Lena's Baptism

      Last Sunday, we gathered on the banks of the Ude river and witnessed a miracle!  Lena, a lady in our church who came to Christ a few months ago, declared her faith publically through baptism.   It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the air was filled with a sense of celebration!

     Some of us ladies gave Lena flowers and gathered for a picture.

     We had our church service before the baptism.  It was significantly shorter than normal, as we were all standing. 

      And after the baptism, we took part in communion and singing praises to God together.

Ella, with her friend, Rostik

     Of course, the kids all loved being outside for the service!  Here are Anneka and Matty, playing in the dirt/mud.

     I love this picture of Baba Ira and her husband.  And their car.  It's my dream car.

     Inka helped get Ike to sleep in the stroller and he slept for a couple of hours.

     We all celebrated after the service by having lunch together.  Usually I make something homemade, but this time I got the idea to order a bunch of hotdogs wrapped in dough from the bread lady.  It was a bit of a risk because we both had to trust that the other person would follow through, but it worked out great!  Super easy, kid-friendly, and less expensive and a lot less time than making pizza (which is what I probably would have made.)

    

     One of the guys in the church at one point during the picnic shouted out, "Leif! Jami!".  I was afraid that Anneka had fallen into the water completely.  But she was just playing the mud.  Anneka had spent the whole week learning/practicing how to tie her shoes (Leif taught her and she was so proud!), but then she couldn't wear them for her first day of school because they were so caked in mud and we couldn't dry them in time.  A little disappointing, but she got over it.  =)

A Fire In Our Building

    Well, don't get too excited.  The fire was short-lived. Thankfully, our apartment is made out of pure cement.  In fact, the wall that used to be between our kitchen and living room was(is) such hard cement that it is now a sidewalk at our church.

     Leif came home between two meetings and before he entered our building looked up at saw smoke coming out of the building (This is the view from our balcony).  He came up and we all watched the firemen come and put it out.  It was in the stairwell/garbage shoot part of the building.  We think there must have been some old furniture or something there.   And it's common for people to throw lit cigarettes.

     Here they are, getting the hoses ready.

      And they were gone within an hour.  A little bit of excitement in our day.  

     We're happy it was nothing more than that!

Grocery Shopping

      This is our neighborhood bread stand.  Sometimes I'll stand a ways back and let the girls go by themselves to by a loaf of bread (of course, while I watch them).  One time Anneka climbed up on the shelf where my bags are sitting in the picture, and the whole shelf fell off.  Ella likes to sit up there and poke her head into the little window-hole where you order what you would like.  Usually the fresh bread of the day doesn't come until 10:00 or 11:00.

     About 3 weeks ago, Anneka and I went on a walk in hopes of finding some raspberries.  It had already reached freezing at night, but we found the last batch of the summer.  This is our family's FAVORITE summer berry!  We also bought a bunch of zucchini to grate and freeze for winter.  I love buying things from people on the street.  I know that their food is fresh and without pesticides (unlike a lot of the produce that comes from China), and it's just plain fun to talk with them!

     Both girls like paying for things and showing their independence.  Here, we bought some tomatoes, but this week, a lady that I made friends with at a second hand store gave me a whole bag of tomatoes from her garden.  So nice!

     This is my favorite place to buy eggs.  They are always fresh.  They also have egg powder, which we sometimes use to make cookie dough so that we can eat it before cooking it.  The egg lady shows us where our eggs are by pounding on the counter.  

     Today I met this nice lady.  We talked for so long that I was almost late in picking up Anneka from school.  She not only sold produce, but she had these great wool socks that she'd knitted.   I bought Ike a pair (people are always concerned about baby's feet being warm... so this purchase not only gives him warm feet, but it saves me many-an-explanation).

     I also picked up some other groceries and had them strapped in bags to the back of Ike's stroller.   Anneka's school has a bunch of stairs, so I asked the kitchen ladies if I could park his stroller in the hallway while I picked up Anneka (and he was sleeping).  Well, today the bags were so heavy that after I was gone, the whole stroller tipped backwards.  When I came back, I saw Ike crying in his stroller, juice spilled all over the floor, and three ladies surrounding my baby.  I felt so terrible!  Poor little guy.  I think he's okay, though.  At least he had all of those bags to fall backwards onto.  He sleeps SO LONG in the stroller.  It's been paying off to take him with me when I take/pick up Anneka because it leads to great naps for him.  And it gives me more special time with  Ella, too.  Everyone wins!

The First Day Of Kindergarten (for real this time)

     After countless medical tests, long lines, talking with administrators, and getting all of the proper stamps, Anneka's first day of kindergarten finally arrived!  In the morning as we were getting ready, I heard Anneka signing to herself, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you".  At first I felt a little sad thinking of my daughter feeling afraid.  But then I was filled with joy, as I saw that she was turning to God in her fear.  She was very excited, too!  Here's a picture of her in front of her school building.  When I told her the name of her school was "улыбка", which means "smile", she liked it a lot.
   

