like Christmas day!

Over the past few weeks we have been blessed with three care packages from America! We love it when that happens!! I am constantly overwhelmed by the love and support we have received since we made the move here to Russia.

Life abroad has it's challenges, one of which is learning to "live without", another would be learning to value what you do have and finally learning how to receive from others.

Thank you to those of you who have taken the time and energy to support us in this way... we truly value each and every gift!

another Monday...

Spencer and I were back in class... Tom was home working on his teaching for the Saturday seminar. Then he went over to help out with an English class.

I was craving chocolate this evening so Spencer was kind enough to go and get some for me... right after he came there was a knock on the door. We were both a little spooked by that. He opened the door slowly and it was Vova! He had been in Moscow helping out his brother with his construction business.

Vova was returning a suitcase that we loaned him and he brought us over some chocolate in payment! So not only did I get a snickers bar from Spencer but another chocolate bar from Vova!

It was great to see him again. He had lots of stories to tell! Including the one about how he surprised Olya with his early return from Moscow. He didn't tell her he was coming home... he calls her as he is walking toward our building and they talk about the weather and how much they miss each other, he gets up to their apartment door and knocks on the door. She asks him to hang on while she answers the door, not knowing it would be him. Imagine her surprise when she opens the door with her cell phone to one ear and sees him standing there!

Tom's March seminar begins!!!

This month’s theme is “How People Grow” and today’s topic was “Growth as a Process”.


Tom was pleased with the turn out… we had 20 people today including the two little ones in childcare!



Dima did such a great job translating, Lena B. was awesome with the children, Spencer was in charge of the audio visual, he did an excellent job handling the PowerPoint and showing video clips… and I got to wear a few hats today, I did registration, made sure that there were snacks for the kids as well as prepared the tea and dessert for the adults and finally making sure that everyone who worked got paid!

We had a few new faces today which were great to see… I have a few special memories I will carry away from today, one of them was seeing the two little girls in childcare so excited to see one another! They met for the first time back during Tom’s first seminar in November. And they had not seen each other since the end of December. The other memory is of the number of men we had today. There were an equal number of men and women. Typically topics like this attract women… so you can imagine my excitement when the women finished up our small group time ahead of the men. It truly thrills our hearts to see such enthusiasm for this topic from the men!

Tom has two more topics to cover in this seminar… and we ask that you pray for us as our family works to make this time comfortable and enjoyable for all!

just girl time!

Stephanie opened her home today for a time of playing with makeup and foot massages for the teachers!

This was one of the highlights of my week, I totally enjoyed putting make up on Stephanie's two youngest daughters... I rarely get to play like this!








Megan and me!








all the goodies!








Goar getting her feet massaged by Rebecca!






Tania, our school director, putting makeup on Brianna!

another day abroad!

Yesterday Tom tried to make a withdrawal from an ATM… it didn’t work. He tried another one… that one didn’t work either. He came home and called the bank in America to find out what the problem was. It turns out that someone in Texas had made a copy of his card and tried to use it at a Walmart. After 65 minutes on the phone he got the problem rectified and a new card is on the way. There are times when we are annoyed with our bank but yesterday was not one of those days… we are grateful that they noticed activity and immediately put a block on the account.

Final week!

We ended up skipping a week due to so many of the women or their small children being ill. Yesterday was our final meeting and Lena R. did a great job leading us.

One of the things that stood out for me from her teaching was that Mary Magdalene made history by being the first person to see Christ after his resurrection... it showed how much value Jesus placed on women!

Sunday outing!

Spencer, Tom and I all went out to lunch today... as we were walking we saw this band of Cossacks headed our way!

Happy International Women's Day!

As Tom and I were coming home from our lunch date to celebrate the holiday today we saw that our local outdoor market was flooded with a variety of flowers... mostly tulips from vendors we had never seen before!

Flowers are a major part of this holiday here in Russia. I was excited to receive flowers at school on Thursday and then again on Friday from Tom! We also noticed today that many women owned or run businesses were closed.

Here is a great way to describe the overall spirit of the holiday:

“We have many good holidays, but March 8 is special one, as on this day we congratulate our mothers, daughters, sisters and grandmothers,” Tomsk city mayor Nikolai Nikolaichuk said. To read the rest of this article you can click here


On Thursday the women from the BLTC were all treated to an incredibly beautiful Russian banya... we enjoyed the sauna, pool, the comfort & beauty of the halls we were in and the time of fellowship with one another. I am grateful that my first experience in a Russian banya was in a place so luxurious! We were split into two groups one group occupied the Africa themed room and the other group was in the Indonesia themed room. Some of the gals who had been before brought things like body salt scrubs and honey to massage into our skin... I am still feeling the affects of how smooth and silky the honey made my skin feel!

I love this holiday! On Monday we have the day off of school and the women from the language school will be enjoying lunch together!

To learn more about this holiday click here

smile for the day

We saw this sign when we were in Cyprus! (The Blind Beggar is the name of a pub)

passing the baton...

