Walking in the Way...

Camp Update!

2011-08-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

We are so very thankful for your prayers for the summer camps ~ God did amazing things and was at work in so many people's lives. I was reminded again that we can plan, work hard, organize but it's only the power of God that can give hope, forgiveness and a new life. The first camp we had 30 youth and seven people repented. At the second English camp we had 50 - 55 people (some came just for a few days) and 14 people repented. We were very thankful that almost all the youth were new contacts ~ had not been to previous camps or Bible studies at the youth center. We were also grateful for the way God provided teachers for the English camp. This was the first year we didn't have a group from the States come over and God provided some wonderful teenagers from Moscow whose parents are missionaries. They did a fantastic job with the English lessons and were such a blessings. I personally was encouraged to see their maturity and willingness to help ~ it gave me hope that maybe, just maybe missionary kids can turn out *normal* ::wink:: Here are a few pictures and stories.

James in one of the morning sessions

Preparing three meals a day in the middle of the woods can be quite a challenge. Very thankful for the cook God provided.

Capture the flag is always a favorite

Chris Koepke from Kerrville, TX came over for the month and was a big help

This is Alina ~ her story was neat because she comes from a great home where the parents are Christians and have been praying for her for years. She did not want to come to camp and be around 'boring Christians' but finally decided to come.. so great to see how God worked in her heart!

These two brothers Dima and Anatolli (^ and below) were great to get to know. They come from a very poor family and had never read the Bible or heard about God. Both of them repented and have been coming to the Bible studies at the youth center since camp ended.

The young man in the orange flowered shorts is 16 year old Vitya. The week before he came to camp he overdosed on drugs and had to be rushed to the emergency room. He repented and after camp James was able to take him out to a Christian rehab center for a 2 month stay. So exciting to see the change in his life!

These are two of Rachel's best friends ~ Olga on the left and Sveta on the right. Olga went to camp last year and has been several times to Bible studies at the youth center. During the first camp she prayed to receive Christ. The next day I was out at camp and she came running up to the car to tell me what had happened and asked me if I could take her to the Christian store in Moscow after camp was over to buy a Bible. Rachel was thrilled as she has been praying for Olga for almost three years. Sveta also prayed to receive Christ and James has been able to get to know her parents and witness to them through camp.

This is 19 year old Katya ~ she repented at the second camp. Later after camp was over she came by the youth center and told James how it was a like a battle was going on in her soul the entire time until she prayed. She said she would never forget the peace that has come into her life and how grateful she is she learned about God and now has a Bible to read. She comes from a very tragic home situation with no father and an alcoholic Mother.

When we first moved out to Nara-Faminsk eight years ago and had our very first camp in this area we had an 18 year old girl named Lena come... oiy was she a trouble maker! She smuggled vodka in and got drunk and James was on the verge of sending her home when he said he felt strongly 'no she's the one that needs to stay.' At the end of camp one person and only one person repented... Lena. She went from being an alcoholic, angry, rebellious teen who regularly went to the Satanic church to walking in truth and light. The change in her life was dramatic to say the least! She ended up going to a Christian university in Moscow and marrying a super Christian husband. Lena and Vitalya were a fantastic help during the camp ~ shopping, hauling water, cutting wood, sharing Christ and always investing in the lives around them. Such a blessings to see their lives!

Lunchtime

the kitchen

I'll end with some pictures of our kids enjoying camp ~ Johanna is part fish and would stay in water all day if she could

David LOVED the rope swing

and playing with the boat

And here's James ~ I told him once he turns 40 he can't do stuff like this

I can't put into words how much we appreciate those who financially gave to make this camp possible, and to those who prayed. God answered in a great and mighty way and we give all glory to HIM! Thank you for your investment in the lives of Russian youth.

Summer Update & Prayer Requests

2011-07-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Beairds! It's that most wonderful time of the year... CAMP! Camp started on Friday; please pray for safety, protection and that God will work in hearts and lives over the next week. It's a much smaller group than we've had in the past ~ only 35 youth, but we're excited that almost all of them have never been to camp or the meetings at the youth center. It's the first time many of them have ever read a Bible or talked about God and James said the small group Bible studies are going great.

Two weeks ago our city was celebrating it's 150th anniversary and had a big city day. We took the kids to ride some carnival rides and were walking around the center of town when a young lady came running up to James.. 'James, hi it's me Ksenya!' A girl who had gone to camp three years ago was walking around with her beautiful little daughter. Ksenya doesn't live in our city and was just here visiting relatives. Three years ago she decided to come to camp, but the week before found out she was pregnant. Her Mom took her to the clinic and made an appointment for an abortion as soon as she returned from camp. During the week out at camp Ksenya ended up repenting and went home a new person.. she got home and told her parents she couldn't have the abortion. When we saw her she told us all that God has been doing in her life the past three years and said 'if I hadn't gone to your camp my daughter Anna wouldn't be alive today.' It was such a huge blessing and encouragement to us to realize that yes it's worth the time, effort and energy to invest in these lives and to share Christ with these young people. Eternity is at stake. Please pray for these young people to personally know God and have a relationship with him that will change their lives.

Lunch time

Practicing for the evening singing

Christopher Koepke, the son of James' cousin in TX, came out for the month and has been a huge help! Here he is with David & Caleb

The rope swing is always such a big hit!

Thank you again for all you do for our family and blessing us in so many ways!

Christ is Risen!

2011-04-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

My most sincere apologies for not updating this blog sooner. We arrived back in Russia on March 22nd and I promptly got sick.. that plus jet lag and trying to get school going again and I have been doing good to keep my head above water. :) Rachel's prayers were answered and we had plenty of snow awaiting us when we returned. Here's a picture of Caleb enjoying a snowball fight ~ and in case you're wondering yes this was taken in April.

Today was beautiful warm and sunny, I looked out the window to see Johanna in the back yard with no shoes, short sleeves playing right beside our still unmelted snow banks. For our kids SUNSHINE = bare feet, regardless of what the temperature reading is..

However we have finally adjusted and back to living life in Russia. James is leading Bible studies on Wednesday and Sunday, and teaching in the orphanage every Thursday afternoon. He was very encouraged this past Thursday when quite a few students hung out for several hours after the regular lessons were over to *just talk*. Oh man I can't describe it in words but these 20 - 25 young people mean so very much to our entire family. Pray that they will meet Jesus and have their lives changed. Their life situations are so tragic and hopeless and they are wanting answers for their life questions.

Tomorrow is Easter here in Russia. I love this celebration and we've had a wonderful Holy week with Rachel catching her hair on fire lighting the lent candles, special readings, seder meal, cleaning the house (Russian tradition, but it's a good one) and making traditional Kulitchkee Easter cakes. Please pray for our service tomorrow and then tomorrow night at 7 pm we're having a special bonfire and meeting and inviting lots of young people who normally don't come to the Youth Center.

Johanna made no bake cookies and formed them into little 'nests' complete with jelly beans for eggs and a marshmellow bird on top. She was so so cute carefully making each one and then carrying them down the road on a plate to all of the older Grandmothers on our street.

A few weeks before we returned from the States our very dear friend 'Baba Luba' died from cancer. We lived in the same apartment building for several years and she was a such a gift to our family and became an adopted Grandmother for our kids. She had BRIGHT red hair, was so loving, kind, generous and very, very funny. This is one of my favorite pictures of her and her sister Luba (head scarf) peeling apples in our back yard with Caleb and David. They came over and spent the entire day helping us make apple sauce.

She made me fish head soup after Caleb and Johanna were born, and every single year the week before Easter she would come and spend the whole day with me and help deep clean the entire apartment/house. I remember once after we'd worked hard all morning cleaning windows I told her to take a break and fixed her a peanut butter and honey sandwich. She had never heard of or tasted peanut butter and her reaction was hilarious.. she told me I was trying to kill her like those sticky mouse traps you kill mice with. :) I've thought of her so much this past week. I've thought of the times we shared Christ with her.. she would always say 'oh it's a wonderful story, but I'm just too old to believe that. My whole life I was told God didn't exist and I just can't believe He actually does.' My heart has been broken this week as I think of our city of 100,000 with no Protestant church and no one telling the children 'YES you were created, and the Creator God who made you has a purpose for your life!' This is why we're here. This is why we so desperately need your prayers. As we all celebrate the new life we have in Christ please remember to pray for those who have never heard . Thank you so very much for all you are doing to allow us the privilege of living here.

Fall Update

2010-10-17T01:26:00.000-07:00

Time for an update! It's always nice to get into the routine of school again. We've got a 6th, 4th, 2nd and a busy preschooler this year.. fun times. James is enjoying teaching at the orphanage and sitting around afterwards answering lots and lots of questions about life, God, the Bible, purpose for living. We are so thankful for this open door.

Bible studies continue at the youth center. Right now James is going through the book of John. It's so neat to see the changes in people's lives and how excited they are to share their faith.

I've been thinking a great deal lately about the word "Redeemer". A few weeks ago was the one year anniversary of your neighbor Dima's death. It was a very sad week and we spent some time visiting with Dima's parents Olga & Zhenya. I kept thinking back

to a little over a year ago when Zhenya openly showed how much he disliked us ~ never waving, never talking. Now they bring us plum jelly and we have spent hours and hours talking in the back yard and sharing our lives. Zhenya decided a few months ago to quit his job performing abortions. This had been his profession for 25 years and it was a very well-paying job at one of the largest hospital in Moscow. Now he's working as a regular Dr. for a fraction of the salary. When James asked him about quitting his job he simply answered 'you can't believe that God exists and perform abortions.' To see how drastically their lives have changed still just amazes me.. to see Olga attending a Bible study with her Bible open and taking notes.. to see how all the other neighbors talk about the changes they see.. truly they have been Redeemed - they have been bought back, saved from a life of sin and it's consequences.

In other news ~ the Beairds are headed to the States for the next four months. We are looking forward to speaking at two different mission conferences and hope to see many of you as we travel. If anyone knows of a church, sunday school, Awana group, etc. that would like to hear about Russia please contact us ~ we will be in Texas and Pennsylvania and any states in between those two that want to hear about Russia. :)

Thank you again for your love and prayers for our family! And I'll leave you with a picture of our precious Johanna Joy that turned five last week ~ not the best picture but the sweetest five year old in Europe!!

Prayer requests

2010-08-14T11:24:00.001-07:00

You may have read the news reports about the terrible drought and forest fires Russia is experiencing. Last week was miserable as the heat was over 100 and the smoke was so bad you couldn't go outside or more importantly open your windows to get a bit of relief from the heat.

We had 3 glorious days of no smoke earlier this week and then yesterday the smoke rolled back in.. here's the view from our window at noon. (it was worse last week, but it was so bad I didn't dare open the window to take a picture.. ha!)

Experts are saying we could experience this toxic smoke for another two months - I am really hoping they are wrong.

Some other prayer requests:

1. Our next door neighbors Olga & Zhenya - in two weeks it will be the first year anniversary of their son's death.

2. Home-school will be starting up Monday - I'll have a 6th grader, 4th grader, 2nd grader and Johanna will be going to a Russian pre-school three mornings a week (where all the other kids went until they turned 7). Usually at the end of the summer I've enjoyed a break and am refreshed and motivated to get back into schooling.. however, I'll be honest, this has been such a difficult summer that instead I'm quite exhausted and am not feeling ready to start another school year. So pray that somehow miraculous over the next 48 hours I would get excited & refreshed. :)

3. kids health - Rachel has coughed for a month now. Please continue to pray that the smoke clears up quickly

4. James for wisdom as English class at the orphanage begins the first week of September and for the various Bible studies each week at the Youth Center.

5. Pray for the new believers that they would continue to come to the Bible studies and grow in their faith. Also pray for the youth that went to camp but that don't live in Nara-Faminsk during the school year, that they would find a church to attend.

English Camp report

2010-08-14T05:21:00.000-07:00

Thank you for praying for camp! James said it went great and God worked in hearts and completely changed young people's lives. James said he knew of 12 youth that repented. I remember the day I went out to visit, I saw a young man off by himself reading a Bible... to think that many of these youth read a Bible for the very first time in their life makes me want to literally jump up and down with joy! :) May God be glorified in these lives.

Here's the bus getting ready to leave. One of the best things about camp is that we get to meet so many of the parents and have a chance to become friends. Many of the parents who were very skeptical, almost afraid to let their child go to camp later thanked James and told him how much they appreciated this opportunity provided for their child.

Here's Raymond giving his acceptance speech after getting voted best singer

Please pray for this girl on the left - 16 year old Svieta. The day after they returned from camp her father died of cancer. James and several of the others from camp were able to go to his funeral. Svieta's mother died when she was young, and now the only family she has is an elderly Grandmother.

lots of guitar playing and singing

games around the campfire

lots of volleyball

I loved this picture of Megan showing Caleb how to shoot

I think we could win an international competition for 'world's scariest camp cook'.. but no one got sick :)

James has added a special 'new believers' weekly Bible study so please pray as many of these young people want to get baptized. Also if there is anyone (or church) out there that is interested in coming over next summer to help out with camps please contact us.. it's a huge blessing to have a team from the States come over and help, and I *think* they are the ones blessed beyond measure. :) And if you're not interested.. maybe pray about becoming interested? ::wink:: Thanks again for everything you do for our ministry!

Camp!

2010-07-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

Today I took the kids out to visit James at camp ~ we had a wonderful day! The weather has been very hot, and not a drop of rain... James has never.ever.ever. in the history of 10 years doing camps NOT had it rain. There are over 70 youth and many are reading a Bible for the first time in their lives and hearing the truth of God's love for them. Please continue to pray for protection and for God to change lives.

Here's Ksenya leading one of the small group times

I was up on the riverbank watching the kids swim and overheard Megan and this girl having a great discussion about God and faith. It is such a huge blessing to see this group of Americans who have come over to help ~ they are so passionate about God and so willing to share. A real example to me. Please pray for Micah, Megan & Ethan Hodges and Raymond and Josh as they will be here until the beginning of August.

lunch ~ and we picked a great day to visit it was borsht instead of fish head soup

my kids want to adopt Raymond and keep him over here...

David on the rope swing

(note to grandparents.. this looks more dangerous than it was :)

Caleb having the time of his life ~ everyone was amazed at how good he was with the boat

Caleb on the rope swing

Johanna enjoying ice cream break

Camp will end of Sunday and I'm sure I'll post more stories and pictures then. Thank you for your prayers!

Lots of prayer requests!

2010-06-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

Well it's been crazy busy as the summer always is.. James finished up his last teaching day at the orphanage last week and said goodbye to the youth (they were heading down south to a camp by the black sea). The Director who wasn't all too friendly when James started in the fall thanked him and said 'see you September 1st'. We are very thankful for this open door!

Sumer = Camp :) This Saturday James is heading out to a children's camp where he'll be working as a counselor and helping out with English lessons. Rachel, David & Caleb have been counting down the days & bouncing off the walls with eager excitement. They're also busy learning Bible verses to pay their own way.. a great summer tradition. Pray for them as the camp runs June 26 - July 4. What will I do for an entire week with just ONE child?!!?

Okay on to the prayer requests.. because we've got a LOT :)

1. James' back ~ two days ago James was getting out tents from storage and somehow hurt his back. He went to the chiropractor today and the Dr. said it's bad enough to need an MRI (scheduled tomorrow). Please pray that this will not be serious enough for surgery & for quick healing. James has never had any type of back pain/injury before so it's hard to see him in so much pain.

2. Visas ~ our current visas end in August. We filled out enormous amounts of paperwork last year and applied for temporary residency.. and got denied. Should we continue paying large amounts of $$ and keep trying to get one year visas... ? *sigh* Let's just say paperwork and visas are enough to cause a considerable amount of stress here.. so just pray! We really need wisdom as we don't even know if it will be possible for us to get a one year visa again as the laws and requirements are always changing. The fun thing about living here.. if you don't like a law just wait three months.. it will change! :0

3. Camps ~ Children's camp June 26th - July 4th

~ Regular tent camp July 9th - 19th

~ English Camp July 22nd - 27th

Pray for good weather, lots of mature helpers, a good cook for the kitchen, and most of all for God to change lives.

~Day camp at our house August 9 - 13th This was supposed to be in June, but we had two solid weeks of rain, so we're going to try again in August. Pray as this is such a great opportunity to share with the neighborhood children.

4. Susan's health ~ I got bloodwork results this week that were not the greatest, so continue to pray for my thyroid/health issues.

And I'll leave you with a picture from Father's Day. 'Oh how great is the LOVE the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God!' May you rejoice today in the lavish abundance of your Father's love for YOU!

Prayer Requests

2010-04-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon a young man who had been to summer camp was killed in a motorcycle accident. Here's a picture of Valyara taken 4 years ago out at camp. This is the third death this past year of a young person who has been out at camp ~ so tragic. James, Andrei and Ksenya went to the funeral this afternoon and many of the young people were talking about how glad they were that Valyara knew Jesus personally. Pray that we'll have an opportunity to talk with Valyara's friends and Mother. He was an only child and just 18 years old.

Also our dear friend and ministry partner Ksenya would appreciate prayer for her Father. He has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of bone cancer and has been given just a few weeks to live. Ksenya was talking about how God worked in her family ~ her 7 year old sister came home a few years ago with a children's Bible and stories of going to a children's Bible party and how she repented. She kept sharing with her Mom and urging her Mom to read the Bible.. her Mom ended up getting saved. Then Ksenya and her teenage brother started reading the Bible.. and after a year they were all believers... all because of a children's Bible and a seven year old who's life was changed.

Thank you for your love and continued prayers for our family!

Almost Spring Update!

2010-03-10T06:23:00.000-08:00

Past time for an update! I can't believe it's March already ~ I've been trying to get lots of school done now while the weather is yucky as I know once Spring arrives the kiddos will be distracted to say the least. :)

One exciting thing that happened the end of January was that James was contacted by an orphanage Director and asked to start a weekly English lesson. He had visited the orphanage regularly several years ago but then rules changed and no one with a non-Russian passport was allowed to visit. So James has been spending every Thursday afternoon giving a lesson and then staying afterwards and talking with about a dozen youth ages 14-17. It's fast becoming the highlight of the week. Still different Bible studies on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. James is also still visiting the drug and alcohol rehab center. One of the young men James was working with was having terrible hallucinations one night and ended up running away (with no shoes or socks on!) He was picked up by the police and put in a mental hospital. Talk about an experience ~ but now two weeks later he is doing great. So neat to see changed lives and getting to hear these young men talk about how for the first time in their lives they are free from addiction! Some of them said they began drinking heavily when they were 10 or 11 years old so it was the only way of life they knew.

March 8th is a huge holiday here - International Women's Day. We had a special party at the Youth Center. I wanted to tell you about Stas the young man to the left of James (plaid shirt & goatee). He has been helping out at the Youth Center for almost two years now and has such a neat testimony of God working in his life. Seven years ago he and his wife were expecting their first child when his wife was hit and killed crossing the street. Stas had a nervous breakdown and tried several times to take his own life. He then decided to become a monk so went off to study in a Russian Orthodox Monastery for several years. He was some type of 'Assistant/Helper' (sorry don't know the official correct word) at the local Orthodox Church when James met him and invited him to come to a Bible study. Stas said he loved coming because the Bible study had such good personal application for him. So he's been coming for two years now and it's been so great to see how his life has changed. He was in charge of the entire Women's Day program and did such a good job.

A game where everyone was asking James questions

Caleb and James playing a game together

Rachel, David, Caleb and Svieta skiing down our road

Rachel has loved going to a dance school ~ she does Russian traditional, classical ballet and history of classical music. They had their first big program and she did so great! She's on the right just in case you don't recognize her underneath all that blue eyeshadow ;)

Our deepest gratitude for all your love and prayers for our family. Blessings!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-01-07T04:48:00.000-08:00

Today is Orthodox Christmas and we've had a wonderful celebration of our Savior's birthday. In the words of Caleb 'Jesus is so important HE gets two birthdays' :) May you be filled with AWE today to think that God is with us ~ Emmanuel. James, Ksenya & Olga are visiting poor families and giving out fruit and gifts. Pray they will be able to share Christ with these people.

We went sledding and for a glorious walk in the woods ~ it was -14 and James & I were freezing.. I think our kids are half polar bears and they kept begging us to stay out for another hour.

