Our Cowboy turns Five!

May 8th was David's fifth birthday.. I don't think my wedding day was so greatly anticipated as this day. For the last 6 weeks we have been marking off the days on the calendar.. countless questions of 'how many days..' and the review of the details of the party etc. etc. The morning of his birthday David bounded down the stairs at the crack of dawn - the day had *finally* arrived!! I loved getting to cuddle with him on the couch and go through his whole birth story - he laughs & laughs when I tell him about how the Dr. told us we were having a girl, and that we called him Hannah for months, and that he wore beautiful pink flowered sleepers his first week til we finally got some blue ones. David is so precious and we had a wonderful day celebrating the gift of life God has given him. We had quite a celebration - 9 guests (all girls.. this cracked me up, but there are a shortage of boys at our playground). We also had Chris, Andrei, and our friends Oksana & Sergei. James roasted hot dogs outside and we played lots of games - musical chairs and *pin the nose on David* were the favorites (this is a variation of pin the tail on the donkey). His favorite present was the sword and bow & arrows (thanks Nana & GP!). He and Caleb fought a major battle against Chris - it was hilarious to watch... especially Caleb's facial expressions. I think the grown-ups had even more fun than the kids!

We love you David and are so incredibly grateful God gave us the privilege of being your parents!!

Ohh one more funny note I didn't want to forget - the day before his birthday I got out some summer shorts for David out of storage.. I showed David how I had cleaned out his dresser and he gave me this incredulous look and asked 'when I wake up in the morning and I'm five will my clothes still fit me????' He seemed very relieved that he wouldn't need new clothes :) Also the picture of him on the bike is a classic - he loves wearing that cowboy hat and was so glad when the snow melted and he could wear it outside.. he does take it off to sleep though

Happy May Day!

May 1st is quite the fun holiday around here! Most people go out to their dachas (summer home) and dig up their gardens in preparation for planting (usually plant around May 9th). They did have a small Communists demonstration in the town square. Since our friend Chris Brudi is here from Michigan we decided to have a shashleek outing in the woods. What fun!! The highlight for the kids was catching an adorable lizard.. you talk about excitement. About 24 youth ended up going - we had such a good time playing volleyball, frisbee, singing and sharing testimonies. The sunshine the past few days has been wonderful!!! I still can't believe it's May already..... (I am getting old...)

Pictures...

some pictures from the trip...

Visa Trip to Turkey

Okay to explain why it's been forever.. we had some computer problems and I could not access my blogspot.. thanks to may computer brilliant, genius friend Phyllis Hunsucker, I am finally able to update!! Sooo much has happened the last 3 weeks so here goes...

Our visas were ending the beginning of April and I always go into visa renewal time a tiny bit anxious - I mean can you imagine if you find out you've been put on the *black list* and can never enter Russia again?? Add to that the first time you take a baby out that has been born here is always a bit nerve-wracking for me...

Anyway, God provided and we got all new one year visas and were able to register here in Nara-Faminsk.. YEAH! The most amazing thing was where we got to visit... TURKEY!! James walked into a travel agency and found an amazing tour package to Antalya, Turkey... so April 3rd off we went on our grand adventure.

While on the plane I had this thought "I wonder if someone out there has written a book, 'How to travel inconspiciously with 4 children under the age of 7.' While traveling through customs everyone (I counted 9 different people) kept asking us 'Are ALL these children yours???' Hmmmm I have to find a better answer than just 'yes' - how about 'No they're not all mine, I'm just renting them for the weekend.' (??) Actually the kids were very well behaved, but it's hard to contain a 2 year olds excitement at seeing an airplane so close up... Caleb runs and plasters himself on the huge window and yells at the top of his lungs 'Look, Look, PANE!!' (this was at 5:30 am and I think a few people were still sleeping). James said we were the 'in-flight entertainment' for the whole cabin :) When we left that morning we had 3 feet of snow in our yard... when we arrived in Turkey it was beautiful bright sunshine and 74 degrees... AHHHH! The sun felt so incredibly good on our faces.

Turkey is a beautiful beautiful country! We could look out our balcony window and see snow capped mountains (we could have gone skiing), and then out in front of you is the Mediterrean. The people are very, very friendly -especially to children. Everywhere we went people oooohhed an ahhed over Caleb & Johanna. Here is everyones favorite thing about the trip.

