The Last of the Fall Blogs

     Once again, it's hard to keep up on everything, and we don't take pictures of everything, but I'll try to fill in a few holes from our fall.  =)  Together with some neighbors, I've been walking at 6:00 in the morning a couple of days a week. It's a nice way to get to know one another better and get exercise at the same time.  When we first start walking it is pitch dark.  It is getting very cold in the mornings and we will stop soon for winter.  

     We took a course on how to do an ethnographic study about a year and a half ago.  It's taken us awhile to begin one of our own, but now we're in full swing!  We've been interviewing various Buryat Christians to hear their stories.  After we collect them, we will  study and compare them to find similarities and differences and to better learn how we can be sharing the good news.

     We've made a lot of progress with expansion of our church building, now having a whole upstairs for children's classrooms.  This picture was taken on a church work day.  Anneka painted a primer on the walls.

     We have a friend who lives in the coldest inhabited place in the world- Yakutia.  He was in Ulan-Ude for a few weeks for some university coursework and while he was here, he helped Leif to calculate how much insulation we need for our house to be warm enough.  He also took a day to come out and show Leif how to put up the layers.  What a gift this was to our family!

     

     Even after we found a family that would take Nettie-the-dog, we needed to keep her for several more weeks so that they could prepare a place for her.  We needed to take her to the vet to have an extra nub clipped off of her paw.  While she was there, they offered to sterlize her, too.  We decided this was a good idea, as Siberia has a problem with too many puppies!  The family that took her was thankful, too.  When we finally took her to her new home, it was a happy day for everyone.  We could tell that Nettie-the-dog was going to a place where she would be showered with lots of kid-love.  =)

 

     Leif and Anneka made a dog house together.  I took this picture while they were still working on it, before it was finished.  Leif looked online to calculated what size of doghouse to make for Cinnamon and how much insulation her house would need for a -40 degree winter.

     Leif made a trip to a region where the Soyots live.  This is one of the unreached Siberian people groups.  Before he left, he was asked if he wanted to buy yak meat while he was there.  We decided we wanted to, until we found out we'd have to buy the whole yak!  That was a little more meat than we thought we could handle!

      One of the exciting things about this trip to the Soyots is that it was Sasha's idea, as his heart is really growing in wanting to figure out how the message of Jesus can spread to everyone, starting in the regions nearby.  Leif was thrilled to be invited on this vision trip and to join with these guys in scouting and praying for the future of this area.

 

While Leif was gone, I had to step it up and be the emcee at English Club.  =)

... and Ike was my helper in cleaning out ashes from the furnace.

     We had this family for hamburgers and to play games one Friday night.  We all had a lot of fun!

     We had our area Russia Conference, and the kids really loved being with other Third Culture Kids and growing in their faith with one another.  They sang us some songs they learned on the last night.

     My homeschooling the kids alone has ended for a few months, as Art and Lisa Blaker are back from helping another Russia team!  We made it work, but were sometimes met with challenges.   On this day I took the girls with me to wait for Ike while he had karate.  At first we were the only ones in the room, and they were enjoying reading their books (This picture isn't staged.  They both had these sweet smiles while they were reading.)

     ... But within 30 minutes, the girls were surrounded by other girls who wanted to meet them.

     Throughout the fall, Natasha helped me with canning various things.  On this day, she came over and made a vegetable mix called leche out of peppers, tomatoes, and onions with Nettie and me.  I so enjoy these times with her!

Conference Tour

 

     This fall was a special time of helping to facilitate conferences in three different Buddhist regions of Russia  (Buryatia, Tuva, and Kalmykia).  These conferences were very powerful in helping to understand how Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism affect the way people view things such as the world, people, sin and the good news of Jesus.  They also proved to be a powerful catalyst for stirring up motivation and love for getting this good news out!

     Before the three conferences, Leif was involved with a special time for leaders from these different regions.  It was a wonderful time to share stories of what God is doing in each region and what work is left to do.  Everyone was encouraged by the chance to talk with others who are living in a similar cultural context. We hosted a couple of these leaders at our house before they flew back home.  

     The kids were very flexible during the week we hosted the Ulan-Ude conference.  We did homeschooling a couple of days at the church so that I could help in the kitchen.  Also, we did things like pick up lost luggage from the speakers when it finally showed up at the airport a week after they first arrived.  =)

I thought this was a fun selfie that Leif took at one point.  =)

   
     One of the seminars offered at the conference was on music.  People divided into several groups and wrote new songs with Buryat words and tunes.  At the Ulan-Ude conference, one group wrote a song for Psalm 91.  This was incredibly powerful, especially as this portion of the Bible hasn't yet been translated into Buryat.  After the conference, a group has been meeting weekly to continue writing new songs.  These songs are already a great encouragement to Buryat believers and a bright light to others.  It is neat to think of what God will continue to do!!

