Linda's Siberian Impressions

Finding beauty in a place of ugliness

As us grandmas were pushing adorable Anneka in the stroller, we were looking at all the filth and garbage. Irene with delight said, “Oh look at the flowers!” It tickled me as, yes, here the morning glories were pretty, but back home they are an obnoxious weed.


When Jami, Anneka and I went downtown I thought I just might be a grandma to a 13 year old. Svetlana was hungry and dirty. We fed her and learned that she had no place to sleep. She told Jami that she wanted to go home with her and live, and compassionate Jami wanted to take her home. She called a friend who worked for the city, and he said that Leif and Jami could lose their residency if they took her in. We directed her to a place where she could get social assistance. It was hard for Jami, but we just couldn’t take her home with us. We prayed for Svetlana.

Almost everyday there have been friends come to Jami and Leif’s. It is customary to invite them for a meal. When we had friends over for lunch they brought their wash with them. We learned that the couple with their baby live in an 11 square meter home with no running water. To think about going to an outhouse in -50 degree weather is hard to imagine. It was encouraging to see though that even though their life is hard, they have the joy of Jesus in their hearts. To see beauty in people’s lives even though there is little beauty in Siberia is an encouragement.