Cultural Experiences

     There are over 185 different ethnic groups in Russia, and many of these groups are considered "unreached" with the good news of Jesus.  We were blessed to be in the city center this summer during a holiday for the Evenki people (traditionally reindeer herders).

They are such beautiful people!

We watched them perform different rituals and prayed for the Lord to show Himself to them in mighty ways.  Here, they were walking through this archway in hopes of gaining good luck. 

Leif took my picture with these guys.  =)

     We also got to go to the horse race portion of an annual Buryat sports competition called Suharban this summer.


     This holiday is a very big deal.  We enjoyed not only watching the races, but  watching the spectators, too.

     Here were some Buddhist monks, standing on these cement blocks for a better view.

     It was a hot day, but we were really glad we went.

     There were cash prizes for the winners, and some of the winners were kids.  We want to be continual learners of the culture we live in and to celebrate the beauty in these people God has created.  We long for them to know that God is their God, too.

Jesus is our Healer!

We love this dear family and thank God for healing Anya!

     We are celebrating the life of little Anya and how the Lord healed her this summer!  In July, my friend Asya called me, frantic, and told me that her 6 year old daughter was in an ambulance from the village to the city.  She had a high fever and a terrible headache and hurt all over.  We soon found out that she had tick-borne encephilitis and her prognosis was grim.  Her condition grew worse and worse, and Asya asked us to pray.  We wrote to many people all around the world, and the response was incredible!  Many people were praying and lifting up this dear family to Jesus.  One night when Anya was in critical condition I was in such distress that I couldn't sleep.  I prayed and prayed all night and really sensed that this battle was not just a physical one, but a spiritual one.  I cried out for little Anya's life and for the salvation of her family.... and I took great comfort in knowing that so many people were praying.  The next morning we learned that Anya had turned a corner and the most dangerous point had passed.  Asya wrote me a text message that translates into: " I don't know what to say! God is helping us! And all who are praying for us! I am so thankful for all of these people. These prayers are saving us".  Anya came out of her comatose state and regained feeling in her limbs.  She began to recover at a rate that was surprising for the doctors.  When she met with the neurologist a couple of weeks later, he was amazed to see that there was no visible long-term damage.

What joy for our girls to play with Anya after she was released from the hospital!

     The road to recovery is still a long one.  Anya just spent a couple of weeks at a special physical therapy center for kids.  She'll delay going to first grade for another year.  And she needs to rest more.  But there is no denying the miracle that God has done, and we thank Him for it!  It has been so neat for our kids to be a part of praying for Anya and loving her.  It was such joy to see her after she was in the hospital.  I got teary just looking at her!  Please continue to pray for this family and for God to take hold of their hearts completely.

Trip to Ust Barguzin

         One of Leif's team leader roles here is to keep in touch with pastors throughout our region of Buryatia.  Some of these pastors live in villages far away.  After our few days of family vacation, we drove to Ust Barguzin (about 5 hours from Ulan Ude) to visit the Buikov family and the small church there. 


     Pastor Buikov owns an auto mechanic shop (in his own garage) and works hard throughout the week.  As you can imagine, being the pastor of this small congregation is a huge responsibility.  It's encouraging whenever people come and visit and when other brothers in Christ can give the message on Sunday.  Leif was happy to help in this way while we were there.


     We got to stay at the Grandma's house.  She had such a beautiful garden and beds for us all!  Before we went, we didn't know where we were going to stay.  This lovely home was like a dream come true for all of us!

Highlights for the kids were holding the cat and using the banya (bath house).  

     It was SO smokey!  There were fires surrounding the village from 3 sides, and one evening there was ash in the air.  We went to the beach, and it was hard to see very far.  A big boat came in at one point, and we didn't see it until it was almost up to the shore! If you look closely, you can see ash in the sand in this picture.  It's been smokey now for several weeks, even in the city.  Usually August is the rainy month here, and this year I think it rained one day.


     We made the most of the smoke and played with the Buikov family and another family on the beach.  In the day we took one of the girls with us, and the rest of her family joined us later.

      By evening we all were together.  Irene was so grossed out that we just used lake water for soup and tea.  I found it funny because I didn't give it a second thought.  There was something else that was gross to her, but I already forgot what it was!  It just goes to show that over time you get used to whatever is normal where you are!

It's wonderful to be a part of God's family and to connect with people wherever we go!

A Few Days of Family Vacation

     We took a few days of vacation time between the church camp and a village trip.  Even though it was August, the weather was still nice (usually it's cooler and rainy this time of year).  We stayed at our friends' hostel and enjoyed times playing on the beach together.  Ira told us about an amazing beach that had NO GARBAGE and no rocks!!  It was great.

      We prepared most of our meals, but went to this cafe two evenings.  I called it "my favorite restaurant in the world".  Everyone thought I was joking, but I wasn't.  We got to sit in outdoor seating, overlooking the town.  The weather was perfect.  The food was good and inexpensive.  AND because of the way the tables were, we could talk in normal voices in English without people staring at us.  Perfect.

 

I love this picture that Irene took of Ella and Leif.  I love these guys!

 

       One day we drove down the road about 10 minutes to "Turtle Rock".  We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed climbing different rocks and exploring.

     Irene and the kids enjoyed finding treasures on the beach like rocks and broken glass.  In the background you can see the famous turtle rock (with a tree sticking out of it's shell).

     Near our perfect no-garbage beach is a new development of fountains and gazebos.  Here, we were trying out the panorama setting on our camera... you can see 2 Anneka's.  =)

There were all sort of fun little walkways.

     Me and my little guy!  This place was such an interesting mix of really nice new things paired with totally undeveloped vast areas of dirt and weeds.

