she works hard for the money

Along the train route you can find just about anything for sale. We were about to run out of bottled water when we stopped at this station and heard a woman calling out to advertise that she had water for sale. Tom was able to join in with some of the other passengers who were leaning out the open door to make purchases.

At this particular stop there were people selling beer, dried fish, cherries and water. Tom passed on everything but the water and it took some convincing to make them understand that he didn't want beer even though it was so hot outside!

thought for today

Love is sharing heart shaped ice cream bars!

Surprise Dinner with Spencer's friends!

On our final night in Kiev, just before we had to leave to catch our train, Spencer and his friends treated us to a surprise dinner. We were not expecting to eat with the students that night. We had been told by the director that we were on own for dinner.

We are so grateful for the time we were able to spend with these incredible young men and women. They leave soon for Georgia (the country) and Armenia. Pray for them as they go out and practice the counseling skills they have spent the past three months learning!!

Museum of Folk Architecture

On Saturday we visited the Ukraine Architectural Museum. We were able to go into this tiny Orthodox Church... I love seeing the inside of old churches. I wish that I could have freely taken photos inside. The view of the ceiling was incredible. The art work is always amazing, inspirational and joy to behold!

not just Tom's son!

Poor Spencer, so often when he meets people he gets asked if he is Tom Sharp's son. Just before we arrived the previous teacher and his wife asked Spencer this question upon introduction.

Well Tom thought it would be a great idea to get t-shirts that would identify us as Spencer's parents. I told him that we didn't have access to make t-shirts but we had name tags!! I got out the badges and Tom got to work making them special!

We got off the train last Sunday wearing badges labeling us as Spencer's Mom and Spencer's Dad with Spencer's photo. On Tom's first day of speaking he passed out badges that said Spencer's Director, Spencer's Classmate, Spencer's Friend... and so on. It has been a blast to joke with him and everyone here this week!

Ukrainian playground

It has rained several days in a row since we got here... so these kids have not had much of a chance to play outdoors.

This little playground is across the street from where the boat is anchored. When the weather is nice, we get to hear the joyful sound of kids playing!!

so far so good!

Tom has two more days of teaching left... then we hope to do a little bit of sight seeing with Spencer before we leave this weekend!!

Made it to Kiev!

I am using Spencer's internet account... Tom taught his first day of class, already did one counseling appointment, we have dinner tonight with some of the female students, and then tomorrow is another long day!!

Spiritual Abuse

Tom is going to be teaching at the University of the Nations in Kiev, Ukraine for an Introduction to Biblical Counseling class. His topic for the week is Spiritual Abuse. He has a heavy load of teaching ahead of him... 5 class sessions at 4 hours each.

Spencer will be one of his students...which was preapproved by him (the program director asked Spencer if he would be okay with it) before Tom was asked to come!!

***please keep Tom and I in your prayers as we travel to Ukraine this weekend. We should arrive on Sunday at 3:15 pm. Tom starts teaching Monday morning!

getting closer and closer!!

Our friends are getting closer to bringing home their baby from Ukraine!! You can read more about their journey by clicking here.

We are so excited for them and for the life of this little one who was abandoned at birth because she has Down's Syndrome.


Please take some time to read their story and say a prayer for them and for all of those who are in the process of adopting from Ukraine. It is unsure how long this window of opportunity will remain open as Ukraine is considering a law to stop foreign adoptions.

Armenian Concert

Last night one of my Business English students, Emma, took me along to a concert featuring Armenian Patriotic songs. The featured singer was Sahak Sahakyan. He introduced each song in the Armenian language and sang in Armenian the entire concert.

Poor Emma was stuck between me and three young Armenian girls and spent the entire concert translating for us all!! She started off translating for me in English and then she switched to Russian which was easier for her and worked well for all of us who were dependent on her to know what was going on!!

Most of his songs were dedicated to the Armenian genocide and wars that Armenia has fought in. You can click here to learn more about the genocide.

or you can watch a clip of Sahak Sahakyan here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPpuutO0ru4



The highlight of the evening for me was the young dance troupe featured from Krasnodar. Their singer was energetic and their dancing and costumes were fantastic!

I felt fortunate to be included in this evening! Emma was originally asked to bring 20 Armenians to the concert... but, she told me that she didn't know 20 who were not already planning to go!! As the token American I can honestly say that I felt extremely comfortable with the Armenian crowd.

The organizer of the concert, Vavara, personally thanked me for coming and encouraged me to learn more about the history and the problems currently facing Armenians. It was truly a memorable night!

thought for today

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.
G. K. Chesterson

Slide Show of our church picnic!!

things we do for our kids...

