NGOs, Jeremiah and Starbucks Christmas Blend

Maya just left for the women’s home group, and I am supposed to be hanging out with the kids. David and Hannah are playing (together, unbelievably) so I seized the moment to blog a few lines and post a picture. Pirate’s Night begins when this post concludes.

I found out yesterday that the executive branch signed into law the bill restricting NGO’s here. There is a lot of uncertainty with how this will affect us, though we know that it will, and likely in a very negative way. On the heels of learning this little tidbit of potentially depressing news, I read this assuring passage in the World’s all-time best-selling Book.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. ( Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV)

The trip to the post office today also encouraged us, but in a different way. Our friends in Florida sent us a large bag of Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee (and other thoughtful gifts). If you have tasted this coffee, then you know what a caffeinated encouragement it is!

 

Finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of Hannah that I took a week ago, but thought that I lost.

Village Aid Project

I spent the better part of the day driving from village to village, stopping at schools to distribute warm clothing and other gifts. Nearly 60 needy children (from one of the poorest regions) received help today. We also donated some sports equipment, as you can see from the third photograph.

In the evening, Maya met with Alya, and I worked on English with Elbek. Elbek will likely have surgery on his side tomorrow, and I assured him that I, and friends of mine, would be praying for him. Thank you for joining with me and lifting up Elbek tomorrow.

Always winter, but never Christmas

Maya, Mark and I packed (that is what we are doing in the picture above) up all the hats, scarves, gloves, notebooks, pens and candy into gift bags, but we had to postpone the trip to the village. The forecast calls for a cold front to push south bringing us -40s and -50s by tomorrow afternoon. The school that the children attend is poorly heated, so they will get a few more vacation days until this front passes and we have to wait until Monday or Tuesday to hand all these gifts out.

You might recognize the title from the Chronicles of Narnia. I did not watch the movie (this city lacks theaters) but I have read the books by C.S. Lewis. Siberia reminds me of that place that is always winter, but never Christmas.

Warm Hats for Children

Thanks to a kind sponsor in the West, we are able to organize, together with the local authorities, a project providing warmer clothing (hats and scarves) and school materials for 60 children in an impoverished village about 45 minutes from the city. Today, we did the shopping. Tanya and Maya did most the work since they are infinitely more talented at picking out clothing than we are. Mark and I just carried the boxes and paid the bills. We found everything we needed and tomorrow we will buy candy and arrange the gift bags.

On Friday, I will try to post some pictures of the kids when Mark, a local official and I will deliver the gifts. This particular village is extremely poor and the people there have many problems (unemployment, alcoholism, etc). These gifts will meet a need.

What a joy it will be to express a love that is out of this world.

Off the beaten path

Yesterday, Mark, a local parliamentarian and I took a long road trip to the eastern region of the Republic to do an evaluation of the community development needs and possibilities. We sat in on a regional council meeting. While interesting, I hope that was the last time that I have to do that (attend one of those meetings). All together, we drove about 500km, some of it in very snowy conditions. Thankfully, all went well and we arrived home safely ten hours after our departure.

This morning, I had to run some errands. To give Maya a break, I took David along. He was a good sport about all the lines that I had to wait in, and each time we came across a slide he had to try it out. His favorite was a very high one (two-stories) that they built in the center for the New Year’s Celebration (New Year's is the biggest holiday of the year; they go all out). The photograph above was taken while David enjoyed a different slide, one that is right outside our apartment.

 

As I write this, four friends should be arriving from that other city in Siberia. They embarked on the three-day train trip to spend New Year’s with our team and us, and to help us in the work. I am sure that the six days that they are here will prove very encouraging.

Baseball anyone?

We are looking for someone who has played, or currently plays, baseball at a serious level. This summer, we are planning a weeklong baseball camp for college students. We need one or two instructors to help train the students in this new (to them) sport. We will train for five days and form the students into two teams. On day six we will host a televised match in the city. It should be a great opportunity to meet new people and build relationships.

 

If you are interested, please write me and we can discuss the details. We are also hoping to outfit the team with uniforms and fairly-good equipment. So, if you know of anyone who would be interested in donating baseball equipment, send an email.

The big 2-9!

Today is Mark’s 29th birthday. His wife, Ayuna, threw him a surprise party. We sneaked over to his place during his Russian lesson. Mark caught a few clues that something was going on, and hey, we all suspect surprises on our birthday. He did well and acted a little startled, as this picture suggests.