Our most beloved Dadushka (Grandfather) came over to bring us homemade raspberry jam and pumpkins. We adore him.

Johanna runs to him screaming 'my Dadushka, I lubs you!!!'

The ballet school Rachel goes to had a special Yolitchka or New Year's tree program. (Because Christmas wasn't celebrated for almost 75 years everything focuses on New Year's ~ New Year's tree, New Year's presents etc.) Here Caleb just got done shaking hands with a snowman and Johanna is in the red dress ~ she was very impressed with everything.

The teachers dressed up and did songs and dances.

Here's our kids with the cast of characters ~ Doesn't David look thrilled to be there?! He actually had a great time.

Johanna at the playground

Caleb at the beloved sliding hill ~ a very fast sheet of ice.. he loves it and could happily spend all day here regardless of -18 temperatures

David at the hill and Johanna & James in the background

Our sweet dog Nida trying to give David a kiss

David is always so sweet to his little sis

Rachel and Nida

David, Rachel and her friend Svieta playing in the snow

God bless each of you as you enter a New Year. May each of our lives bring Glory to God!

Thank you for your prayers!

2009-12-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a wonderful week here in Kerrville, Texas. All the medical tests have gone great. Thank you so much for your prayers for our family. James and the kids have had a very COLD week in Russia ~ down to -28 one night and the electricity was out for most of one day. It's been fun to talk with the kids every day on skype and hear they're doing okay and be told by Caleb 'oh yeah Mom we're doing great.. we've eaten nothing but popcorn and pelmini for three whole days!!' :) James is the greatest Dad in the world just for the record.

Please remember me in your prayers as I fly back on Tuesday. I'm a bit nervous as I fly out of Washington D.C and they've had quite a bit of snow the past two days.. praying the airport is up and running on schedule by then.

This past week I've been able to spend time with my mother-in-law's new friend Doug Robinson. They were engaged last week and I'm so very happy to see this new gift God has brought into her life. Doug is a very kind, Godly, and loving man and it's such a blessing to see how happy they are together. So just thought I'd post a picture of the two lovebirds. :)

Update & Prayer Requests

2009-12-10T09:58:00.000-08:00

I wanted to ask for your prayers as I (Susan) will be headed to the States for a week. I'll be leaving this Sunday and returning the 22nd. I'll be getting some scans done and and just checking to make sure everything is good after my thyroid surgery. Mainly pray for James as he holds down the fort with of course Rachel's help ~ trust me Rachel runs a very, very tight ship! Pray I won't miss everyone too much.. I don't know what I'll do with myself alone for a whole week!

I've been wanting to post about the girl's birthdays. Johanna turned four in October. I had warned James for months I would be an emotional basketcase. I did NOT want my baby to grow up.. I did not want her to stop saying "I lubs you Mommy'. I wanted forever to hear her little chipmunk voice yelling from the bathroom 'will SOMEbody wipe me!!!!' She is the sweetest thing ever and I love, love, love three year olds; it's seriously the perfect age. But alas I can't stick her in a time capsule so I try to squeeze out every single moment of every day. And four isn't too bad either! :)

This is what you get when you tell her to smile..

she's got him tied around her finger.. trust me!

She was so very proud of Hermie the caterpillar she made for her birthday

Also on December 4th Rachel turned 11! We had so much fun celebrating!! She invited her entire ballet class over for ice cream cake and games and all 14 of them showed up!

She made her own brownie ice cream cake

Johanna & Rachel bring so much joy to our lives.. I sometimes can't believe God would bless me with such healthy amazing children who teach ME so very much.

In other news.. the Bible studies are going very well. We had a man ring our doorbell Sunday morning that wanted James to take him to the drug/alcohol rehabilitation center. It was so neat because James had know him for 5 years and had been witnessing to Sergei but he had never shown any interest or even come to the Bible studies. So great to see God working in people's lives. Pray as we have a chance to do Christmas programs at the orphanage and a home for disabled/Down syndrome children.

Thank you again for your love and everything you do for our family!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T08:30:00.001-08:00

From our Tribe to yours! We hope you rejoiced today in the abundance of God's gifts and GRACE.

Samoset and his two faithful warriors

We had so much fun having our ministry partners Olga & Ksenya over for lunch and a game of spoons. We have so very, very much to be thankful for every day!

"Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pick blackberries."

— Elizabeth Barrett Browning

A change of perspective

2009-10-24T06:09:00.000-07:00

Did you ever have a conversation, hear something said in passing and it felt like someone was throwing a bucket of water on your face? Like you *woke up*! and saw things differently than before.. your perspective was completely altered? Well that happened to me Friday when Rachel's friend Svieta came to visit. Svieta's grandparents live down the road and she comes every Friday after school and spends the weekend with them.. and in turn us. When she rings the doorbell Johanna comes running 'SVIETA!! Svieta, my other sister is here!' She's spent quite a bit of time at our house since we moved in four years ago.. and we all think of her as our 'other sister.'

Svieta sat down at the table and I set about fixing her a cheese sandwich and hot chocolate and asked her about school. She seemed more excited than usual and chatted on... 'my Papa is coming to see me tomorrow! I haven't seen him for four years and I'm so excited!! He's going to take me to McDonald's and buy me a new coat!' I was stunned for a moment but then got excited with her. I had learned from her Mother that Svieta's Father had left when she was a baby.. but she had never ever mentioned him before. "Where does he live?" I asked thinking he must be from Vladivostok or some city in far away Siberia. 'Oh he lives in Moscow,' Svieta replied. 'I just never see him because he works all the time, but he is really rich now.. he has a television as big as an entire wall, and a new car, and lots and lots of money.' She finished her snack and then took her plate and put it in the sink. I kissed the top of her head and then watched her skip up the stairs to play rack-o with Rachel and the boys.

I turned back to the sink and felt the tears spring to my eyes. I wanted to weep for this man I had never met.. this man who lived a mere 60 miles away and yet who had missed so very, very much these past four years. I wanted to weep for a society that thinks a wall sized TV is more important than your daughter's 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th birthdays. Do they really believe that children desire gifts more than a relationship with the giver? Then my mind began to race with memories I had made with Svieta over the years ~ the countless walks in the woods together, baking cookies & apple pies, going swimming at the lake, skating at the pond and sledding down the big hill til we were frozen. This summer when her dog died how I held her while she sobbed.. with Rachel sobbing right along beside her, and then we all walked to the store for her favorite chocolate ice cream. I thought about Rachel giving Svieta her first Bible, and her coming to the day camp and telling us how she believed in God now. I thought about all the joy & laughter she had brought into our lives. And there in that moment I had my *AHA* moment.. I saw things differently.. I remembered with shame that I had thought to myself 'well here's this poor child with no Father, an alcoholic Mother and Grandfather and maybe we can do some good in her poor life'. But now I saw clearly that I had needed Svieta. I had needed someone to walk through the woods and tell me which mushrooms to pick, I needed someone that did nothing but watch a catapillar for an hour straight, I needed someone to teach me silly songs in Russian and tell me the gossip of the whole city. She had blessed my life in ways I had never fully appreciated and had taken for granted.

And that got me to thinking.. do we realize how much we miss when we don't have children in our lives?? Do adults realize how much we need little people around? We need people in our lives that have no concept of time or money. Who love unconditionally and forgive immediately. Who will spend an entire afternoon talking to stuffed dogs, and think the closest place to paradise on earth is Cici's pizza buffet. Last week Johanna spent a solid 45 minutes on the toilet singing made up praise songs.. I walked by and knocked on the door:

~ "Johanna are you okay in there??"

~'Yes Mommy! I'm just singing to Jesus' I could hear her little voice through the crack in the door.. 'thank you Jesus for my special bug, thank you for the yellow flowers, thank you for my princess dress, thank you for Rachel my friend, thank you for the purple flowers...'

I thought about it later, when was the last time I had 45 minutes where I did nothing but praise God? We're told in Matthew, 'Unless you become as a little child you will not enter the kingdom of God.' Could it be that the secret to becoming like a child is to have little children in your life? Do we need to be involved somehow in a child's life because that is what enlarges our own heart; gives us more patience, love, forgiveness and grace?

If this is true how would it affect our churches and lives? Would there be a waiting list for who gets to do the preschool crafts for VBS?? Would people be fighting over who gets the privilege of teaching the 5th & 6th grade boys Sunday School class? Would there be less children in foster care and orphanages and more children around our tables?

As all these thoughts swirled through my mind I turned away from the window and thanked God for throwing that water on my face. I realize now that I got the *bargain* of the decade. For in exchange of a few crust of bread and warmed up milk, our family has been given a priceless treasure.. a friend named Svieta.

Summer report

2009-10-24T04:12:00.000-07:00

I told James to chain me to the computer and not let me up until I had updated the blog :) We've had so much going on I feel like I never really reported on summer camps. James said this summer was by far the *best* ~ most organized, lots of great help, great kids (no one brought drugs or got drunk!! this had never happened the previous years). One neat thing that happened after camp is that two young men Costya & Dennis decided to go to a Christian drug rehab center. They have been there almost 8 weeks now and both have repented! James has been going to visit them and share with the group. He is really impressed with the Christian man who decided to begin this ministry; it is certainly a huge need. The facility is a tiny wooden house and James said 20 people sleep in the one room you see below. Costya and Dennis are both doing great and say the training and encouragement they've received have changed their lives.

If you notice the lady sitting to the left in the black scarf ~ that is our neighbor Olga. Her son is the one that committed suicide last month. James had invited her to go along just to get her out of the house and have some fellowship. She has been coming over all the time to just visit and talk. One night last week she came over and did my dishes and folded laundry with Rachel. She brought over a stack of children's books that had been Dima's and wanted to give them to Johanna. There is still deep grief, but it's been amazing to see how this has opened up a friendship. To give you an idea of how things work over here with the Orthodox Church.. I told you the local Orthodox Priest had refused to do the burial. Well Olga went to a higher up Priest in Moscow and gave him a monetary *gift*, and he agreed to come out and perform the ritual of 'praying his soul out of hell.' Thank you to those who have prayed for her and Zhenya.
I wanted to post some pictures from the end of August. Both of Rachel's friends have birthdays and the parties are always a highlight of the summer. The older *babushka* in the back is our dearest 'Babul Irena' as we all call her. She is Olga's great-grandmother and one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. Johanna and I take a walk every evening in the summer and we always end up at Babul's house for a chat. She is 82 years old and is amazing ~ there is a reason they call them the 'greatest generation'. :)

This is from Darina's birthday party. Don't worry the kids didn't consume any alcohol ;) They played games out in the field and had a wonderful time.

September was filled with apples ~ we have 6 apple trees in our yard and this year was a bumper harvest. We made apple butter, applesauce, and apple cobbler and pie almost every night. There is a reason the fall is my favorite time of year! It was so much fun to watch the kids climb trees all afternoon and sit up there munching on apples. Our other dearest Grandmother 'Baba Luba' as we call her (red hair) and her sister Vera came over several days to help us peel apples. With them around it seemed like a party. James also took entire van loads of apples to all the widows/shut-ins over at our old apartment building. Baba Luba was joking that all the Grandmothers love it when James rings their doorbell!

Here's Rachel and Johanna helping her friend Olga with their potato harvest. Rachel had so much fun helping in the garden.

And of course Johanna thought she was the biggest helper around.

Summer 2009 will forever be remembered as the summer of the puppies. Our dog Nutmeg had three adorable puppies and the kids played for hours and hours with them. Johanna dressed them up in doll clothes and pushed them in her doll carriage and was in canine paradise.

There is something about little boys and puppies that just makes your heart melt.

Caleb & Super Hero, David & Rex (a family in Texas is laughing right now.. but don't worry he isn't your namesake, he was named after Billy's dog in the Billy & Blaze books ;) and Rachel & Paprika.

David kept telling me.. Rex thinks I'm his Mommy! Oh we had so much fun with these puppies! David's dog is a guard dog for a store not far away so the kids still walk down and play with Rex. Happy happy Memories.

So there's a few pictorial highlights of our summer. We're back to our school schedule which for James includes two Bible studies a week and then Sunday. Teaching English at the orphanage, visiting the drug rehab center every other week, and also an English class at the Youth Center as a way to meet new people. Also he and Andrei do lots of visiting in the hospital and a low income apartment building (similar to a homeless shelter in the States).

Prayer Requests:

1. Continued good health for Susan ~ so far all my tests, scans & bloodwork have been good. Yeah! I am still struggling with anemia.. so pray I start liking liver ;)

2. Sanity for Susan as she homeschools ~ a 5th, 3rd and 1st grader now! All I can say is I'm camping out on God's promise that 'HIS grace is sufficient' cuz I feel like I'm in wayyyyyyy over my abilities!

3. The children & Susan to learn Russian fluently ~ we're really trying to make this our goal for the year. James & Rachel are completely fluent.. but the rest of us to only varying degrees.

4. Wisdom for James and continued opportunities for ministry.

5. Please pray for a dear friend Slava, he came to camp last year and regularly to the Bible studies last year. (those of you who helped at camp last year.. Slava was the one with the glass eye) While he was away this summer his Mom Ludmilla was beaten to death by the man living with her. Ludmilla had come several times to talk to James about camp and the Bible and was a wonderful loving, caring Mom. Slava is devastated as they were very close.

6. Our neighbors Zhenya & Olga as they continue to grieve over the death of their son.

Thank you again for all YOU do to make it possible for us to live here... may God richly bless each of you!

Thank you for praying!

2009-09-19T05:55:00.000-07:00

We are deeply grateful for so many of you that have been praying for our family & our neighbors. I didn't have time to explain the other day but the past four years have been very difficult with our next door neighbors. The very first time James met our neighbor Zhenya he began ranting about how much he hated foreigners, how much he hated anyone who believed in God and how much he hated children. ( I had walked over with the children and was about five months pregnant). We then found out Zhenya was a Doctor that performed abortions at a large clinic in Moscow... we also found out he was a staunch Atheist. Through the years we endured many, many rants, yelling, screaming at us; other neighbors told us not to worry he treated everyone like that. But still many times over the the past four years I wondered why out of all the houses in a city of 100,000 we would end up right beside (we're talking our windows are a mere 20 feet from each other) a man that hated children and anyone who believed in God. (Remember in this culture having four children is a HUGE family!) So that's the background of our relationship.. this is why James was surprised when the mother Olga asked James to pray at the funeral. We kept thinking to ourselves how is Zhenya going to handle prayer at his son's funeral??

Well the day before the funeral we found out Zhenya had refused to have any mention of God, prayer or anything at the funeral. Olga did say that he agreed to her request to allow Ksenya (our ministry partner) to pass out a tract with lots of Bible verses in it.. she said that all last week she kept finding Dima reading that tract over and over again.. it was the last thing she saw him read before his death.

Friday morning came and about 90 young people gathered outside Dima's house. They went inside in small groups to have a viewing of the body. Then they carried the body outside on the street and all the neighbors and other friends gathered. What stuck me as so sad was that nothing was said, nothing was read... nothing. No one talked as eight friends carried the coffin down the street with everyone walking behind. I came home then and wept; I realized that grief with no hope is overwhelming.

Late that night James returned and said a total miracle had taken place. After the burial everyone went to a restaurant to have a meal and part of the tradition is to give toasts with vodka and a small speech. He said Ksenya got up to the microphone with Bible in hand and told about the night before Dima's death and how they had talked about God, purpose in life, forgiveness of sin etc. James said she then gave a very powerful, clear presentation of the entire plan of salvation. She talked about the only hope we can have is that Dima may have turned to Jesus for forgiveness before his death. That we can not have hope in religious traditions or our own good works but only in Jesus. At the end she passed out the tract Dima had been reading to everyone present.. even Zhenya the Father. James said after five solid hours of just heart-wrenching mourning.. the truth was finally clearly told and hope was given. James was afraid Zhenya would be upset, but instead he very sincerely thanked Ksenya and James for coming and sharing.

Please continue to be in prayer as I know the next few weeks will be so difficult. I know that it was only the prayers of so many that allowed the truth to be shared at Dima's funeral. I keep thinking of Jim Elliot's quote 'Father, make of me a crisis man. Make of me a fork, so that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me.' This has been such a tragedy for so many, and yet it may be the only thing in their lives that will make them stop and think about their soul and eternity.

Prayer Request

2009-09-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

Our hearts are very, very sad right now and wanted to ask you to pray for our next door neighbors Olga and Zhenya. Yesterday afternoon their 24 year old son Dima took his own life. His Mother Olga ran out into the street yelling for help and Andrei (our ministry partner) and another Christian young man at the Youth Center ran over and ended up taking care of the body and being with her the rest of the afternoon.

James had just talked to Dima the night before. Our fellow worker Ksenya had sat on a park bench the night before until after midnight talking about the Bible, God, does God exist, purpose in life. It hurts to remember all the times I would walk down the road with the kids and always stop and talk with Dima... he was a great young man that always had a smile on his face and a cheerful hello. It's also hard to think about all the times I invited him to a Bible study or to summer camp... but he never had time... he was never interested. His girlfriend had broken up with him and the note he left his parents read simply 'there is no reason to live'.

Please pray that we will have wisdom to know how to show love to Dima's parents and Grandfather. He was an only child, and his parent's grief is very great.

^^I wrote the above late last night.. and then near midnight James finally came home from the youth center. The mother Olga had come over to talk with him for a very long time. Olga wanted to know if James could 'pray his soul out of purgatory' - which is a Russian Orthodox tradition performed at funerals. Since Dima's death was suicide the Orthodox Priest refused to conduct the service and the family can not have the funeral inside a church. She also asked if they could have the funeral at the Youth Center. Please pray for James tomorrow as we have this funeral at the Youth Center.. it will be Friday afternoon our time - about 2:00am EST. James will need much wisdom and grace. Please pray that we will know how to show out deep sorrow and God's love to these parents and Grandfather. Pray that they will understand that we can only find purpose in life when we have a personal relationship with our Creator, the God of the Universe. Pray that they will see past the empty religious traditions and find Jesus waiting there with true life.

Rachel's Baptism

2009-08-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

First of all let me apologize for the lack of updates... our internet server went down for 21 days ~ not fun. I will be posting more pictures and stories from camp soon. Also pictures from sweet Caleb's 6th birthday party. But a very joyous occasion took place yesterday ~ Rachel was baptized! It was so special.. and yes I cried :) As your children get older you realize more and more all the mistakes you've made and just how much grace God has poured out. Rachel knows and loves Jesus, could we ask for anything more as parents?!

It was very cold here last week, down in the 30's at night and let me tell you that water was freezing cold! It reminded me of the picture our friend Nicolai had of baptizing a man in the dead of winter and they had cut out a 5 foot hole in the frozen ice... Americans and their cozy heated baptistries. ::wink::

God gave us such a beautiful day and it was truly a celebration of God's goodness. Here's a video clip ~ please excuse the background noise.. Rachel was the last one to be baptized and poor Johanna decided to lay down in my lap just as I was really needing to videotape. Here's a rough translation of what James is saying:

J: Do you believe that Jesus Christ has forgiven your sins?

R: I believe

J: Do you promise to serve him with a pure conscience?

R: I promise

I baptize you my sister in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

Buried with Christ in his death, and raised to a new life.

Here is the group that was baptized. From left to right:

Emelina ~ 18 year old that repented two years ago at camp

Rachel

Anya ~ repented at camp last year

Svieta ~ a lady from a small village church two hours away. Her Pastor Andrei is standing beside James.

Vitaly ~ 16 year old repented at camp last year

Sergei ~ Svieta's husband from Pastor Andrei's church

Genady ~ repented at camp this year. Very interesting young man.. he just moved to Russia after living in Israel the past 6 years. When James first met him he said 'I'm a Ukrainian Jew.. do you know what that is?? It's a person that speaks Hebrew and loves salla.' Salla is sliced pork fat (picture a big slab of bacon but no pink part.. all white) For some reason that struck me as very funny. Genady had been going to a Jews for Jesus Bible study for the past 3 months in Moscow. So neat to see God at work in his life.

After the baptism we had a wonderful picnic with hot delicious plov (rice and meat) made by a dear friend from Moldova. Lots of homemade cookies and treats, watermelon and much fun, laughter and celebration.

