Camp Report

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..

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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!

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. ¹¹ The 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

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."

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! :)

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!