For a closer look at President-elect Dmitry Medvedev... click Here or Here.

Tom, Spencer and I have each heard various things from people about the voting process. One story is that there was an elderly couple who voted for the Communist Party candidate because they felt sorry for him, after having done that they had to face being chastised by their middle aged son for wasting their vote. Democracy looks a little different in this part of the world... it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Russia's presidential election

With 25% of the precincts reporting election results we are being told that Putin's handpicked successor Dmitry Medvedev has a commanding 63% of the vote right now... his closest rival only has 19%.

what to watch first?!

Yesterday we received a box that was full of TV shows! Thanks so much Mom, Dad and Nathan.

It is such a blessing each time we get things to watch in English. We do watch movies in Russian and enjoy them... but watching in English is our way to relax and recoup from the stressors of the day!

What a great problem we have now... what to watch first!? We started with one episode from the 1st season of Saturday Night Live and then went on to watch a few episodes from the 1st season of Arrested Development!

where did he go?

I used to get my shoes repaired at this little kiosk... until they came and carried it away!

trip to the pharmacy!

Often we communicate with one another through text messaging. It is cheaper to send a text than to make a phone call and it keeps us from having to speak in English in public places. Tom sent me a text message today asking me to pick up some sinus medicine on the way home. I was coming from my prayer time with the East West gals which gave me the opportunity to check with Joyce about how to ask for sinus medicine in Russian.

I went in and told them that my husband had "pressure" in this area, while demonstrating where the sinuses are. The young lady quickly led me over to the medication she thought would work best and suggested something for his immune system as well. I had my language helper session right after this so I showed Lena the medications that I bought. Turns out I got all the right stuff! She told me that the medicine I bought for Tom works really well, would help with him fight off this virus and should get him to feeling better soon!

We have many people from the church who are sick right now... our pastor, Lena's husband Valodia came by to tell us that Mia, 4 years old, she is the daughter of Alla... who led the Women's Bible Study last week. Mia was just admitted to the hospital with a high fever. She has already been sick for over two weeks. Please keep us all in your prayers... this seems to be going through the church!

Letters From Iwo Jima

The Island of Iwo Jima was located between the American armed forces and the mainland of Japan. General Kuribayashi and the young soldier, Saigo, stand tall and face the battle with courage, strength and dignity. I don't normally enjoy war movies but this one was well worth watching!

Prayer request:

Both Tom and Spencer are sick... Tom has not gotten out much this week. He felt good while the guys were here watching the football game on Monday but after that he took a turn for the worse. I made soup and we have lots of orange juice so he is being taken care of!

Week Four

Joyce did a great job today! I truly admired her courage... she taught us in Russian. Russian is a very complex language and although she made a couple of mistakes she was a great example to me about the importance of not worrying about doing something perfectly, the important thing is to "just do it".

She taught about Mary of Bethany from Mark 14 who anointed Jesus "with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head."

Joyce reminded us that it is more important to have Christ value what you are doing for him than it is to be concerned with what onlookers have to say about what you are doing... the people watching Mary of Bethany's act of worship toward Jesus rebuked her for the amount of money she wasted. And yet Jesus praised her, saying... "She has done a beautiful thing to me...she did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

Next week is our last meeting with this study... thanks for praying us all the way through!

Super Bowl Monday...

Tom had a few of the guys from school come over to watch the Super Bowl. Yes, of course we know the game took place already but the DVD from Tom's dad just came on Saturday! Even though we all knew the outcome it was still fun to watch.

Spencer and I watched mostly for the commercials... I sat in the back of the room and let the guys who actually wanted to see the game have the good seats!

Men's Day

You can read more about this Russian holiday here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defender_of_the_Fatherland_Day

or here:

http://www.mnweekly.ru/national/20080221/55311621.html

I went out early today to get presents for Tom and Spencer. I realised as I was picking out presents that I was buying Spencer his first "grown up" gift. I gave him cologne. He has never had any of his own before. It had a great impact on him and I am glad that I followed through with that purchase!

Tom invited Dima B. over to watch a new Russian film with us. It is called Kiss Not for the Press. And it is loosely based on Putin's life. It was great to have Dima here to explain some of the cultural references to us. He truly added to our enjoyment of the film.




















I made lasagna for dinner and was pleased to find out that it is Dima's favorite food from his time spent in Canada years ago. Dima left with movies he borrowed to watch for the long weekend. He is our only male teacher at the Language School. Men's Day is one of the official holidays that people will get to take off work for. So we don't have school on Monday.

I believe that Tom and Spencer had a great day today... at least they had full tummies and they smelled nice!

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!)

the weather...

Snow, snow and more snow! This woman is one of the people who take care of the grounds around the apartment building... Tom was able to get a photo of her hard at work.

Week Three

This week was Alla's turn to lead... she did an awesome job teaching us about the woman caught in the act of adultery.






Alla sat on the couch with her 4 month old son on her lap teaching. She didn't seem the least bit distracted and had the full attention of everyone of us in the room!