And here is just some further proof that it is impossible for us to take a decent family picture, but that's okay! :) What a wonderful day rejoicing!!

Camp Report

2009-07-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent a wonderful day visiting James out at camp. Johanna had been saying every night 'I WEALLY, weally want my Daddy back.' So we all loved the chance to visit and enjoy the beauty of nature. I may have said this before, but the camp is held in Borodino at the very lake Napoleon camped beside during the battle of 1812. It's beautiful to say the least!

I'm always impressed at the fantastic job they do building everything from almost nothing!

Caleb ready to Conquer! It's not easy to wear your shirt both backwards and inside out.

Impromptu singing after lunch

Okay this is the neatest story! The man on the left is Chuck from Kansas.. he and his wife flew in Saturday to stay for two weeks. Chuck got up early Sunday morning (jet lag and all) and decided to go for a jog... so he jogged through town and decided to stop by McDonald's for a coffee. One small problem, he had no rubles. So in the parking lot he sees a young man sweeping and taking out the trash. Chuck walked up to him with a $20 bill and asked (in English) if there was any way he could exchange with him for some rubles. The young man spoke some English and was quite shocked that an American was standing in the middle of the McDonald's parking lot. His name was Yaraslav and he was 26 years old. He had grown up in Uzbekistan and had moved to our city just a few years ago. Yaraslav told Chuck he was about to get off work and could they please have breakfast together. They ended up talking for a very long time and Chuck invited him out to camp. He was able to change his work schedule and spent two days out at camp with Chuck and his wife Kim. Yaraslav was so very interested in the Bible and learning about God. I just love how God uses the ordinary things in our lives to bring us into contact with people.

The kids just LOVED being out at camp. Here they are enjoying yummy fish soup. And when they make fish soup here, they use the whole fish... for some reason some of the Americans were a bit distraught with the floating fish heads ;)

There is nothing better than getting dirty

Megan from Borger ~ what an awesome help!

Rachel ready to play capture the flag

Robert, Caleb & Megan ~ hardcore campers

The victorious team

Here's another view of the dining table, kitchen and the start of the tent area

Please continue praying for safety and the weather. They had a huge thunderstorm with lots of thunder and lightning last night, but during the day the weather has been beautiful. Most of all pray that God would work in these young lives. The camp ends Thursday and then the English camp starts on Saturday.

Please be praying..

2009-07-06T08:21:00.001-07:00

We are in desperate need of a miracle concerning the weather. It has rained solid for a week and been very cold (37 at night~ brrrr! and highs in the 50's) Camp was supposed to start tomorrow, but several parents have asked us to move it back a day as supposedly tomorrow will get warmer. The sun broke through the clouds an hour ago and the kids went running around the house screaming 'the SUN, I see the SUN!!' James has tried to set up and build the kitchen area at camp.. but it's a bit difficult in a foot of mud. Please pray for NO MORE RAIN!

The group from American arrived safe and sound and have been a huge blessing. Megan from the TX panhandle (YEAH!! we love people from Borger!). And Kyle, Caleb, Robert & Megan from Florida. Pray for them as they have been walking around the city inviting youth. They have achieved celebrity status already ~ last night as they were walking near the town square when someone yelled out "the Americans" and immediately 40 youth surrounded them to talk. It's so neat to see... James doesn't get the same treatment when he walks around town ;) Russia is all abuzz right now with President Obama's visit so I guess that somehow makes Americans interesting again. Please pray for these young people to be protected and have God's wisdom and grace in their lives.

I'll try to update more later ~ we've had a crazy busy last week as I took all the kids for several days to a Christian summer camp. Then our dog had 3 adorable puppies. We know these camps are going to be amazing and God will change lives. Thank you for standing with us in faith and prayer.

Day Camp Report

2009-06-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you for praying for the day camp! We were amazed as each day went great and more kids ended up coming.. we ended up having 29-37 kids each day! The last two days it rained and was cold ~ but we had plenty of room for the younger children in our house and the older ones at the youth center. They enjoyed the songs, games, crafts, Bible story, review games and of course snack time. On Friday I asked David what his favorite part of the camp was.. he replied 'the chocolate choco pies' :) hmmmm yeah. But I think he also learned a few things.

These little souls truly touch my heart. So many were from alcoholic families, don't even know who their father is.. just sad situations. Yet the hope they have in Jesus who can break addictions and let people walk in freedom ~ what a chance to share that with them when they are young.

The last day we had a ceremony and gave each child a certificate, prizes, and a children's Bible.

David chasing the Bible teacher Olga during one of the games

Rachel enjoying a game of freeze tag

The younger children during craft time

The zip-line was a huge hit

I asked these brothers/sister if I could take their picture together.. afterward she was so thrilled and said 'I've NEVER had my picture taken before!!!!'

Ice cream break!!

Singing

Johanna and her new friend Vika ~ they were hilarious together... Johanna would talk.talk.talk non-stop to her in English, and Vika would just stare wide eyed and smile back!

HOORAY for a wonderful day camp! Today we ended up having 12 kids show up for Sunday School. We had been trying to have a children's bible story right before our regular Bible study.. but the only kids that ever showed up were our 4. So we were thrilled that so many came today, and hope they continue to come throughout the summer.

One neat story ~ down the street there is a family that sells fresh eggs. I knew they had a little boy and invited him to come to camp, but the parents did not seem interested. Friday evening I walked over to buy eggs and when I handed the Father the money he just said 'oh no I want to give you these eggs, my son has had a wonderful time at your house this week, thank you so much. Vlad told us all about the stories and everything you taught him.' Isn't that the best?!?! We're rejoicing! And just three more weeks until the team arrives from the States to do the summer tent camps ~ so don't stop praying for us!

Day Camp

2009-06-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

Today we had the start of the first ever Day Camp held at our home!! We were SO EXCITED to have 29 children show up! We were expecting no more than a dozen children as parents are very leery of letting their children attend anything associated with the Bible. Oh me of little faith :) Please continue to pray as this entails quite a bit of work, and it will continue every day through Friday. It's between 1:00pm - 5:00pm so it's a super opportunity to invest in these young lives. James, Olga and Ksenya did a fantastic job ~ pray for them to continue to have wisdom in teaching.

Olga did such a great job with the games!

Snack time ~ sausage & cucumber sandwiches.. the Russian equivalent of pb & j

a sweaty Caleb listening intently to his Bible story teacher

Rachel's group having their Bible lesson

Johanna LOVED it and made a sweet new friend named Vika.

In other news we had a fantastic Pastor from Tajikistan visit us over the weekend. He was scheduled to speak at a church in Moscow on Sunday morning.. so he said 'gather your youth and I'll share with them Saturday night.' James said he was the most powerful speaker he had ever heard in Russia. The meeting started at 8:00pm and went to 4:30am!! I'll confess James came home at 2:30am :) He shared his personal testimony of being saved in prison and then also many amazing stories of Christians suffering for their faith in Tajikistan. I can't tell you how neat it is to see these young people who a year ago were getting drunk every Saturday night and now want to stay up listening to a man talk about God! Hooray for changed lives!!

In personal news.. our last day of school was Friday and we had an enormous celebration with large quantities of ice cream and chocolate. The kids are doing great and love to spend ever waking moment outside riding bikes or laying in the grass staring at bugs (David can do this for literally hours.. it cracks me up). Thank you for your continued prayers for our family!

Happy Birthday David!

2009-05-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

Friday was David's 8th birthday ~ we had a wonderful celebration of his life!

The day started out with pancakes, fresh strawberries and whipped cream

Johanna thinks this is an excellent way to start out every day

Then David set to work creating his masterpiece birthday cake. 8 layers with chocolate sauce and crumbled candy bars between the layers. Finished with fluffy white icing and blue *ocean* icing with a large shark on top. David is really, really into sharks right now.

Getting ready to blow out his candles

We played a bunch of games and then after we ate we had a scavenger hunt.. the last clue led to a large box in the schoolroom... everyone gathered around to see what treasure this large box held....

A hamster named Hermie.. it was true love at first sight!

We love you David and still can't believe God would entrust US with such a priceless treasure. Your life has taught us so much. I'll never forget your birth ~ the Dr. told us we were having another girl.. so for weeks we tried to decide if you should be called Hannah Grace or Sophia. Then the birth and that joyous 'IT'S A BOY!!' And Daddy's shocked look and 'you gotta be kidding me!' We were so excited! Of course you had to wear hand-me-down frilly pink sleepers for your first few days.. You were also the first baby to be born in Russia ~ we had never done the whole procedure of getting a Russian birth certificate.. ummm we found out that was harder than the birthing part.

Since we didn't think Hannah would work we decided on David, and our prayer became that you would love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. I know God has an amazing plan for your life David James Beaird. Lots of love from your adoring family!

Spring is here!

2009-05-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

Well I got very behind this week in updating the blog.. so here's my feeble attempt at an update. We have a tradition every spring that we check the buds on our beautiful lilac bush every morning and evening.. whatever day the leaves come out we scream and run around the house wildly rejoicing and then the next day is declared a national holiday with no school and a picnic in the woods. Well last Monday evening I heard Rachel make the joyous announcement :) The lilacs had indeed burst and I think I rejoiced more than the kids at the thought of no school the next day. It ended up being an absolutely beautiful, unseasonably warm day.. perfect for a picnic.

David spent the entire afternoon exploring in the woods with his BB gun ~ his trusty shadow never far behind. These two crack me up when they're in exploring mode.

Johanna spent the day happily trying to dig up ants and put them in a plastic bag. She really wanted her 'wild horses' back home to have the company of ants.

Friday May 1st is of course a big holiday in Russia ~ May Day. We decided to invite everyone that comes to the Friday evening Bible study to our house for hot dogs. It was so much fun! And a wonderful Bible study that evening.

Tomorrow is David's long awaited birthday.. he is beyond excited. I loved getting the chance to cuddle him tonight (I used the excuse of 'this is the last night you're 7 and I just have to tell you all about the night you were born..). I hope he has a wonderful day ~ where has the time gone?! So true the saying 'long days, short years' :)

Pray for the Persecuted Church

2009-04-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share this Voice of the Martyr's website where you can write letters to Christians imprisoned for their faith ~ http://www.prisoneralert.com/.. The kids loved this and we spent all afternoon writing letters to Uzbekistan, Pakistan, China, Vietnam & North Korea.

We have a dear friend of ours Joseph in his early 30's who told us about growing up with his father in a prison work camp. He said one year someone from Voice of the Martyr's somehow got their address and sent them a huge box of candy. Their family (8 children) were on the brink of starvation and the Mother took the *black market* American candy and sold it.. enough to buy bread and oatmeal to feed their family for an entire year! Joseph was a baby when his father was sent away to prison for refusing to stop teaching his children about God. He returned home when Joseph was 16 years old.. in very poor health and died 10 month later. Joseph told us he only knew him for 10 months but he said the one thing he would always remember about him was 'he had absolutely no fear of man, he only feared God and knew God personally in a way most everyone else didn't.'

I'm rambling.. :) but have been thinking lately about the importance of teaching our children that people suffer because of their faith; it's not a rosy picnic, it's not health, wealth and happiness. And we need to remember in our prayers the people around the world suffering for their faith.

Here's some random pictures of the kids playing in front of our house. I started laughing while I was looking at them.. thinking back to the gorgeous beauty of the Texas hill country and the parks we would take the kids to and the fun water crossings ~ and yet the kids have had a total blast all week building boats and floating them in the ditch filled with vodka bottles and trash.. every bit as much fun as in Kerrville.

Caleb reminds me so much of his 'live life to the fullest' Uncle Matthew. He even has all the pyromaniac qualities of Uncle Matt!! :) Oh and in case anyone is wondering.. no we don't randomly let them play with fire.. but every spring everyone burns away the old dead grass... it's one of Caleb's most anticipated holidays.

Good Friday

2009-04-17T12:09:00.001-07:00

Russia follows the Orthodox calendar so we are celebrating Easter this Sunday. It's been a special week of reading, crafts, cleaning the house & yard (another really good Russian tradition ~ you HAVE to clean your house right before Easter :). In case anyone is interested for next year.. www.aholyexperience.com had some wonderful readings and ideas to do with children. Also my friend Phyllis at www.fylliska.blogspot.com.

So yesterday we made the hill of Golgotha out of playdooh and planted some cactus. I laughed so hard at David's comment while we were hard at work..

Me: So imagine Jesus walking up the hill, what kind of trees did he see.. birch, maple, apple?

Rachel: lots of cactus and short, scraggly trees

David: WAIT A MINUTE!!! You mean Jesus died in TEXAS??!@!!!?!?!@ (the look on his face was priceless) (note to concerned Grandparents we really DO teach him things.. he just gets confused easily..sometimes...)

Tonight after our reading from Matthew, Caleb carefully took our pipe cleaner Jesus down off the cross and laid him in the tomb and then we placed a stone over the tomb. Johanna has loved playing with this ~ so much so the kids have already asked that we keep it for the centerpiece of the table even after Easter.

Our friend Olga came over to help us color eggs ~ special memories!

Thank you for all your prayers for James this past week. He was very glad to be able to attend his Father's memorial service. It literally was a miracle he was able to go ~ when we entered the country in February we were told we couldn't leave the country for the next 90 days, but somehow the paperwork got cleared and James received his passport back the very day before his father's death. Anyway, it was neat to see how God worked so James could be with his family during this time. It's been very special this week to prepare for Easter and think about dear Grandpa Jack in his new body in fullness of JOY with his Savior. I've had the words to this song 'I will rise' in my head all week.. 'Jesus has overcome and the grave is overwhelmed.' Here's the link if you want to listen ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvrBQL8swLI&feature=related May you rejoice today that the victory is won!

Oh and just two more random funnies from Rachel. Today I had the news on my homepage and there was a heading 'Obama appoints border Czar'. Rachel gasped 'You mean there's going to be another Czar?!? I thought when they killed Nicolas that was the last of the Czars!? I guess Obama didn't get the memo about no more Czars ;)

Also why practicing her piano tonight she was playing a minuet by Bach ~ I said 'honey that note right there is not right.' 'Oh yeah, I know, I changed it just a little bit because I thought it sounded better my way.' Hmmm so my 10 year old thinks she can improve on Johann Bach, now that's funny!

Grandpa Jack is rejoicing with his Savior

2009-04-07T13:27:00.001-07:00

Surrounded by his loving wife, sons and much loved Grandbabies; Grandpa Jack went into his Lord and Savior's presence this afternoon. He fought a good fight, he kept the faith ~ what an example his life has been to all. His funeral will be Friday in Borger, Texas. Thank you for your love and prayers for our family. James will be leaving this Thursday morning to fly to the States.

It's all Grace!

2009-04-04T04:06:00.000-07:00

I was going through some old pictures and came across this one from almost 3 years ago this July. It was taken by a friend of ours who helped out with summer English camp and is right now getting ready to head to Ukraine to work with International Messengers (this is Anna Hunsucker's blog if anyone is interested ~ www.annahunsucker.blogspot.com)

Anyway I love, love this picture so much ~ I want to frame it in black & white and put a verse below like 'Have mercy on me a sinner.' To me it's a modern day word picture of Luke 18

⁹He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹³But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Oh what a dangerous thought it is to think that I am better, more committed, higher standards, know 'more truth', or have done something to make me more blessed by God. No way.. it's GRACE ~ ALL GRACE ~ and nothing more. That's why I want this picture framed in my house.. it's something I constantly need reminded of..

Thank you for praying for James, Ksenya and Rachel as they were leaders in the Youth Games. It was an incredible ministry! So many youth heard a clear presentation of the Gospel for the first time. James is hoping to have the organization come and have a 3 day seminar next October during the big school holiday. Praying this will work out ~ what a neat opportunity this would be in our city! Oh and Rachel's team won second place! and best of all won all three of their basketball games. Rachel was the star of the team!! (sometimes it's nice being a big fish in a small pond, because in the States she wasn't quite the star ;) Oh and JoJo ~ when you want to take a picture of her she runs away.. when you DO NOT want her in the picture......

Please pray for Grandpa Jack

2009-04-01T11:10:00.001-07:00

Many of you know that James' wonderful Father has been very sick/bedridden for quite some time.. His condition worsened significantly this past week. We would appreciate your prayers for LaNell and the rest of the family. It is very hard to be so far away during this time.

I keep thinking about Psalm 73:

"Nevertheless I am continually with you; You hold me by my right hand.

You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.

My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

2009-03-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Some random pictures from our last week... Yesterday James, Ksenya (the 21 year old that's been working at the Youth Center) our Rachel and three other helpers went to the nearby city of Obninsk to help out with a 3 day 'Youth Games' for children in grades 4th - 8th. James has been really impressed with this Christian organization ~ they go into a public school for 3 days (during a school holiday.. it's spring break right now) and put on organized games, contests and then do Bible stories, skits etc. similar to a VBS in the States.

James helped out as a team leader and Rachel loved getting to play basketball again! They are all in Obninsk again today and tomorrow all day ~ pray for these young people as many are hearing about God for the first time.

We get sunshine for a day and I think "SPRING!" and then the next day we get another 6-9 inches of snow.. but that's pretty typical for Spring here. Rachel & Nutmeg have races over the snow piles.

Whoever came up with the recipe for homemade playdooh should be given the Nobel Prize.. Johanna is really, really into it right now

It's not every day you see a scary lion wearing a pink tutu!

Random Funnies I don't want to forget:

**Today while we were putting away clean clothes Caleb looked up at me so enthusiastically... 'Mom, guess what!? I figured out a way to have less clothes to wash, and fold and put away.... I stopped wearing underwear!'

**David came down to breakfast with his calendar and the daily report of how many days til his birthday, Christmas, Easter, the next full moon etc. (he is really into calenders right now).. he asked me 'okay so right now it's 2009, but back in like 1950 that was when dinosaurs were on the earth right?' We then had a long talk about the 1950 and how that was when his Grandparents were running around being children.. and right before that was when dinosaurs roamed the earth.. :)

Talk about culture shock! :)

2009-03-09T04:01:00.000-07:00

When we left Houston it was 88, hot, muggy & sunny. We landed in Moscow to a snowstorm! Thank you for praying for our trip. Everything went super! The kids did great and we even managed to make a few fun memories...

*Going through security - James had already passed through the metal detector and was on the other side.. the kids were all taking off their shoes when some announcement was made about 'comments about security can result in imprisonment.' Out of the blue Johanna loudly asks 'What is a BOMB??' Of course this resulted in a 5 minute discussion in which the word bomb was used at least 25 times..

~ 'You can't say the word BOMB until we're on the other side.. then you can say BOMB.'

~'Only terrorists have BOMBS JoJo, not us.' etc.

The two businessmen behind us were laughing so hard their shoulder were shaking.. seriously it was like listening to the 3 Stooges... and of course every time the B word was spoken all the security guards heads snapped back. (if you're wondering where I was, I was being asked ??'s by a security guard on the other side of the room..but I could still hear them :)

*Johanna of course had to carry her beloved stick horse Black Beauty all over the airport and on the plane.. when we landed in Moscow and the pilot put the brakes on Johanna yelled out "WHOOOOAA.. WHOOOAAA Back Booty!!!!" It was so funny people were laughing 3 rows in front of us.

Friday rush hour + snowing meant that it took 4 1/2 hours to travel 60 miles from the airport to Nara-Faminsk. (the same amount of time it took us to drive 300 miles from Kerrville to Houston!! Ha!) It felt soooo great to be back home and in our own beds! Even if the kids didn't fall asleep until 3am.. umm yeah the jet lag has been crazy this trip.

Rachel was so happy to see her dog Nutmeg safe & sound

That first morning we all slept late; around 9am the doorbell rang and it was Rachel's good friend Svieta. She was thrilled we were back as today was her 10th birthday. So everyone was excited about a birthday celebration later that afternoon. I always feel bad because when we celebrate our kiddo's birthday I'm doing good to feed our guests hotdogs, chips and a cake. But Russian birthday celebrations are a 4 course feast... true to tradition Svieta's grandmother had worked in the kitchen all day long and a beautiful, lavish table awaited everyone (I think James enjoys his chaperone duties for things like this :) Everyone had a great time.

The boys were sooo proud of their snowman!

Johanna would squeal like a pig the whole way down.. then jump up an say 'do it 'GAIN'!