James - being together as a family and the food :) The beef was incredible(almost as good as McCloy's!) They had a huge grill they set up and had grilled fish, beef, or chicken every night. If you know James there is some hereditary *grill* gene that runs in all male Beairds. They also had wonderful fresh spinach and tomatoes!! James said that he ate at least 50 lbs of tomatoes during the trip :) after the long winter they tasted so so good!

Rachel - 'the grass and flowers and swimming'. Rachel learned to swim!! I was so proud of her! She also loved walking along the ocean and seeing all the beautiful flowers.

David - 'swimming with my duckie'. David loved swimming with his beloved inflatable duck.

Caleb - 'Boom boom!!! Pane!!' - Please note: you can take a 2 year old to a five star hotel on the beach of the Mediterrean ocean and his favorite thing will be the plane ride and riding up the glass elevator.. our room was on the 7th floor and he loved the glass elevator and pushing the buttons.

Johanna - having 29,641 Turks kissing on her - I think it was the blue eyes.

Susan - walking on the beach and getting to sit and do nothing but read my Bible... I read through Revelations two times and was in awe that I was actually in the country that 'the letter to the seven churches' was written to!! I could just imagine John sitting on the Isle of Patmos looking out over the same beautiful ocean I was looking at and writing to these seven churches.. all that existed of the followers of Jesus Christ at that time. It also overwhelmed me with sadness to think that this same country is now 99.8% Muslim. We would have loved to have taken an excursion to Ephesus or Perguma.. but in the end we just spent one day exploring the downtown square in Antalya and decided that was enough with four kiddos. (all the other tours were 2-4 hours away) The one picture of Caleb is taken in Antalya at a traditional tea garden... in the afternoon everyone stops to sit and drink tea or turkish coffee and eat special flat bread and honey. We were just walking by and the lady grabbed Caleb and started "Kuiaogk aiew kwoth ahoweij' and kissing his forehead and trying to feed him some of her bread and tea... I'm telling you they REALLY like children!

We arrived back refreshed, re-energized and very grateful to God for giving us this once-in-a-lifetime trip together. It was so good to get out of our little corner of the world and experience a new culture, see new people and have our hearts enlarged.

Catching up...

Well it's been way too long since I got on the computer...

I rememeber on March 1st thinking to myself 'wow, we've made it through the whole winter without ANYONE getting sick - not one sniffle, fever or earache.' Famous last words... David and I got terrible head colds, and then one by one every member of the family followed suit. Poor Johanna stayed healthy to the very end.. and then got a terrible congested nose - so sad when you can't nurse :(

Thought you'd enjoy this picture of James & Caleb snuggling on the couch between rounds of garlic & honey. After this last week all I can say is I am very VERY grateful that usually our kids are extremely healthy.

One other thing I wanted to make sure and write about was Svieta's birthday party two weeks ago. Svieta is our neighbor and is only 3 months younger than Rachel - she spends at least two afternoons a week playing outside or going skiing with Rachel. She lives with her Mother and Grandparents, and has been such a good, sweet friend for our kids. Anyway, Svieta was so excited about her 7th birthday party.. she even rang our doorbell early Saturday morning to make sure we were coming and to tell us 'not to forgot the presents' :) James went along with Rachel, David & Caleb and they has such a memorable time. They got home late and I noticed Caleb's stomach was enormous and his eyes was glassed over (he could hardly walk!) I asked James what Caleb had to eat, to which he replied 'ohh 4 pieces of fried chicken, 3 bowls of mashed potatoes, 2 or 3 pieces of cake, a couple of candy bars and a few glasses of Coke.' (!!!!!) James said Svieta's Grandmother was completely smitten with Caleb and kept him beside her the entire time shoveling food into him... she kept saying that Caleb looked exactly like the little girl on the "Alonka" candy bar. (if you lived in Russia you would know how funny this statement is.. no resemblance trust me!). Anyway, Caleb looked so so funny when he came back from the party and talked about it all week.. they had a wonderful time.

Also wanted to update a previous post about our friend Dima that was thrown from a train. He is doing much better - the Dr. said it was a miracle he survived with such a serious head injury. He did have to have his ring finger on his left hand amputated due to a serious cut/mangled that later got infected. Thanks for praying for him and his family! James & Andrei visited him several times in the hospital and as a result were able to have lots of interesting conversations with people in his room.

