Outreach Through Sports

     We've had the privilege of putting on a couple of sports' days in our neighborhood this summer.  There's a group of people who have prepared various games and sports for just this type of thing, and they volunteered to come and serve here in Spring Village!  We only announced these days at the last minute, and still probably about 70 neighbors came each time.  The team came to our house for lunch before beginning the full afternoon/evening of special games.

     We had fun getting to know people better as well as making new connections.  Many people asked, "When can we do this again?"  It's a great way for everyone to come together.

     We had stations with various games.  At this station, was soccer with a large ball.

This station invovled a frisbee and these hoops.

so fun to work together with friends!

Cheering together for the World Cup!

    We have an intern here this summer, Andrew Kerin.  He lived here as a boy,and it's been a delight to have him living with us this month.  On our second sports day, he led the group in exercises and also taught some English.  Leif's mom is here, too!

All the little boys love Andrew!

planning and praying

silly games

Everyone loves parachute games!

Irene thought we fed 50 people.  I laughed when she said that, but she was serious!

     The first time we did the sports outreach, we had about 30 people over for tea afterwards.  I had already given out the 4 batches of cookie bars I had made, so I pulled a bunch of funny things out of the cupboard to feed people like bread and zucchini and eggplant paste.  I love that everyone was happy and it was no big deal.  Yulia walked in the door with a cake right when I realized I didn't have anything sweet to serve.  I love how God provides in simple yet beautiful ways.

    The second time I was more prepared to feed people throughout the day, all the way up until the 11:00pm World Cup Final.


     We watched it on a screen outside with neighbors.  Since then we continue to connect with people we hadn't meet previously.

     I love seeing many people coming together with their unique giftings.  It has been such a blessing for Spring Village to have these sports outreaches!!

Fun New Friendships

     We've mad some fun and interesting new connections with people recently.  This family lived in Canada for 6 years.  We met the dad and daughter in the store.  He came up to us when he heard the kids talking in English.  They want their daughter to learn English, as they plan to return to Canada one day.  Ella is good about playing with her and trying to speak in English (or sometimes she does both and translates) when they are together.  

This couple is Korean-American.  They lived in Mongolia for 15 years and have recently moved here.  They don't speak Russian, but Mongolian is very similar to Buryat.  Here, Leif is showing them the different churches.  

We stopped at Yulia's for tea with this couple one day when they were here.

    We also recently met a couple, where the wife is Chinese and her husband in Buryat.  They are both believers and are just here for the summer (his family lives here).  They are praying about what God would have for them and have a great heart for sharing hope with others. It's been nice to have them a part of our community this summer.

    We also continue to do work on the house.  Here, Sasha was making a wall with insulation around our bathroom.  He also completed a railing on our stairs.  One day when he was working, his little son was with him and fell from the second floor.  He cracked his scull and was in the hospital for a week.  It was very traumatic, and I still have a hard time talking about it, as I saw it happen and didn't catch him in time.  Thankfully he is totally ok.  We are praising God for this.  Last summer when we had stairs and weren't able to get a banister right away, I was worried about it, and I felt like God told me to pray and to trust (and set up house rules for the kids for safety).  When the fall happened, I remembered the many prayers and saw how even though this boy fell, I could see how God's hand was on him and protected him from any permanent harm.  Needless to say, we are quite thankful that the stairs are now enclosed!!

     We've had people come from the rehab center to help with things around the house.  It's been nice to get to know them a bit. 

     Ksusha is the wife of one of the guys who has helped us, and she has come sometimes, too.  We really like her, and it's fun for the kids to prepare foods with her.  It's a fun atmosphere to all be working together, helping each other, and sharing our lives with each other.

Kids, Dogs, and Kittens

     One of our friends made the comment recently that all of the neighbor kids and all of the neighbor dogs are in our yard.  I think it's often true!  We love this connection we have with those around us, and the kids play outside for hours upon hours.  We met a man recently who is Korean-American.  He said that he felt in his soul that our kids are healthier than kids in America and Korea.  What sweet words to hear!

Making bubbles with homemade solution

On walks, usually two other dogs besides ours join us.  =)

     
     It was raining the other day, so the kids were inside.  I didn't realize how many kids were in our house until I started walking around!  At least 2 kids aren't pictured here, maybe  more.  =)  I made coffee cake and invited them into the kitchen to eat it together. 

     Sweet, funny friends

     Ella and these two neighbor girls went with Nettie to get water from the well.  They were SO excited that she let them ride in the back of her car AND bought them all ice cream!!