We all toured the lighthouse one day.  

Such a great view!

     It's common to see Buryat culture mixed into buildings and architecture.  I'm guessing this yurt will be a little cafe someday.

Irene snapped this great picture of the kids dogpiling me.

     The water was COLD, but we still enjoyed being here.

     On the last day, our friends took us to a smaller lake nearby and gave us their boat to use all day!  They are so gracious and kind!  I think this is Leif and Anneka in the background.

     There were a lot of bees on the shore (Ella got her first sting!), so we were happy to get out on the lake.  When we returned to shore, we set up our tent on the shore to protect from the bees.

 
     We fished along the way.  Ike caught this fish all by himself with a piece of corn.  He was the only person to catch anything.  He was so proud!  =)

     A highlight of this trip for me was at the very end.  I ran to the pharmacy for some hydrogen peroxide and ended up picking up a hitchhiker who was looking for a ride to the next town.  I told her that she'd need to come back to pick up my family with me first before we set off.  It turns out that she's a Buryat believer and had prayed for a ride.  It was very encouraging talking with her.  When I brought her back to our hostel she talked with our friend, at first not knowing that he's not a believer.  She asked him if he's a pastor.  He chuckled and said no.  (at that point, I had the thought- wouldn't it be wonderful if he became a pastor one day?)  Then she began to preach at him.  It was a little awkward, but I'd just prayed that morning for boldness in sharing Christ with him.  So I just prayed and trusted God knew what He was doing better than us!  And then when we got in the van she said that she believed the Lord told her that our friend would become a pastor one day... a very kind pastor.  I pray that this is true and love to think of it!

     It was nice to have this time together, and we thank God for His many blessings!

Camp

      Leif's mom, Irene, got to be here for our annual church camp this year!  She's such a trooper, sleeping in a tent, using an outhouse, eating new foods, etc.  We all enjoyed a great time.

Morning exercises before breakfast

      We did something new this year that I was a little nervous about, but turned out to be really cool... some of the kids who came to our day camp a few weeks ago won a free trip to our church's camp.  They came with their families (brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents)... and all of them interacted with the believers from two of our churches.  Out of the few families that came, one ended up leaving, but the rest stayed and had a good time.

Jami and Adriana, chopping vegetables in our makeshift "kitchen"

      Leif and I were in charge of meals on one of the days (breakfast, lunch, and dinner).  When we originally bought the food, we were told that there would be 87 people at camp.  We bought for 100, just in case.  But when it came to our day to cook, there were about 130 people!!  Our van was parked behind some tents that were aready set up, so there was no way for us to make a trip to the nearest village to buy more food.  We were at the mercy of others from the camp who went into the village.  This was a good lesson in control for me (Jami) and relying on the Lord to provide what we needed.  We prayed loaves and fishes over everything, and it was amazing how there was even food left over!  Before lunch, I was really concerned that there wouldn't be enough and was PRAYING (especially with these guests that came, it was quite important that there was food for everyone!).  A couple of hours before the meal, a man from a local village came with a car load of vegetables from his garden to donate to the camp.  I was soooo happy!  I told him how we had needed more food, and he said, "God really loves you".  =)  We used those vegetables to make the biggest salad ever.  I wish I'd gotten pictures of our big pots of stuff and cooking over the fire, but it was too busy that day to take pictures.  Thankfully Irene snapped this one of me and Adriana preparing together.  Leif was in charge of making sure the fire was hot and the water was ready for soup and tea.

    Some of the kids toasted bread over the fire for a  mid-afternoon snack.  This pot had hot water for tea.

     Leif was a part of a powerful skit showing the spiritual battle that rages for our souls.  He played the role of Satan (standing in the back with the black hoodie).

     Irene had a good time "talking" with many of the ladies at camp. They didn't speak English and she didn't speak Russian, but they motioned with their hands and prayed together.  Irene had pictures from her home on her camera to share with people.  Each week Irene prays with another lady, Diana (from Michigan), over the phone for the people of Buryatia.  Irene took careful notes of prayer requests and took pictures of people to pair with the requests. 

      "Ikie Bikie" and his beloved friend, Bogdan.  Bogdan is the only person in the world allowed to call him that.

 

     It's so special for our kids to get so much play time with other kids at camp.  This summer has been really good to get Ella ready for Russian kindergarten in the fall.

     I didn't get any pictures of Leif playing volleyball with the guys, but this picture is right by the net.  Leif and some of the other guys from our church had great spiritual conversations at this place with some of the neighboring campers.  One guy in particular had a lot of questions.  This was encouraging for Leif.

     In the mornings and evenings we gathered for times of sharing, singing, and learning.

     I kept finding articles of our kids' clothes in different tents.  It didn't even occur to me at the time, but all of the playing and sharing together led to lice....

(I had to throw this picture in of us treating it when we got home)

     It was nice having extra eyes and hands with the kids at camp, too.  The day that I was in the kitchen I didn't worry about about our kids between the kids' programs they had and Irene's great help.

     In the afternoons we enjoyed playing on the beach with others from the camp.

 

The weather was very pleasant. 

     Perhaps the most special part of the weekend was that four believers were baptized in Lake Baikal!  One of the men is the first person we've seen come to Christ in Zaigraevo, the village where Inka lives.  We are seeing more and more growth in that village, and it's so exciting!

     It brought tears to my eyes to see Naomi baptized by her Dad.  They are dear friends of ours, and it's so wonderful to see her making this decision to follow Christ with her life.

      And another exciting thing is that Misha (the guy who's getting his hair fixed by the little girls) came forward at church last Sunday to say that he wants to commit his life to Christ.  We continue to pray for more and more people to come to Him!