A young mom that I know didn't have any hot water at her house and her kids were complaining about the water in their little outdoor pool being cold. As I was standing there chatting with her, she was warming up water on the stove for the kiddie pool .... A mother's love!!

How do I cook this??

Yesterday I went to a small market near our home where I buy various frozen products like the Khinkali we enjoy so much. She had just added fresh sausage to her selection of foods. Like a good salesperson she asked me if I would like to try something new. She suggested her favorite sausage.

I decided to be adventurous and give it a try. "How do I prepare this?" I asked. Her face lit up as she gave me her simple recipe. Take the outer wrapper off the sausage and the skin. Slice and brown it. Add chopped cabbage and sprinkle with cheese. I figured I could manage that.

When I got home I announced to Tom that we were going to try something new... he is rarely opposed to such a thing! I didn't have cheese but I did have some tomatoes that needed to be used up. I browned the meat, added the cabbage with diced tomatoes along with a couple dashes of balsamic vinegar for seasoning.

Simple and tasty... that is my kind of lunch. Now I get to go back and share my recipe with her and see what else she has for me to try!!

thought for today

Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are.
Bernice Johnson Reagon

growing young families

Not long ago there was a another baby dedication at our church. Valentine (pronounced valenteen) and Sveta had their son Vladislav prayed over during the service. Back in 2005 Tom stood in as Valentine's father at their wedding. They also have a daughter, Angelina, who will soon be three.

Our church is filling up with young couples and young families... although Tom and I don't have any grandchildren yet, we sure do have fun practicing when called on to babysit for these little ones!

Rope swinging

Several of the guys decided to try out the rope swing over the river... can you imagine how cold the water is?!

4 ways to have fun at church

You could try:

playing games














posing for photos














riding a horse














and of course...eating!

This time of year many people love to get out into the great outdoors!! Picnicking, horseback riding, hearing the birds sing, the frogs croak and seeing the clear blue sky are simple joys that mean a lot to those of us who dwell in the city.

I am not a morning person. But getting up this morning had its rewards. Our church rented a bus and we drove out to a forest to hold our Sunday Service. Laughing children who were running and giggling in the background as we sang our worship songs reminded me of having church on the beach in California each summer.

I love participating in outdoor worship services... I pray that today's service will be just be the first of many more to come!

Okroshka- cold Russian Soup

When we picnicked with our friends in the forest we began the meal with this delightful cold soup! As Zoya mixed it up I asked her how to make it. Normally, it is made with Kvass. She used a non alcoholic sweet version of kvass that was very tasty even as a drink. At the stage in the photo she is adding homemade sour cream!

I searched online for recipes and this one is the closest to what she described for me... I have yet to try to make it myself. So if you make it let me know!

OKROSHKA
Serves 6

1 cup meat (you could use ham, bologna or summer sausage)
1 cucumber
2 eggs, hard boiled
3 onions, green
1/2 cup sour cream
3-4 cups apple cider for soup consistency
fresh dill minced, to taste

Dice meat. Peel and dice cucumber and eggs. Slice green onions. Combine first four(4) ingredients. Mix together sour cream, and cider, and beat well. Add beef mixture and chill. Serve sprinkled with dill.

Thought for Today

Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete.
If you're alive, it isn't.

Richard Bach

picnic in the forest

Saturday we went to Afips with our friends Valera and Lyudmila and their childhood friends. This was the same group we spent Russian Christmas with on the 7th of January. As they were planning this trip for Lyudmila’s birthday one of their friends asked “are the Americans coming?!”

Laughing, joking and enjoying the great outdoors with this group was truly a pleasure. They have been friends for most of their lives so being included was honor for us as well.

Normally only meat is cooked on the grill and called “shashlik” but Lyudmila forgot to bring the meat so we stopped at a supermarket on the way and the only thing left was chicken. The grilled chicken was new for all of them so one of the rounds of toasting was to Lyudmila forgetting the beef and having to stop and pick up the chicken!!

Oh and in the final photo that is Raiya giving Zoya a haircut... she did Tatiana's hair as well and as soon as she was done and we moved away from the area a couple of birds scooped up all the hair for nest making!!

New Do'

I spent today with three incredible young women... Jennifer, from Kenya, Francoise, from Rwanda and Veronica from Zambia. They walked with me to the tram stop and just before I got on the tram one of them hugged me and said "I wish I could talk to my mom the way I talked with you today!"

Life here in Krasnodar has been hard for the African students... I heard stories that brought me to tears. Please keep these young people in your thoughts and prayers.