Attendance was down from 17 to 10 due to sickness and the snowfall... public transportation practically comes to a stand still when the weather is bad. When I arrived at the church Tim was blessing us ladies by shoveling the walkway and the stairs. It was truly a welcome sight to see his servant's heart at work.

Thanks for praying for the women who are attending... many of them have obstacles to overcome each week just to get there and we have two more weeks to go!!

where did the time go?

On Friday I made the Apple Butter which Spencer and Tom totally enjoy... and then on Saturday I managed to get the bread baked to go with it!

Saturday I watched Yanna while Olya and Eera spent time at the mall together. On Sunday Spencer and I were both sick. Somehow Tom has avoided getting sick... so he was the only one to make it to church and then bring home Orange Juice and Kleenex for the sickies in the house.

So here it is Monday night and I have Bible Study tomorrow and have not even started translating the words I don't understand from the new lesson... as I was looking up the Bible verses I thought where did the weekend go? Normally, I get my study done on Sunday so Lena R. and I can go over it during my time with her on Monday afternoons.

Tom had Lena look over his schedule for the next seminar he will be doing at the church. She fixed a few grammar mistakes and then changed the wording on a couple of the titles so they sound "more Russian". It has been an adventure learning what goes over well when translated and what doesn't... we live and we learn new things here everyday!

***Please pray for Lena R. as she handles everything with the three kids at home while her husband, Valodia, is in Daghestan leading a seminar on prayer. Pray for him as well... he had a car accident there and he needs various insurance documents sent to him so that he can take care of the damage to his van.

bleh!

Tom was the only one healthy enough to leave the house today... Spencer and I are both nursing colds. Not fun! I am hoping to feel well enough for school tomorrow but I think Spencer would like another day at home!

Crock Pot Apple Butter

Crock Pot Apple Butter
12 cups of apples, peeled and cut into small pieces
4 cups sugar
1/3 cup apple juice
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp each, ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves

Mix spices in with the sugar and then place apples, sugar mixture and juice into crock pot and turn it on low and let it cook all night.

In the morning, there will be some liquid that came out of the apples as it cooked. Dip the fruit & liquid out by the cupfuls and place in a blender. Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Be careful not to put too large a batch in the blender at one time and, because the mix is very hot, do not place the lid completely on the blender, but allow space for steam to escape. After blending a couple of cups from the crock pot, place it in another large bowl. After blending all the contents of the crock pot, return mixture to crock pot.

Cook on high with the lid off until the apple butter is as thick as you want it to be. Place in clean, hot canning jars and place lid on immediately. Tighten jar lid. Place the jars upside down until they are completely cool to help them seal better with all the heat against the seal.


*** I just wanted to add that Tom took a jar over to the rehab center for the guys along with some bread. They sliced the bread and put out the apple butter with it. One of the men decided it was better to eat by the spoonfuls!!

I guess this recipe is a keeper!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tom came to meet me at school today, he had purchased some tulips for me and that totally impressed our teachers! We had planned to have lunch together because on Thursday nights he is now teaching at Transformation Rehab center.... which means that I knew he was coming to pick me up at school but our teachers didn't!!


It was suggested to us to go to a place called Wok. That sounded good to both of us... so off we went. When we got there we found out that all of their tables had been reserved. I was shocked because this is not a holiday that Russians traditionally celebrate. Obviously times are changing!


We went to Heavenly Dragon and had a great meal there. We both love Chinese food and this place was worth the bus ride and the short walk to get there!

Tom is now at the Rehab center teaching, Spencer is not feeling well so he went to bed early, I am sitting at the computer and just heard from Nathan that he is still sick... please pray for he and Spencer to get well!!

hanging an electrical line!

Week 2

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Today it was Lily's turn to lead and she did an awesome job! Her take on the woman with the issue of blood from Mark 5:21-34 was fascinating. Lily is from Uzbekistan, she shared with us from her own experiences and from her excellent grasp of the type of culture this woman lived in. Lily helped us understand how she would have been treated by the community at large and what she would have thought of herself.

Lily had us turn our attention to Leviticus 15:19-27 and after reading that passage she explained to us that this woman would have lost her husband, friends and due to her being unclean she would have been looked down upon by those in her community... she may have even seen herself as unclean and possibly thought of herself as a sinner. Her compulsion to touch the hem of Jesus' garment would have stemmed not only from her desire for health but her desire to be free from sin. Clean and whole in the eyes of God, her neighbors and herself!

I can hardly wait for next week!

Happy 100!!!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Spencer and I have finally made it to Lesson 100 of the 125 lesson course that we are taking at New View Language School!

It is amazing that we have come so far...I keep thinking about when we first arrived here in Russia... we didn't even know the alphabet. And today Spencer talked on the phone for a few hours with his Russian friend and I sat in the living room with my friend Lena R. working on our Bible Study material for tomorrow!

Praise God with us for this progress!!

Mother, son and Mr. Goat!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

I received an email today from Stephanie with the photos she took of Spencer and I in the mountains. Mr. Goat checked us out for food and then took off down the mountainside!

fun in the snow!

