Then there was a DJ...

... This is part 3 of Up the River... so if you have not read the first two parts... read them in order first... then go ahead and come back to this post.

... I slept, but I didn't sleep much... the bench/chairs at that airport were not very comfortable... I was kinda laying out, but since there were these metal armrests every couple chairs, you could not lay flat, you had to bed your knees around them... yeah... it was not really that fun. I got up around 6am, and moved to a different spot in the airport... one that was closer to the door I thought that people would come in if they were looking for me...

Around 8am... I think... the times are really fuzzy on exactly when... most of the night is just this long uncomfortable blur... I got woken up by an airport security guard, I had no clue what he was telling me, so I just sat up and prayed that is was "You can't sleep here." I got up and went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth... people in the bathroom were giving me the strangest looks... I mean... I have seen some pretty crazy stuff in airport bathrooms... In Vegas I saw two guys helping each other put makeup on, businessmen shaving... Why did all those people look at me funny for brushing my teeth?

I went back to my... area... there are like 100 chairs in the area I was sleeping in before, and someone had taken my old seat... so I moved about half a section down. I was sitting there... and I decided that I needed to make a journal entry about what had happened up to this point. I will tell you now, that I am not using that entry for reference, because I was so tired when I wrote it that most of it does not make any sense to me in the least. As I was writing furiously, I didn't even notice my sweatshirt that was on my knee fell to the floor.

When this happened... This old Russian Grandma started yelling at me... I was so confused... I said outloud in English, I don't understand Russian... She was making hand motions... and the guy next to her was saying... your shirt! your shirt! Then this guy behind me said... She is telling you to pick up your sweatshirt so it does not get dirty.

I turned to him... and said... YOU SPEAK ENGLISH????

Up to this point, no one had spoken good English, there were some people who spoke broken English, but not good English... We started a conversation, and I explained to him the situation I was in. After explaining for a few minutes, he was going over all the details with me, trying to help me figure something out. When he learned I had no money, he asked me if I wanted some water. Truth is, I hadn't had any water since I had gotten off the plane. He went and got me a water and a snikers bar... that was the best breakfast ever. He called the Hotel Russia again and talked to them for me, sure enough... no one was there that I knew. Then he asked me, if I could call anyone back in the States and get some contact information. This guy was from St. Petersburg, and had a cell phone... do you know what the charges would be to make that call? I don't even want to know.

I called my house. I'm not sure what time it was here, but since we are exact opposites on the time zones... like 11 hours off... and it was now nearing noon... it was late... My step mom Amy answered, and I explained super quick what happened, and what I needed. She sprang into action and asked me if I could call back, or if there was a way she could call me... I asked the guy, and he said we would call back...

While we were waiting to call back, Me and Kostya, had some good conversation. We talked about a lot of things. It turns out, that he a dentist for his 9 to 5, Monday through Friday job... but... on the weekends, he is an International DJ. He was in Moscow because he had done a show in the Ukraine and was transferring flights here, and his flight out was super delayed. He was actually trying to get on another flight, and the airlines were giving him the run around.

When I called back the third time, I asked Amy to call my cell phone and check my voicemail... I thought my phone was going to work, so I was hoping there were messages... bingo!! I had 5 voicemails!

When I was writing the number down, Kostya said... that is a local number! And right when I hung up, he grabbed the phone and began dialing... he waited for it to ring and then handed back to me... The person answered in Russian... all I could say was... Hi, this is Chris Warren.

The person on the other end of the phone was Stacey Shopp. She is a missionary who has been in Russia almost 10 years, 5 in Moscow. She was my rescue squad! Her and Ilya. Ilya helped me sort through all of my lost baggage mess when they arrived to pick me up. He is a great guy, really funny...

While I was waiting for them to show up, they were at the other airport, on the other side of the city... Kostya and I talked some more, I watched his stuff while he went to argue with the people at the ticket counter, and he returned with a couple of beers. He offered one to me, and I politely declined. Although... looking back... I probably could have used it.

In my first 24 hours in Moscow, I saw some of the best of Russia, and some of the worst. I prayed more in those hours spend sitting at the airport then I had in the month leading up to the trip. I really needed that prep time. God had a purpose for me to be stuck there, away from my team, with no money, no cell phone, no ride, no clue. What is was will probably never be crystal clear until we are all singing His praise together in Heaven, but... I have a few ideas of what it could be.

-- thanks for reading all of that... I never expected to make the first story this long, but as I wrote the details just started flooding my mind. I was experiencing it all over again. Praise God for what He does.

Kostya is probably an angel. I sure felt like he was when I was there with him.