Rachel is getting to be quite the cross-country skier!

So there you have a few pictures from our first week back. Yesterday was a wonderful Bible study at the Youth Center. It was also International Women's Day which is a HUGE holiday here.. after New Year's & May 1st & 9th. So there were parties, fireworks, candy & roses everythwere... and I didn't have to do the dishes that day ~ haha! :) It's a 4 day weekend and tonight we're having a big party to honor Olga & Ksenya, the two young ladies who have been working at the Youth Center. They both graduated last May from the Russian-American Christian University with a degree in Social Work and have been working in our city since September. They are doing a fantastic job!! Visiting orphanages, poor families, started a children's club every Saturday ~ such a huge blessing and help!

Thank you again for praying for us this past week ~ we are so thankful to be back home!

Hi again from the Beairds

2009-01-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a ridiculously long time since an update ~ I have at least 6 drafts of things I wrote and never published.. so don't anyone fall over that I finally updated.

A few weeks ago we found out I had a very large amount of lead and was told I needed IV chelation therapy. It was quite frustrating to call no less than 14 different Doctors in the area to ask 'do you offer chelation therapy?' Um, no we don't but try Dr. ______. In case anyone is interested there is NO one in Kerrville or San Antonio, Texas that does this. So I've been driving twice a week to Austin, getting hooked up to an IV for an hour, drive home and then itch like crazy all night. So please be praying for me to "get the lead out" HAHAHA! :)

James' Mom had eye surgery on the 15th so James was able to help take care of his Dad. Thankfully everything went very well with the eye surgery.

The kids are growing like crazy! They are all in basketball right now and we're enjoying watching them learn a new skill. (soccer is the big sport in Russia so not a whole lot of basketball watching or playing going on) Watching 4 & 5 year olds play basketball is highly entertaining ~ they don't have to dribble, and it's more a mix of rugby, basketball and just run around with out a clue of what's going on. Caleb is loving it although he informed me he thought it would be more fun to play basketball if you could tackle the person with the ball.. hmmm.

We talk with Andrei in Russia every day and get updates on the different Bible studies and news. So far our house has not burned down, our dog is alive and well and we have a very full house for all of the Bible studies. During Christmas break they visited 120 homes of children (most have a parent in jail) to give out presents/candy/fruit basket/children's Bible. They said everything went very well ~ huge praise! We are all a bit homesick and wanting to be a part of our life over there.. and yet at the same time trying to embrace and treasure each minute here in America and the opportunities we are given.

In December our precious Rachel turned 10!! I still can't believe I could possibly be that old.... this point really struck me last week when we went shoe shopping and a women's size 8 fit her quite nicely. It seems like there is no possible way I should have that grown up an offspring??!?!? She is a priceless gift and blessing in our lives and we praise God for the privilege to be her parents. For her birthday she invited some friends to a *jump around on inflatable stuff* place. They had a blast.. here's a picture of the birthday girl. I've been glad to see the great friends she's been able to make this trip to the States.

We fly out of Houston Thursday, February 26th. Thank you for your love and prayers for our family. Please continue to pray for my health and this final month before we return. Much love from the Beairds

Hooray for a good report!

2008-09-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

I am done with the radioactive iodine treatment! I had the full body scan Friday and everything looked great. The Doctor said if she had to put it as a statistic she would give me a 98% chance of being cancer free and not having to repeat the radioactive iodine treatment anytime in the distant future. (sometimes it has to be repeated after 6 months). So now we just wait and see.. I have another check-up with the surgeon the beginning of December and then another whole body scan scheduled in February.

To be quite honest I feel like I've been run over by a train! :) I kept thinking today 'why am I so stinkin' tired?' and then realized it has been a little bit of a stressful 6 weeks ~ so maybe now that all the treatments, tests etc. are over I just need to chill and slowly regain my strength and energy.

It's been great to be back home with everyone and see how well the kids are doing. Rachel really misses Russia. David loves being in America .. today in the car we were talking and I told them about Jim Elliot and his quote 'wherever you are be ALL there'. So David replied to Rachel, 'yeah Rachel, it's like when we're in Russia you have to love Russia but when we're in America you have to love America.' Rachel thought about it long and hard and then grudgingly replied 'yeah I guess you're right, I mean they don't have cheese sauce in Russia.' :)

We signed the boys up to play flag football - they have had zero exposure to the sport of football so we thought it would be a neat learning experience for them. I got so tickled when I overheard David talking on the phone to his Gran and telling her 'I'm gonna play ___ ... umm what's that thing called you play with a ball that looks like an egg??' Life is all about learning something new, so it's been quite entertaining watching them learn to block and run. Soccer and basketball are pretty much the only thing kids play back home.

Please pray for us as we are trying to figure out when we should return to Russia, and just all the long-term medical ramifications that this has brought into our lives. If we think about it too long and hard it gets a bit overwhelming. Thank you again for all the love and prayers for our family!

Radioactive Iodine treatment tomorrow

2008-09-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

Please be praying as I go tomorrow afternoon to swallow a little pill of radioactive iodine. I'll be *in isolation* for the next 14 days and I already know I'm gonna be majorly missing my littlest JoJo. When I was in isolation for just 3 days for the whole body scan JoJo kept telling James 'you go back home and bring me my Mommy RIGHT NOW!' :) It's also got to rank pretty near the bottom on the list of 'romantic ways to celebrate your wedding anniversary.' But hey the past 11 years with James have been such an incredible, wonderful, never a dull moment adventure so I can just chalk this one up for the memory books.

I would like to say a huge thank you for your prayers regarding the whole body scan.. the results were excellent!! In fact the Dr. came into the room looked at the pictures then said I'm going to go look directly at the computer images.' She came back sort of shaking her head and said 'this is much better than I would have expected.' So a big YEAH! Because of the great body scan and other test results I will be given a smaller amount of radioactive iodine than originally talked about ~ another big praise!

Also just 3 more days until I will be given thyroid medication - YEAHAAA! It has been no fun to be severely hypothyroid ~ my face and eyes are extremely puffy, about half of my eyelashes have fallen out, and although my energy level is okay my brain function is extremely diminished ~ I mean seriously this makes *pregnancy brain* looks like someone that should be in Mensa. So I'm looking forward to getting my thinking capacities back again.

I kept meaning to share this quote from one of my heroes, Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom. 'Worry does not empty tomorrow of it's sorrow, it only empties today of it's strength.'

Isn't that great.. go back and read it again! :) It certainly has encouraged me many times. Also the one song that has gone through my mind over and over and over again is "Blessed be the name of the Lord". As we drove home after the excellent report from the whole body scan I kept thinking to myself 'would I be able to rejoice like this if I had been told my whole neck was full of cancer?' And yet God would still be God and His love for me unmeasurable and constant. So thankful for our friends and family who have walked this path by our side ~ thank you again!

Blessed by Your name

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

And blessed be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's all as it should be

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

Every blessing you pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say, Lord

Blessed be Your name

Health Update

2008-08-26T16:56:00.001-07:00

I apologize for not updating this sooner.. every single time I sat down to write I was stuck with brain fog... plus there were soooo many factors up in the air I wanted to wait until something was concrete.

So to catch you up.. after surgery you enter a waiting period until your TSH level (thyroid hormone) gets above 40. (a normal TSH level is like somewhere between 0 - 2, over that and you feel yucky.) Some people wait weeks to get their numbers above 40. I had my first visit with my Endocrinologist last Friday and had lots of bloodwork done. We were quite surprised to find out my TSH went to 98 in 10 days! So although the affect is I feel terrible, the good news from that is I could proceed immediately to the next stage of treatment ~ radioactive iodine. (haha I feel like I'm writing about monopoly)

So tomorrow morning I go in to drink a teeny tiny bit of radioactive iodine. Then Friday I will have a whole body scan. They will use this whole body scan as a *marker* to determine the dosage of radioactive iodine I will receive next Tuesday. I asked the Doctor what would be the procedure if the whole body scan came back completely clean with not one single 'lit up spot'. She replied 'in 35 years of practice I've only seen it twice so don't count on it.' So that has given me a new prayer request - a completely clean whole body scan. For some reason I just love hearing the words 'that never happens' :) because then if it does God gets all the glory not the Doctors ~ heh! So if you would join me in prayer for great results of the whole body scan that would be greatly appreciated. One note I received from the prayer room up in Borger read Ps. 101:15 'Do not touch my anointed ones.' We are claiming this verse for you. I am praying for nothing when they do the body scan - totally clear!' Can you imagine getting all sorts of notes saying things like that ~ what a HUGE encouragement.

Our family is overwhelmed at the love, letters, meals and acts of kindness we have received from brothers & sisters in Christ and total strangers. Seriously, I could write a whole epistle - our family will never forget the past 3 weeks. Our lives were certainly turned upside down and yet as we wake up each day and keep 'doing the next thing' as Elizabeth Elliot always says, we have been amazed at the grace and peace we've been given. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

THANK YOU for praying!

2008-08-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

Susan Beaird is actually sitting at a computer typing this!! :) Okay where to begin.. we met with the Doctor Monday afternoon and it was a bit disappointing to discover the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes outside the thyroid cavity. So instead of a simple 90 minute thryoidectomy I would be undergoing an extensive surgery where both thyroid glands and all lymph nodes would have to go. We were up early Tuesday morning walked into the hospital and four hours later was very happy to have an excellent report by the Doctor that my neck area is now free of cancer! YEAH! Although this has been a very tough 2 days.. I can say that God has given us an amazing amount of grace and peace ~ I know only because of so many people around the world were praying for us. I can not thank you enough!! I will write more soon.. but just wanted to say I am doing very well and on the road to a full recovery. Thank you for your love and prayers!!! I would wax eloquent but I'm still woozy :) All I can say is I have some amazing friends and wanted to say thank you from the very bottom of our hearts!

Update on Susan's health

2008-08-05T09:29:00.000-07:00

What a week we've had.. amazing how drastically your life can change in just a few hours. It's hard to even put in words... so here's a feeble attempt.

Our whole family is going to the States. How God worked out plane tickets and the document we needed to leave (looong story) is a miracle and we literally have been in awe of how God has worked out details and provision for our family. Susan will have tests on Monday the 11th and then surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning with Dr. Rosendahl. Please continue to pray that God will give us wisdom and clear direction on the many decisions that need to be made. We did have some very good news today ~ the cancer seems to be contained to the thyroid area and has not spread anywhere else; big praise!

Also pray for our children as we leave, many tears have already been shed. If nothing else I keep telling myself our children will have learned to be super flexible and live out of a suitcase :)

For myself this experience has opened 'Pandora's Box' so to speak of my secret fears. When the Dr. told me she thought the cancer was caused from exposure to radiation it was very tough news to take. I remember 10 years ago being pregnant with Rachel and having this little gnawing fear in the back of my mind 'what if your children get sick or are permanently damaged just because you decided to live in Russia?' I know the truth that God is all powerful and able to protect.. and yet what about the personal responsibility of every person to care for their children?

I was up early yesterday reading and thinking through things.. I finally got up and walked past Rachel's bedroom, her door was cracked and I heard her happily singing

Here am I Lord, send me

I will serve you faithfully, here am I Lord send me

I couldn't breathe for a minute and went back into my bedroom and shut the door. In that moment I realized how much I had changed over the years without even realizing... I remember singing that song when I was a teenager ~ I mean really signing it not just saying the words. I remember telling God my life was a blank check and He could do whatever, wherever, whenever.

But over the years things had changed.. now I more or less was singing 'Here am I Lord, send me only to where it's safe and radiation free and my children will be protected. Send me where I can still do everything in my own strength and feel confident ~ I'll serve you faithfully as long as it's in my comfort zone and on my terms.' Things needed to change in my heart - big time.

I kept thinking of the verse in John 17:4 when Jesus is praying in the garden; "I have glorified You on the earth, I have finished the work which you have given me to do." How could Jesus say he had finished the work God had given to him when Jesus had yet to die on the cross or raise from the dead?? Could it be the whole battle was won when Jesus was willing to be obedient to what His Father asked of him?

Could it be that what God looks for in our lives is not the summer camps, the Bible studies, the orphanage visits.. but the very simple fact that when HE directs we obey. Is that where the battle is won or lost? Will we make our own decisions or yield ourselves to the one who gave us life in the first place? Can I say like Mary 'Behold the maidservant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word " Or like King David 'I will not give unto the Lord that which cost me nothing.'

Well I've gotten all philosophical and wordy on you :) heh! But my dearest prayer has been that we will walk through this trial and become more like Christ. That our kids will see that even when life throws you a curve ball that you never have to fear. "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Thank you again for your love for our family and walking through this test by our side. Your notes and prayers have been greatly appreciated.

Please pray for Susan

2008-07-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Susan had a biopsy of her thyroid glands.. we knew that 95% of the time these nodules on the thyroid are benign so we tried to not get too stressed. Today we went back to the Dr. for the results and were told she has papillary thyroid cancer. I must confess when you have four little precious children and haven't even hit 40 hearing you have the *C* word can be quite scary.

The good news in all this ~ there are four types of thyroid cancer and papillary is the easiest to treat and has an excellent chance of a full recovery. So we got back from the Doctor and have tried to sort through the dozens of decisions that have to be made by.. tomorrow. 1. Where to have the surgery ~ Russia or America? 2. If we choose the States does Susan go alone or do we drag the whole family along for the ride? 3. What hospital/Dr. do we choose? What did we do before Google?! :) Right now we are leaning toward Dr. Anders Rosendahl of the Thyroid Cancer Clinic in Austin, Texas. If anyone out there has any information or personal experience with Dr. Rosendahl we'd greatly appreciate you contacting us. We also are thinking about the possibility of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.. if anyone has some personal experience there please pass on any good Dr. referrals.

So please pray for our family to have wisdom and peace as we make so many decisions. One thing that was a huge encouragement to me the day before the biopsy was getting this in my e-mail 'What is needed then is to see God is everything, and to receive everything directly from HIS hands, with no intervention of second causes... to the children of God everything comes directly from their Father's hand, no matter who or what may have been the apparent agents.' Hannah Whitall Smith. I'm having trouble getting a link to work, but you can read the entire article at www.holyexperience.blogspot.com scroll down to 'when bad things happen'.

Thank you for your love and prayers for our family during this difficult time.

Camp Update

2008-07-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well I had every intention of writing out a big report about camp as soon as they got back.. but it never happened because James was so busy running around getting ready for the 2nd English camp that we never really got a chance to talk. He did report that 5 youth repented; I will try to post their stories later. James and several others commented it was the best camp ever and said kids were staying up late at night talking about the Bible and wanting to know more.

One huge miracle that happened was the weather. The next to the last day of camp we had torrential thunderstorms here in our city (60km away from the camp). We're talking 12 straight hours... it ruined my beloved spinach in the garden (you have no idea how much I love spinach ~ they don't sell it here fresh). Anyway I finally called James late that night thinking he would be huddled in his soaked tent.. he cheerfully answered the phone and reported that it had lightly rained for 10 minutes early that morning. No thunder or lightning or strong winds or anything ~ Wahoo!

So here's some random pictures. The English camp ends tomorrow ~ please pray for continued safety and God's grace and presence. I'll make sure and post plenty more pictures and stories.

Riding out to camp on the bus

The american style potato salad was a huge hit

Megan doing a skit

Most of these young men were part of a soccer team.. James said they were so great to get to know and share with them about the Bible

God provided a great song leader/guitar player

I liked this picture of James.. he was passing out invitations to the English camp ~ he is so good at just going up and talking with people. Many times he'll go to the local basketball court and play ball for awhile and then sit around for hours talking. Guess it's that easy going Texan charm :)

Please pray for Aunt Loy - UPDATED!

2008-07-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

James' Aunt Loy has been waiting on the heart transplant list... she got *the* call late tonight! (She lives in Kerrville, and the surgery will be in San Antonio). Please be praying for her. She is such an amazing, wonderful person and our thoughts and prayers will be with her today.

Thank you for praying!! We are rejoicing and praising God for a wonderful surgery, recovery and late last night she's back home ~ amazing!

Camp Update

2008-07-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got to travel out to the camp and see Daddy and wish him a Happy Birthday!! Everyone had a GREAT day!

When we got there Johanna wrapped her arms around James and just squeezed him for 10 minutes.. 'I WUV oo Daddy!' He's been missed! :)

The kids loved playing in the lake

The kids thought it was so great to eat ramen noodles... Rachel said 'This is like the best stuff I've EVER eaten in my whole entire life!!' Why do I try so hard making everything from scratch when such happiness can be found in instant noodles?? Johanna ate and then curled up with her blanket right there on the table for her afternoon nap ~ gotta love that ability to sleep whenever/however.

Keep praying for our friends Megan, Tabitha & Micah. They are AMAZING and do such a fantastic job helping, serving and talking with the Russian young people. Pray for wisdom and physical strength and health for them.. it is not easy living out in the boonies for 10 days.

The view from the meeting area.. just gorgeous.

I'm always impressed to see how they build the kitchen, eating tables, benches ~ very creative

That evening enjoying mushroom soup they had picked themselves in the woods.

Getting ready for capture the flag

The victorious red team!

Please continue to pray the rain away. The forecast is scattered showers the next 8 days - yikes! James said the camp is going very well. Many new young men who have never come to camp before are really enjoying camp life. None of them have ever read a Bible and say they don't believe God even exists; and yet James said they have been listening very intensely during each morning and evening Bible session. Please pray for God to work in these lives. I know God is faithful and HE is at work this week. Can't wait to give you another update this weekend when they return.

Thanks for praying!

2008-07-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well camp started this morning! HOORAY! Thank you so much for praying for the weather ~ it's been amazing... after predicting rain every single day this past week it ended up only raining for about an hour Wednesday and Thursday it was actually HOT with sunshine! They were able to get things set up and the ground somewhat dried up ~ what a huge praise.

The camp bus left this morning and I haven't talked with James to see how many youth actually ended up coming. We were quite disappointed at how many signed up to come but then at the last minute the parents wouldn't allow them. James ended up going to visit several families to answer their questions... here is a typical conversation.

Parent: my friend said that her daughter Julia went to camp last year and when she came back she stopped drinking, yelling at her brother, and read the Bible instead of going out drinking with her friends. I do not want my child to become some religious fanatic.

James: Oh so you would rather your daughter becomes an alcoholic and runs around on the street all night..

Parent: Yes, exactly, it's normal to become an alcoholic and party all night.. it's just not normal for a teenager to read a Bible.

**hitting head against a brick wall**

So that's been the last week in a nutshell. Most nights James went to bed around 3am and was up at 6am.. pray for strength and wisdom. Pray for our three friends from Florda ~ Micah, Megan and Tabitha to be protected and see God at work in people's lives. Pray for us on the homefront.

And last of all Happy Independence Day!! I am so very thankful for the men & women who have sacrificed so much to give us the freedom we all enjoy. Thanks for your prayers and willingness to be involved in what God is doing over here in our small corner of the world.

Please be praying!

2008-06-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

We could really use your prayers! Camp begins this Friday and we are in desperate need of some dry weather and sunshine. It has rained for most of the month of June (I think the high temperature was 72 degrees) and according to the weather forecast it is supposed to rain for the next 10 days ~ not good! Please be praying for a miraculous turn in the weather.. for clear skies and SUNshine. Pray for new youth that have never come to camp to attend.

Thank you so much for your love and prayers for our family. This is such a huge part of our ministry here ~ such a great way to invest in young people's lives.. please be praying!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my own wonderful Daddy! Wish you were here to snuggle your grandyoungins and give us a break! :)

And a very happy Father's Day to this most wonderful Daddy! The kids had so much fun all week making secret gifts, cards and plans for the day. As soon as they got up they made James go outside while we made a huge pancake, strawberries & whipped cream breakfast. Then they blindfolded James, led him inside and surprised him with a crown and a breakfast fit for our King. You are an amazing Father and we love you Daddy!!

