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Andy and Rachel Frecka: Serving with Youth With A Mission Russia
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The Freckas are back in Perm and getting ready for the big move to Moscow!
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Russia is not just the land of Sputnik, Gorbachev, borscht, post-Communist civil strife, impressive Olympic gymnasts, and endless landscapes of industrial grey. Russia is also a place where total strangers will spend a morning teaching you to speak without an accent, where the bureaucracy is truly a marvel of human engineering, where the airlines “fly with soul,” where hospitality approaches a fine art, and where a village will rescue you if you try, during the spring thaw, to travel a winter road.
Andy Frecka invites you to ride along in the backseat of his succession of variously reliable vehicles as he travels the back roads of a Russia that you have never seen before. Andy’s Russia is full of surprises and heartbreaks and incredibly loyal friends. You’ll learn about the culture (don’t “just look” at the car dealership), the language (complete with sounds that do not exist), the customs (a steam bath in a banya is both a cure-all and an expression of welcome), and the real estate (don’t ask).
You’ll also learn about the people, from Andy’s lively and resilient family to his resourceful and compassionate comrades-in-arms to the surprising and interesting people he meets in his mission work. Meet the mysterious spindle maker, the kind customs agent, the optimistic taxi driver, and the honest surgeon as you walk, hitch-hike, fly, and drive your way across Russia with a regular guy who has a knack for the odd meeting, the chance observation, the apt phrase, and the ability to laugh at himself.