Saturday, February 9,2008

These photos were taken by Spencer with his cellphone!

Yesterday Spencer and I were able to go on a trip to the mountains with the Language School. Skiing, snowboarding and sledding filled the day. Spencer and I rented two sleds (6$ per sled per hour) and had a great time enjoying flying down the slope. There was a breathtaking scene at the top of the mountain… we could see other snow covered mountain tops in the distance.

Spencer tried several different ways of going downhill on the sled. He seemed to enjoy the thrill of going face first the best! I wiped out my first two times down the hill… the first time I flew off the sled and as my body rolled to a stop all I could think was “I hope my glasses stay on!”

After counseling with Stephanie on how to ride the sled correctly I managed to stay on the sled all the way down to the bottom of the hill each successive ride. I thought that was a major accomplishment! Stephanie, Joyce and I had fun racing each other down the hill!

At the first slope we were on they wouldn’t turn on the rope pull for the skiers so we had to get into the bus and go to another hill. Before leaving those of us with rented sleds had to turn them back in. I had rented the sleds for 3 hours thinking we would spend most of the day there. So I was due a refund. I was originally refunded an hour since we had the sleds for an hour and a half. I was content with that… but not our director Tanya M., she negotiated with the young man to give us back the other half hour as well!

Our bus driver was not interested in going further up the hill. And after hearing that only 7 out of 10 buses successfully maneuver one of the curves on the way to the top I understood his hesitancy. According to Tanya a bus overturned back in January and people were killed. Our driver did great on the turns going up and coming back down. We clapped for him each time. On the way down he smiled after making that turn… it was the first time we had seen a smile from him all day! Perhaps after the bus getting stuck in the parking lot and the guys having to shovel snow to get us out, he may have been relieved to get his last "hurdle" out of the way.

At the second slope Spencer and I were too tired to try any more sledding, so we were content to watch everyone. As we were standing there with Stephanie waiting to see Brennen ski down the hill and watching Joyce, Hannah and the others sledding... along came a goat. It just walked right up to us looking for food.

They live up there in the mountains and go from person to person begging for food. Can you imagine having to watch out for other skiers, snowboarders, sledders and a herd of goats as you ski down the hill? At one point there were about 8 or 9 of them crossing the slope seemingly unaware of the people sharing their space!

Before boarding the bus to go home Joyce and I decided to go to the bathroom so we wouldn't have to use the bushes or the field on the trip home. It was an outhouse with what I call a squatty potty... no toilet just a hole in the ground. Even though the holes were covered with wood and cut in the shape of hearts it was still an unpleasant experience for this city girl!

For another peek into how the day went please check here:
http://behimer.blogspot.com/2008/02/skiing-russian-style.html

Prayer meeting

Thursday, February 7, 2008

On Thursdays the gals from East West meet for an hour and a half for prayer. I don't know what I would do without this time each week... it truly keeps me grounded and focused on what God is doing and can do!

When I had my quiet time today I chose to pick up an old favorite devotional book.... My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I found this quote truly speaks to what prayer is all about:

“The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer.”


My prayer for each one of you reading right now is that you would take time to meditate on that statement. I have found that the time spent in prayer with these women over the past 5 months motivated me to spend more time each day with Him!

signs...

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Back when we were in Cyprus Tom and I saw this sign when we were strolling about the city during our free time!

Jesus Cares for Women

Tuesday, February 5, 2008






















Today was the first day of our five week study. We had 17 women turn up for a study in the middle of the day. We had heard that women might not be available because so many work but the turn out was great! We were able to break into 3 small groups for discussion and then pray in pairs afterwards.

It was exciting to me that a few women who are new to the church are now attending their first bible study...

Please keep us in your prayers each Tuesday for the next four weeks!

back at language school

Monday, February 4, 2008

Spencer and I were back in class first thing this morning. We were both awake and dressed and ready to go right on time! Spencer even had time to scramble some eggs for us so we could have breakfast before we left. He is such a sweetheart!

Today in class we were working on the prefixes that go in front of the motion verbs... our lesson lists 13 of them. As I was working with my language helper she said not to work on memorizing the table, but to focus instead on paying attention to how they are used by the Russian speakers around me. So for the rest of our session each time one of those verbs came up in our conversation she called attention to it. Lena R. is truly a gem!

Tom went back to school today as well... only he decided to play a practical joke on his teacher. Just as he reached the front door of the building he called her to tell her that he was not coming. She asked him why and he said because the weather was so nice he was going to stay home and she told him that he was a grown man! He told her again he wasn't coming... as he approached the door to the school office he could hear her saying "guess who just called and says that they are not coming to school?!" He opens the door and all of the teachers busted out in peels of laughter! I think our teachers got a great American culture lesson... don't you!?

practice, practice, practice!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Big Mama’s Butterhorn Rolls
1 yeast cake, blended with 1 Tbsp sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
2 tsp salt
3 eggs, well beaten
1 c. warm sweet milk
4 cups sifted flour

Mix in order given:
Yeast cake, butter, sugar, salt, eggs, milk and flour. Let rise well; spoon down. Let rise again. Roll to ½ inch thick. Cut into shape of pie wedges 2 inches wide. Roll from wide end. Leaving point tucked under. Place in well buttered pan. Set pans over pans of hot water to rise. Bake at 315 degrees until brown. Butter and cover until serving time.