In loving memory of Yuri Zhakrov

March 1st our dear friend Yuri died from liver & kidney failure. Yuri was the choir director at Nemchinovka Church where James worked when we first came to Russia. Yuri and Pastor Nicolai Epishin were the two men James traveled with as their interpretor when they spoke in churches in 1996 & 97.

Yuri had the most interesting history and life story of any Russian I had ever met. His mother was a famous soprano that performed at the Bolshoi during the 1930's, and narrowly escaped death during Stalin's purges in the late 1940's. Yuri grew up with the finest education and musical training available and showed great potential to be a rising star. However as a young man Yuri said he could never find 'peace in his soul'.. he began drinking heavily and using drugs. He also began to hang out with the Hippies (as they called themselves) and soon began selling bell bottom Levi's, Elvis records and Orthodox icons on the black market. This may not seem like serious criminal activity, but in the early 70's in Moscow this was a major crime. He and some of his friends were caught exchanging dollars for rubles and the entire *band* was put on trial. Part of the trial was televised and Yuri and his friends became celebrities of the era. The government decided to make an example of this kind of activity and so two of Yuri's friends received the death penalty. Yuri was put in prison (can't remember how long). When he was released from prison, he continued a life of drugs and alcohol... he was eventually put in a mental hospital and told that he had such severe problems he would never lead a normal life. He remained in the mental hospital for over a year being drugged and having shock treatments. In the midst of all this Yuri's Mother began praying for him and attending Moscow Central Baptist Church which was the only church allowed to open during Communism. I can't remember the date but sometime in the early 70's ???? Billy Graham made a historic visit to Moscow and preached at Moscow Central Baptist Church, Yuri ended up going for the first time in his life but the church was so crowded he couldn't get in.. he ended up walking around Moscow getting drunk. I can't remember the exact details, but somehow Yuri went to his Mother's friends and asked them to pray for Him.. there he ended up repenting and asking God to save him. I do remember he always talked about Luke 13 and how this was a picture of what had happened to him.. "And there was a woman who for 18 years had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not staighten up at all. And when Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, 'Woman, you are freed from your sickness.' And He laid hands upon her; and immediately she was made erect again, and began glorifying God." Yuri always shared this passage when he spoke in churches and told how God instantly healed him from alcoholism and drug addiction. From that day on Yuri walked in freedom and had such a love for his Savior. He began singing in the choir and soon met Nicolai Epishin - they became close friends and began holding secret meetings in the woods with young people from all over Russia. I could go on and on of all Yuri's fascinating stories. In 2001 a famous Russian television show (their equivalant of '60 minutes') did a one hour documentary of Yuri's life and the famous trial that had taken place. On national television Yuri got to share his life story and give glory to God for changing his life. Some 15 million viewers watched this show and heard his testimony. Yuri also wrote a book 'The chronicles of a prodigal son' that was published and sold throughout Russia. In the last 8 years Yuri has visited and shared in many different prisons, hospitals and churches with the simple message "I was a slave to sin, bent over and could not help myself; JESUS saved me!" With a smile spread across his face and his eyes beaming, his joy for life was contagious.

My personal favorite memories of Yuri are from our cross country trip made in 1997. James & I had been married 3 weeks when we picked up Yuri & Nicolai in our beloved Lincoln (Yuri called it 'the Leemooseen') and headed off for a month long adventure of travel and speaking in churches. One thing that fascinated Yuri about America was the Kentucky Fried Chicken lunch buffet.. he could not comprehend a restaurant where you could eat as much chicken as you wanted for only $2.99. I think we ate at KFC's in at least 7 different states - of course if every customer loved chicken as much as Yuri they would most likely no longer be in business. Yuri also loved American thrift stores... James said he had to smile when he walked into Nemchinovka church for Yuri's funeral and saw that he was being buried in his favorite blue suit they had bought together at a Texas thrift store.

Your life taught us so much Yuri. I'll never forget driving down the highway with you, Nicolai & James singing all your favorite hymns in three part harmony.. and you always telling Nicolai he was drowning you out.. I'll never forget kneeling every evening and praying all four of us for God to pour out His spirit with power and change people's lives all across America and Russia. I'll never forget your example of faith that even though the Doctors told you it was impossible for you to have children you have a 19 year old son Elisha who loves God with all his heart. I'll never forget how you loved to quote the verse 'for we were not given a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.' You forever had that gigantic smile spread across your face because you knew your loving Father and Savior had everything under His control. Our lives are forever changed because your life Yuri is in our memories.