     Most kids go to kindergarten from 8:00am to 6:00pm.  They eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner there.  This is totally mind-boggling to us.  The waiting line is thousands of kids long to get into the kindergarten, too.  It's really a miracle that they let Anneka in.  We're not sure if it's because we have 3 kids (there's a new law in Russia- an incentive for increasing the population- that your kids can enter without a line if you have 3 kids), or if it's because she's not eating meals there that they let her in.  But we're glad about it!  Anneka just goes from 9:00 to 12:00... a perfect length of time for her age.  It's a tradition to take a small gift to your teacher on the first day, like a box of chocolates.  Anneka has two teachers and one specialist (speech therapist), so she brought three boxes of chocolates.  

     When I went to pick Anneka up, I could hear her voice on the playground from a block away, chatting away with a new friend.  When I met her at the classroom, the girl (Ksusha) was holding Anneka's hand and came up to me and proudly declared that Anneka was her new friend.  Such an answer to prayer!  It was a sunny day, and on the way home Anneka and I sat on a bench and ate a little snack to hold her over for lunch.  It was nice to sit and talk about her day.  And Ike slept through the whole trip.  (Ignore my greasy hair from not showering for days.)

     It took awhile to get home.  The normal commute is a brisk 15 minute walk, but it probably took us an hour.  We had to go to three stores in order to find cheese for our lunch.  A young man and his mom are living in the apartment next door to us for the next month.  There isn't a stove or oven over there, so they'll be sharing our kitchen with us.  I wanted them to have lunch already prepared for them  for their first day.  This was on the walk home from the store that finally had cheese.

     I took Ella to a little bakery stand and she picked out these special little cakes to celebrate Anneka's first day of school.  Ella loved having this honor, Anneka was so happy about it!

     We ate our cakes together and had a family night.

     I think Ella is going to like Anneka being at school AND she'll like it when she comes home.  Look at that smile!

     Happy first day of school, Anneka!  We pray for many more good days!

Laundry

     We're in that time of year when laundry takes a couple of days to dry.  Jeans can take up to three days.  It's getting really cold at night but warm in the daytime, so inside of our apartment is colder than outside most of the time.    I need to set up a system on our balcony for hanging clothes like these neighbors.
 
     We've had one week without hot water and have another week to go.  Today we all took showers at the Brubachers when we went over to plan an English Club (to use as an outreach).   But the clean effects of this quickly wore off this evening as the kids and I met a friend and her son at the park.  They got buckets of water from the fountain and then tilled a "garden" in the dirt (which turned to mud).  My friend was worried that her son would get sick afterwards and didn't want him to have ice cream when we offered.  (it's commonly believed that getting wet and drinking/eating cold things can make you sick.)

 
    But the girls and I got some ice cream on the walk home and sat on a little bench to eat it.  Ah, the little pleasures!

Joy!

     There have been a lot of exciting changes in our church, and not just with the building.  We see people drawing closer to Christ, giving their lives to him for the first time, and making steps in their faith.  In a month, the room should be ready for the kids to have their own church program.  But for now, this is what our kids do during the Sunday service...

     Ella has four friends that are her size.  She giggles and hops and runs around with them.  We just have to harness her energy during quieter times of the service.  =)  Here she is with Esther, rolling on a makeshift bed.

     The kids LOVE playing in the dirt during church.  Each week our kids come home filthy dirty but exceedingly happy.  It's really nice that the weather has been okay for the kids to play outside.

 

     When Ike isn't sleeping or eating, he gets passed around.  There he is in the back row.  His baby friend, Diana, is also pictured.  She started walking at 9 months old!  Ike is only 7 months, but he definitely wants to catch up.  I bet he will.

     This lady started coming to our church after she saw huge changes in her husband this past spring as he worked alongside our great men.  He looks completely different than he did just a few months ago, too!  She has made friendships with many of the ladies and this Sunday publicly proclaimed that she wants to live for Jesus.

     After church, the girls found this puddle.  Oh, the joy!

     Each day Anneka looks outside to see if there are puddles to know whether or not to wear her rubber boots.  Ella wears her boots all the time, rain or shine.  People on the street tell me that rubber boots will hurt her legs or that they're too hot or that they're too big.  But these people don't realize how much Ella loves her boots.  My parents sent her a second pair after her first ones were literally shredded.  Sometimes out of the blue she'll talk about how Baba and Grampa sent her boots.  And then she giggles with glee.

The First Day Of Kindergarten... Almost!