This is a copy of my grandmother's recipe as it appears in an old cookbook put out by her church in the 80’s. I remember watching her make these rolls for special holidays and family dinners when I was a child. I don’t remember her using measuring cups or spoons. She knew how many scoops of this or pinches of that were needed in everything she baked. Knowing that means that the recipe above is just an approximation of how she made them.

I sent an email to my Aunt Bev asking her to talk with Big Mama and then let me know what sweet milk is. Aunt Bev wrote me back informing me that sweet milk is “just an old school way of saying whole milk”. Aunt Bev told me to practice on the rolls so that when I come back to Kansas I can make them for a family dinner!

Today was my first practice run. I used about 5 cups of flour… after 4 cups the dough was way too sticky to work with by hand. In Russia we don’t have yeast cakes so I had to look online to find out the exact amount needed which is 2 ¼ teaspoons. Since our yeast here in Russia is not as strong I had to double that amount. Our eggs are very small compared to an American egg so I used an extra egg as well.

The result was pretty close to what I remember. Somehow I thought that they were sweeter than how mine turned out. And that may very well be true... our sugar here is not as sweet as American sugar. However, Tom thought they were VERY good and that is what matters most to me since he is the main person that I cook for. I plan to try them again and then add them to our holiday table in the future!!

hanging out with the girls...

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Tom and I were able to sleep in for a bit before Olya called needing to run some errands. She dropped the girls off and we had fun watching Finding Nemo and Shrek 3 in Russian! When her mom called for us to bring them home Eera didn't want to leave because she heard me say that Tom was going to the supermarket. She wanted to go to! Just like her mom she loves going out and when it was decided that we would go "shopping" she was willing to get dressed to go "out"!

DyaDya (uncle) Tom and Totyah(aunt) Alida took the girls out to buy candy and a Disney magazine before taking them home!


In this photo big sister Eera is commenting on the action in Shrek 3 while little sister Yanna is chilling out on the couch!

lunch guests

Friday, February 1, 2008

Last week Tom invited the teachers over today to see a slide show of our photos of Cyprus and eat lunch with us. All of the teachers showed up except for one who had to attend a class at the university.

We had a great time. I made a huge pot of white chili; the teachers brought over bread, drinks and of course a cake. It was fun for us to have them all over. They really enjoyed the chili many of them went back for seconds... and of course I had to give out the recipe.

After looking at the photos from our trip we had to get out our family photos at their request. They loved seeing Nathan and Spencer as little boys but they really got a kick out of seeing our Class of 1981 year book from high school!

Great fellowship, great food and great fun... what a day!

language helper

Thursday, January 31, 2008

I started working with Lena R. this week as my new language helper. She is Valodia's wife and Sasha's mother. Sasha is in Germany for a few months so her mom asked if she could help me out. Lena knows Russian grammar very well and is an excellent helper for me.

Tonight we worked on my current lesson from language school and after that I read aloud for her the first lesson in the Women's Bible study that we will start next week. Lena helped me with putting the stress marks above the words so I would know how to correctly pronounce them if called upon to read aloud. I am praying this doesn't happen but if it does I want to be ready!

We also decided that I should write out my answers to the study questions in Russian and then on Mondays she will look over them for grammar mistakes so that I can make corrections before the group meets on Tuesdays. That way I can feel free to share my answers and take part in the group discussion.

Dallas fans plus Tom

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

It was the final night of the conference,
some had planes to catch the next day,
so what kept these guys up until 4am?















through something called a sling box
and highspeed internet these guys were able
to watch a live football game.

















they were creative enough to turn a table on it's side in the conference room and project the game onto that surface making it a big screen TV!

internet woes...

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Yesterday our high speed internet account was depleted and none of us has been able to make it over to the UTK building to make a payment so that our internet access could be restored. Just for today I am using an internet card that I purchased at the supermarket so that I could do this post and check email!

Today we officially kicked off Women's Ministry at KBC (aka Open Door Church). We have a team of women who are willing to lead and we start with our first Bible Study, Jesus Cares for Women next Tuesday. This study is just a 5 week commitment and is a great place to start.

I was asked by a woman at church today if I would walk through the 12 steps of Al-Anon with her. If her husband is willing to watch her kids we will start meeting on Wednesdays.

Tom is doing well... he and I attended an AA meeting to help plan an AA Forum, which will be held in November here in Krasnodar. The AA group would like to include Al-Anon and Al-ATeens as well. We are excited to be a part of the planning.

Spencer has been meeting with his language helper and is back to the books doing his home school work as well.