     In fun news for our family, we got a kitten!  It's from Ike's friend's family.  They told us it was a girl, and we didn't ever really check or notice if it was or wasn't.  A few weeks later, a friend who was visiting told us that she is a he!  We had named her Pepper and decided that the name is still ok for a boy.  ;)

    Ike has loved having a kitty! It's so cute to see him with the cat in his shirt and on his lap at moments throughout the day.  All of us love the kitty, to be honest.  I didn't really know I was a cat person, but my heart is definitely melting with this one!


     When we go on walks, other dogs often join us.  =)  One day we were walking through the fields, and Ike was running up ahead.  He found two kittens together.  One had already died (probably from hunger) and the other was crouched down, looking afraid.  Ike picked him up and saved him from the oncoming dogs.  The girls started bawling, knowing that someone had abandoned these little kitties.  Needless to say, we now have two kitties...


     We named the black one Boomerang.  We are still looking for a home for him, but it has already been several weeks.  Boomerang and Pepper are good friends.  They snuggle and wrestle together.  Boomerang always cries if he's in a different room from his Pepper.

It's so nice to live so close to fields and places to walk freely with Cinnamon.

    Anneka has been teaching me how to sew!  I'm amazed at how much she knows, and she is very patient with me and doesn't get frustrated with changing thread color or replacing the needle or putting new thread on the bobbin.  It's so fun to have a sewing machine!  

Our First Garden

Ella made friends with the manure salesmen

     We started a garden this year!  We don't really know what we're doing, but it's kind of an unspoken rule that if you live in the village, you have a garden.  It's been a fun way to learn more about the culture here and connect with new people, especially neighbors.    Our soil is very sandy, so we had to buy both manure and soil (to mix together) for phase one.  

Nettie, Ella, and Ike got to ride in the dirt truck!

After making boxes, we filled them up with the freshly mixed dirt.  

Little neighbor friends joined in the fun!

We also bought some currant, cherry, and raspberry shoots.

     All of us are really excited to have a garden!  The kids each have their own personal box, to plant whatever they want.

Planting Peas

     We are trying a bunch of different vegetables.  This will be an experiment to see what actually grows well and what we eat the most.

     My neighbor who gave us the teeny pepper starters a couple of months ago called me when it was time to plant them.  She showed me in her garden what to do.  Something interesting I learned is that all families have a big barrel full of water that gets warm in the sun.  They say the plants like warm water better than cold.  She said that peppers especially like warm water.  I'm not sure if it's true, BUT her peppers were more mature than ours when she transplanted them, so it's possible she knows just what she's talking about.  Also, people think it's bad for kids to play in cold water.  A bunch of kids were over at our house this week, and they played in the water.  One of the moms came over the next day and asked if it was warm water or cold water.  =)  This was not a question that ever occurred to me to think/worry about, especially on a hot day!

Planting the Pepper Starters

... and now most things are growing!  Here's our lettuce and spinach.  I love watering the garden all together in the evenings.  

 

Often the neighborhood kids join us!

We'll have a few raspberries this year!

   

Soon we'll be enjoying fresh vegetables!

Ella's 8th Birthday

     Our sweet Ella is eight years old!  She had two parties this year- one with neighbor kids and one with kids from our team.  Ella makes friends wherever she goes, often within minutes of just meeting someone.  It was so special to celebrate her life and these 8 years that we have enjoyed with her!  With neighbor kids we went to an indoor play park.

The kids loved playing together!

The park has many fun parts to play in.

The boys had fun playing foosball.

Ella's a great climber.  I'm amazed at how long her legs are!

We enjoyed pizza together.

     Ella doesn't like cake, so she requested getting ice cream cones instead.  We sang Happy Birthday to her with some candles in a Twix candy bar while we were still at the play place.  The owner turned down the lights and played the birthday song over the speakers.  How special!

Everyone loved picking out their ice cream!

     On the way home, Ella's friend fell asleep.  I just assumed she was worn out from all of the birthday excitement.  It turns out she (and others) had the chicken pox!  I was curious if our US immunizations would prevent our kids from getting it.  It turns out they were immune!

They put green dots on chicken pox here.  Everyone was soon feeling back to normal.

     On Ella's actual birthday we went to the bath house (banya). On the way we stopped at the fountain and fed the birds.  I didn't realize it right away, but Ike is totally holding a pigeon in this picture!

Two good friends, swimming and laughing together.

Leif and Ella had made an apple pie together to share with everyone.

Teaching Ella to float

     Ella, what a gift you are to us!  We love your enthusiasm for life and your ability to love all types of people.  You are a courageous and kind girl, and you bring us so much joy.  Happy Birthday!