Our hearts rejoice though because we can picture you before your Savior's throne hearing these words 'Well done thou good and faithful servant.'

Here is one of Yuri's favorite songs (this was also sung at our wedding, but it's even more beautiful in Russian)

O Lord, Thy light has shined in our darkness;
Thy love has claimed us each as Thine own,
Thy hands have opened windows of heaven,
meeting our needs with treasures from Thy throne,
How great our LORD, how glorious His splendor,
Shines through our nights, and fills us through all our days.

I am officially old!

Well today I turned 35.. which in my mind is definately 'middle-aged' :) We had a great day.. my friend Oksana came over with blinis (like crepes) that she had made. This week is 'maslanitsa' or the Russian version of Mardis Gras - so everyone eats blinis and lots of fattening foods before Lent starts. We had so much fun, and took the opportunity to get some family pictures. Unfortunately family pictures with four little kids it seems impossible to get EVERYONE smiling and looking at the camera.. oh well close enough!

Does this look familiar?

Took this picture today and thought my side of the family would enjoy seeing the second generation of *two finger sucker with one up your nose* :) Hopefully she won't start the finger up the nose!

The Sisters

Not much news here... we had a fun President's Day yesterday - Rachel made a cherry cobbler ALL BY HERSELF! It was delish, I think even honest Abe would have enjoyed it. We read the story about 'bulletproof' George Washington - David loved it.. afterwards he was playing and asked 'now was he the President of America or Russia??' Sometimes I don't think David know where he actually lives :) World geography from his perspective.. Egypt is the place he rode the camel with Nana, America is the place where they have marshmellows, and Russia is the place where you get to ride on trains. (the metro)

Wanted to post a pic of Rachel & JoJo - Rachel is SO sweet with her.. every day she does 'exercises' with her, sings these beautiful made up songs, and kisses her all over while giving her a rubdown with lotion.. I love how Rachel has the big brown eyes & Johanna's are so blue.

Our daily walks

Every afternoon at 2:00pm sharp it's outdoor play in the snow & take a walk time! Although the logistics involved in getting 4 kiddos in snowsuits is no small task... the fun we've been having make it well worth it. Caleb always has to be the one to push Johanna on the sled... very, very protective older brother.

What a week...

Last week was hectic and sad in many ways. It started last Monday (the 6th) with a young lady Vera coming to the Youth Center asking for help. Vera is a single Mom with a little boy Daniel (11 months). Chris & James had visited her over the holidays and taken some food and presents. Over the weekend Vera had been the only witness to a crime commited by a policeman here in our city. She was taken to the police station and told she had to sign a paper testifying that another man had commited the crime (not the policeman). She refused and went home to her apartment. Late that night two police officers came to her apartment door and demanded to come in (they had their weapons drawn). She finally let them in and they then took baby Daniel out of his crib, wrapped him in a blanket and said she would never see him again until she signed the document. Vera was hysterical with she showed up at our apartment the next morning.. so thus began a long two days for James. They searched at the area orphanages, detention centers, and hospitals thinking they may have taken him there.. finally on the third day they found him in a special hospital on the other side of the city. James knew someone who worked as a nurse there and Vera was allowed to bring Daniel some food, but not allowed to see him. After daily visits to the hospital (and the police station) Daniel was finally re-united with his Mother a week later. In the course of visiting one of the hospitals, Andrei found a room with 8 small cribs with babies in them. He asked the nurse and found that they had all been abandoned and there was no room at the baby orphanage so they were keeping them there at the hospital. He then learned from the nurse they were fed only twice a day and given no interaction (holding, rocking etc). PLEASE pray as James and Andrei are trying to get permission to bring formula & supplies for these 8 babies, and possibly get permission to go a few times a week to hold & play with them. It would be a great chance to minister for the older youth.

