Camp!

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!

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

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!

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!!

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!

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

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!!

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

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

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!