     I liked helping Lena and Adriana in the kitchen.  Lena had very ambitious and delicious meals on the menu each day, and they always turned out amazing!

Everyone enjoyed the meals

     Leif was the emcee for the conference.  He's a great choice for this, as people have fun interacting with him.  =)

     Each day, we needed to make quick trips to the store for things like more tea, potatoes, and bread.  On this day, the kids and I got some chips to share with others.  =)

     On the last day of the conference, there was a special time of serving each other, writing and drawing vision that God has given and praying for people in our lives and for the unreached peoples of Tibetan Buddhist background throughout the world.  

     Right after dinner on the last day of the Ulan-Ude conference, we whisked Leif off to the train station as he continued on with the group of people putting on the conferences.  We felt sad to see him go and at the same time, super-supportive of why he was going.  That made it a little easier for the next couple of weeks needing to stoke the furnace and get water at the well while he was gone.  =)

Here are a couple of pictures from the other conferences.

 

     Dave and Leif also used this travel time to talk with pastors and church leaders in these regions to see what work is left to do to reach these unreached people groups, what opportunities there are for serving and to see if there are ways we can help in this work.

There are so many beautiful places and people in Russia!

    One night some people from one of the churches treated the trainers to dinner in a yurt restaurant.  They encouraged the guys to put on Tuvan national attire and take a picture in it.  Leif's turned out pretty great.  =)

     The fruit from these conferences is already visible and far reaching.  It's so encouraging!

Blessings in the Difficulties

     This fall we've had a common theme of seeing God in the difficulties.  He loves to show His kindness in every situation.  It's so wonderful to know that He is always with us.  One of the ways we saw this kindness was when Ike had to go in for rabies shots after a dog bite.  Of course, this wasn't our favorite thing to do, and he had to go in seven times!  But on one of the trips, we met this lady who needed a ride.  We drove her to her to a clinic and then to her home.  She was so grateful for the help and so excited for her granddaughter to meet English-speaking kids!
   


     She invited us in for tea and generously pulled out her precious omul fish (native to Lake Baikal) and preserves from her cupboard.  We had a lovely time and conversation and exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch.

     We didn't love that Ike got bitten by a dog, but we love how God brought beauty from it, as He loves to do!

We Have An Eleven Year Old!

     Last week we celebrated Anneka's eleventh birthday!  We had a special family time on her birthday.  As her birthday fell on a school day, we decided to take a field trip that day to the science museum.  It was especially nice because Leif had just returned from travels throughout Russia the day before (I'll share more on that soon).  None of the kids knew that our school day was going to be extra-fun, so they were all happily surprised!  Ella and Ike gave Anneka special gifts before breakfast.

    Leif and my gift to Anneka was permission to get her ears pierced.  She's been wanting this for a long time.  She was so happy she cried when we told her.  =)

Learning about Light

     Here are some pictures from the science museum.  We weren't sure what to expect.  One of our friends was a part of the team that started it up, and we thought it may just be a one-room thing.  We were pleasantly surprised at how awesome it was!

Making a Basket with Flowing Air

Images from Light

A Mirror that Combined Both Anneka and My Faces

Cool Mirrors

Different Shapes and Patterns

Our Little Dumpling

They also had places where we could take fun pictures!

Medieval Family

Submarine Excursion

     They had various optical illusion stations.  Here, Ike and Leif look to be the same size!

And in this one, Anneka looks tiny and I'm humongous!!

Overflow!

Mom in a Pot

     In this exhibit, you had to try and get through the obstacle course without touching one of the lazers.  If you touched it, an alarm went off and you had to start again.

Perfect Math

Don't Eat Me!

A Date With a Giant

Hanging from the Ceiling

    On Saturday we had a party with Anneka's friends.  She had the menu all planned and we prepared everything in the morning.  We found these fun sticks to make little meat, cheese, and veggie shish kabobs.

...and fruit kabobs

She planned a butterfly theme with fun decorations (including on the drinking glasses).

She also made her own cupcakes and frosting.

They turned out really cute!

     Then it was time for the party to begin!  The kids jumped and jumped and jumped on trampolines!

Ike and Bogdan climbed this wall.

Such fun!

     Then we call came back for lunch and the party!  The kids played a game where they had to pose as various animals and have others guess who they were.

Good friends

The Butterfly Birthday Girl

Getting ready to blow out her candles

     Anneka prepared some party favors to give as gifts to her friends.

     The next week, Anneka wrote a story about her birthday and created a cartoon to go with it in school.  It turned out really cute.  We're so thankful for our sweet Anneka!  What a blessing she is in our lives.