Mission: Backpacks!

You wouldn’t think that buying children’s backpacks would look like an episode out of Mission Impossible, but my effort to get 200 of these gifts for the kids at the ministry sites proved to be a little bit of an “adventure”.

Dasha, our SAC program director in St. Petersburg had made arrangements with a commercial seller over the last few weeks for us to purchase some backpacks at a significant discount to give to the kids at the various ministry sites we serve. We made our appointment with this seller at 3pm on Thursday.

It took about an hour to get there. I had to exchange money first to pay for these and then we were off to make our selections and pay for the backpacks. When we got to this building after walking from a metro station for about 15 minutes, there was a delay in getting in. Apparently, this building used to be a high security government building. Even though there was no high security work being done there anymore, the building retained the security rating and only authorized personnel were granted entrance. Usually they need about 2-3 hours to work up paperwork to arrange for a foreigner to come inside the building, but the seller had not prepared this. I was just a customer of this one company that occupied part of the building that sold bags, including the backpacks that I wanted. Of course, the seller wanted us to come in as we were ready to make a purchase. So, as is common in Russia, you can always find a way…

Since entrance had not been prearranged, the seller spent several minutes making “other” arrangements to sneak me into the building. Ahh… the adventure begins! Remember, all I want to do is buy backpacks for some orphans in our ministry sites, but it’s not always so easy!

My translator was escorted into the building through one entrance. She was not a problem since she was a Russian citizen. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I knew in situations like this from before that I just needed to be patient and wait to see what they were able to arrange. I waited outside the building for 10-15 minutes listening to a car alarm that evidently was too sensitive. Soon, the seller came out and told me (in Russian) that a car was coming to pick us up and take us in. The car came around and picked us up. I was told to sit in the front seat. The seller sat behind me. No one spoke English. As we got on our way, the driver handed me a brown document about the size of a passport without a picture. It appeared to be some document with stamps and official signatures. It was probably the driver’s or someone else’s security ID. He motioned and explained in Russian that I was supposed to open it and hold it up to the window when we drove past the guard at the gate! Oh boy, I thought… this will be interesting!

We rounded the corner and sped past security. They waved us on through and I didn’t have to hold the pass up to the window. So, I was in! I just kept quiet so others around me wouldn’t question why I was there. Of course, I was only a customer buying children’s backpacks, but the building security situation made for an interesting visit!

Inside the seller was very friendly and showed us a number of high quality backpacks to choose from. I was challenged to finds backpacks that would appeal to girls and boys along with young children and teenagers. After several minutes of calculating what would be best, I made the selections and received deep discounts as they knew the backpacks were going to be given to official Russian social institutions.

Then there was a little problem with the payment. I expected to pay in cash, but since it was a commercial purchase, they usually do purchase by bank transfer. Since I wanted to take several of the backpacks to Sosnovo this weekend, they quickly made arrangements so that I could pay for these in cash. We waited probably 30 minutes for them to prepare the paperwork to do this. At one point I saw a man carrying a cash register past us and I thought that maybe this was part of what they were trying to prepare! However, I think it was for something else. Within short order, the transaction was complete and they would deliver the backpack to us the next day. Now that the transaction was complete, they needed to be seek me out of the building again!

Again, my translator was taken out another exit. I was told to get in the backseat of another car that had darkened windows on the side with yet another driver. This driver spoke a little English and seemed pleased to get to practice it. I sat among other boxes in the back of his car. Again, we rounded the corner and the driver sped toward the gate. I sat quietly and watched as we got closer. The female gate guard appeared to stoop as if she was trying to see through the front window if anyone was in the back. Maybe she saw me and maybe she didn’t, but she made no motion to stop the car. We drove on through and rounded another corner and picked up my translator who was waiting for us. The driver then drove us onto the metro station where our little adventure came to an end!

Now it really wasn’t a big deal as the others at this place of business seemed to have had to do this before. It wasn’t illegal, but probably just a broach of procedural protocol. It just seemed to be a part of normal business in Russia to get around rules that don’t make sense to the business. Even though all of this, God knows my good intentions and my desire to help orphan kids. Passage was made for me with His protection all the way. With faith and prayer, God can provide for your needs too even when procedures and customs seems a little strange. He can even provide a little life adventure for the willing soul!