A Delayed Heart for Russia

The last place she ever wanted to be was the grey skied streets of Russia where the people walked without a single smile running across their faces. She didn’t care to support the country from home, she didn’t even care to help send other people, but she was determined that the very last decision she would ever make was to pick up and move to Moscow.

Sonnet Barr left for a short term mission trip to Moscow in 1995 after being invited by her pastor, Ron Carter and his wife Pam. She had been working with both the worship and women’s ministry’s at her church, First Christian Church in Nappa, Calif., when Ron asked her to accompany their group to Russia where they would team with Alliance for Saturation Church Planting in Eastern Europe.

They would be encouraging the missionaries and view the ministry of their church planting and process. Pam and Barr would also serve by leading worship for the times of ministry where Ron would speak messages of encouragement.

Initially Barr jumped at the chance to go out of the country to a new place and minister with people she loved. Although after arriving in Moscow, she rapidly realized the difficulty of ministering to women in this area. By the time the trip came to its close, she found herself sobbing as the plane took off to return home promising she would never come back to such a dismal place.

“I am a very joy filled person, but there was no joy in Moscow. It could have been the same way in New York City, I had no idea, but I knew there was no joy here,” Barr said. “I didn’t know people could be so downcast and I could almost feel that sense of oppression everywhere I went. No one ever smiled or engaged us at all; there was no lightness or joy, anywhere.”

When Barr returned from Moscow she continued her job of 10 years as a regional sales manager at Bluecross of California. She had no desire to remain there and felt as if an angel was holding her arms and legs to the chair during their regional meeting. When Mark Wineberg, senior vice president, entered their meeting wearing a ‘Life’s Hard, Pray Harder’ t-shirt, she knew God was showing her that the company would still be in good hands without her. Barr knew she was released to leave.

“I’ve always viewed everything I do as God’s ministry for my life and tried to minister to whoever crossed my path. This was a relief to know this company would be in good hands and I could move out to wherever God wanted me to go,” Barr said.

She quit her job in July 1995 and immediately enrolled at Columbia Bible College where she graduated with a Bible certificate in 1996. Once she received her certificate she went to work as acting Vice President of Financial Development at United World Mission. At this point she enjoyed her job supporting missionaries but still was not interested in returning to Moscow.

In 1997 she was married to her husband Jon. Two years after their wedding he leaned over one night to tell his wife that God was calling them back to Moscow. She responded in her best submissive wife tone by telling her husband that if God wanted her to go to Russia, then he will tell her because she had no intentions of ever returning to that sullen place.

Later she went to her husband to agree that God had made it clear to her that they were to return. So in June 2001 they arrived to their new home in Moscow and have been there ministering to the people for 10 years.

The first camp they led was two weeks after they arrived, where they were in charge of the American team that was coming. A missionary friend was there with one Russian student to lead working with the Russian linguistics. Spontaneously this missionary friend had a stroke and was evacuated to Finland for immediate medical care. This left Jon and Sonnet four days before the camp, knowing little Russian to lead with.

At this point it was the worst and the best news they received. They now had no doubt in their minds that they were doing the right thing and their dependancy on God had never been stronger.

Now this couple has developed an English Exchange where they work as the native speaker component of a foreign language program in a Russian university. In this former communist country evangelism is a challenge, but Jon and Sonnet use their ministry to teach English to their Russian students in hopes of sharing God with them.

Their ministry is dependent upon building relationships of trust and respect. People in this country want to learn English because it is the language of business, travel and the Internet. Through teaching the language and building relationships with the students, this leads to opportunities to share who they are with each other and explain what makes them different.

“It’s not even about the message so much anymore, it’s about the life and the walk of the messenger. Building relationships is what will get your message heard,” Barr said.

The university required them to agree to not openly talk about God in a group setting. Out of respect to these officials, they agreed but still make opportunities to talk individually with their students about God. The English Exchange has invited students to come work at their camps every winter and summer. Those that come are there to help teach english, sing and perform with music and build relationships.

“It’s different from any other kind of mission trip. It’s not street evangelism, we are doing short term stuff to help them in their long term ministry,” Hannah Morrett, sophomore said. “We go to camp and sing songs and do stuff we would normally do with different people around the world. It helps people realize they can be themselves with all people and it’s even great for those who are not going into full time ministry.”

Coming from a relational standpoint is the best strategy they can use in that culture. In the past missionaries would come to evangelize in Russia and then immediately leave, so the Russian people have become resistant to missionaries. From a cultural standpoint, building relationships are the best way to reach these people because Russia is a relational country, according to Morrett.

Many opportunities are available around the world for Liberty students to get involved in missions. Various missionaries came to the campus Sept. 21 to Sept. 23 to talk with students and share their ministries during this fall semester’s Missions Emphasis Week. Barr is one of the missionaries that came to share with the student body and offer opportunities for the students to get involved in their ministry to Moscow, a place of 16 million people.

This year’s trips to the English Exchange in Moscow will be Dec. 29 to Jan. 8, June 23 to July 8 and July 28 to Aug. 12. For more information visit www.the-exchange.org or contact Jon and Sonnet Barr at TheExchangeRU@cs.com.