It is minus 2 today, no snow and we are very grateful for that!!

heads or tails?

Saturday, January 26, 2007

Recently, I got a call from our Russian ministry partner asking me to go over and meet with a couple of women who are working at a Rehab center here in town. I called Joy to go over with me and boy am I glad that I did!

We had a great conversation with these gals, while they were preparing a meal for the residents of the center. They showed us around the center. There is one bedroom for Lena and Olya, one bedroom for all the men, and a living room where some of the men sleep on the floor. There is one bathroom for all the occupants of the house. Olya and Lena make 3 meals a day for about 10 men. They do all the laundry in the bathtub and they keep the house clean. They are worn out!

The kitchen that they have is in the entry way of the house. And when you stand at the stove or the sink which are side by side you have to move out of the way whenever someone wants to go in or out of the bathroom. There is very little counter space... Olya was slicing the hard boiled eggs, and chopping onions in the bedroom just off the kitchen. On the front of the stove there was only one knob for adjusting the temperature all the others had come off. Lena had to move that knob from one burner to the next to adjust the temperature.

Lena was making a huge pot of fish soup (she is from Siberia) and she wanted us to taste this dish the way she makes it in her home town. As we drank our tea and chatted we watched her add the ingredients for the soup.

Potatoes
Carrots
Chopped hard boiled eggs (fried in Butter)
Chopped onions (sauteed fried in vegetable oil)
Three cans of fish (heads, tails and skin included)
Fresh Parsley

We tried to get up and leave without eating (we did have a meeting to attend at the BLTC) but Lena was insistent that we have at least two spoonfuls of her soup... she meant two ladles full! Joy told her that we would share a bowl. Our bowl contained a fish tail and thankfully no heads! As we were eating Joy leaned in to me and whispered in English "I draw the line at eating the tail!" I tried not to laugh out loud.

The kicker is I hate fish and Joy knew it... I am very grateful to her for eating the bigger pieces of fish in the bowl and allowing me to eat the smaller ones!

So where do you draw the line... heads or tails!?

views of Cyprus...

Friday, January 25, 2007

Check out some of the photos of our trip here: www.sharpmomphotos.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Tom!

Thursday, January 24, 2007

Today is Tom's 45th birthday!

He didn't want a party. He wanted a quiet evening at home. Brennen came over to watch The Simpsons movie and Stephanie sent over fresh baked Cinnamon rolls for Tom. Which made him very happy. And of course he ate them before eating the borscht that I made him for dinner!

As we were leaving our meeting earlier in the day several of our Russian friends sang Happy Birthday to Tom in English it was so sweet! Then we stopped off at the Language school to pick up our passports from Tanya. (she had them to register us again in the city) The teachers also wished Tom a Happy Birthday.


Despite the fact that it snowed today and Tom is not a big fan of snow he says he had great day!

back to work...

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Tom and I had a meeting at church yesterday and then today, tomorrow and Friday we have meetings at the BLTC. It is time to do planning for Social Ministries in 2008.

Please keep us all in your prayers... this will be a busy week!

first trip into town

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The 12 of us went into town together on the bus... each time we went out as a group whatever adult was near a small child just made sure that one was safe.

Tom has Gabe's hand and as he was walking to the beach I saw that Brennen was getting a shot of them!

Gabe is Brennen and Stephanie's youngest.

checking out the water

Monday, January 21, 2008

I cannot sleep so I decided now would be a good time to post a few of our photos...

around our hotel

view from our hotel room

finally home!

Sunday, January 20, 2007

We are finally home... tired and stinky.

Lena and Alexei cleaned our apartment before they moved back to their place. It is so nice to come home to a place that is cleaner than we left it. Lena makes her living as a housekeeper and as a language helper so her job of cleaning was more professional than mine!

Spencer is charging his iPod so I cannot post my photos yet. I hope to do that tomorrow!

having a great time!

Thursday, January 17, 2007



We are truly enjoying the peace and the beauty here in Cyprus. I have alot of great pictures to post when we get home. We have been to Lemosos, Paphos, Lefkara and a few other cities. We have seen Aphrodite's birth place, the mosaics in Paphos and a Neolithic village and so much more. History is not boring when you see it up close and personal!



The East West Conference was exactly what we needed to renew us spiritually. And the extra time here in Cyprus is the perfect mental health break and a respite from the cold winter of Russia!

changing of the hotels!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

The hotel that the EastWest conference is in was doing some remodeling so the first part of our trip had to be spent at a hotel that is next door to the one for the conference.

Today was the day that we were able to make the switch over. After finding out what time checkout was at the first hotel and what check in time was at the second, we all packed our bags and walked next door!

Our team mates from America and from various countries throughout the world are arriving today and tomorrow. We are truly looking forward to the time together and getting to know each other better.

Many of the East West staff including our president John Maisel have arrived and we enjoyed dinner together at a British Pub!

Tomorrow is the first day of our conference... so I don't know how often I can post over the next five days!

trip into town

Tuesday, January 8, 2007

We found our way to the city of Larnaca today. In the city we found fast food heaven... KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Hagan Daus and Starbucks.