The other sad event of the week involved our friend Dima. Dima is from Tajikistan (down by Afghanistan), is Muslim, married with two small girls. We've known him for two years and he's come a few times to the Bible studies. He is here in Russia illegally which makes it almost impossible for him to get a job. Last week he was on a train selling music CD's to try to earn some money. (he walks through the train trying to sell to the passengers) He had walked to the back of the train to smoke a cigarette and then next thing he knew two men were attacking him from behind. The next thing he remembered was hours later waking up in the snow beside the train track with him arm bleeding. The men had thrown him off the train after cutting him with a knife. Dima suffered a concussion and lost a great deal of blood. He finally walked to the nearest city and was taken to a hospital. The hospital refused to keep him more than a day because he was an illegal (people from Tajikistan are usually hated and very poorly treated by most Russians). So James and Andrei ended up driving to the city of Kaluga to pick him up last Saturday morning. They had just pulled away from the hospital when the transmission went out on our minivan! When James finally returned late that night I asked him how things went.. to which he replied 'Have you ever driven for six hours in first gear with a half concious man moaning in pain behind you??' And I thought my day had been rough :). Anyway, Rachel put it all in perspective for us the next night when she prayed 'And thank you that the van broke so that Daddy could spend the whole day at home.' Unfortunately it's been almost two weeks now and still the transmission is not fixed.. but to write all the adventures James had trying to find a transmission would fill another complete page so I'll spare you details... he has met some very interesting people, had lots of chances to witness - this morning when he arrived at the garage a police car pulled up beside him and there right behind the building a homeless man had frozen to death during the night. James said he was very young, about his age. So so sad.. I've been thinking this week about how many people are led to think oh Russia, Africa etc. are just poor countries that need financial help - NO! it's not a poverty problems it's a sin problem and it's across the world. Satan wants to completely destroy lives, steal our joy, hope, and the glory our lives should give to God. Pray we'll have wisdom and strength to let our light shine for God's glory. There are some days it's easy to feel overwhelmed and 'what do I do to actually help'??

Okay sorry for the reflective epistle.. sometimes writing is theraputic :) On the home front the kiddos are doing well. Rachel started learning to read russian a few weeks ago and now has no desire to read anything in English (sigh) I spent two year trying to teach her English and in six weeks she can read Russian! It's much much easier and actually FOLLOWS THE RULES! unlike crazy English.. but it will take her 6 years to learn all the grammar rules (I haven't told her this yet). After a few cold days that we couldn't go outside I concluded that whoever came up with the recipe for home-made playdooh should have received the Nobel Peace Prize. Caleb can play with that for hours and we went through the alphabet, numbers, numerous animals and the leaning tower of Piza. Johanna started laughing out loud - too adorable! Now the kids dance around her making silly faces trying to make her laugh. Rachel's favorite new thing is 'giving concerts' - we light some candles, turn out all the lights, and she dances around the room to the Nutcracker. Until next time....

BRRRRRRRRRR!!

You talk about COLD weather!! Last week it was the coldest it's been in the Moscow area in 26 years! The coldest the official thermometer at the bank registered was -34 C. They were predicting it would get down to -40 one night.. I thought that would be neat since C and F level out at -40 :). On the coldest night Johanna was nursing around 2:00 am and I kept thinking.. 'it's really cold in here', but was too tired to get up.. James got up around 5:00 and realized the radiators were cold - NOT good! The gas heater had stopped working sometime in the night and besides a cold house all the water pipes were frozen! We got all the kids up bundled in our bed with a little space heater and made a fun *family memory* reading and cuddling all morning while poor James ran around trying to figure out why the heater had stopped working. He finally discovered that the vent to the outside had a piece of ice frozen inside and the heater has a safety feature that if anything obstructs the outside vent it immediately shuts down. So we were very thankful when it started working again - it's amazing how quickly a house can cool down when it's -30 out! I'll never forget David's expression when he was cuddling in bed with me.. he had a far away look on his face and I asked him what he was thinking about.. he answered 'I'm praying to Jesus' :) he's too cute. I told James there's nothing like a little crisis to make for some good family bonding times! :)

In other news.. Chris & Jeremy returned and had more home visits and Bible studies. There has been a young man Vlad who started coming to the English lessons - he told James he was an atheist, but wanted to learn English. After a few weeks of coming to the English lessons, he came to the Wed night Bible study and stayed late asking all kinds of questions. James gave him a Bible and he's been reading through the book of John. Anyway, some Jehovah Witnesses showed up at the Youth Center apartment and wanted to visit. Andrei (James' assistant) invited them in and they asked 'what exactly do you do here?' They told Andrei they had been visiting a young man named Vlad who told them he was an atheist, but IF he ever would decide to believe there was a God he would be interested in the God they talk about at Marshalla-Zhukova apartment 24 (our address). So the JW's decided to check out who lived at that address. For some reason this was amusing to me.. to think about an atheist *witnessing* to the JW's :) Anyway, pray for Vlad. And yes I will try to post some pictures soon before the Grandparents disinherit us :) :):)

Merry Christmas!!