Church was so good today ~ the first part of Ephesians 4. It was Lena's (below) 21st birthday. We had so much fun eating cake and celebrating her life. I couldn't help but think back to exactly 4 years ago.. James met Lena on the street corner passing out invitations to our first summer camp (we had just moved to Nara-Faminsk). Lena ended up coming to camp ~ the first night she snuck out to go drinking and James almost sent her home. They talked all afternoon... 9 more days of camp, Lena was a trouble-maker, obnoxious, mean and caused James no end of headaches. The last night of camp she went forward crying and said she wanted to repent. The change in her life was so drastic ~ truly a new creature. Lena had attended a Satanic group, had cuttings all over her body, and by her own admission was one of the 'meanest people alive.' Now she is 21, recently married to a Christian man, attending the Christian University in Moscow and is actively holding Bible studies in her own apartment during the week. What pure JOY it is to be involved in people's lives. To see the changes that come from the Holy Spirit alone.

May your day be filled with the wonder and enjoyment of your Heavenly Daddy's love for you.

Update time...

2008-06-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

We've had quite the busy week. Out internet server went down for 9 days.. it was a happy day when they finally got that working again. Two weekends ago there was a terrible car crash ~ seven youth in a tiny Russian car. Three of the passengers had attended our summer camp last year. One 16 year old young man was killed and a 17 year old Olga was seriously injured. Olga broke two vertebras in her spine, broke both arms, one leg and lots of cuts, bruises and blood loss. She's been told that she will be paralyzed from the waist down. James has gone to see her several times, the whole situation is just so very tragic. The young man that was driving is looking at a possible 5 year jail sentence because he did not have a license. Pray as James is trying to go visit with him in prison. Also pray for Olga's Mother as James had had several good conversations with her when he goes to visit.

We have started handing out invitations for summer camp.. please be praying. The weeks of preparation alway seem difficult. Pray for workers.. especially someone to oversea the cooking (so James doesn't have to do it :).

It's been unusually cool, but we finally got most of the garden planted... thanks to such great helpers!

David has been reading to Johanna every afternoon before naptime. I just love watching them interact together ~ they have such similar personalities. And yes JoJo is *still* very, very attached to her fingers...

Getting back in the swing of things..

2008-05-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd update with some pictures. We worked in the yard/garden all day today and the only muscles that aren't killing me right now are in my fingertips, so at least I can type. Last week was very cold (38 one morning brrrr), and rained every day, windy, no sun. We ended up staying in and getting lots of schoolwork done and organizing. James got back in his routine ~ he has evening Bible studies at either the youth center or somewhere in the city Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then the Sunday afternoon Bible study at the youth center.

Our big excitement today was the sun was shining and we took off the training wheels on Caleb's bike! Talk about a fast learner.. I was so impressed. There are few things in this world sweeter to watch than a 4 year old riding a *real* bike for the first time! :)

Although I'd have to say a little towhead girl running up to you with a dandelion bouquet yelling 'pick flowers a Mommy!!' is also pretty sweet. :) I would rather have dandelions from the roadside than roses from a store any day.

Yesterday we took our first walk to the woods ~ the kids loved it and had their special hidden *places* they had to re-visit. Since coming back Johanna has dragged her stuffed stick horse ev.ery.where. it's actually about to drive me nuts... but it was hilarious to watch her running through the trees yelling 'gid YUP BACK BOOOTY'

All the wildflowers were blooming.. just beautiful.

I just read something that made me laugh.. 'I used to have many theories about raising children, and no children. Now I have many children and no theories.' heh! I can soooo relate. Anyway, random notes from our lives. Love to all...

We're back home! :)

2008-05-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your prayers! We had a great trip back. The kids traveled well, Johanna even slept 6 hours straight. I should have taken a picture of her, she looked so cute sprawled out on the floor. Here's a picture of them watching planes in San Antonio.

We arrived Saturday morning to a cool but beautiful day. Our back yard was carpeted with dandelions and the lilacs were blooming out front ~ Rachel went wild and happily picked huge bouquets.. and then took her beloved dog for a long walk. Everyone seemed happy to be back home.

Here's a picture from the Sunday afternoon Bible study, when the weather is nice we have it in our backyard. It was great to see everyone again and hear all the news.

Update on Grandpa Jack

2008-05-15T06:23:00.000-07:00

This picture means the world to me.. doesn't Johanna look the picture of happiness and security? James' wonderful Dad *Grandpa Jack* was diagnosed 6 years ago with spinocerebellar ataxia. In laymen's vocabulary part of his brain is shrinking causing him to lose motor and speech abilities.

It's been very difficult to watch this tall, strong, independent man become confined to a wheelchair and unable to talk. As I've watched how Grandpa Jack has dealt with and confronted this crippling disease I am always reminded of Habakkuk 3:17 - 19 "Even though the fig tree shall not blossom, or the fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and HE will make my feet like hinds' feet, and HE will make me to walk upon mine high places." No matter the sadness and disappointments that life has given Grandpa Jack he has faced every.single.battle with a smile on his face, acceptance in his soul and the knowledge that his loving heavenly Father still loves him even though he is suffering. There is no pity-party going on, just loving acceptance that God will get me through this. What an example to us all of how to *finish well* the race of life; to bless God's name no matter what our personal difficulties. We may be hugging Grandpa Jack's neck for the last time on this earth tomorrow morning.. so please pray for grace and peace in our hearts. We so wish we could stay and live here for the next year and help out and make life easier for Nana.. but at the same time clearly know that is not God's plan right now for our family ~ our hearts are breaking to be quite honest.

Well we're packed and ready to go.. and about to pack up the computer so I better end. Pray as we fly out of San Antonio tomorrow morning. And pray for all those passengers and flight attendants on Flight 46 non-stop from Atlanta to Moscow tomorrow.. :0 they will be the ones needing grace - heh! :)

Thank you for your prayers and love for our family... we can never re-pay the kindness we have been shown by so many the last 3 months.. May God richly repay you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

2008-05-09T18:20:00.001-07:00

Seven years ago yesterday at a few minutes before midnight a beautiful 8lb little boy was born. The fact that he was a boy was a huge surprise to his parents as the Dr. told them at the ultrasound to expect a little girl... well lo and behold *Hannah Grace* turned out a bit different than planned. We love to look at his first baby pictures wrapped in an adorable pink outfit and wrapped in a pink blanket. We didn't even have a name picked out... but the only thought and prayer running through our heart at the moment was "God we beg you, make this baby boy grow up to be a man after God's own heart".. so we decided to name him David. I can not imagine our lives without this amazing, incredible gift & blessing. He is the kind, loving, quiet peacemaker of the family. So loving to his little sister; and is constantly making me think with all the questions of how something works or why, why why is it that way and not this way. Thank you Father in Heaven for the gift of David's life.

David's current favori

te activities have been shooting a bow and arrow and exploring every water crossings/creek he can find.

For his birthday we went for lunch to a Mexican restaurant where he got to wear this sombrero and watch Daniel Boone pop out and play Happy Birthday on the violin.. I think he felt special! Oh and please note his battered shirt.. I almost asked him to change because I knew I'd be taking pictures, but didn't because he LOVES his *soldier shirt* I think he would happily wear it every single day.

I love these pictures.. for his birthday he received two cap gun pistols with a holster!! Talk about joy unspeakable! :) He is quite the 7 year old cowboy.

We love you with all of our hearts David and think you're the greatest thing ever!!!!

Your adoring fan club!

Travel Update.. sigh

2008-05-06T20:07:00.001-07:00

Well I wrote the update below immediately upon receiving our visas.. I was in a hurry to share the happy news. When I then called Delta to change the tickets I found out that to fly out anytime the 9th - 15th would cost $4800 more :0 plus we would have to split up as there weren't 6 seats available. So we have tickets bought and we will be flying out Friday the 16th. As much as we are enjoying this visit we are very much wanting to be back home. Thanks for your love and prayers for our family.. 9.more.days. :) I guess we just needed to learn a little bit more about being flexible...

HOORAY!! Visas came today!

2008-05-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

*BIG SMILE*

Our visas arrived safe & sound... only 5 months after we started the process ~ that's gotta be a record or something! :) Anyway, we now have a work permit and if everything works according to plan we will be able to stay a whole year without leaving the country.. that's if no new visa laws are passed.

We are planning to fly out Friday arriving in Russia Saturday the 10th. I was sorta hoping to be there for the big May 9th celebration; after New Year's Eve this is THE big holiday of the year. When James called Andrei about getting a van to pick us up at the airport Andrei suggested we wait to arrive the 10th because all the drivers would be drunk on the 9th... sounded like a good plan to us! :)

Thank you for your prayers and now you can rejoice with us! Also pray as we pack up, clean, and say good-bye.

Visa Update

2008-04-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who have been praying for us regarding our current visa situation! God's answer has been to *wait* a bit longer... :) We've been told the paperwork will leave Moscow on Monday and then it will take a few days to be processed at the Russian Embassy in Houston. We will have to change our plane tickets, most likely to May 7th. We are hoping to get back home before the big May 9th holiday weekend.

As disappointed as we were about the cost of changing tickets, we did have some WONDERFUL news yesterday - the sale of the Youth Center is completed!!! We now are the happy owners and have the right to fix up, change and use the facility however we see fit. The paperwork has been a looonnggg two years in the making (I should mention that everything takes longer over there!) so we are very happy that God worked out every single detail. Andrei said the youth are so happy and have been working all week removing trash from the grounds, cleaning, planting flowers, fixing the fence - he said we won't recognize the place when we return. May God use this little wooden house as a testimony of His character and love... and may many people come to study the Bible.

I ran across an interesting 7 minute video in today's edition of the New York Times titled A crackdown on Russian Protestants. The video can viewed at www.nytimes.com and then scroll down to the left hand bottom corner. (sorry I had a problem with the link.. one day I'll figure out how to do that pretty)

I thought this video did an excellent job of showing how people of Protestant faith are treated like the dreaded *sects* and lumped together with Moonies, Jehovah-Witnesses, Scientology and anyone who is not Orthodox. Also how they explained that many Russians believe that American Protestants are trying to influence Russians and change them from their Russian Orthodox roots and therefore weaken Russia as a nation. We need so much wisdom in talking with people and sharing with them why we live and believe what we do and why we have chosen to live in Russia. And we hope one day people will stop calling James 'James Bond' and believing he works for the CIA. :) Anyway, if you have 7 minutes it is very informative.

Thanks again for your continued love & prayers!

Please be praying!

2008-04-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well we're in need of a miracle! I know it's always a good thing to be completely dependent on Almighty God to lead, guide, direct and miraculously provide when humanly speaking things just *aren't gonna happen*. We find ourselves yet again in such a position...

We have plane tickets to return to Moscow next Tuesday the 30th - but we have no visas. Every day last week James talked with the man getting our work permit.. 'the paperwork will be here tomorrow.' Well many *tomorrows* came and went and we're still waiting. This Wednesday is the deadline and if we haven't received it by then we'll have to change our tickets and fly out whenever ?? an extra week, two weeks, months ?? (did I fail to mention I don't like unknows?) So we wait and pray. If you think of it we'd appreciate some prayer warriors alongside us :)

In other news... Andrei back in Russia has amazing news reports every time we talk with him. Andrei was invited (amazing string of events) to teach twice a month in the local public school about "Religion and how to know God". Some youth that were saved at camp but do not live in Nara-Faminsk have started their own Bible study in their apartments. Andrei talks with them every week to give them ideas, encouragement etc. So as much as we are aching to be back home we realize that God will continue to work in people's lives even when we're on this side of the ocean. Thanks again for your prayers and loving, faithful support for our family. We are so humbled by all people have done for us in the past 3 months.

What Pastors do when they retire...

2008-04-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

YEEEHAAAA!! After over 40 years of preaching Pap finally gets to take a break and spend a whole week loving on his Grandyoungins... twas bliss!

Caleb even managed to get Gran in on the action

What an incredibly special week.. and what wonderful Grandparents we've been blessed with!

No we did not fall off the face of the earth..

2008-03-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

We are alive and well and presently abiding in a wonderful missionary house in Kerrville, Texas (near San Antonio). We had a good plane ride from Russia and the kids actually traveled fantastic! (complete miracle so thank you for praying!). We adjusted to jet lag and settled in and then James' dear Grandfather Virgil Gorden passed away. We were very thankful we could hold his hand and sing to him that morning before he went to be with Jesus. Such a precious memory we will hold in our heart; God was merciful to let us be there and not on the other side of the world.

After the funeral we began a new family adventure.. called.. the FLU. You know how you get sick in the winter and think to yourself, 'oh I must have the flu.' I used to think that.. and then I got the real honest to goodness Texas version of the flu - I have never been so sick in my life! Made me very, very thankful I rarely get sick! :)

The last few weeks have been quite blissful.. we have accomplished so much in the schooling department - HOORAH! And have just been loving the sunshine, outdoors, playing in the creeks and warm weather. I think I have read my Bible more in the past two weeks than all of last year. (actually I guess that's a confession) It's seriously been just unreal and exactly what we needed. Time to think, pray about what God has for our future and the ministry in Nara-Faminsk. James has often said that the most helpful preparation for the ministry in Russia was the years he worked on the Texas panhandle farm - time to be alone, think, meditate on scripture. We're just beyond grateful for the past few weeks and the refreshment and encouragement we've received.

In touristy news... we got to visit the Alamo and take a boat ride through downtown San Antonio with dear friends. Rachel has been riding almost every week with James' cousin's family - wonderful place, better than a petting zoo. (if you want to see some cute pictures of the kids, go to www.four-mile-farm.blogspot.com and scroll down to February 2nd) And of course best of all lots of loving on by the Grandparents. The kids have enjoyed taking their turn to spend the night at Nana & Grandpa's all by themselves. I cracked up when Caleb returned from his big adventure and the first thing David asked him was .. 'how much sugary stuff did Nana give you????!' Oh the joys of staying with Grandparents! :)

We have been overjoyed at the reports we're receiving from Andrei back in Nara-Faminsk. The local school invited him to have a class twice a month!! Lena & Vitaley (got saved at the first camp we held three years ago) continue to have Bible studies in their apartment. It's so rewarding to see how people have become more active and taken on more responsibility in our absence. (hmmm we should leave more often! :)

Thank you again for your prayers for our family! Blessings to each of you! And yes pictures will follow hopefully soon :)

Visa Update

2008-01-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

I almost titled this update 'Death by Documentation'. I have decided that the new visa laws have been passed to drive all expats working here on humanitarian visas to the brink of insanity! :0 Seriously you would not believe the amount of documents, apostilles, standing in line to get information we have faced the past two months. In the end when we talked with the man who has done our visas for the past 8 years and told him 'we HAVE to be in Russia this summer for the camps.. how can we do that for sure!!???' He replied 'get out of Russia and come back the end of April.' So that's what we're doing. We'll be leaving January 18th and returning the end of April. We have been very sad about leaving as it almost feels like a self-imposed exile. But at the same time we are very thankful we can help out with James' Dad who needs constant care; and of course can't wait to spend time with Grandparents and other extended family. Please pray as we have a busy week ahead wrapping up lots of loose ends and details (and more paperwork :) Pray for our children to happily adjust to all the changes. There have been lots of tears shed lately about 'who will take care of Snowflake (Rachel's beloved dog) , to 'I don't like living in America.. the milk tastes funny and the keifer tastes strange, and there's no snow!' I had to crack up as I overheard David trying to *encourage* Rachel.. he told her 'but remember the churches in America give you doughnuts and you can wear your shoes INSIDE the houses there..' Quite extraordinary indeed! :) So pray as our family travels that we will know God's peace and presence and be still and know HE is in control of each and every circumstance...

Outreach Update

2008-01-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

We were amazed to see how God worked this year! In the past we've been given the names/addresses of about 120 families to give presents/food baskets. The Director of the Social Services has always been cordial to James but not exactly friendly. This year however she repeatedly thanked James and asked him if next year we could do this for all 1,000 families in the entire region. (!!WOW!!) It took most of a week to visit all 160 family. James was especially glad to get to talk and visit with the social worker that went along each day. I could write a small book about all the many adventures James, Rachel, Micah & Megan had... everything from near death by a pack of dogs (James was thankfully alone for this one..) to watching head lice jump around to walking down pitch black staircases and stumbling over passed out drunk people lying on the steps. What they will never forget are the precious, precious children; many with alcoholic parents and all living in poverty. Pray that the Bible verses, booklets and gifts given will soften their hearts to seek after God.

The kids thought it great fun to pack up the gifts - we had an assembly line going for the school supplies, toothpaste, soap etc. David piped up, 'WOW we're working like a factory!!'

Micah thinking 'shwoooo, we're only halfway there!! And next year they want us to do 1,000!!' Thank you Father for giving us this opportunity... may you be glorified.

Merry Russian Christmas!

2008-01-07T09:39:00.000-08:00

Well it's Merry Christmas here in Russia today.. no matter how many times I try to explain to David that America uses one calendar and Russia a different one, I don't think it's sunk in.. he keeps asking why Jesus gets two birthdays and everyone else just gets one birthday celebration. :)

We had a beautiful sunny but cold day to celebrate, and our favorite tradition of taking cookies to all our neighbors. Here's Rachel, David & Caleb packing up the boxes of cookies and candy

And here we are walking down our street..

The one downside to this has been that I sometimes wonder if our kids are really learning the truth of 'it's better to give than to receive'. By the time we went up & down our street we had our sled filled with chocolate bars, pickles, and oranges... we have such wonderful neighbors! And had so so much fun getting to visit them - the kids all said this was their favorite part of the holiday celebrations.
Johanna especially loved getting to push the sled.. and her assortment of puppy dogs, horses and lamb.

Saturday night our doorbell rang.. at the door was this precious elderly man Nicolai Igorivich. He is our adopted *Grandfather* and the most amazing 79 year old Russian man I've ever met. The stories he can tell of being a young cook in WWII are just unbelievable. Anyway, he showed up at our doorstep telling the kids that "Ded Moroz" (Father Frost) had come to visit them. He had presents for them and a jar of jelly for us. I wanted to cry as I pictured this dear man standing in live for the bus and traveling well over an hour and then walking the sheet of ice path to our house from the bus stop... all to give us a jar of homemade jelly. Truly the one giving the gift is infinitely more precious than the actual gift. When I scolded him that there was no way he should be traipsing about on such a cold night, he answered, 'but Susanitchka, you are so far away from your parents so I had to take their place tonight. I wanted to make sure you knew you were loved.' Such a priceless memory.. and jelly.. :) We are so blessed...

May you rejoice today and every day as you remember the miracle of God with us.. may all of our lives bring Him glory. And as our tradition we always read this story with the children by Leo Tolstoy - you can read it here http://www.holytrinitynewrochelle.org/tolstoychristmas.html
What a reminder that where love is.. God is..

Wonderful Orphanage program!

2007-12-23T02:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the long anticipated program at the area orphanage. (where James teaches a weekly English lesson) I think James, Micah, Megan, Rachel & David and the other 7 youth that performed had as much fun as the children! There has been a young man Anatolli coming to the Bible studies for over a year. He had grown up in this orphanage and told James how special it was to be a part of giving gifts to the children. They did a very funny skit about the *elves* getting ready.. complete with shaving, brushing teeth, styling their hair etc. James said the teachers were laughing harder than the children and really seemed to enjoy the entire program.

Then James and Alona came out dressed as the traditional Father Christmas and Winter Princess. James said he had never done a program before where he sensed God really speaking to hearts as he spoke - He was able to share the entire Gospel from Adam and Eve to redemption through Jesus Christ. Pray for these precious children to personally know Jesus Christ.

Handing out the presents

Micah said she was ready to take this little girl home with her. I so love this picture - the orphanage director had told the children not to open their presents until they got back to their rooms.. but as you can see this little sweetie just couldn't help peeking.

to your left stands Rachel, David, Micah & Megan with a group of boys that wanted their picture taken for Christmas.

Please be praying for James, Andrei, Micah & Megan as we have a very, very busy week ahead. We have the names & addresses of over 100 families given to us by the city Administration. They'll be personally visiting each family and giving them a food basket, Bible and other gifts. Pray that Christ will be glorified here in Nara-Faminsk. And in case I don't get on here again.. Have a WONDERFUL celebration of our Savior's Birth!! Much love to all...

The new teachers in town!