I am having to keep my posts short because of the expense of the interent service. So I won't go into to much detail about what we have done here.

We did find a castle, that became a fort and then a jail. The last hanging was done there in 1945!

Tom and I toured the city for bit. We were not able to go into the Orthodox church because we were both in shorts!

I do have pictures to post when we get home... my favorite sign we saw today said:
NO PARKING GARAGE

It was on the front of a garage. I assume it means that they don't want you to park in front of their garage!?

We are here!

Monday, January 7, 2008

We had a two hour flight to Cyprus. There are 12 of us here from Krasnodar. And our other team mates from East West will join us before the end of the week.

Our hotel is right on the beach and from the balcony in our room we have a lovely view of the Mediteranean Sea!

Last night for dinner we went out to a little place called Mama's across the street. Most of us had pizza, Tom and Brennen had the kebobs in pita bread and Stephanie had a cheeseburger. The food was good and not too expensive.

We have not decided what today's activities will be... today is Orthodox Christmas so many attractions are closed. There are many museums and archeological sites we hope to see.

Tom and I walked the beach yesterday and it was very relaxing. When we left Krasnodar it was minus 15C degrees... here it is 61F degrees! Such a contrast but a welcome one!

December Newsletter

Saturday, January 5, 2007

Technical difficulties prevented us from sending this out from our website so Tom wanted to post our December newsletter here.


SHARPS4RUSSIANRECOVERY.COM
BlackPurlsKnitPickings.blogspot.com
DECEMBER 2007 Christmas greetings!















Dear family & friends,
We wish to extend to you the warmest & richest greetings during this Christmas holiday! We pray that you are warm & healthy & can count many intangible gifts from God as among your Christmas presents. We thank you for your prayers, packages & financial support this past year. Together, with your partnership, we are making a difference in people’s lives & strengthening the people in Russia. Thanx!

Looking back at 2007: We passed a few milestones this past year…mainly a change to East-West Ministries International as our sending agency; getting Nathan situated in America with his Grandparents; & successful gall-bladder surgery for Tom. Alida, Spencer & Tom have all progressed in their Russian language abilities & comprehension, & Alida & Spencer are on target to complete Language School in late spring 2008. Tom, well, he considers it a miracle he can speak ANY Russian!

Visa challenge possibly resolved: Every year we’ve been in Russia has seen some kind of change in the law & Visa requirements for foreigners. This year was no exception. However we are in the process of changing to a Work Visa which would eliminate the previous law requiring us to leave Russia every 6 months for registration, plus it would enable us to bypass the new law that only allows foreigners to live in Russia for 180 days of the year. All of the necessary government medical testing has been completed for Tom to apply for a Work Visa in 2008. (There are quotas in each region regarding the number of foreigners who can receive Work Visas.) Under the new Work Visa, we should be allowed to stay in Russia for up to 3 years before we need to leave for visa renewal. We think we have successfully maneuvered every hurdle at this point, however this is Russia & things can & do change quickly. We will keep you posted.

More about Spencer’s plans: At press time, this is Spencer’s plan: finishing the Russian Language course in June 2008, then starting a 6 month Discipleship Training Course at Youth With A Mission’s Kiev, Ukraine school next September. His plan after YWAM’s DTS is to return to Krasnodar & start classes at Kuban State University, focusing on Russian language studies in order to become a translator.

Tom’s teaching series winding down: Tom will complete his 8 week teaching series at ‘Church of the Open Door’ in Krasnodar on Sat, Dec 29. He has been teaching on consecutive Saturdays with themes along the lines of ‘Shame,’ ‘Forgiveness,’ & ‘Character Development.’ The teachings have been well received & very beneficial for the people who have attended. (It’s been great to teach again – as we are ‘living the dream’ that we moved to Russia to fulfill!) The attendees have been a combination of Russians & Americans, people from the local community & from the church, & area professionals like social workers & psychologists. It has been a huge job translating the weekly PowerPoint presentations into Russian, & ‘Russify-ing’ examples so they make sense culturally, but we’ve had good translators for the PowerPoint & for the teaching sessions. We will be planning Tom’s 2008 teaching schedule after Christmas, & are considering the needs of the community & church. It’s possible that Tom will provide parenting classes, marriage & relationship workshops, and communication sessions at ‘Church of the Open Door’ & also the Biblical Leadership Training Coalition. The BLTC is changing from being a seminary to being a resource center for Russian churches & pastors.

East-West Conference in Cyprus: January 2008 brings a conference on the Greek island of Cyprus for all personnel. We will miss the Russian Orthodox Christmas celebration which is Jan 7th, but will be landing during the Greek Orthodox Christmas. We look forward to visiting this historic place & enjoying some time of relaxation. This trip will also serve as our 6 month registration trip as we are still under the old Visa law.

