Oh. My. Word.

I was supposed to blog about the Domodedovo bombing. But I can't bring myself to do it. I keep trying to avoid it. Why? Well because it affected me deeply and really bothered me and I'm having trouble forming thoughts about it.

So, instead I'm going to talk about what's been going on with the St. Petersburg plans. As I recall, we last left off where the Church of Christ on the Neva said they would like me to come work there. I feel very honored about this.

A while back, WWW sent out an information packet to Joel to fill out with all kinds of information about the mission site, the congregation and so on. I received a copy of this filled out packet yesterday or the day before. I was pretty excited to get it. Why? Well, because it has some details that I didn't know and also because it included an estimated expense report. What does this mean? Well, it means that I can now start fundraising.

This weekend, I will go home in order to talk to the Elders at the congregation in Alliance to see if they would be willing to be my "bank." Okay, that sounds cheap. Let me explain what I mean. They aren't really going to be my bank. Basically I'm going to talk to them about being my supporting congregation. This means that they will hang on to the money I raise, and dispense it to me as I need it. They will also pray for me, offer guidance and so forth. In addition to holding the money for me, I am also going to ask if they would be willing to take up a special collection for me from the members of the congregation there to help support my work in that way.

I spent a good chunk of this afternoon and some of this evening after work compiling a one page summary of the Neva congregation as well as an outline of my expense report. It was kind of exciting to see where the numbers were going. And also a little scary. Let me break it down for you:

WEEKLY EXPENSES
$15 Public transportation (per week)
$100 Housing (per week)
$100 Food (per week)
$5 Bottled water (per week)
$5 Laundry (per week)
$50 Other weekly expenses
$275 TOTAL (PER WEEK)

ONE-TIME EXPENSES
$0 Airport tax (total)
$500 Travel within the country (NOT counting the international air travel)
$(variable) Entertainment
$500 Other one-time expenses
$1,000 TOTAL

$275 per week x 4 weeks = $1,100 per month.
$1,100 x 12 months = 13,200
+$1,000 One-Time Expenses
+$2,000 (Airfare to and from country)
= $16,200


Yup, so that's where we're at. And maybe I shouldn't share with the world wide web how much money I'm going to have to raise, but I feel like in order to accurately document the experience of a missionary, I should include fundraising. It is rather important after all.

That said, if you or anyone you know would be willing to help support my work in Russia, please drop me an e-mail at languagelove at gmail dot com.