2007-12-19T10:05:00.001-08:00

The last two days Micah and Megan have been teaching English classes at the local school. What a fantastic opportunity!! All the classes from 11th grade down to 4th grade. Last night a group of students invited them to the local pizza place.. Micah said two of the youth asked questions for 45 minutes about the Bible, Jesus Christ and what they believed. Tonight one new girl Katya came to the Bible study after Micah & Megan taught in her class. And already most of the classes have said 'we heard about the English camp you did last summer.. we're coming next summer!' Please keep praying as the Christmas/New Year's Holidays are a wonderful time to share with people.

Micah in the center, Megan far right

The FL girls are coming!

2007-12-10T13:51:00.001-08:00

****IMPORTANT NOTICE****
Please note the box at the right-hand corner -------->

Instead of having to visit our blog on the internet you can now simply type in your e-mail address and every update will be sent automatically to your e-mail account. How's that for convenient! So PLEASE make sure and type in your e-mail address. (and many thanks to my computer brilliant friend Phyllis for her help!)

Please pray for our dear friends Micah & Megan as they board a plane in just a few hours to fly over and help out with the busy Christmas/New Year's ministries. Pray they have no *adventures* and stay healthy. They are such a huge help & blessings!!

We have very talented children...:)

2007-12-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

And since life is all about learning something new.. I was quite amazed this morning to learn that it is possible for a two year old to eat an entire bowl of cream of wheat with a pair of chopsticks. And since I would not have believed it had I not seen with my own two eyes.. here is the pictorial proof...Please note the *stick and lick* technique.
We are studying China right now in school so James stopped at a Chinese restaurant and brought chop sticks home for everyone. If you really want to add entertainment to your evening meal pick up some free chop sticks... it's downright hilarious to watch a 4 year old eat peas with chop sticks... or as he calls them "chop-chops" :)

Happy Birthday Rachel!

2007-12-10T12:25:00.000-08:00

I can NOT believe we have a NINE year old daughter!?!! It seems like yesterday precious Rachel came into our lives. We had a wonderful time celebrating the gift of her life.

We have a tradition that the birthday person makes their own cake.. Rachel made a 9 layer cake with white chocolate and strawberries in between - and yes it was as good as it sounds!

With her guests singing to her. And afterwards everyone went outside and had our dog Snowflake pull them on the sled.

I love you Rachel and am so proud of the loving, kind, amazing person you are! As James often says, 'what would this family do without Rachel?' We all think you're the GREATEST!!

Adventure in Tajikistan

2007-12-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

I have oft told James he should have his own reality TV show.. I mean seriously the stuff that happens to him on a regular basis. Weeks ago James phoned the Tajikistan Embassy in Moscow to ask about visa regulations. He was told since he was only staying 6 days he only needed his American passport and he could buy a visa at the airport once he landed in Tajikistan. James asked several times, 'You're sure I don't need a letter of invitation or any other document?' Nope nothing at all, just buy it at the airport when you arrive. (we've done this before when we went to Turkey). So James landed in Tajikistan, filled out the paperwork for a visa and headed toward customs. The customs official looked at his passport and asked 'where is your letter of invitation??' James explained what he was told by the Tajik Embassy. Nope you have to have a letter written by a citizen of Tajikistan. James was led to a room off to the side while his friend Costya ran to write out a letter of invitation. Wanting to be *official* Costya decided to get the Dushanbe's Baptist Church stationary and wrote the letter saying the church had invited James. When the Customs official read that 'no way, you're not entering our country.' No if, ands, or further pleading... So James ended up spending the next 16 hours in a little cement room with no heat, looking out the window at the beautiful snow covered mountains of Tajikistan. No food, no water, no toilet, not even a chair or pillow - nothing but cement walls.. he said it was a very *prison* experience. :) The next morning he was finally allowed back into the main part of the airport to wait for the next plane back to Moscow. (those hard molded plastic chairs never felt so good!!) So we have no idea why God put a love and interest in our hearts for the country of Tajikistan. It seems at least for our personal family this is a closed door. James said from what he saw and experienced first hand this would not be a country to take your family to live long term. But if nothing else this trip has made us more aware of what the Christians in this country experience daily. What a reminder to pray!

And since the past few days it seems we've had constant frustration, irritations, problems and the like.. I thought I'd end on a lighter note.. Tonight while reading about Abraham and the verse 'I will bless those who bless you..' Caleb piped up 'What does blessed mean?' David answered in his most authoritative voice, 'You know, you are blessed when you don't get the hiccups.' So to all those who love and pray for us.. Be Blessed! :)

A little Geography Quiz

2007-12-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

1. What country borders Afghanistan to the North?
2. What country has been inhabited continually since 4,000BC, having the Persian and Aryan Empires?
3. What country did James leave for this morning to visit for the next 6 days?

*****and the answer is *****

TAJIKISTAN - meaning in the Persian language 'Land of the Tajiks'. We have long been interested in the Tajik people; many of whom travel to Moscow to work and send the earnings back to their families. A few months ago a good friend Costya asked James about coming to open a Youth Center/Camp in Tajikistan. Costya grew up in Tajikistan but has spent the last several years in Moscow attending Seminary. He had planned to return to Tajikistan and start a drug rehabilitation center. As we have prayed and wondered why this invitation would fall in our laps... we felt led to pursue the opportunity. So this morning James boarded a plane to fly to Dushanbe, Tajikistan to spend a few days visiting the people, culture and the needs of the country. We have no idea what the future holds... it may be James will go down in August and run an English camp... or our whole family will move down there :).. or we may just try to help financially to assist Costya in opening a drug rehab center. Pray for protection for James, wisdom in ALL things, and pray for the people of Tajikistan. Oh and pray for the lonely Beairds that are missing a certain wonderful man tonight! And don't worry I'll post lots of pictures when he returns.. I can't wait to see myself. And if you want to do some very interesting reading.. google Tajikistan :)

Just for fun...

2007-11-17T04:52:00.000-08:00

It's been a good, busy week here.. we finally got some more snow and the kids have loved sliding down hills and having snow battles. It's snowing as I write and I always seem to forget how beautiful and peaceful it is to watch those big flakes fall out of nowhere... I also seem to forget the logistical nightmare of getting four children into snowsuits & boots - heh! The shutter on our camera decided to break so no pictures.. so I thought I'd post some that a friend sent - we thought them very funny and have seen many similar sights but you never want to whip out your camera and appear to be a *tourist* :) So here's a few glimpses of Russia..

This one really made us laugh.. we have this *exact* same red car we use for summer camp.. in almost the same condition :)

Here's some random things heard around our house the last few days.. I keep telling myself I have to start writing things down - the kids are so funny right now...

**Caleb praying the night after he got his cast off:

'Dear God please help me to break my arm so I can go to McDonald's with Daddy' (James had taken him to get an ice cream cone at McDonald's after he got the cast off)

**Caleb: Mommy how old are you?

M: 36

Caleb with eyes as round as saucers: 'Mommy you are SO OLD!!!! Are you gonna die tomorrow???'

**David: Mommy, would you rather have lived with the Romans or the Phoenicians??

M: very distracted .. 'ummm I'm not sure honey'

David: I would have rather lived with the Phoenicians because I think their aquaduct system was vastly superior' (I'm thinking to myself where in the world did he pick up 'vastly superior'???? and also I have no idea how to even spell Phoenicians!!! :))

**David: Mom after supper are you gonna read the catacalizmic book?

M: you mean the catachism??

David: oh yeah that thing

**Johanna was walking down the road when a sweet Grandmother stopped and asked her 'Kak Tebya Zavoot' (what is your name?). She smiled back and yelled out "SHLOPA" - which is James' pet name for her, sorta the Russian equivalent to "sweetie pie".. to which the Grandmother laughed & laughed. Johanna now goes around the house saying 'my name SHLOPA.. my name SHLOPA.. my name SHLOPA' all.day.long

Remember a merry heart is good medicine.. this is especially important when one begins to get SO OLD! :)

Caleb Update: HOORAY!

2007-11-07T05:10:00.000-08:00

Thanks for praying for Caleb! He got his cast of Tuesday and the Dr. said it was completely healed and was straight and strong. Here's a picture of the wounded soldier... (think he could use a haircut??? :)
James came home while they were making biscuits for supper and was quite amused by 'the one-armed biscuit maker.' I'm telling you when it comes to biscuits and rice pudding these guys are the BEST!! I keep telling them one day they can open their own cafe and call it the "Beaird Boyz Biscuits" - of course hopefully when they're grown the food they're preparing won't be in such close proximity to their feet.... :)

Johanna Joy turns TWO!

2007-10-31T06:37:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe our *baby* is a big TWO year old! We had so much fun celebrating our JOY-giver's birthday. We played a few little games and then since Johanna's favorite thing is to dance, we put on some cowboy music and promenaded around. I can't put into words the amount of joy and happiness Johanna has brought into our lives. Thank you Heavenly Father for this precious gift!

I tried & tried and could not get a good picture.. she was so cute holding her skirt and twirling, twirling, twirling
With her two adopted big sisters Svieta & Olya.. and believe it or not Caleb is happy in this picture :) (look closely and you can see his tonsils!)
In our family we take blowing out candles very, very seriously

Yummmmm! Tell me again why Mommy never lets me have this stuff?

And this is for that certain someone who says there is never a picture of me on the blog... happy now?? Although I have to say this picture of Johanna reminds me of the one of myself on my 2nd birthday.. except I had my mouth open and was screaming my lungs out.. and I had four times the amount of hair..

Please pray for Caleb

2007-10-24T10:34:00.000-07:00

Please pray for Caleb the Conqueror.. he fell and broke both bones about an inch above his left wrist. We are very, very thankful that it was a clean break and should only require a cast for two weeks. Pray that it heals quickly, straight & strong. I've always loved the verse that God knits us together in the womb so I'm praying He will just *knit* these bones together. Our lives are just so dull and boring we needed a little extra excitement. :)

Another matter for prayer is a new visa law that was passed Oct. 4th. Here's an exerpt from the English Moscow Times:

The government is tightening the screws on foreigners who want to work here full time without a work visa -- and itinerant English teachers look likely to be the first to feel the squeeze.
Multiple-entry business visas, which used to let foreigners stay in Russia for up to one year, will now only allow stays of up to 90 days at a time, according to a decree signed by Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov on Oct. 4.
Under the new rules, such visas will still last one year. But they will only let people stay in Russia for up to 180 days of that year, and for no longer than 90 days at a time. Moreover, if a foreigner stays in Russia for 90 days straight, he or she is then required to leave and not come back until another 90 days have passed.
Zubkov's decree also says foreigners might have to obtain the visas in their native countries -- which implies that U.S. and British expatriates could no longer hop on the train to Kiev for a visa run. But representatives of visa agencies and foreign business lobbies were unsure how that rule would be implemented, and some said it might not apply to Westerners.
What is clear, however, is that expats can no longer stay in Russia endlessly by obtaining multiple-entry business visas and renewing them each year, said Alexei Filippenkov, director of the Visa Delight agency.
(^^this is exactly what we've done for the past 10 years)

"Now, any foreigner who wants to come live here has to either go through the immigration process, and eventually obtain a residence permit, or else find an employer who will prepare a work visa for them," Filippenkov said.

There is a very good chance we will have to leave the country by January 4th and stay out at least 90 days before re-entering. We are going to start down the document trail to obtain a residence permit.. but we've heard this is about as difficult as adopting (document wise) .. so should be fun fun - like I said before our lives are just way too dull & boring....heh!

Fall pictures

2007-10-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

We have a tradition every September to dress up and do a family picture and individual *school* pictures of the kids.. this year unfortunately my friend with the great camera was gone on vacation.. so no family pictures, but some sweet ones of the kids.

Our precious 8 year old Rachel
With her beloved cat Chocolate
A note of explanation as to why David looks like a Russian army conscript.. one day during school David was in the bathroom for quite a long time.. I finally went to knock on the door - David emerged with large chunks of his hair cut down to the scalp.. I asked him why he decided to cut his hair to which he confidently answered 'because it needed cut.' So we just buzzed him :) After a half dozen of David's famous frozen smile pictures I told him to 'just relax, act natural and don't actually smile' ........
AHHHHHH so much better!! Actually I love this picture because I imagine this is what a certain 6 year old James Dean looked like most of the time.

Battle-scarred Caleb

I so want to get a shirt for Caleb that says 'I was born tough'... seriously this kid is one of a kind - all he talks about is getting 'big muscles'. The other day we were out for a picnic and as a special treat I bought a chocolate bar to divide.. when I handed Caleb his little square he asked me if chocolate had sugar in it.. 'yes' .. then he asked does it have protein in it?? 'hmm not really' to which he declared he didn't want the chocolate because it wouldn't build *BIG muscles*. I think there's just a little tiny bit of his Uncle Matt in there somewhere...

I got Johanna all dressed up in white tights and shirt, beautiful bow in her hair and whilst distracted for 5 minutes turned around to find her happily filthly playing in the sandbox...

Who needs hair bows to look cute??!

catchin' up...

2007-10-09T03:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been forever.. here's some fast, rambling happenings of the last month:

*'Zhatva' - the big Russian harvest celebration was celebrated September 9th. One of my favorite holidays over here as it always coincides with the leaves being at their height and getting the last vegetables out of the garden. (I mean come on in November we're thinking about ice skating more than pumpkins :) We had a big feast after church and enjoyed the fellowship and gorgeous sunny fall day. We had two guests - one a man that just got out of prison and has been living in a tent in the woods. The other Colya a young man from Turkmenistan. Colya works at the local internet office and as our internet is forever not working he has been out to our house several times. Was great to see him finally come to church! Pray he continues.. he had so many questions about the Bible he has been reading.

*The start of school meant James could resume teaching a class at the orphanage. He was a little disappointed to discover they completely changed who lives at the orphanage; now instead of the older students he had worked with for the past two years he has a room full of younger children ages 9-10. Pray these classes continue to go well.

*Apples - my month in a word.. we have 7 apple trees that had the biggest harvest I have ever seen! We made apple butter, sauce, juice, cobblers, cut up apples to freeze and 12 liters of apple cider vinegar... actually I'm not sure what I made ask me in a couple of weeks - it's either vinegar or hard cider :) I told Rachel she could made a cobbler every day if she gathered the apples and did everything herself. On about the 5th straight dinner of enjoying cobbler and ice cream she let out a contented sigh 'this is the life!'... I have to agree, I LOVE the fall!

*School begins! - well actually we did little bits and pieces all summer.. I now have a 3rd grader, 1st grader and the most enthusiastic preschooler I've ever seen. We are still having trouble understanding Caleb's speech but he loves sitting at his desk cutting, counting, coloring and doing anything I call *school*.

*Bible Studies - Pray for James on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday. Also our friend Lena began a Bible study at her apartment on Saturdays. On Friday nights they have a game night with a short Bible lesson especially for unbelievers.

*Snow - supposedly this weekend, the kids are wild with excitement. The morning after Johanna's birthday (which was Sunday, I'll post more later w/pictures) we heard the boys up at 5:00am running around upstairs. James went to investigate and found them at the window looking for snow. James told them there was no snow and get back in bed.. David replied 'but MOM SAID there would be snow after Johanna's birthday.' It is vital to remember that kids take everything you say literally. How did someone who hates to be cold give birth to polar bear children???!?

Thanks to all for your love and prayers. Hope you're enjoying a wondrous autumn and praising Him for the harvest!

The big 10!!

2007-09-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago yesterday a younger James and a lighter Susan vowed before God and our families to love, cherish, honor and respect. We decided back then that since we didn't do a huge honeymoon that for our 10th we were going to go all out and celebrate in Rome.. somewhere along the line we even had a special savings account for our big trip on our 10th anniversary. Well the reality of life is that no amount of $$ could entice someone to babysit our kids for 4 days - haha :) so after much thought we decided to celebrate with a trip to <dramatic pause> the Moscow ZOO! We loaded up the kids and off we went. I'm sure touring the ancient ruins does not compare to the joy of sitting in rush hour Moscow traffic singing 'Polly-wolly dooddle all the day' at the top of your lungs with four happy children. (gotta love Burl Ives!) One block from the Zoo the transmission completely went out on our minivan - please note: we just had the tranmission rebuilt.. it took them 6 weeks and we had the van back exactly 8 days before this happened.. grrrrr. (thankfully it's under warranty!) So James dropped us off at the Zoo while he began a 6 hour adventure of driving the van to the repair shop in first gear. The kids had a fantastic time petting a zebra, holding a boa constrictor, watching a dolphin show and spending hours with their faces pressed up against plexiglass. James finally returned and we headed for the metro - this was to become an epic adventure. Traveling with four children and a huge stroller on the circle brown line at the height of rush hour traffic can not be explained in words.. 1.8 million people ride the metro every day.. *crowded* is an understatement. We survived and made it to the train station. We got on the train and found seats - James, Rachel, David & Caleb on one side of the isle; Johanna and I on the other side. I was sitting directly across from an elderly gentlemen with thick glasses. Here is our conversation:
-are all these childen yours???!
-'no we thought it would be fun to rent them for the day' (actually I just said this in my mind, I smiled and just said 'yes')
-you are the mother of all four children??
-'yes'
-is that the Father?? (pointing at James)
-'yes'
-you and that man have four children???
-'yes'
-HOW WONDERFUL!
-'yes we think it's pretty wonderful too'

I was sitting beside two other men who at this point leaned way over - both quite intoxicated - ARE THESE ALL YOUR CHILDEN???! Repeat of the above conversation. I do not consider four children a large family, but apparently in Russia we are right up there with the Duggers. Anyway, the elderly gentlemen was so sweet; he kept asking all sorts of questions and playing with Johanna who was in rare form - giving him sweet eyes, laughing, playing peek-a-boo, waving to him. He actually got out a piece of paper and pen and wrote me a letter (!!!) telling me how beautiful our children were and how wonderful it was to see a big family.. I was so touched. He finally got off waving to Johanna the entire time while she blew him kisses. Two ladies then sat down in his seat. By this time we had been on the train an hour and the natives were getting restless. David had his beloved pet rubber snake with him.. I looked over just in time to see him turned around in his seat engrossed in his make believe world... he had the snake about one inch away from the grandmother's neck behind him. Just then he lunged the snake forward scaring the poor lady half to death. (he didn't hit her at least!) She turned around to give him a half amused/half are you crazy look. I looked over at the two ladies across from me, they saw the whole thing and were laughing so hard one actually had tears running down her cheeks. In my distraction I then turned around to find Johanna razzing the Grandmother seated behind her and throwing grapes at the man two rows over - it was chaos. We finally made it home, threw the kids in the tub, fed them and got them to bed. I came downstairs to find James collapsed on the couch.. I collapsed on the other couch.
-Happy Anniversary Honey, I love you!
-Happy Anniversary, I love you too!
<loud snoring noise>
And that dear friends is how we celebrated our big 10th. As I lay in the quiet I thought back to my favorite part of our wedding; when we knelt and had our Fathers lay hands on and pray over us. I realized that everything they had asked for that day God in his faithfulness has answered. We have been blessed with children, spiritual children, financial provision, physical protection from accidents & injury. We have seen miracles and experienced God at work in our lives - we have seen him give peace, grace, mercy, wisdom and blessing. I write all this to say, Thank you God for 10 incredible years! I may not know what the future holds, but I do know that between James and four energetic children I will never be bored and quite often sleep deprived. And I know that our Faithful God will be with us for the next decade.. and 'til death us do part.'

HOORAY!

2007-08-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

James' surgery went super! They were able to do the 'no cut' arthroscopic surgery (that's loosely translated... prolly better technical term?) anyway, the Dr. said everything looked great and James should be up and WALKING in 3-4 days. Amazing what moderm medicine can do as James hasn't been able to bear weight or even straighten his leg for almost 3 weeks! Thanks so much for your prayers. Hoorah it's over!

James Update

2007-08-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

James went to see the surgeon yesterday and finally got some good news.. they were able to squeeze him in for surgery tomorrow morning!! Huge praise as the entire hospital is being shut down for renovations next week. Please pray for James as his surgery is at 8:00am Friday morning.. if anyone has insomnia tonight that's midnight EST - you can stay awake and pray! :) Thanks so much for your love and prayers!
Saturday we celebrated our big boy Caleb's 4th birthday! What a special celebration! Poor guy had all girls for the guest list, just like David. We had lots of fun playing water balloon games and the feed each other a banana blindfolded was a huge hit. I am so thankful God entrusted precious Caleb into our lives. I just know God has some very special plans for this little *fireball's* future.

