We co-own a van!!

We have a van! Leif and Dave went to Irkutsk this past weekend. It's an overnight train ride to get there (with thousands of dollars under Leif's pillow to purchase the van with). When they arrived in the morning, they saw that it was -37 degrees outside! And then they spent hours in the cold, looking at all of the vehicle options at the car market. It was so cold that the insoles in Leif's boots literally froze! It's so nice because our friend, Vitya, made the trip with the guys to help them make a good choice.

A important selling point for cars in Russia is whether or not the cars have been on Russian roads a long time. Most cars are imported from Japan and Korea. The roads there are nice and smooth, but Russian roads are entirely different. All of the cars for sale say how many years they've been on Russian roads. The guys finally settled on a 2001 Toyota Town Ace Noah. It's 4-wheel drive, which is really nice with all of the ice in the wintertime. On the 10.5 hour drive back (280 mile trip), the guys got to test out the 4wd. The weather was really bad. They got one flat tire, stopped once to have the spare tire fixed, and got pulled over by the police once (a random check). They arrived back to Ulan Ude at 2:30 in the morning, and Leif had to speak at church later that morning. When he went to start the van at 9:30am it wouldn't start! It was too cold. Then the next day Dave and Martina got it started with a jump and got a second flat tire... all this in the first day and a half!! Today the guys bought a good new battery and they looked at good tires. All should be well after these purchases. =)

In America there are 24-hour fast food restaurants and 24-hour convenience stores. In Russia they have 24-hour tire repair places.

Our steering wheel is on the right hand side, but we will drive on the right hand side... something to get used to. We're thankful for the blessing of this van and hope to use it to encourage others in villages and to also make it easier traveling with kids.




Here's Leif on Sunday. He gave some background on the Thessalonian church from the book of Acts. Both girls were really good through the service.




... and a picture of our little church.

Anneka's quote of the day: "We don't throw garbage on the ground outside. Who does that?" Good question, Anneka. Good question.