Coming to you live, from the surface of the sun ...

You may not know this, but things are not what we thought they would be. Take the weather for instance. I told the team that the projected temperature would be in the low 70s during the day and low 50s during the night. “Bring a jacket!” I said. It’s a good thing that I said that, otherwise when it dropped below 90 we might get a chill on. Did you hear that? 90. It will be 101 on Thursday. Now, that’s not too hot for my Texans, except for the fact that the humidity is devastating. I spent 30 minutes trying to dry off after I got out of the shower. I thought it was Groundhog Day. I kept thinking, "Didn't I already dry off?" Even the mosquitoes are quitting their strafing runs early. And no, we don’t have AC. Anywhere. We don’t even have fans. What we have is temperatures that are, on a daily basis, breaking historical records for the past 70 years. We went through over 50 liters of water ... today. I drank six myself. I don’t drink six liters ... of anything .... ever. Except ice tea. The good thing is that the hotel cafeteria (just can't bring myself to call it a restaurant) has “Cool Tea”. The bad news is that it is like calling this temperature "balmy." I don’t know what the definition of “cool” is but I do know that tea should not be warmer than me and it definitely should not have been cut with brake fluid. I’m not even entirely sure it should be that color. What I am sure of is that it is not tea.

Just to make it clear, it’s so hot that my the sweat drips into my food at lunch and dinner. Imagine Corky Holland eating the most devastatingly hot wings you can imagine. He gets rivulets of sweat, and I have stream. I’m not sure I have ever been this hot. I mean, my bed is wet. I’m glistening, but not just in personality.

But, onto the camps. Today was day one at both camps. We left the city and drove out and had about 2 hours at camp 14, the older kids camp. After that, we went to the hotel and checked in and it only took an hour to get the luggage up to our rooms. The elevator has a weight limit of 600 pounds ... so most of us guys don’t get to ride together. After lunch and the sauna (the cafeteria), we went on to camp 40, the younger kids camp. Now, here is the advantage of a day in a city where the temperature should be 65 at 3pm and is 98 instead; the kids were all in their underwear. Imagine 50 Russian kids, all between 3 and about 6, running around in their undies yelling for us. I’m not even sure I can post pictures without going to jail! And what made it really cute is that these were not whitey-tighties, these were more like dirty-frumpies. I spent the first 5 minutes making adjustments to kids that obviously aspire to be plumbers. Never seen so much snow-white flesh in my life!

What is truly amazing is how God has orchestrated this trip in so many ways. It’s hot in a place that has has not been this hot since the Germans were running around. It’s so humid, my cracked heals have healed. And I am so blessed, that I once again sit here, at 2:15am, speechless. How does God do it? During our evening de-brief, we all sat in wonder as we realized that the awful airport experience, in the words of one immaculate sage, was our Currahee. The 24 hours of running through airports took a loose family and turned it into something that only God can do; it turned us into a Body. We have always had great teams on this trip, but I can truly say that this is the most profound collection of hearts I have ever worked with.

Ishi, our lead translator, stopped me while I was walking and said “Wow Dahveed. Thuh kids have already axcepted thees teem. Wow” Now Ishy is anything but silent, but this is a telling statement from him. This is the first time that I ever had a first day that felt like the third. We came. We saw. He conquered.

At camp 40, the team with the most active kids arrived and as soon as they walked up, the Babooshkahs (the women who keep the kids) said they were going to go have a cup of tea. My first thought was, “Wow! Are you crazy? Tea? In this heat?” My second thought was that this is the first time they left the kids with us alone. The trust was not just assumed, it was manifest.

So, it’s been a good day. Tomorrow night, I will share the computer with others so they can write to you themselves. We may even put a message in a bottle and float it across our sweaty backs to you!

Please continue to pray because the threat of heat related issues is real and I am all but pouring water down their mouths. Everyone is eating well enough, so stop worrying about that. Hannah likes the caviar and McKenzie has tried everything that has passed in front of her. We’re well, we’re loved and we’re a team. We miss you all, but this is where we need to be. And now that I just fell asleep with the computer on my chest, I will bid you farewell from the surface of the sun.

The 2010 Russia team