Safely in the USA

Thank you to all who prayed for us, we all returned safely and without delay to the United States over the weekend.  It's now back to work!

We've posted some photos from our trip to our Facebook page.  Here are some highlights from our days in Odessa:

Last day in Ukraine

We have wrapped shooting and are spending one last day with the staff of Radooga in Kiev, Ukraine.  The Lord really blessed our whole shoot, and we spent some time last night viewing footage.  We're all very excited about what we got on tape.

Our time filming Tanya Baranova was very powerful.  I almost don't want to go too much into it because I think the film will speak for itself, but it was a very moving experience for all of us on staff and in the crew.

Today we sent back Barry, Johnny, and Josh to America and as far as we know, they've made it through customs and on to Paris for their connection.  Please pray for them as they travel home.  Tomorrow, Steve, Marti, and myself head back to America.

Thank you to all who have prayed for us during this trip.  We really saw your prayers for safety, weather, etc. answered and then some.  Stay tuned for what's next with actually seeing the film!

-Russell Anderson for the MDI team

On to Odessa

We are about halfway through filming, and are now on location in Odessa, Ukraine.  Yesterday we spent the bulk of the day doing our best to capture everyday life in Kiev.  From women feeding pigeons to kids playing soccer in the schoolyard, we caught a bit of everything.  It was a fun and creative day of shooting, and we owe a lot to our driver, Pavel, who was not shy about asking strangers if we could film them!

In the morning yesterday Marti and Steve had an excellent meeting with a woman from New Life who has been developing the Christian Morals and Ethics program we have recently begun to partner with.  They both left that meeting very impressed with her commitment to the project and her faith.  We are even more excited about the opportunity to bring Christian school teachers to Ukraine next spring to train public school teachers on how to teach Christian morals in the classroom.

Yesterday evening we met with MDI missionary Joel Brown for dinner, and heard about his recent recommitment to living in Ukraine (until otherwise notified by the Holy Spirit), and how the Lord has really blessed that commitment with a New Life Youth ministry program that is running at full steam.  Josh Ingram will be staying with Joel over the next few days to learn what it's like to be an MDI missionary in Ukraine, first hand!

Today we made the trek to Odessa.  The drive was completely socked in by fog in the morning but by midday it cleared for some beautiful views of the countryside.   This evening we were able to film Oleg Vasilevsky speaking at a youth conference here.  He is such a dynamic speaker that even though I don't really understand what he's saying, I am still very much engaged when I watch him.  It should look great on film.

Tomorrow we'll go to Trinity International Church, home of Pastor Sergey Bermas, part time staff person of MDI through Journey to Freedom.  We then move on to begin filming the third star of our film, Tanya Baranova, Director of Journey to Freedom Ukraine.

Please pray for rest!

-Russell Anderson for MDI

Day 2 - All about Anatoly

Our second day is a wrap and we are now relaxing at the home of Oleg and Lena Vasilevsky.

It was a long one, however.  We started early this morning with an interview of Anatoly Kaluzhny outside the building (now a church) where he publicly debated prominent atheist philosophers in the early 90's.  We then moved on to film him in different places around the city and at New Life church's offices.

The weather has been absolutely pristine, we couldn't ask for anything more beautiful or perfect for filming.  Here's hoping it continues but we all feel that God is coninually blessing this shoot, so praise Him!

Josh Ingram is practicing tonight with one of New Life church's worship bands.  He will play with them Saturday night and next Wednesday.  Today he got to meet a lot of the church and everyone keeps asking if he's moving to Kiev.  Please continue to pray for him as he considers opportunities!

We didn't sleep much last night, so please pray for rest as we go about the rest of this film shoot.  12+ hour days accompanied by jet lag will sooner or later take its toll, but by the Lord's strength we will power through!

Thank you all for remembering us in your prayers!

For all of us,
Russell Anderson

First day of filming in Kiev

Videographer John Gerhart and his steady-cam

Greetings from the Radooga offices in Kiev, Ukraine. We are smack dab in the middle of our first day of shooting, and are focused today on the story of Oleg Vasilevsky and how MDI has influenced him as a leader.

Our day of travel was long, with some pretty significant layovers in Detroit and Amsterdam, but everything arrived on time. An even greater miracle was our situation going through customs. All of our checked baggage, 12 items total, arrived safely, and we received absolutely zero flack from passport control or customs. This is seriously praiseworthy!

