It wasn't just the mounting evidence that the country tampered with our election process. I also read about growing fears in the Baltic States that Russia was preparing to invade. In March, as I was making arrangements for my trip, Sweden re-instituted its military draft partly because of these fears. There was the chemical warfare in Syria backed by Russia.
And then there are all the US sanctions against Russia. Costly sanctions that are getting in the way of oil drilling in Siberia, as well as the more recent sanctions expelling Russian diplomats from the US.
But I trusted Viking. I figured they wouldn't take tourists into harm's way. And I must say the trip went off without a hitch-- except for an airline snafu on the way home. The Hermitage, the ballet, Red Square... all lived up to expectations. And the guides' comments about various political situations helped me to see their perspective.
In the daily newspaper provided by the ship, I followed as the issue of sanctions came to a head in Congress and Putin responded by announcing plans to cut the number of American diplomats by September. It made lots of headlines but didn't effect our scheduled tours in any way.
One afternoon, as we were cruising across a lake, a rainbow came out. Suddenly I realized that God's promises are not just for Americans. It's a big, complex world. They have sunshine and storms everywhere. And yes, there are rainbows in Russia.
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