There is SOOOO much to tell you about.. and so little time :( Okay Thursday the 28th was the big program at the orphanage. It's not a true orphanage, but more a foster home type situation for children that have just been taken from their homes (i.e parent in prison) and are on their way to an orphanage. Anyway, there were 28 children presently living there and James had received their names and their requests for what kind of present they would like to receive. The youth had made beautiful cards for each child to go along with the gift. The program went very, very well. James said the youth enjoyed *performing* as much as the children enjoyed the program. Rachel, David & Caleb all got to go along and James said they loved sitting among the children & enjoying the program also.

Friday 29th, 30th & 31st - James, Andrei, Chris Brudi & Jeremy Nunez visited homes all day every day. When we received the names and addresses from the city administration we didn't realize that many of the families had a parent in prison. The homes visits were just incredible. James couldn't believe how open the people were to talking.. I have lots of stories I'll save for later. Actually I want to post some pictures that Chris has with him.. so more later.

New Year's Eve is the BIGGEST holiday of the year here in Russia. James woke Rachel & David up just before midnight to take them to the city square to watch the fireworks. They came back an hour later and David's eyes were as big as saucers... he is still talking about the *big explosions* and of course his narrative is always with very loud sound effects.. too cute!

January 1st - 6th - James & his crew continued the home visits every day. The 3rd they had a big bonfire/ *shashleek* (hot dog roast) out in the woods. It was a beautiful day, but very cold. They had a really special time of singing, sharing.

January 2nd James and Chris were visiting in a large dormitory building where homeless people are given a small room (no kitchen or bathroom). As they were leaving the building James said he heard a large *pop* that sounded exactly like when a light bulb explodes. He looked up and Chris, who was right beside him, was staggering like he was about to fall over. Someone had thrown a vodka bottle from one of the balconies up above and hit Chris right on top of the head. Chris blacked out and had a very bad headache and ringing in his ears for the next two days. Chris said the bottle just *happened* to hit his head right on the little ball that was on top of his hat.. if it hadn't hit right there he could have suffered even more serious of an injury. We were so thankful for God's protection! Chris & Jeremy left the 5th to go to Moldova and will be back in Nara-Faminsk the 18th - 23rd.

Saturday 7th we collapsed :) and had a wonderful Christmas celebration with just our family. I need to run, but just had to post a quick update and thank everyone for praying. There are so many stories I want to share about passing out candy canes and home visits... I will post more later, I just need to run to feed a hungry baby... I need to post a picture of Johanna - she is growing faster than okra in July :) and is getting gigantic chipmunk cheeks. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!

SPRASNICOM!!

Today Rachel & David had the celebration (sprasnicom in Russian) at the art school. They go Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 - 11:30. They do some kind of artwork or craft, play for 10 minutes in the playroom and then do some counting or alaphabet. Rachel and David love it, and we've been very thankful for the wonderful, kind teachers they have and a great chance to learn Russian.

It was so sad for me personally to see that *Christmas* is not really celebrated or the word even spoken. The first sentence of the program was 'We're here to celebrate the most wonderful celebration of the year... New Year's!!' Until 1990 no Christmas celebrations or even mention of the holiday were allowed in Russia. Anyway, all the children got up to say their little poems they had memorized.. all about Father New Year and Father Frost (their much skinnier version of Santa Claus). Rachel's teacher had asked her to sing a tradional American Christmas song during the program. Rachel was the very last child called up to recite.. she stood straight and tall and belted out ...'Come on ring those bells, everybody say, Jesus we remember this your birthday.' It was so beautiful I almost started to cry; I only wish everyone in the room could have understood what the song was saying in Russian. We had such a good talk and prayer time with the kids afterwards about why programs in America celebrate the birth of Christ, but that programs here have make up fairy tales and empty stories in order to have something to celebrate. Please pray next week on January 6th as we are having a special 'Happy Birthday Jesus' celebration at our house. We have invited all the kids friends (about 15 of them) and some of the youth are coming over to act out the Christmas story and do games with them. We're planning to have a big birthday cake and share the good news of Christ's birth with these children.

