What an awesome weekend it was! On Sunday, I was able to go to Red Square for the first time! What a beautiful place, so rich with history and so full of people from every walk of life. I was in awe as I walked through the archway and into the Square...what a breathtaking place! In the picture above, you can see St. Basil's Cathedral, the clocktower (can't remember the name off-hand), and part of Lenin's tomb. I'm told that Red Square is even more beautiful at night, and most beautiful in the winter.

Shane and Katie Lehman are such a wonderful couple! They're both new teachers at Hinkson, and we've already become great friends! When they heard that I wanted to go to Red Square, they offered to lead the way!

These first four days of school have been great! With each passing day, I can say with confidence that I know this is where God wants me to be. He's helping me so much with the teaching and especially with the interactions with the kids. There is no doubt in my mind that I was created to teach kids. What a gift! I can't describe how thrilling it is to be able to teach about Jesus all day long! I can integrate His perspective, His Word, into any lesson at any time! Thank you, Lord! One neat tidbit about the kids (much more to come later)...my Korean students have a very special eating custom. While the American kids pull out Go-Gurts, sandwiches, chips, and the like, my Korean students will unload their multi-leveled thermoses packed full of authentic Korean food, lay all the food out on the table, and share it with each other! I've heard that some of the Korean mothers will rise very early in the morning to prepare their children's lunches! Some of my students offered me some on Friday, and it was so good!

For the first time since I've been here, Tanya Cantarella wasn't behind the pulpit at Moscow First, and so I didn't have my trusty English translation yesterday morning. But that was OK. Actually, it was preferred. Why? Because all I could understand were the few words that I already know. Gospode...God. Isoos Christos...Jesus Christ. Slava Bogh...Praise God. Magoo...I can. When the only words you can understand are those plus a few more, it causes your ears to itch to hear those words! How beautiful! It forced me to anticipate hearing God's name, which is really the only word any of us need to hear. His name isn't just the sweetest name there is; it's a place! "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe" (Proverbs 18:10). It caused me to think, "How often to I anticipate hearing the Lord's name? Is it that precious to me?"

The final word on mailing stuff (I promise):

This makes me laugh! Here's my fourth and final update on mailing stuff to me (had to clear up a lot of details). I've realized that my past instructions are quite ambiguous, sorry about that! To make it simpler on everyone, I'm including one address for shipping everything - regular mail, packages, US Postal Service, UPS, DHL, etc. Any of it will arrive at this address, and it will be a little quicker than the International P.O. Be sure to write "No Commercial Value" on any package.

Luke Hays
Hinkson Christian Academy
Novochereyomushkinskaya 39 Korpus 3
117218 Moscow
RUSSIA

The school director has requested your prayers regarding a couple of staffing issues here at HCA. Could you please pray for the school to find another computer coordinator and for the sixth grade teacher to raise enough support funds so he can arrive ASAP (we have a temporary fill-in teacher right now). Thanks for praying!

I've had a lot of thoughts lately, but there's not time now to write them all down. I'll be sharing them throughout the week as I have time. Thanks for all of the prayers. It literally feels like I'm surfing on a tidal wave of prayer each day!