A surprise in the bag!

     Ella, Ike and I met a friend and her kids at the playground recently while Anneka was at school.  My friend was carrying a bag, and I didn't think much of it.  After awhile, she motioned to the kids to come over.  She opened up her bag and this little piglet was inside!!  What delight!  We all loved him, of course.  He and his sister were runts out of a big litter and weren't getting enough milk, so my friend brought the two of them back to the city to bottle feed them at home.  They live in the kitchen of her apartment!  

     We are excited to go to their village in a couple of weeks and see their piglets and calves.  We praise God for how He's formed friendships with this family, and pray that He'll show them His great love through us.

     Leif has been traveling a lot this spring.  I saw this picture on our teammate's blog and thought it was so funny.  Leif's in the blue sleeping bag in the front. (he doesn't get much sleep at these things, but thankfully he's used to that with having three small kids!) He went to Shabur for a meeting with regional pastors and leaders and enjoyed his time talking with different guys.  He's encouraged about the excitement that several pastors are having about holding a missions course here in Ulan Ude.  Leif has been working to get it up and started, and imagine his joy when this group decided that this would be an emphasis in the churches this upcoming year!  We desire to see people from here raised up to share the gospel all over the world!

     Our last weeks have been very busy, and I find it so hard to keep up with blogs.  I feel very grateful for the ways God has cared for our family as Leif has been gone.  The kids and I have met a few new families in our neighborhood and have enjoyed playing and talking with them. 

Easter

     We enjoyed some special times as a family this Easter season.  One evening,we washed each other's feet.

     Leif read from the Bible about how Jesus washed his disciples' feet and how he came to serve and to teach us to also serve.

 

     We also made unleavened bread one evening and learned more about the Passover and the significance behind the bread.  As the kids grow, they ask more and more good questions.  Ella has several times in her prayers these last couple of weeks thanked Jesus for dying on the cross for us.  I love hearing the different things that the kids pray about.  

     Something very encouraging and surprising happened the Friday before Easter.  We were in the grocery store, and there was music playing over the sound system.  The song (in Russian) had the words: "Jesus is risen from the dead. Hallelujah!  He was and is and is to come."  I loved this, and the truth of it seemed to ring out so loudly, as it is rare to hear anything like this in public.  We pray that this message will reach people's hearts.

     The Friday before Easter, all three of our kids spent the day with the Blakers.  They dyed eggs together and did other special things, and the girls even stayed overnight.  It was so nice for Leif and I to have a whole day date together!  Leif has and will be gone a lot this spring, so it's especially valuable to have these times together.  It's also really special

     We hid eggs around our living room Sunday morning.  They kids enjoyed hunting them down.

     Some of the eggs had candy inside, and 12 of them were resurrection eggs with special symbols (together with verses) that share the story of Christ's death and resurrection.

     At church, the kids put on a performance with a couple of songs.  Anneka and Ella shared a poem together.

    We're so thankful for the wonderful people who pour into our kids and teach them these songs!

     Anneka was in a play that used fun colorful scarves to show the story of Jesus taking away her sins.

I don't have any pictures from this, but the week after Easter, our church put on a play.  Several new people came, and many people were touched.  One husband seemed to make a decision to return to God and has been coming to church since then.  And one young Buryat mom prayed a prayer of repentance and has also been coming to church since then.  A cool little sidenote is that God crossed mine and Ella's paths with this lady when we were doing medical tests a couple of months ago.  Before that, I hadn't seen her for probably 5 years!  I love how God works and I love that He is drawing people to Himself!