The wonderful Sveta Boiko was waiting for us with a large van to carry all of our gear, and off we went to our apartment building.  Another small miracle occurred as the large freight elevator, which had been broken at the beginning of the day, was functioning just long enough for us to get all our equipment and baggage upstairs, until it broke again.  We already see the hand of God blessing this trip in some obvious ways!

Tonight it is off to New Life Church to film Anatoly Kaluzhny preaching, and then tomorrow we will spend a whole day filming him.  We leave for Odessa Saturday.

Thank you for your prayers and please keep lifting us up!

-Russell Anderson for the MDI team

Lights, Camera, MDI in Action

MDI has an incredibly unique opportunity which has prompted our upcoming trip.  Accompanying us to Ukraine is Barry Simmons of Stone Castle Pictures, director and producer of the award-winning film Sons of Lwala.

Barry and videographer Johnny Gerhart will be lending their talents and expertise to MDI, telling the story of how MDI changes the lives of ministry leaders around the world. The result will be a roughly ten minute short film about the power of our ministry.

Such a film has the potential to really capture visually the essence of MDI in a way that simply cannot be verbalized, and could be an incredible tool for us to spread the news of our ministry and the needs of our partners on a much wider scale in a shorter amount of time.  But it all starts with the quality of the footage we are able to get on tape.

This is where we could really use your prayers!  Any number of factors could disrupt our shoot, which will take place over eight days, such as bad weather, corrupt customs agents, curious crowds or even police stalling us in search of a bribe.  Please pray that we would be able to navigate the twists and turns that are bound to be in store for us, and that we would get the content we need to accurately tell the story of our ministry in action!

In addition, during this trip MDI will also be spending its normal time as mentors, consultants, and equippers to our ministry partners in Ukraine, so we will have a very full plate!

Please stand in the gap for us and lift us up in prayer each day from October 11 through October 22.
 
Joining MDI on this trip as well will be Josh Ingram, of Midtown Fellowship Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

Josh was a member of the recent team of Midtowners who served with Russell Anderson of MDI at a Radooga orphan camp in July 2010. That trip was such a powerful experience for Josh that he feels called to explore possibilities for serving in Ukraine on a longer term basis.

This next month will serve as a vision trip for him to discover how God might use his gifts in Ukraine, and to make connections with the different ministries MDI is involved with to find out if there is a fit. Please pray for Josh as he seeks to discern God's call for his future, and if that involves becoming a missionary in Ukraine!
 
In other ways, the Lord continues to bless the ministry of MDI.  We are excited to have our team member Randy Morgan back in the United States for a few months (he arrived this week), and we have been encouraged by the visit of Oleg and Lena Vasilevsky of Radooga, who have also been in Nashville this week.

We are gearing up to begin our new fund-raising year, which begins November 1.  Our goal is to raise $22,000 in monthly support for our projects as well as our operating budget.

Please pray about how you might partner with us financially in the coming year and to see how the Lord might use you to help fulfill the vision He has cast within this ministry.

Thank you for praying for us during our upcoming travels, and for continuing to lift up MDI and all of our ministry partners in prayer!

In Christ,

Marti Scudder for the MDI team

Christ in the Classrooms of Ukraine

...and your gift of $90 or more can help make it happen!

	MDI is proud to announce the launch of a new project: Christian Morals & Ethics in Ukrainian Classrooms Recently, MDI's longtime partner in ministry, New Life Center, has begun training Ukrainian middle and high school teachers to teach Christian morals and ethics using a curriculum they have published. This is in response to a 2005 governmental order allowing the subject to be taught as an extra-curricular course in public schools. MDI wants to bring this training to a whole new level, and to promote the curriculum as widely as possible in the shortest amount of time, because without this training teachers are not allowed to teach the subject, and recent governmental changes in Ukraine may close this unique window of opportunity at any point in time. So, with the partnership of Christian schools and teachers in the United States, MDI will conduct a series of conferences in 2011 to train and certify some 600 public school teachers to teach Christian morals and ethics in their schools.  You can learn more on our website by clicking here. Without these conferences, New Life Center will not be able to reach these teachers, and thousands of Ukrainian students will miss the opportunity to hear about Christ in their schools. We have an opportunity to have a serious impact with the next generation in Ukraine, but we need your help to do it! Each conference will cost roughly $9,000 and train 100 teachers, so for a gift of $90 you can provide training to one Ukrainian school teacher.  Please consider sponsoring one, five, or maybe even ten Ukrainian school teachers by donating now! Thank you from all of us at MDI! -Marti Scudder