Also wanted to mention to please pray for James & Andrei on Thursday at 4:00 they are doing a big program at an orphanage. The director had given them the names of all the children and the youth made BEAUTIFUL cards for every child in the orphanage. We got each child a very nice wrapped gift and a sack of chocolate candy. Also the youth have prepared songs and a skit. It's been wonderful to see how excited the youth are about the ministry opportunities these next two weeks. I was so impressed with the cards they made and the hard work they put into the skits. Our friend Chris Brudi arrives Thursday evening - he's bringing 5,000 candy canes with him and on Saturday we're going to hand them out at the train station with a special tract that explains the gospel using the candy cane. Please keep praying for us and the country of Russia!

61 years ago today....

Today is a very spcial day for the city of Nara-Faminsk.. for eight months the city was occupied by the Nazi's - but on December 26, 1944 the German army was pushed back and the city regained it's freedom. There was a small celebration in the town square and the military had a parade. Unfortunately it was -8 and with three feet of snow not many people attended. It was neat when we were building the house James was digging in the yard and found the bayonet tip from a German rifle. When we were talking to the kids this morning about WW II, Rachel said 'boy, I wish I could have seen Grandad fighting in the war.':) We are so thankful and proud of you Grandad!!

Newsletter & lots of news!!

Okay, things are too hectic and with the computer not being at the house I have resigned myself that I will not be keeping up this blog on a regular basis... for now..

The most exciting news is that we were able to purchase the house we asked you to pray about!! We are very excited. Below is a copy of our winter newsletter.

Dear praying friends & family,

'When the fullness of time was come, God brought forth His son....." I've always liked this verse when I consider that God promised a Savior and Redeemer back in Genesis 3:15 when Adam & Eve sinned. I'm sure many people waiting for the Savior to be born thought that God had forgotten them. But nothing and no one could thwart His plan for redemption. He had it all planned out and when the time was ready Christ was born. We've had an exciting month as we've seen God fulfill the desires we've had for years.. all in the fullness of HIS timing.

An AMAZING God! When we moved here three years ago we had a little dream that one day we would have a Nara-Faminsk Youth Center that would be open to youth in need 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We started out in an apartment; but that had it's limitations as the police were always visiting us and telling us that no more than 12 people could meet in the apartment at the same time. In the space of two weeks we saw the incredible hand of God move... it started with a knock on our door and a lady telling us she wanted to sell her home across the street. It was quite literally *perfect* for a youth center. One large open room, a large entryway, a bedroom, kitchen & bathroom plus a large yard that could be used for volleyball - see enclosed picture. Two weeks later we had a buyer for our apartment and extra money from a dear group of friends in Texas. We gave a downpayment on the house and the paperwork is presently being done to own a new Youth Center. We stand back in amazement as we see the fulfillment of the hopes and desires we had three years ago when we moved to Nara-Faminsk. God continues to lead, provide, and draw people to the knowledge of salvation. I wish so much we could let you 'peek in' on the Bible studies and see these young people who know nothing about God or the Bible ~ To see the darkness and hopelessness of their lives and to be able to explain to them the greatest love story every written.

Christmas Plans Please be in prayer as this time of year is extremely busy and a wonderful opportunity to share Christ. Starting Monday the 26th through Russian Christmas celebrated January 7th we will be handing out food baskets and gifts to 65 needy families and children. We received the names and addresses from the city administration. In addition we will be visiting a children's hospital, the military base to give gifts to some children who are invalids, and an orphanages to hand out gifts, candy and fruit. Please pray that every conversation we have with these children and families will be a God-given chance to share the gift of salvation with them.

We will also be showing the film 'Luther' in a school auditorium the evenings of January 4th and 5th. We had permission to rent the largest auditorium in the city (seats 1000) but last week we were told of a new law that went into affect this week that forbids religious non-profit organization from renting a public facility and having any type of programs. It was a huge disappointment at first, but we are praying that showing the film in a smaller setting will allow us a chance to talk with people afterwards. Please remember us in prayer during these very busy weeks. Much work and preparation have gone into these plans and we are praying for God's blessing on each endeavor.

A New Pair of Socks Last night after the Bible study James came home with a new pair of warm hand knit socks. Sergei, a young man that was saved during the summer camp, had brought them to James from his Mother. Sergei's mother has been an alcoholic for the last 8 years; she has rarely gone outside her apartment or held a paying job. James had talked with her and told her he would pray that God would deliver her from alcoholism. Sergei came to the Bible study and told James his mother has not touched alcohol for over a month. He said she could not believe the change in her son's life and wants the same *miracle* for her own. When James had gone to visit her and took off his shoes, he had a big hole in his sock.... so she had made him a new pair of socks :) Praising God for new socks and a new life in Christ!

