches around the United States, with the needs of the poor in Mexico, and the desire to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ while they demonstrate His love in a true James 2:14-26 fashion. On the last day, Nikolay was able to make an extremely valuable connection in El Paso. Hopefully God will bless the House of Cornelius with another visit and ministry opportunity from these dear brothers! Their visit greatly blessed those of us at the House of Cornelius. We were in the midst of preparing for a pair of back-to-back outreaches when they arrived, but their genuine love for Jesus and passion for those He loves (enough to die on a cross), was like cool water to our thirsty souls! And with the goods that remain with us, we will be able to bless thousands of people in the name of Jesus over the coming months. Praise God!