     I have been nervous about sending Anneka to Russian kindergarten, but we keep praying that God will open or close doors and show us what to do, and He is definitely doing that!  We went in on Monday, and because we weren't able to get Anneka's TB test in time, her first day will be next Monday.  BUT because of all of these medical tests that she's had to do, the speech therapist recommended that she be in a special speech group in the kindergarten to help her in learning Russian.  I inquired about it on Monday, and even though the group is at it's cap, they made an exception for us since Anneka won't be eating meals there.  We got to meet her teachers and classmates and they are all so nice!

     Anneka and I prayed together before going to school and specifically asked God that her teacher would be nice and that she'd make a friend.  And even though we were only there a short while, God answered both prayers immediately!  Vera, a kind lady from our church that went with us, said that she knew the speech therapist from her work in a different kindergarten years ago and that she's excellent and kind.  The normal teacher was also so welcoming and sweet.  Anneka wasn't allowed into the classroom because she didn't have her entire medical card finished, but this little girl came out to play with her while I talked with the teacher about school supplies that we needed to buy.  The were so cute together!  In the background, you can see that each child has a little cupboard to store their belongings.

     Because Anneka is in this special class, she has a lot more needed school supplies than kids in the other classes, but as we were buying them, I felt so happy because I knew that she'd be using things like paints, clay, drawing books, etc.  She loves art projects, and this will be right up her alley.

     The kids in Anneka are all older than her (another exception they made to allow her into the group).  I feel peace about it, as she now LOOKS like the other kids' ages (she's so tall!), and often kids who are a little older are more understanding in playing with someone who doesn't speak Russian as their first language.  Pray that Anneka will be able to catch up, as there will be a lot of homework (this will be good and challenging for me, too!)

    
     We had a lot of fun shopping for school supplies after visiting the school.  I took a few pictures on the walk home.  Anneka loves cats.  And there are plenty of stray ones around!

     This cat ran right up to Anneka.  Of course, she couldn't resist picking the cat up!

     As we were coming up to our building, our neighbor girl was entering, as it was her first full day of 1st grade.  Her mom just had a baby and she plays outside a lot, so we met her over the summer.  She loves it when we come outside, and greets us with a hug.  She was at the clinic the other day when we were there, too.  She and Anneka got yelled at for hopping down the hall together. 

    
     Anneka got a new princess backpack.  She is soooo happy about it.  Ella wanted her picture with a backpack taken, too.  =)

     Nettie went with us the other day to the private clinic in case I didn't understand everything the pediatrician said.  She said that Anneka's heart is large and to make an appointment with the cardiologist (who is currently on vacation).  What does this mean?  Nettie and Anneka were teasing each other as they put on blue booties that everyone needs to wear to keep things sterile.  We had to buy 3 sets of these as part of Anneka's school supply list... also a roll of toilet paper.  =)

     And this picture was taken today in the state clinic.  I thought it would be fast, as we were there just for a TB test and they have special hours for this in a special room.   But it was CRAZY!  This picture does not even begin to show how crazy it was.  I felt weird snapping a picture down the hall in order to really show it.  Tuesday mornings are when they pediatrician for babies is in, and everyone with their baby was there, with multiple babies crying, many people standing around in the hallway, bouncing their babies.    I was so thankful that my new friend, Ira, was with me to help me because we had to get a special paper from the pediatrician first and then stand in line for the TB test.  Ira was able to cut in the pediatrician line because she told everyone it would be quick.  I would have never known to do that!  I was shocked at how many people were getting TB tests.  The open hours were from 9-11 this morning, and we got in at 10:59 (with many people behind us still!)  I'm sooo glad we got it done, and so thankful for Ira's kindness.   Anneka worked in a little workbook while we waited and was so patient.  And Ike slept.  Through all of the crying of the other babies and everything.  And Ella has a cold, so she was home with Leif while he caught up on emails.  =) 

On The Bus

  
     On Saturday, Leif and I (and Ike) went on a date.  We wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and go downtown one last time before all of the fountains are shut off (actually, the main on already was!) and the flowers die.  It was such a lovely day.  Since our apartment is by the end of a bus route, it makes it easy to get on a big bus with the stroller before it gets super-crowded.  Ike slept soooo long.  He knew we wanted some kid-free time to talk!

     The main vehicles we ride on are called micro-buses.  They are little buses or large vans.  I took this picture so I wouldn't forget this story.  The lady standing up but kind of hunched down in the far middle was changing seats with someone who wasn't afraid of the draft.  It was actually very warm on the micro bus, with all of the bodies inside, but many people here think that open windows will make you sick.  More specifically, they think that drafts will make a certain part of your body sick, like your neck or your back.  I even have some foreign friends that now believe this is true, too.  I'm not quite there yet.  But anyway, this lady had her sweater up all the way over her head and asked the driver to close his window.  And then she asked a teenage boy if he was afraid of the draft and would trade her seats.    People also think that drafts are very bad for babies.  Thankfully, our babies like some wind.   I tell people that they are "tempered" and it seems to be an okay answer.