Here's Johanna watching a game.. I was getting Johanna dressed for the party in her little pink & white sundress when Caleb walked in the bedroom... he let out a long 'ahhhhhhh' and then exclaimed 'Josie, you look sooooo boo-ti-FUL'. Made me happy that even though he's only 4 he recognizes true beauty! ;)

one more thing...

2007-08-11T02:02:00.000-07:00

I meant to add to the post below... Lovely Laura has some great pictures and write-up on her blog - www.xanga.com/txlauralou

I enjoy her writings so much I keep wondering.. can you hire someone to write your own blog?? hmmmmm...

Please pray for our dear friend Lena. She's the very first person that got saved at camp four years ago and has been a real leader in the Bible studies. She had planned to help out with camp but then the beginning of July her Mom was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. She traveled with her Mom up north to a well know cancer center for some special treatments. Well early this morning James got a call from Lena at the airport... her Mother had passed away a few minutes after their plane landed. It was a huge shock as they did not think she was that weak. Please pray for Lena as this will be an extremely difficult time for her and her brother. Pray that we will know how to comfort and help out in whatever way we can.

Ohh and one more story whilst I'm typing.. After camp we had a huge *to do list* of things we had let slide while James was at camp; and then James hurt his knee so we slid further behind. Our sink needed fixed and James planned to do it himself but just couldn't with his knee.. he finally called a plumber who said he would send out his new assistant in the morning. The next morning 25 year old Colya arrived and started working on the sink. James sat on a chair nearby and started talking... before long Colya was telling how he grew up in an orphanage after his parents were killed in an accident when he was 5 year old. He suffered some terrible difficulties and was then sent to a military academy. He was selected to be in an elite sniper unit and sent off to Chechenya. As I sat listening to Colya & James talk for hours I suddenly realized that if James had not hurt his knee we would have never met up with Colya. Furthermore.. with all the many projects James had planned I seriously doubt he would have had an entire morning free to just sit on the deck and talk to this needy young man. What a great reminder it was for me to not let my endless projects and *to do* list get in the way of the one and most important thing.... people.

Pray for James

2007-08-08T09:56:00.000-07:00

I really should have posted this last week.. but our internet server kept going down. Anyway, a week ago Sunday James was playing basketball and hurt his knee. It's been an interesting week as we've run around trying to find a MRI machine and a Doctor. Part of the culture here is the *August vacation*.. the first 3 weeks in August everything comes to a grinding halt - here in our city they completely shut down the vodka factory and the large machine shop and everyone takes their summer vacation at the same time. Well this week we found out that all the Doctors take their vacations now too! We called and made an appointment.. drove to the city (our city of Nara-Faminsk doesn't have a MRI) and were then informed that the Doctor was 'on holiday.' We finally were able to hunt down a working MRI machine but then the technician just gave us his opinion - there was no Doctor available to consult with afterwards. Hmmm for some reason walking down the halls of a deserted hospital with only cats roaming around struck me as quite fascinating... if all the Doctors go on holiday that means no one gets sick.. right??! Note to self: don't get sick in Russia the first of August. After a week of frustration we finally found a Doctor to look at the MRI and we were told James will need surgery - the sooner the better. One huge praise was that it wasn't the major ACL ligament that was torn.. it was a smaller one and also there is a bone chipped off from his knee cap that is floating around causing pain & inflammation. We did finally track down a highly recommended surgeon that is actually working.. James has an appointment next Wednesday and hopefully the following week will have the arthroscopic surgery.

Well before the stream roller came through to flatten our lives - hehe! we actually had the most amazing Sunday. A singing group of youth from Nemchinovka Church came out to sing and join our Bible study. It was so great to see these grown up young people that James had been the Youth Pastor of waaayyy back in '98-99. What joy to hear of the Bible studies they are leading, the Universities they have graduated from and the sphere of influence God has given them in the city of Moscow. It was fun to think back to when they would come to our apartment every week and pass baby Rachel around on their laps... this time they ooohed & ahhed over Johanna. We also met the most amazing man David from Cameroon (he works at the Cameroon Embassy). David gave his testimony and our youth really seemed to enjoy the songs, sharing, & fellowship. Our David was completely taken with the 'African David' as he told him a bunch of snake and jungle stories.. it was too cute to watch. The best part was that three girls from the English camp came for the first time!! We were thrilled to see that the friendships developed over the camp had made them interested in the Bible studies. Pray they will keep coming.

Our house seems very empty, quiet & lonely after the wonderful young people we had here helping with camps. I still can't get over what a huge blessing they were to our lives.. and lots of others. We sure hope they can come again next summer... our entire city miss ya'll!! (Micah & Megan - the fruit lady keeps asking about you! :)

Oh and if anyone is interested Micah made a video of the Nemchinovka Church singing... click this link to view it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MChodges26

I need to put more videos on the internet - gives you a little *window* into our world. Thanks to all for their prayers, love & concern.

Just had to include one more picture.. this young lady used to carry Rachel around at church when she was a baby. Also for anyone reading this that was at the MTC way back when.. to the left is Timothy Averken (Nicolai Epishin's nephew) and playing the guitar is Zhenya Popovich.

Pictures from English Camp

2007-07-25T03:39:00.000-07:00

Great is thy Faithfulness! I keep singing this today.. God has answered so many prayers this past week. The English camp went very, very well! James was very excited because almost every single person at the camp was a completely new contact - they had never been to a Bible study or even met us before. The American group arrived back at our house late last night; ate.. slept.. and immediately left again this morning. I did manage to fanagle one person to download a few pictures (thank you Laura!). In a few days I will post more pictures and details. Thank you again for your prayers for the Camp.

James was so glad that two sets of parents came out to the camp. These parents spent the whole day and made a meal for the group. And the family lives just 10 minutes away from us!! We had never met before but they talked with James for a long time asking him questions about God.
Please note Mike's gourmet flipping technique.. he needs to be guest chef on the cooking channel.

above and below are pictures of looking up Bibles verses in an English/Russian Bible and making bracelets.

The Chess Tournament of the Century!!

Jamie is six months pregnant and received the Hero Award as all the Russians were amazed she went camping. I think Mary Kay should use this picture for a marketing campaign.. Wherever life takes you.. you can always find a Mary Kay Consultant! Seriously though, the youth loved getting manicures in the middle of the woods.

Volleyball and Capture the Flag were the camp favoritesThe knife throwing was also a big hit

Everyone loved the crafts!

Please pray for the English Camp

2007-07-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

Late Wednesday night the Texans arrived in Nara-Faminsk. Our van is broken so we had a friend pick them up at the airport.. a friend that can't speak a work of English. They said the ride from the airport was quite amusing.. they got out their little Russian phrase book and started asking questions... they concluded from their *conversation* that the driver was 38 years old and had no children - now I was amused because he's actually in his late 50's and has a son. :) They left the next morning for camp - please pray for this team - Mike, Jamie, Laura, Jon, Marcus & Rebekah and the group from Florida - Micah, Megan, Rebecca & John Michael. I talked to James briefly and he reported that camp was going great. The weather is wonderful - huge praise! There are also more than the first camp - I'm guessing around 45 people? (haven't heard the exact count). Please pray for wisdom, protection and the Holy Spirit to work in people's lives.

It's been very special for me to have these fantastic young people in our home. (well for a few hours/meals anyway). What a living example and influence for our young children to see up close. One young man Marcus came through the door for breakfast, scooped up Caleb and began playing with him... Caleb now adores Marcus and has asked every day when is he coming back. After breakfast while I frantically ran around making copies and last minute details I looked outside and there was Marcus and the boys playing baseball - just had to get a picture.

The night before James was gone so John Michael filled in as the *tickle Monster*

And since there's a Nana out there that loves cats.. thought I'd include a picture of our kitty. We got her a few weeks ago and the kids named her Fluffy. Today Rachel informed me she was no longer Fluffy because she had to have a Russian name... so let me introduce you to the latest member of our family.. Irena the cat.

And keep us here on the *homefront* in your prayers. Yesterday evening we were playing with friends in front of the house; Caleb got *tagged* by an older girl and fell backwards hitting his head on a rock. There was quite a bit of blood so the other Mother started screaming at the top of her lungs and called the ambulance. (hmmm I now consider myself in comparison the very *calmest* of Mommys :) Caleb was fine and greatly enjoyed the ambulance Dr. cleaning him up and telling him how tough he was. If I remember correctly this is the 5th time we've called the ambulance.. four of the times were for Caleb. I guess there's one in every family. The ambulance visits usually cost $2.00, but yesterday the Dr. wouldn't even take any money... if we ever leave Russia I will greatly, greatly miss the ambulance service!!

Camp Pictures!

2007-07-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

2007 will go down in history as the Camp of the Mud! I still haven't been able to sit down and talk with James for more than 10 minutes - he is busy running around trying to get our van running and things ready for the next English camp starting the 19th. He did however report that God did amazing things in people's lives. Five youth accepted Christ! The Bible studies went very well, and much truth from God's word was sown in these lives. God protected, gave grace, strength, wisdom and answered so many prayers! THANK YOU for praying!! Your love for these young people shown through your prayers, concern and giving is a huge blessing to us. I can't wait for one day in heaven to get to *introduce* you to some of these young people. 2 Thessalonians has been really special to me lately.. 'But the LORD is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the LORD concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you. Now may the LORD direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.' God has shown himself so very faithful in the midst of many uncontrollable circumstances.. thank you Heavenly Father!

Megan said after the mud battle they ran down the hill into the lake to wash off.. she said it was like a re-enactment of the swine racing over the hill.. heh!

Rebecca waving from the camp bus

This picture of John Michael cracked me up.. quite an ingenius set-up he devised to dry his clothes over the campfire!

They found a hedgehog, which soon became the camp Mascot

Darlene the strawberry marshmellows were such a hit! Thanks again - I love this picture of Megan.

Chef James making his famous spaghetti... I really think he should open an Italian Cafe some day when we retire.

I saw this picture of Micah and promptly put *vegetable peeler* on my shopping list.. for the next camp at least she'll have something less dangerous looking

The World Championship of arm wrestling.. the Russians won!! :) Umm McCloy's if you see this better practice up...

Thank you Father for the opportunity to invest in people's lives for eternity!

Camp Update

2007-07-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord for His grace & mercy! The first three days of camp were cold, rainy and overcast... really difficult to *get things going*. However the last three days have been just beautiful!! Hot, sunny and beautiful blue skies. The three American girls all deserve medals of bravery/endurance/courage for what they went through with all the rain and cold the first few days! James said he was disappointed at first that some of the youth decided not to go because of the bad weather.. but he said the camp was going great and they were enjoying really good Bible studies. He said it was almost easier with a smaller group to focus more on one-on-one time of talking with the different young people. Thank you so much for your prayers!!!! Please keep praying.. specifically that the great weather will continue, for kitchen help (the young man James was going to pay to run the kitchen never showed up), protection and most of all that God will work in people's lives.

Report from the home front: Last night was major *missing Daddy night*. The boys woke me up at 2:00am - Caleb informed me that Daddy needed to come home 'right now!!!' And David insisted that '10 days is just way too long a time..' So we all snuggled in bed and missed Daddy together :) And don't you know that was a realllll restful night in between Caleb sticking his feet under my chin and David breathing down my neck. Anyway, I decided this morning we needed a major diversion so I decided to take the kids swimming at a nearby lake. Sometimes I seriously think I need my head examined... our van only goes in first gear right now and keeping track of five kids in water isn't exactly restful (we've adopted Rachel's friend Olga for the summer); but we loaded up and puttered down the road at 11 mph to the lake. We had such a good time!! On the way home we even stopped at McDonald's for ice cream cones. I decided to let Johanna have a go at her first ice cream cone alone.. as we drove into the driveway I heard Rachel laughing, 'Look JoJo looks like a snowman' I turned around to this lovely sight... In closing all I have to say is.. TWO.MORE.DAYS!!! May they pass quickly.... :)

Please be praying!

2007-07-02T11:40:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago as we discussed getting ready for camp I told James 'every year the week before camp the van breaks down and the computer crashes' - this has happened every.year.for.the.past.three.years. So James took the minivan in, fixed a few little struts and made sure it was in tip-top shape. This weekend he went to Moscow to buy supplies and was driving back with a completely packed van... it died... he finally made it home hours later after driving home in first gear. Last week our computer crashed.. finally got it working again. It has not rained for 5 weeks.. today James went out to sent up the tables, tents and get organized at the campsite. We had a huge hailstorm, torrential rain and high winds. All this to say.. we really, really need your prayers for camp! Every year we feel this way - we plan and prepare and then realize Almighty God is the only one that can change people's hearts and lives. It is 'not by might, or power, but by MY SPIRIT' that anything of eternal value will happen at the camps. Please pray for these young people. I can't type this without crying.. yesterday as I was out walking with the kids I saw 16 year old Masha. Three years ago Masha went to camp; she came home and started reading her Bible and coming to the Bible studies. Her Mom (an alcoholic) refused to let her continue coming to the Bible studies and even physically punished her for reading her Bible. As we passed her on the road yesterday Masha now looks like she barely weighs 80 lbs., her eyes had huge black bags under them and you could see the needle marks in her thin arms.. she's become a heroin addict. The emptiness in her eyes as I said hello to her still haunts me even now. There are so many *Mashas* I pass by every day.. pray that God will give protection, wisdom, understanding, and most of all draw people to salvation. Camp will begin this Friday the 6th and run through the 15th. We'll have another English camp the 19th - 23rd. There are three young ladies flying in tomorrow from Florida - pray for Micah, Megan & Rebekah. 'Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.' 1 John 4:4

Summer Days

2007-06-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

Sunday we celebrated 'Russia Day' (the Russian version of Independence Day) with a cookout after church. Everyone is getting excited about the upcoming camps in July. Please be praying that many lives will be changed. And for wisdom as we prepare.

Rachel recently started reading in Russian - hooray!

She in reading through her Russian Bible and is already through Genesis. The other day they were having a picnic with her two friends Svieta & Olga.. I looked out and Rachel had run to get her Bible and was reading it with Svieta. They read through the first few chapters of Genesis and Svieta & Olga both have been coming to church the past two Sundays. Rachel told me that Svieta didn't know what a Bible was before this, so the next day we went and bought a really nice Bible to give to her.. it's so neat to see how excited Rachel and David are about sharing with their friends. Please pray for all the children on our street that we come in contact with - they have so many needs.

The favorite thing this year has been picnics and building forts in the apple trees. Amazing how peanut butter and honey is elevated to gourmet when eaten outside in the sunshine!

SUMMER!

2007-05-30T03:42:00.001-07:00

Can you say *HOT!* That is what everyone is talking about right now.. there was a chance today of it reaching a new record of the hottest recorded temperature ever in Moscow! We did manage to get the garden planted... and then the puppies promptly decided that was a great place to dig.. so now there are only 2 puppies left! (NO ONE touches Mamma's spinach!) Actually it is a completely pathetic garden compared to all my neighbors, but we had fun outside with the kids.

We are getting excited about the upcoming camps in July. This week James went to visit an English teacher to give her invitations to the English camp. He tried to time his visit between classes; but when he opened the door to her classroom she greeted him with 'why James, I was about to start a class on the Ten Commandments and how that helped shape the American justice system but since you're here why don't you teach the class?' Amazing huh! There were also several youth interested in the English camp. Please pray as we invite young people and are just out and about; James has had some great conversations this past week.

Please pray for this 11 year old boy Costya. Our friend Chris Brudi met him last Christmas while giving out presents to needy families. He is blind in one eye, but the problem could be fixed with a fairly simple operation. Chris found a sponsor for the operation and Costya will be having the operation tomorrow. He is such a sweet, precious boy, pray that he will re-gain his sight.

I am sure everyone is sick of puppy pictures :) But Johanna is just too hilarious with her white puppy "Bealitchka" - she dresses her up in doll clothes and pushes her around all day in her baby carriage. I really wish I had a picture of the day I took all 4 kids plus Rachel's friend Svieta for a walk with all 8 puppies... Rachel & David had puppies in their bike baskets, Johanna pushed hers in the stroller and Caleb dragged his in a car, and various other puppies were in the bottom of the large stroller.. and I wonder sometimes if the neighbors think we're a little odd??! Anyway, little boys and puppies are just toooo sweet together, so I'll just add one little picture....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

2007-05-07T02:47:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our precious David turns 6 tomorrow! We had a big party last night and it was so much fun. I always get a little sad when we have birthdays... it's such a joy to watch your own parents enjoying your children so I can't help wishing that grandparents could be here. But then yesterday the verse from Mark kept going through my head ' I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's. But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time'... It is so true that we've been blessed with dear friends over here... when I asked David who he wanted to invite to his birthday party the second person he requested was 'Baba Luba' our special Grandmother friend in her 70's. So we enjoyed friends, Baba Luba, hot dogs, cake and the celebration of life and most of all the Giver of every good and perfect gift.

The kids had a blast making a six layer cake. When we were done David said he wanted to put a plastic soldier from his castle so it would be a 'soldier cake.' So a knight in armor holding a huge ax adorned the cake.. I kept thinking 'this would get the politically correct cake of the year award.'

We have a serious shortage of males in our neighborhood.. so we ended up with 8 female guests... for some reason this made me laugh! :)

Happy May Day!

2007-05-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well it's snowed every day for the past three days (not enough to really stick though)... I am ready to build a bonfire and burn the snowsuits! :)

Yesterday to celebrate May 1st and the upcoming Victory Day on May 9th, James took a group of young people to Victory Park and visited the WWII museums. They had a really good trip, and Rachel especially loved getting out 'just her and Daddy'.

Just have to include one picture of our 8 puppies... that's right 8!! We thought there were only 6 but we didn't really look closely; so it was quite a suprise to return from Turkey to 8 energetic, eyes opened, adorable puppies. The kids have had so much fun with them... I almost feel sorry for the puppies.. you would too if you could watch how Johanna carries them around... (Rachel with her friend Ira)

Are you sure nobody out there wants one??! Their names are Nutmeg, Cookie (Pechenya), Pumba, Pearsik, Bealka (whitey), Star, Hail (don't ask about that one! :) and Leopard. How's that for creative...

A Prayer Reminder

2007-04-28T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hi all.. we just returned from Turkey after getting new visas and everything with our registration/visas went very smoothly - huge praise!

This morning I read the following report and I'm still so affected by what I read. To think that while our family was enjoying the ocean and singing Psalms a few hours away our brothers in Christ were sacrificing their lives for HIS namesake. What a powerful reminder this was for our family to remember our brothers & sisters in Christ around the world that are being persecuted for their faith. May we all learn from these men's example... 'And whoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.' Luke 14 (warning this is very graphic, not for children to read, but I didn't want to edit it)

A letter to the Global Church from The Protestant Church of Smyrna

Dear friends,
This past week has been filled with much sorrow.† Many of you have heard by now of our devastating loss here in an event that took place in Malatya, a Turkish province 300 miles northeast of Antioch, the city where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).† †

On Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007, 46 year old German missionary and father of three Tilman Geske prepared to go to his office, kissing his wife goodbye taking a moment to hug his son and give him the priceless memory, “Goodbye, son. I love you.” Tilman rented an office space from Zirve Publishing where he was preparing notes for the new Turkish Study Bible. Zirve was also the location of the Malatya Evangelist Church office. A ministry of the church, Zirve prints and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and nearby cities in Eastern Turkey.

In another area of town, 35 year old Pastor Necati Aydin, father of two, said goodbye to his wife, leaving for the office as well.† They had a morning Bible Study and prayer meeting that some other believers in town would also be attending.† Ugur Yuksel likewise made his way to the Bible study. None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study was the ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of righteousness from Christ and honor from all the saints awaiting them in the Lord’s presence.

