"White Month" has Begun

On Friday, we had a wonderful time with Buryat, Russian, and foreign believers. In lieu of the beginnig of the White Month (Buryat holiday of cleansing), we sang ate white foods such as posie (see women making it above) and other white foods such as apples, salamat (sour cream mixed with flour) and pancakes. We sang worship songs in Buryat, and a couple of men shared scriptures about the cleansing we can experience through the One True God. We pray that many people here will come to know the cleansing that comes through Jesus.

Also, this weekend, we met with our new landlords to sign official papers for our new apartment. We were there for a few hours, ate with them, sang with them, and declined a lot of alcohol... but we never signed the papers. They want to be sure that the bathroom is remodeled before we move in. Of course, we appreciate this sentiment, but we are also anxious to sign the papers!! All-in-all, it was nice to get to know our landlords more. They are very warm and hospitable. The above picture will be our new living room! (minus the furniture and curtains).

On Saturday we moved out of the apartment we were in and are now in an interim apartment. We are thankful to have a place to stay. Tomorrow we are leaving the country to renew our visas. We have to do this every six months. Because of this, we will probably be away from Internet access for awhile. We'll update you on more when we return!

The Singing Duo

Last night, Leif and I sang in a talent show at Compass. Leif translated the worship song "Before You" into Russian. Talent shows are very popular in Russian... and usually very long. There was singing, dancing, dribbling a soccer ball and basketball, the showing of a drawing, the tasting of different treats, and humorous antidotes. It's always fun to see people in a different light and to learn more of Russian and Buryat culture.

The White Month

Sunday marks the start of Sagalgan or "White Month" here in Buryatia. This holiday is deeply entwined with Buddhism (and originates from the Chinese New Year) and is very much a family holiday for Buryats here.

The picure above is me with my language partner, Ira. She is so sweet and so helpful in talking with me about life and culture... and correcting my grammar along the way. Yesterday she shared a bit about her thoughts with the White Month coming. It's always been such a part of her life growing up, but now she is a believer. She said she's thought a lot about what is right as far as celebrating this holiday. She wants to honor her family, but she doesn't want to dishonor God. She knows that the meat in the posie (Buryat dumplings) is sacrificed to idols, and she simply wants to do what is best. She must decide by Sunday, when the month-long holiday begins. I pray God gives her great wisdom and love in these next few days.

Please pray for Buryatia during this time. It is often a dark time when believers here feel discouraged and oppressed. We want to live as children of the light!

On The Train To China

SEND International has a ministry in Russia to the Chinese population here. Many of these people don't speak much Russian (or English!) so it is difficult to reach out to them. Last week, a group of Chinese Christians (who live in Russia) along with two westerners, took the train from Moscow to Ulan Ude to share Jesus (in Mandarin) with the Chinese passengers. They booked tickets all the way to Bejing (even though they got off before) so that they could be in the same train cars as those who were heading to Bejing. This was a strategic time, as the Chinese New Year begins next week, and many travel home to be with their families.

There were 50-60 Chinese passengers on board, and after 4 days and nights of traveling and sharing with them, 15 made decisions to follow Christ with their lives (many in the last hours of the trip). It is hard to follow-up with these people, as the nature of the ministry is while traveling, but the exciting thing is that many people who've made decisions for Christ from past train trips are still strong in their faith. In just a few years, a Chinese church in Krasniarsk grew from 5 to 70... plus many of the believers have since gone back to China.

And then, after they arrived in Ulan-Ude, this group met with some of the Chinese population here, and 4 more made decisions for Christ! Many Chinese people are hungry to hear the good news of Jesus and respond readily. It is neat to think of how they are being reached in Russia!

The picture is of three of these Chinese Chistians singing a song at church on Sunday. The picture behind them is one of the chalk drawings from the VTI team that was here a few weeks ago.

Leif's Birthday

Thank you to everyone who sent cards, emails, and gifts to Leif for his birthday!! We had fun bowling with our teammates and then came back to our apartment for German chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. John gave a big speech upon presenting Leif with his gift (a wonderful tool box). This speech followed Russian tradition and was very wordy and lengthy.

The first picture is of Leif blowing out his candles. Elisabeth (from Germany) had never heard of or tried German Chocolate cake before. And incidently, it's much sweeter than any cakes in Germany. The second picture is the applause after the speech, and the third pic is at the bowling alley. I think it's funny because only Leif knew I was taking the picture and gave a huge grin for the camera.

Thank you, Mama Irene and Papa Eric, for having such a delightful boy!! =)

Toilet Soap

We ran out of hand soap the other day, so Leif picked out a bar that had nice packaging and said "milky". Of course, he thought that sounded nice and so he purchased it. Well, when he got home, unwrapped the soap, and began to use it, he made a horrible face with a wrinkled nose. I asked him what was the matter and he said that the new soap was really stinky. We looked more closely at the packaging, and below the "milky" part, it says "toilet soap". What is toilet soap? This is a mystery to us.

We haven't been good about taking our camera with us places lately (hence, more pictures of "items" than "people" the last few blogs). Right now, Leif is cross country skiing with an old friend from when he lived here before. This guy is a Buryat and used to call himself a believer and went to church frequently. Sadly, in the last couple of years, he's fallen away. It's really neat because he continually pursues Leif and their friendship. I'm praying that God is giving Leif love and wisdom as they're together today.

The family whose apartment we're living in will return in 1 1/2 weeks, so this next week, we'll be packing, organizing, and cleaning. We've also been having different people over for dinner, seeking to develop closer relationships with the people here. We were both encouraged with language classes this week. God truly is our help.

Alcohol

This morning on the way to church we had an interesting interaction in the Marshrutka (those vans that run bus routes). There were a couple of guys that guessed pretty quickly that we were foreigners and started to talk with us. They asked what we were doing here in Ulan-Ude, and we shared a little bit with them. Then I asked them what they did, and they simply said, "We drink vodka." That was it! Of course then they tried to pass me the open beer they were drinking on the marshrutka so that I wouldn't be left out. I declined, as I've had to do often here, and then asked if they did anything else and they said, "no." I'm sure they actually do work because of how they were dressed, but it was another reminder of the stark reality of emptiness that consumes so many lives here. So many people live in a state of hopelessness and alcohol becomes their reprieve. Vodka helps them forget about anything else. And it's not just a physical hopelessness either. Alcholism is affecting all strata of society here from the richest to the poorest. It just reminds us that without the knowledge of a good and loving God, there is no option but hopelessness. The above picture, from the stairwell just outside our apartment, is a common sight and one of the least ugly reminders of alcoholism here.

XL-XXXXXL

It's a little hard to see what this picture is, but it's a tag for my ultra-thick tights that says XL-XXXXXL. Yes, that is seven X's total. And the worst part is that they don't pull up all the way. But they are warm!

Remember back to when I said I'd broken 4 chairs in 4 months? Well, today in the cafeteria, I broke #5. All I could do was laugh... what else is there to do?

On to more exciting news, we looked at an apartment today that is a dream come true!!! It's right across the hallway from Elisabeth, it's clean and in good shape, the owner said we can pick out our own wallpaper, she'll move out all of the gross furniture (no bed bugs!), and it's inexpensive! And it's in an area of the city where there's less pollution. And it's on the third floor (my floor of preference... not so low that it's easy to break into, but not so high that it's a burden to walk up and down all of the time). We have a verbal agreement with the owner, and need to sign papers next week, after she returns from a trip. So, basically we just need to make it "legally offical" and wait on them to finish up some remodeling with the place. If all goes well, it should be ready for us by March 10th.... Yippee!! We are praising God for His goodness to us. This really is a miracle to find this place.