In other news, this morning we had a good meeting with the MinZdrav, and set in motion a doctor “experience exchange” that should take place nextsummer. That is one of our community-development projects. We have several more to arrange during the Winter.

Finally, if anyone has game ideas or theme ideas for our coffee club, please email me. We are running a little dry on ideas. I ordered some game books, but they will not be here before mid-January.

We are holding the ropes for Katya and Masha (from the club) today, and for the coffee club in general. Feel free to join us!

Coffee Weather

The thermometer just outside the kitchen window reads -2C; just warm enough to keep the mud puddles soft. It is 3pm, but an eerie dusk-like light keeps us checking our watches. Large, wet snowflakes fall one moment, rain the next. Blotches of melting snow and pooling slush surround our apartment building, keeping everything inside wet and messy.

All of that means one thing for me: coffee. This is the best weather on earth, so long as one can be inside enjoying a hot cup of well-brewed coffee. It is coffee weather. I love it. It happens here more than any other place where I have lived (usually five days a week). Winter keeps hinting and warning; toying with us, I think. One day, it will arive. We need patience. Now, I'm blogging with Starbucks (actually, some tasty Finnish brand that they sell locally).

The meeting this morning went excellent. Thank you for pr for us in that. We are very thankful for their attitude towards our plans for work here. From start to finish, the atmosphere was pleasant and we were able to clearly share, and they met our ideas with enthusiasm. Many doors, perhaps, opened this morning.

We had such a busy week, and then a busy weekend, that we were looking forward to our day off: Monday, family day. Unfortunately, the long meeting occupied me the whole morning. After David & Hannah wake from their naps, we plan to have some quality family time, albeit indoors. With the added culture meetings, we face another busy week, so we are thankful for the time together with no phones, emails, guests, lessons, etc.

Okay, that is all. I have a post brewing about Augustine of Hippo, so if you like that sort of thing, check back later.

Lenin Style Hats

People sometimes say that I look like Lenin. I am not so sure, except maybe in this picture. That silly hat is what most folks here wear; I am just trying to fit in. The wet landscape in the background of the photo (taken this morning) is a result of the rain and warmer weather that reduced that “thick layer of white stuff” to a wet and muddy mess. As I write this, it is starting to snow again.

Today is my ‘language day’. As soon as I finish this post I tackle Russian, and after lunch, I have a class in Altai. We found a very talented Alai teacher, who is quite serious and demanding. Those are good traits in a language teacher. Along those same lines, Shawna, who serves the field as the culture and language consultant, arrives tomorrow to help us establish good leaning goals and habits, especially for understanding Altai culture. A busy weekend lies ahead!

Two very important events occur tonight. The first is that our fifth women’s group, which Maya helps to lead, meets at 5pm (GMT +6). We are hoping that new people will come tonight, so you can pr with us for that. The second important event is Pirate’s Night: my one night a week to sit with David and Hannah and cause a ruckus (Maya will be at the women’s group, so she will not mind). You can read my post last week about Pirate’s Night to get the full scoop.

We have a big hold-the-ropes type request to pass on. On Monday, Mark and I will share our community development plans for the upcoming year with a very influential person here. It is an important meeting with many potential ramifications. Please pr that we are able to communicate clearly and that, in the end, they will regard us favorably. Thank you!

Snow, Sleep, Rain and Teeth; I’m Rambling

We woke this morning to a spectacular view: a thick blanket of white stuff covering everything! Several inches fell last night and this morning and it is still snowing now. I did not get my camera out to snap a few for you, but I had my handy-dandy cell phone (which has a wee little camera on it) and, well, maybe these poor quality pics will, at least, give you an idea. The building pictured left is where we live.

Yesterday, we enjoyed our family day. Because of the rain (yesterday rain, today snow!) outside we played indoor kids games all morning, and then came time for family devos where we focused on “Love your neighbor as yourself.” David kept saying, “Who’s my neighbor?” (now that is actually a good, biblical question). But, then he would follow that with, “Can I go play now?” I guess it went over his head. But, hey, you gotta try, right? Hannah just gnawed on her teething toy the whole time. She is cutting her second tooth. We had a great day, from start to finish.

Today, I met with our local administrator and Mark and then did some other community-development related tasks for the rest of the day. The really great news is that our registration is almost complete. That should free up a lot of time.

Tonight, our group for married couples went well, except that one couple could not make it. Our theme was; Man’s Role in the Family. I taught the lesson, so I can be critical. The next lesson needs to be more interactive.

Now, I need to sleep.