On the other side of town, ten young men all under 20 years old put into place final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out their love for Allah and hatred of infidels who they felt undermined Islam. On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a by-invitation-only evangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men had arranged at a hotel conference room in the city. The men were known to the believers as “seekers.” No one knows what happened in the hearts of those men as they listened to the gospel. Were they touched by the Holy Spirit? Were they convicted of sin? Did they hear the gospel in their heart of hearts? Today we only have the beginning of their story. These young men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the Province of Malatya, are part of a tarikat, or a group of “faithful believers” in Islam. Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it’s like a fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into public office without membership in a tarikat. These young men all lived in the same dorm, all preparing for university entrance exams. The young men got guns, breadknives, ropes and towels ready for their final act of service to Allah. They knew there would be a lot of blood. They arrived in time for the Bible Study, around 10 o’clock. They arrived, and apparently the Bible Study began. Reportedly, after Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault began. The boys tied Ugur, Necati, and Tilman’s hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for almost three hours*

[Details of the torture-- * Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur’s stabs were too numerous to count. They were disemboweled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Possibly the worst part was watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, heads practically decapitated.] Neighbors in workplaces near the printhouse said later they had heard yelling, but assumed the owners were having a domestic argument so they did not respond.

Meanwhile, another believer Gokhan and his wife had a leisurely morning. He slept in till 10, ate a long breakfast and finally around 12:30 he and his wife arrived at the office. The door was locked from the inside, and his key would not work. He phoned and though it had connection on his end he did not hear the phone ringing inside. He called cell phones of his brothers and finally Ugur answered his phone. “We are not at the office. Go to the hotel meeting. We are there. We will come there,” he said cryptically. As Ugur spoke Gokhan heard in the telephone’s background weeping and a strange snarling sound. He phoned the police, and the nearest officer arrived in about five minutes. He pounded on the door, “Police, open up!” Initially the officer thought it was a domestic disturbance. At that point they heard another snarl and a gurgling moan. The police understood that sound as human suffering, prepared the clip in his gun and tried over and over again to burst through the door. One of the frightened assailants unlocked the door for the policeman, who entered to find a grisly scene. Tilman and Necati had been slaughtered, practically decapitated with their necks slit from ear to ear. Ugur’s throat was likewise slit and he was barely alive. Three assailants in front of the policeman dropped their weapons. Meanwhile Gokhan heard a sound of yelling in the street. Someone had fallen from their third story office. Running down, he found a man on the ground, whom he later recognized, named Emre Gunaydin. He had massive head trauma and, strangely, was snarling. He had tried to climb down the drainpipe to escape, and losing his balance had plummeted to the ground. It seems that he was the main leader of the attackers. Another assailant was found hiding on a lower balcony.

To untangle the web we need to back up six years. In April 2001, the National Security Council of Turkey (Milli Guvenlik Kurulu) began to consider evangelical Christians as a threat to national security, on equal footing as Al Quaida and PKK terrorism. Statements made in the press by political leaders, columnists and commentators have fueled a hatred against missionaries who they claim bribe young people to change their religion. After that decision in 2001, attacks and threats on churches, pastors and Christians began. Bombings, physical attacks, verbal and written abuse are only some of the ways Christians are being targetted. Most significant is the use of media propaganda. From December 2005, after having a long meeting regarding the Christian threat, the wife of Former Prime Minister Ecevit, historian Ilber Ortayli, Professor Hasan Unsal, Politician Ahmet Tan and writer/propogandist Aytunc Altindal, each in their own profession began a campaign to bring the public’s attention to the looming threat of Christians who sought to “buy their children’s souls”. Hidden cameras in churches have taken church service footage and used it sensationally to promote fear and antagonism toward Christianity. In an official televised response from Ankara, the Interior Minister of Turkey smirked as he spoke of the attacks on our brothers. Amid public outrage and protests against the event and in favor of freedom of religion and freedom of thought, media and official comments ring with the same message, “We hope you have learned your lesson. We do not want Christians here.”

It appears that this was an organized attack initiated by an unknown adult tarikat leader. As in the Hrant Dink murder in January 2007, and a Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in February 2006, minors are being used to commit religious murders because public sympathy for youth is strong and they face lower penalties than an adult convicted of the same crime. Even the parents of these children are in favor of the acts. The mother of the 16 year old boy who killed the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro looked at the cameras as her son was going to prison and said, “he will serve time for Allah.” The young men involved in the killing are currently in custody. Today news reported that they would be tried as terrorists, so their age would not affect the strict penalty. Assailant Emre Gunaydin is still in intensive care. The investigation centers around him and his contacts and they say will fall apart if he does not recover.

The Church in Turkey responded in a way that honored God as hundreds of believers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand by the small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care of legal issues, and represent Christians to the media. When Susanne Tilman expressed her wish to bury her husband in Malatya, the Governor tried to stop it, and when he realized he could not stop it, a rumor was spread that “it is a sin to dig a grave for a Christian.” In the end, in an undertaking that should be remembered in Christian history forever, the men from the church in Adana (near Tarsus), grabbed shovels and dug a grave for their slain brother in an un-tended hundred year old Armenian graveyard. Ugur was buried by his family in an Alevi Muslim ceremony in his hometown of Elazig, his believing fiance watching from the shadows as his family and friends refused to accept in death the faith Ugur had so long professed and died for. Necati’s funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where he came to faith. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane from Malatya, it went through two separate xray exams to make sure it was not loaded with explosives. This is not a usual procedure for Muslim coffins.

Necati’s funeral was a beautiful event. Like a glimpse of heaven, thousands of Turkish Christians and missionaries came to show their love for Christ, and their honor for this man chosen to die for Christ. Necati’s wife Shemsa told the world, “His death was full of meaning, because he died for Christ and he lived for Christ… Necati was a gift from God. I feel honored that he was in my life, I feel crowned with honor. I want to be worthy of that honor.” Boldly the believers took their stand at Necati’s funeral, facing the risks of being seen publicly and likewise becoming targets. As expected, the anti-terror police attended and videotaped everyone attending the funeral for their future use. The service took place outside at Buca Baptist church, and he was buried in a small Christian graveyard in the outskirts of Izmir. Two assistant Governors of Izmir were there solemnly watching the event from the front row. Dozens of news agencies were there documenting the events with live news and photographs. Who knows the impact the funeral had on those watching? This is the beginning of their story as well. Pray for them. In an act that hit front pages in the largest newspapers in Turkey, Susanne Tilman in a television interview expressed her forgiveness. She did not want revenge, she told reporters. “Oh God, forgive them for they know not what they do,” she said, wholeheartedly agreeing with the words of Christ on Calvary (Luke 23:34). In a country where blood-for-blood revenge is as normal as breathing, many many reports have come to the attention of the church of how this comment of Susanne Tilman has changed lives. One columnist wrote of her comment, “She said in one sentence what 1000 missionaries in 1000 years could never do.” The missionaries in Malatya will most likely move out, as their families and children have become publicly identified as targets to the hostile city. The remaining 10 believers are in hiding.

What will happen to this church, this light in the darkness? Most likely it will go underground. Pray for wisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead the leaderless church. Should we not be concerned for that great city of Malatya, a city that does not know what it is doing? (Jonah 4:11) When our Pastor Fikret Bocek went with a brother to give a statement to the Security Directorate on Monday they were ushered into the Anti-Terror Department. On the wall was a huge chart covering the whole wall listing all the terrorist cells in Izmir, categorized. In one prominent column were listed all the evangelical churches in Izmir. The darkness does not understand the light. “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” (Acts 17:6) Please pray for the Church in Turkey. “Don’t pray against persecution, pray for perseverence,” urges Pastor Fikret Bocek. The Church is better having lost our brothers; the fruit in our lives, the renewed faith, the burning desire to spread the gospel to quench more darkness in Malatya …all these are not to be regretted. Pray that we stand strong against external opposition and especially pray that we stand strong against internal struggles with sin, our true debilitating weakness. This we know. Christ Jesus was there when our brothers were giving their lives for Him. He was there, like He was when Stephen was being stoned in the sight of Saul of Tarsus. Someday the video of the deaths of our brothers may reveal more to us about the strength that we know Christ gave them to endure their last cross, about the peace the Spirit of God endowed them with to suffer for their beloved Savior. But we know He did not leave their side. We know their minds were full of Scripture strengthening them to endure, as darkness tried to subdue the unsubduable Light of the Gospel. We know, in whatever way they were able, with a look or a word, they encouraged one another to stand strong. We know they knew they would soon be with Christ. We don’t know the details. We don’t know the kind of justice that will or will not be served on this earth. But we pray-- and urge you to pray-- that someday at least one of those five boys will come to faith because of the testimony in death of Tilman Geske, who gave his life as a missionary to his beloved Turks, and the testimonies in death of Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, the first martyrs for Christ out of the Turkish Church. Reported by Darlene N. Bocek (24 April 2007) -.-.-.-.-.-.-

Please please please pass this on to as many praying Christians as you can, in as many countries as you can. Please always keep the heading as “From the Protestant Church of Smyrna” with this contact information: izmirprotestan@gmail.com // http://www.izmirprotestan.org/

Christ is Risen!

2007-04-10T05:46:00.000-07:00

I love the traditional Russian greeting on Easter morning.. 'Christ is Risen!' to which you reply 'He is Risen INDEED!' Rachel, David & Caleb had so much fun going to all our neighbors to give them eggs and kaluchi - a traditional Easter cake. They returned with their arms filled with eggs, chocolate candies and the largest apricot/liquer candy bar I had ever seen. Even Caleb learned to shout out "Viestemoo Voskress" (He is risen indeed) and enjoyed shouting it out to everyone he saw regardless if they had said anything to him.

James had an interesting Easter experience.... a few weeks ago an Orthodox Monk began attending the weekly Bible study. He said he really enjoyed actually studying the Bible without formal ceremony (hmmm good observation). So the Monk invited James to visit his church for the traditional midnight service (Sat. night) and then the large meal/celebration that lasts until 4-5:00am. Here's one picture James took of the Priest and people marching around the church three times at midnight. James said parts of the ceremony were very meaningful and God-honoring, but unfortunately most of the service was in the old Slavic language that is very difficult for everyone to understand. (like us attending a service in Latin) Pray for James' continued friendship with this Monk who's name is Slava.

Well I've been meaning to update this blog for weeks.. so here are random happenings from the past few weeks...

*our dog Snowflake had 6 puppies... our kiddos are wild with excitement! I know James is excited but he is hiding his joy very well (heh!) The father is a gigantic pure white Siberian 'kafkaz' - a huge huge dog (I'm guessing 200 lbs at least). Anyone out there want a puppy??! Hmm can you ship those UPS?

*Just when you think Johanna can't possibly get any cuter/sweeter.. she does! She is saying a few words her favorites being 'JoJo' and 'ut-oh' She has also become obsessed this week with stuffed animals... we have a collection of stuffed animals that none of our other children have ever played with - but now Johanna toddles around the house with her arms stuffed with 4-5 assorted bears, chipmunks and dogs. It's quite entertaining because you can hardly see her head as she walks around singing and talking to them constantly. (ohh and please ignore the black markings on her face.. I was getting the other kids ready for a walk so she decided to climb up onto the kitchen counter, grab a black permanent marker and decorate herself.. I was in a hurry so decided to just wash it off after our walk... and then afterwards wondered why all our neighbors looked at me funny...)

*UPDATE: on the house we are trying to buy for a youth center - they passed a new law in January and everyone is so scared of this law (??) that no privatization of houses/lands are being done right now... so we will wait some more :( The good news is that the lady we are buying the house from is also very discouraged about the wait and has agreed to let us rent the house! James & Andrei spent several days cleaning it and our friends Chris & Camilla moved in! So even though it's not *ours* yet, it's great to think about this summer and the many things we could do with a yard/more space. We are thinking of trying to have a children's day camp... pray for wisdom as we make plans for summer ministry! Thank you again to all our dear family & friends for your love and prayers for us - we are so grateful for each of you! I just don't express it near enough....

Home Again!!

2007-03-09T05:49:00.000-08:00

Yes we're home again! It's been wonderful to be back in our own familiar surrounding, but of course we sure do miss all our dear family in the States!

We had quite the adventure traveling... sometimes I think they should make one of those TV reality shows about a family with 4 children under the age of 8 traveling half-way around the world.. quite, quite entertaining let me tell you - you have it all.. drama, humor, tension, hilarity, adventure just to name a few. We flew from San Antonio to Atlanta no problemo.. but then on our flight from Atlanta to New York we circled & circled New York for what seemed forever (fog). By the time we finally landed and actually got to our gate (another 45 minutes) our flight to Moscow had already departed. So we got our tickets changed to fly out the next day and headed for the nearest hotel. We went outside the airport and started walking through this dimly lit walkway trying to find the train we had to ride to get to the shuttle bus station... I was feeling exausted and just then looked over at Rachel - she had a gigantic smile on her face and put everything into perspective when she happily announced, 'Boy, now THIS is fun!!' Yes, oh yes the fun and adventure continued as we met interesting people riding the train, then the shuttle bus and then dinner in the hotel. We flew out the next day with no problems and the kiddos actually did fantastic on the planes - yeah!!

I was really struck this time of how completely different life can be over here! The day before we left Texas the kiddos went wading in the Guadalupe River and our ride to the airport was in a most comfortable 15 passenger van that was like riding in the lap of luxury. (thanks again Tom!!) We landed in Moscow to almost 3 feet of snow on the ground and piled into a 25 year old *jewel* of Soviet machinery... it's sorta like an extended cab pick-up but nothing like what Ford or Chevy offer. This vehicle I'm pretty sure had no shock absorbers anywhere.. in fact at one point we hit a gigantic pothole and I was convinced the entire vehicle would fall apart around us - anyway we did arrive back in Nara-Faminsk safe and sound.

When we opened our front door we discovered none of the lights worked and the temperature was just barely above freezing - Hmmmmm! More adventure - we put a space heater in our bedroom and everyone jumped in bed to snuggle for the night. About midnight I got up and discovered 2 inches of water flooding the bathroom floor - the radiator in the attic had burst and drained all the water down into the 1st floor bathroom!! So we ran around for the next several hours fixing, tightening, and draining all the water from our radiators. (We've already had practice with this kinda stuff when we lived in the apartment in happened 3 times to the radiators above us). Okay there is a reason I'm telling you all this :)..... in the midst of all the wonderful happening I sat there in the cold thinking 'I WAS ACTUALLY HOMESICK FOR ALL THIS!!' And then I realized that YES I was homesick for *all this*! God's grace in our lives is just amazing and when he calls you to live and work and serve somewhere, HE will give you supernatural love for the people and joy & peace in your living circumstances - even when it means being halfway around the world from the people you love most in all the world. So yes, our whole family was indeed very *homesick* the entire time we were in the States because God has put it in our hearts to call Nara-Faminsk, Russia home... and man it's GREAT to be home!!

We're in Texas! :)

2006-12-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I haven't written in over a month! We had a safe trip from Moscow to Pittsburg - the kiddos did amazingly well so thank you for praying. When my Dad picked us up at the airport he told me the sad news that my Aunt Mary Alice has passed away that morning. She had been in excellent health until 2 months ago when a very aggresive brain tumor was found. I had really hoped to see her one last time so it was a sad trip down to her funeral.

The next two weeks at my parent's house was a wonderful time of enjoying family; especially my brother Matthew's family that lives in Papua New Guinea (missionaries with New Tribes). We had not seen each other in over 4 years so it was quite a wonderful celebration. They now have TWO TEENAGERS!! ::gasp! how did my brother get so old! :):: Their children are amazing and and it was especially fun to see Rachel and Karis together - they are only 18 months apart and were like two peas in a pod. We were laughing when our combined 8 children were together the ages are 15,13,11,9,7,5,3 & 1.. you would have thought we had actually planned it!

Thank you to all who prayed for us as we traveled! It's been very special to be around loved ones.

Please be praying..

2006-11-12T02:42:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow morning we will be traveling to America! Yes, I can still hardly believe we are actually going. We had planned to go this spring, but then realized that both Andrei (James' ministry partner) and our friend Chris Brudi would both be gone this spring so it was now or never. I am really looking forward to seeing my brother Matthew and his family - he is a missionary in Papaua New Guinea and it's been 4 1/2 years since we've seen each other... I can't believe I now have a nephew & niece that are teenagers!! So please pray for safety traveling and no sickness for our kiddos. Also please be praying for Andrei and Chris as they have many things planned around the Christmas and New Year's holiday.

Catching up...

2006-10-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Did you ever just have 'one of those weeks'?? The past two weeks for us have brought a burned up computer - thankfully the hard-drive was salvaged!! My wisdom tooth decided to appear knocking my last molar at a 90 degree angle and causing not just a little bit of discomfort.. I was supposed to get the wisdom tooth pulled yesterday but the Dr. was sick so I'm on hold. Please pray as going to the Dentist here tops my list of 'things I never want to do in this lifetime.' A messed up transmission on the van, Johanna finally cutting her two front teeth (can we all say HALLELUIAH!) and quite a few visitors rounded out my schedule. So know you know why I haven't updated the blog :)

But we did get to celebrate our precious Johanna Joy's FIRST birthday!! We had such a wonderful celebration! Of course Johanna could have cared less; but the siblings were very excited and made cards, had a fancy meal to which we invited Andrei & Inna, Summer, Chris & Camilla. Johanna is such a sweetie and I wanted to take the time to write a little story about how we came up with her name.. I actually wanted to write this when we sent out her birth announcement but forgot (sleep deprivation hit early!:)

When I was in my third month of the pregnancy I went to the Doctor to get my thyroid checked. She kept saying that because my thyroid was low I should have an abortion and went on and on about 'you have 3 healthy children, why would you want another?' Later that day I walked over to where we were in the process of building our house; our next door neighbor is an abortion Doctor and his wife in his assistant. The wife saw me walking outside and came out to talk.. she had just found out I was pregnant and went on & on about 'why in the world would you want another child, they are SO much work!!' At the end of our conversation she even offered me a discount at their clinic. I went home that night and felt discouraged and overwhelmed - I wondered did we really have the emotional strength to love and teach FOUR children?!? I couldn't sleep so I got up and opened my Bible to the Psalms - I started to read Psalm 30 which says 'His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but JOY comes in the morning.' As I sat there reading I heard a little whisper that said to me 'Don't you worry Susan, this one is going to be your Joy-giver.' I was so encouraged that when I told James about it the next morning we decided that if it was a girl her middle name would be Joy.

Her birth was such a miracle and she has truly brought our family abundant Joy! Just last night Rachel had Johanna in bed with her 'cuddling'. I told Rachel it was time for bed, and Rachel smothered Johanna with kisses and hugs and said 'But I just love her so much I want to keep cuddling forever!' God knew exactly what our family needed and sent us precious Johanna Joy as a priceless treasure. We love you little Joy-giver!
With all our love,
Your Adoring Family

Walking in the Way...

Camp Update!

Summer Update & Prayer Requests

Christ is Risen!

Fall Update

Prayer requests

English Camp report

Camp!

Lots of prayer requests!

Prayer Requests

Almost Spring Update!

Merry Christmas!!

Thank you for your prayers!

Update & Prayer Requests

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A change of perspective

Summer report

Thank you for praying!

Prayer Request

Rachel's Baptism

Camp Report

Please be praying..

Day Camp Report

Day Camp

Happy Birthday David!

Spring is here!

Pray for the Persecuted Church

Good Friday

Grandpa Jack is rejoicing with his Savior

It's all Grace!

Please pray for Grandpa Jack

Talk about culture shock! :)

Hi again from the Beairds

Hooray for a good report!

Radioactive Iodine treatment tomorrow

Health Update

THANK YOU for praying!

Update on Susan's health

Please pray for Susan

Camp Update

Please pray for Aunt Loy - UPDATED!

Camp Update

Thanks for praying!

Please be praying!

Happy Father's Day!

Update time...

Getting back in the swing of things..

We're back home! :)

Update on Grandpa Jack

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!

Travel Update.. *sigh*

HOORAY!! Visas came today!

Visa Update

Please be praying!

What Pastors do when they retire...

No we did not fall off the face of the earth..

Visa Update

Outreach Update

Merry Russian Christmas!

Wonderful Orphanage program!

The new teachers in town!

The FL girls are coming!

We have very talented children...:)

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Adventure in Tajikistan

A little Geography Quiz

Just for fun...

Caleb Update: HOORAY!

Johanna Joy turns TWO!

Please pray for Caleb

Fall pictures

catchin' up...

The big 10!!

HOORAY!

James Update

one more thing...

Pray for James

Pictures from English Camp

Please pray for the English Camp

Camp Pictures!

Travel Update.. sigh