1st Anniversary of Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at Krasnodar’s ‘Church of the Open Door!’ It was this time last year that our ministry partner Alexei P pioneered a new A.A. meeting at our church. There is a strong core group at this meeting with lots of long-term sobriety. Among three principle group members, there are 20, 15 & 9 years of sobriety, a combined 44 years! This is very rare in Russia. The meeting continues today with plans of starting an Al-Anon meeting soon. (Al-Anon is for family & friends of alcoholics.)

Russian New Years is a big holiday… Since Christmas in Russia is traditionally celebrated in January, the biggest bashes are New Years celebrations. This holiday combines the gift-giving of western Christmas, the costumes & masks of Halloween & Mardi Gras, plus the fireworks of the 4th of July! What a celebration!! Most Russians gather with family or friends late in the evening on New Years Eve to eat together, donning costumes & fantasy masks. Then, there is a traditional Russian comedy film that many people watch. President Vladimir Putin is on national tv at midnight, & once his annual address is completed - the fireworks begin! We typically have fireworks in our courtyard, on the soccer field, even out of apartment windows & balconies & off the top of buildings! It’s very wild! The fireworks will continue for several hours. Russian tradition also calls for family or friends to stroll the streets outside, taking in the fresh, brisk air & chatting - with many people arrive back home around 5 or 6 am!

Many businesses & organizations are closed from New Years until after Russian Orthodox Christmas in early January. Some will remain closed for up to 2 weeks as ‘Old’ New Years (following another calendar) is celebrated the week after Russian Orthodox Christmas! Some use this time as a reason to excessively drink & party the entire two week period. As the years go by, more & more businesses are remaining open during this two week stretch.

Thanx for your support: In spite of a weak US dollar combined with the annual inflation rate in Russia we are holding on financially. A weak dollar means a lower amount of support once the exchange rate has been factored into the equation. We thank you who have provided one-time monetary gifts & extra support. And we also thank our regular donor partners as well. We couldn’t be here without you!

If you who would like to send a care package, here’s our Christmas wish list & address:
Chocolate chips
Chocolate Kisses
Blank CD-R’s
Pure Vanilla
Spices: Cream of Tartar, Fennel Seeds, Anise, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Sage, Taco Bell Taco Seasoning, etc.
Cake Mixes,
prepared frosting
Instant Pudding
Scented Candles
Thank you notes, note cards, stationary (anything like this)
Gift bags or wrapping paper
Assorted color copy paper or card stock
Computer software with PowerPoint templates
Reality TV like The Amazing Race!
Women’s socks white
Men’s socks black
English language magazines (sports, politics, current events…most anything English!)
HP black inkjets #131
Laker or NBA pro basketball games on dvd
Popcorn (not for microwave)
We are also needing to replace our desktop computer soon. It’s a dinasoar at 4+ years old already!

Care packages take 2 to 6 weeks via mail (depending on size & weight) & can be sent to:

Sharp Family
Kraznix Partizan D.75, kb. 8
Krasnodar 350012
Russia

We wish you a great, peaceful & wonderful holiday season! May you experience God’s Christmas presence all year round!

Tom, Alida & Spencer Sharp

smoothies

Friday, January 4, 2008

Yesterday when we were out shopping with friends we found Banana juice... I made the silly mistake of saying "I wonder what that would taste like" of course the answer they gave me was "bananas!"

Spencer wanted to try it for making smoothies so we bought some. This morning in the blender I combined the banana juice with two fresh mandarins. It was very tasty! If we see that juice again we will definitely pick up another carton!

a mighty wind is blowin'

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Tom just walked over to the window to see what the thermometer has to say... it is -14. The wind is blowing pretty hard and it feels even colder. Cyprus is looking really good right about now. We leave for the East West Conference on Sunday.

We hear the temps are in the 60's there!

Happy New Year!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

We celebrated New Year's Eve by eating a late dinner and then watching a movie as a family. We stopped the movie at about 11:45 to hear Putin's address to the nation. He came on at 11:55 and went off at midnight... although it seemed as if they suspended time on the clock for a few more seconds past midnight for him to finish his speech!

As soon as his speech was done our neighbors started up with fireworks. Many of our neighbors have gotten wealthier over the past year... the fireworks were bigger than ever! We had a beautiful view of all the goings on and truly enjoyed it. We could see the fireworks from our region and from a neighboring region with our great balcony view.

With as loud as it was it almost felt like a war zone. There was a small fire down in our courtyard from one of our neighbors sending a Roman candle off their balcony. Thank God it put itself out very shortly after beginning.

We finished our movie and then tried to call our neighbors and friends to wish them all a Happy New Year... I was able to get through to Olya and Vova. We were invited to come right over. So we bundled up and headed out! The girls Eera 3, and Yanna 1, were wide awake and they were ready to party. Olya had plenty of food, salads, duck, candy, and juices. We ate what we could, only to be polite because we had a full meal before going over there. They had several guests show up while we were there. It was amazing to be at someone's home at 1 am and people were still calling and ringing the doorbell.

May God grant you peace, health and abundant love in 2008!