Teaching English... I can do that!

The BLTC was asked to provide English lessons to the employees of the OVIR's office....which stands for Office of Visa, Immigration and Registration. They decide who can visit our area, who can live here, and who can be deported from Russia for up to 5 years. This is a very important relationship to develop... the administrator recognized Spencer and Tom from their passport photos as she has processed our paperwork many times before. She was delighted to meet them in person!

In English they shared about themselves, their families and practiced dialogues from the lesson about meeting each other. There were 5 OVIR workers, four of which will probably start the twice a week class beginning in March. Today's meeting was simply a preview of what the lessons will look like.

Tom enjoyed being able to teach the letters of the Alphabet "as speaking English is within his area of capacity". (his words not mine!)

two down and 6 to go!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Today was the second in a series of 8 lessons that Tom is presenting at the church. Today's topic was shame.

In English Tom uses the acronym:

Something
Held
Against
M
E

Since he was teaching to a Russian audience, he had to have the word for shame translated so that it would make sense in Russian. Стыд (stid) is the word for shame here.

Our language helper came up with a saying using those letters that we really love. I will put what it translates to in English here:

You've Suffered Enough

so in Russian it looks like this:

Страдал
Ты
Достаточно

It was an impactful talk. Tom was asked for a copy of the PowerPoint by one of people who attended. Tom gave him a copy of the PowerPoint notes that were printed out for Spencer to follow along with.

I would love to be able to tell you all who came and what their professions were but I don't want to break anyone's anonymity. I will say that we had a diverse group of professionals, homemakers, couples and various churches were represented.

Speaking Engagement

Last night Tom received a phone call from Natasha. She is a prison psychologist. She had asked Tom on Sunday if he would be able to speak to the regional prison psychologists if she were to set up a day for them all to come to Krasnodar. She called last night with the date and time of the event. I took the phone to firm up the details and I think I understood most of what she said. Tom will be speaking on Tuesday, December 26th, for 3 hours on the subject of how to work with alcoholics and addicts. He was asked to focus on dependency issues. Katya will be there to translate. (She was our very first translator in 2004 when we visited for a month)

It is interesting that she has only heard Tom speak one time. She was invited by Jim and Joyce to come to our church when Tom spoke there for the first time. He does of great job of integrating theology and psychology each time he speaks. She told me on the phone last night that she felt that Tom had more experience and knowledge of how to work with addictions than what she and her colleagues here in Russia have.

I was talking with Lena today and telling her about Natasha asking Tom to speak to the area psychologists. Lena told me that Natasha is not just one of the prison psychologists in the area... she is the Regional Head Psychologist for the entire prison system. Now it makes since why she was able to call a meeting for all the area prison psychologists!

Tom is looking forward to being able to speak to this population. This is why we are here and it is exciting to have this door open for us!

Friday Fun

Spencer and I had to go to work again today. Just before we left Olya dropped Yanna off for us to watch her. It was hard to walk out the door! I fixed a bottle and Tom fed her while I finished making dinner for him and Nathan.



Nathan and Yanna had a little conversation while she was thinking about taking a nap. He read to her from the current book he is reading "Picture of Dorian Grey" She still wouldn't go to sleep!






















Spencer is giving a lesson on how to fly an airplane! Tonight we had a more manageable number of kids to work with. The kids made frames for photos that Oksana had taken of them. They also made some teddy bear puppets with Judi. It was a great evening. We had our full team there tonight so the kids got a lot of attention. Donny, Blythe, Angela, Ted, Judi, Bill, Andrew, KaLynn, Bekka, Spencer, Okasana and me. I think it was almost 1 child per person. Last week it was just Spencer, Oksana and me with 40 kids!!!

Social Ministries Team

Today we had a meeting for the Social Ministries Team. It only lasted for 3 ½ hours. Normally our meetings go for much longer. It felt as if we accomplished a lot. We were able to work on priorities for the team and on the budget for next year. We met in a basement room without lights and without heat. The workers had shut off the power to the basement to work on the new addition. We opened up the curtains to allow as much natural light in as possible and went on with our meeting.

Tom and I are here to help with Alcoholics/Addicts and their families. We never expected to have to make decisions about purchasing farm equipment. However, since the rehabilitation center we are affiliated with is located on a working farm, we need to be concerned with such things. Therefore, spending 20 minutes or so talking about purchasing a baler and another 15 talking about a shredder is vital. The farm is 40 % self-supporting. We would like to see it support itself 100%. Purchasing new equipment to help the farm run more efficiently is important. After purchasing the baler for example, they will be able to bale hay for others and make money through that avenue as well.

Tomorrow is a big day out at the rehab center. A butcher is coming to the farm to kill a bull and butcher it. Then they will take it to the market to sell. It takes two years for the livestock to be ready for sale. Tom M. told a story about having a book with a picture of an animal with dotted lines on it for where to cut the meat. He said that he went hunting and caught a deer but the deer didn’t come with dotted lines to show him where to cut. So he was happy that they hired a butcher and he doesn’t have to take his book out to the farm!