     On Sunday, Leif had to go to church early to help ask questions of a lady who has decided to get baptized.  This meant that I took all three kids on the bus by myself!  He offered to take one of the kids with him, but I thought that might be too much for any of them to be there an extra hour.  And it was an adventure.  It all went pretty well at first.  We got on the end of the route, and I decided to pay for three seats because I had the baby, the big diaper bag (full of snacks and things to do during the service in addition to changes of clothes and diapers), the stroller (for easier sleeping for Ike once we were there), and the too girls.  Normally kids under 7 are free if they don't take up a seat.  But I knew everyone wouldn't fit on my lap!  Very quickly the bus filled up and was standing room only.  A lady asked me if Anneka could be on my lap.  That was kind of a trick, but we managed (and paid for just 2 people then)... but when we got to our stop, the van was so crowded that it was a squeezing challenge to all get off.  Anneka paid the driver, while I grabbed all of the stuff and waited for Ella with my arms out.  But Ella wanted to stay on the bus!  At first I thought she was just afraid of the lady who was trying to help her, but no, she didn't want off that bus for anything.  By then, Leif had come to meet us at the bus stop and I had to get back on and grab a kicking and screaming Ella off of the bus.  I'm sure we were some show!  It took about 10 minutes for her to calm down.  I wonder how long she would have been happy all alone on that bus?  Funny girl.

Kid's camp in Mongolia

 

 I (Leif) had the wonderful opportunity to return to Mongolia again this summer.  I wrote and shared a bit about trips to Mongolia last year, and I am excited to be a part of connecting brothers and sisters in Christ from Mongolia and Russia, and seeing how God will use the churches in the two countries to see God's glory go out to all peoples.  The focus of our project was to put on a children's camp for local Mongolian children.  On one of the planning days, before the planning meeting between the Russian team I traveled with and the Mongolian brothers and sisters we partnered with, I hiked up a hill near were the church meets at the edge of Ulaanbaatar (capital city of Mongolia) and saw this rainbow.  It was just a reminder of God's love and mercy and how He gives us amazing promises. 

 

 Here is a picture from the other side of the hill showing the area of town where the church meets and puts on a children's program each week.  If you look closely in the background you will see a stark contrast of new, gated, guarded and expensive apartment buildings and small old individual houses and a number of yurts all intermixed together.  The church gathers in a yurt in a section of poorer houses and yurts.  Most of the children in this church come from that little neighborhood, and it was fun to see how excited they were to see us and how much they love their teachers and the teens and young adults that help at children's church.

 

I forgot to get a picture of the church yurt from the outside, but this is one just a half block away that looks just like it.

 

 Here we are inside doing some planning.  One of the reasons I came was to add English as a possible translation language, but we had a Mongolian contact that spoke Russian very well and did most of the translating and interpreting.  This made it easier for me, and nice to not have to work through double translations. 

 

I did have fun talking with some of the Mongolians who did know English, and was happy with how the whole group really did a good job of getting along well and enjoying each other despite our language barrier.  We all had plenty of great opportunities to laugh.

 

 Here is a picture of four out of the five Russians I traveled with as well as one of the young Mongolians that helped.  Like I said, I was very pleased with how our whole team worked together, and this group did a good job in traveling, working, and hanging out together and I loved times to pray together with them all.

 My job at the camp was to lead the sports/games.  The kids seemed to  love everything.  Thankfully we had a very nice day our first day and were able to be outside. 

 It seems that the more physical the game was, the more the kids liked it.  Typically for the game pictured above the workers just have to tag a kid and they stop, but in translation it changed to having to catch the kids.  They had a great time, and all of us who were chasing them had fun and got a really good workout!

 

In addition to games, we all participated in various skits to share about how God gives us life, love and meaning.  By the way this skit shows the fifth Russian that I traveled with.

 

 The kids did a great job of being energetic and running around for the games, but calming down to pay attention and listen during the skits and teaching times.  I was very impressed with them, and am praying that God will used this to help each of them and their families to know and love God.

 

 We had this camp outside the city at a Christian camp, and I loved waking up in the morning and looking up on the hill to see 60+ Mongolian children gathered around a cross.  This symbol of our Lord Jesus is a reminder of the amazing love and sacrifice Jesus made so that we could all gather to Him and live in His loving presence forever.  Please pray with us that this message of love and sacrifice would reach all nations and touch the hearts of all people.