Family News Rachel celebrated her 7th birthday last week... I am feeling VERY, very old!! We had a wonderful birthday party with seven of her friends. We are so thankful for Rachel and her tender, loving heart. She teaches her parents so much of the ways of God. I'll never forget this summer walking to the store with her right after a big national holiday. We walked by three drunk men who had passed out near the side-walk. They were covered with vomit and smelled terrible. I walked by thinking 'I wish they would find another street to pass out in.... I feel so bad my children have to see stuff like this..' When we reached the store I looked down and Rachel had big tears in her eyes. When I asked her what was wrong, she replied, 'Oh Mommy, we have to pray for those men, without Jesus they'll never be able to say no to alcohol.' My heart was so convicted I couldn't even answer her... I walked by a self absorbed 'Pharisee', but Rachel walked by and had Jesus' heart for these men. When you have little ones around you understand so clearly 'Unless you become like a little child you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.' It's amazing how much you can learn from your children!

Our deepest thanks and gratitude to each of you who stand with us in prayer and giving. 'For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.' So many of you have your heart here in Russia with us and we are so grateful for you. May the Prince of Peace give you peace in your souls as you reflect on all He has done. 'For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people.' Luke 2:30

Rejoicing in Him,
James, Susan, Rachel, David, Caleb and Johanna Joy

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Wow! we had such an incredible day... first of all it's not easy finding turkey for sale here - we found some at a fancy supermarket near the American Embassy and a nice Honeysuckle turkey was going for $9.00 a pound (hmm we certainly have taught them the meaning of capitalism :).. anyway, we finally found a small package of *turkey fillets* for sale but I wasn't sure how to cook them?? So James decided to fire up our little grill and grill them outside. The kids all thought this was a total blast.. the best part of the day - playing outside and FIRE! We came in and sang songs and talked about all our blessings.. and then ate way more than one human being should eat in a given day. God has blessed us so so much.. four healthy children and His presence in our lives. Sending our love and Thanksgiving Day sugar to all our loved ones!! We're so thankful for YOU!!

Sweetest little Pilgrim around...

The kids loved making pilgrim hats... and Johanna enjoyed her very first Thanksgiving!

prayer request

Wanted to ask you to pray for James as he has a really important decision to make in the next few days. Last week our neighbor rang our doorbell and told us she was selling her house and if we knew anyone who was interested to please let her know. James went over to look at the house and said it would be *perfect* for a youth center. So he decided to stop at a realtor and just see how much we could sell the youth center apartment for.. the very next day the realtor brought over a buyer who wanted to buy our apartment on the spot! Wow! We told the buyer we needed to think things over... the house would have a larger room to meet in, plus a large bedroom (for Andrei to live in) a kitchen, bathroom and large entryway. It has city septic and water, gas heat and a phone. All this for only $2000 more than we would sell the apartment for.. So we really need God's wisdom. We feel like He is leading, it would be very nice not to have the police bothering us and the neighbors complaining about all the youth hanging out in the entryway. Any thoughts/advice anyone has would be appreciated! Ohh, and it's a great location - five minute walk from our apartment.

catching up...

Well it's been ages since I had time to write.. to explain, we moved into the house which has no phone so in order to get on the internet I have to go over to the youth center apartment and use the computer there. Anyway, Johanna is growing like a weed! Weighs 10 lbs and has a great double chin going for her. She's wonderful and smiley AS LONG AS she is being held... the perfect lap baby is there ever was one. Fortunately Rachel and David love to hold her so I usually have a free lap. Rachel loves to walk around singing to her - today I heard in her beautiful voice 'I love you Johanna, I will always take care of you when you are old, don't worry we will never give you away. mia loobimiya..' This was all sung to the tune of Edelweis from the sound of music.

We are really hoping it will snow soon - snow is much more interesting to play in.. Rachel & David continue to go every Tues & Thurs. to the art school (only 1 1/2 hours). They love it and our fridge is covered with paintings. They had a special fall program last week. Just got a phone call that a certain sweet baby is awake and in need of food - how is that possible when she just ate?? Oh well... till next time