Sunday School Caroling 2012

Each year since we first arrived in Russia we have been involved in special Christmas cantatas and plays during the long holiday season. The only problem is that with us serving in Siberia, the time when most of these activities are scheduled to take place is usually during the coldest time of the winter. Often that means that people are not physically able to attend or have no desire to leave their houses or warm apartment buildings in -30 degrees Celsius temperatures! 

So, in an effort to teach my Sunday school kids to show kindness to others and be a blessing to the elderly and physically handicapped, we went caroling from house to house through the village! 

Honestly, I had been wanting to do this for several years but, when the temperatures drop often the kids also stay at home snuggled in their beds and only the most faithful ones come out to Sunday school. This year we had a good group of faithful kids and they were excited about doing something new.

First of all, we decided to go caroling on a Sunday afternoon just after our Sunday morning service. Most of the kids went home for lunch and we fed a couple at our house before gathering them all up in our truck. Going caroling on a Sunday worked out to be the best way to ensure that the kids would all be there as they promised. 

Cramming into the truck was just part of the fun!

Yes, it was a little "crowded"!

Here are a few photos from several of our stops.

We sang to this precious lady, Nina. She is Angelina's (the little girl in the photo) great grandmother.

We visited families of some of our SS kids and elderly ladies who are no longer able to walk and get out of their apartments without assistance. But, our last stop, in my opinion, was the most memorable for all of the children. 

The young lady seated on the right in the photo below has been a friend of our family's since we first moved to the village. We were introduced to her through the English teacher at the village school. She suffered a seizure when she was about six years old and the damage left her handicapped. Her family moved out to the village with the hope that it would help her. She has improved tremendously since that time. 

What a blessing to hear her mother, grandmother, and grandfather thank us over and over again for taking the time to come to "cheer them up" with our visit and singing. It was GOOD for the kids to see this eighteen year old girl in such physical condition yet she studies in school and wants to be just like them. 

I couldn't have been happier with the responses we received from these dear people we visited. What a blessing it was to me and what memories were made for the kids.

Traditionally, if you do something nice for someone or visit them around Christmas time you WILL walk away with more than you can imagine. Today was no different for us!

Here is our loot after all of our visits! We also gave away some candy bars before this photo was taken. The children divided up the candy among themselves.

I pray this was the beginning of a new tradition and that many look forward to it each year from now on!

Easter Sunday Services - April 15th, 2012

Easter was celebrated today, April 15th, here in Russia. We are grateful for every one who was in attendance for Easter Sunday services. Three of our faithful adults were in attendance in the adult services. We invited others on Saturday but we were a bit reluctant of having many people in our home since David came down with an infection and the very bad Russian flu this past Friday evening. He had almost no voice by Sunday morning and was still running a fever. We didn't want him to spread his germs too far so I was a bit relieved for him that it was our few familiar faces in the adult services. The devil always seems to work the hardest right before special services or meetings! 

In the children's service we had a GREAT DAY! I was very encouraged that after a LONG winter we are seeing children return to Sunday school. We even had a first-time visitor today brought by a girl who has only been attending Sunday school for the last three weeks! We ran out of chairs!

A wonderful friend was so kind to send us an Easter package which arrived on Friday. We were excited for some Easter basket goodies for our family and candy for the Sunday school kids.

She also included in the package, a set of Resurrection Easter Eggs which help you tell the story of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection visually. The kids LOVED these eggs and were so excited to open up each one and read about how their piece of the story was significant.

The kids each holding up their Resurrection Egg.

When we went out on Saturday visitation, we left the Sunday school flyers blank and asked the children to draw a picture depicting why we celebrate Easter. The adults were the judges for our contest.

Timothy, our son, won for the best meaning.

I LOVED the picture above and thought it was the prettiest! The judges also agreed and awarded the artist with the prettiest picture award as well! 

A highlight of the day was tie-dyed cupcakes made with Jello powder to color the cake batter. The kids were amazed at how I made them different colors!

Some of us really enjoyed the cupcakes!

The kids who were present in Sunday school last week were supposed to finish their crafts this week. However, with so many children present it would have been a bit chaotic so they all decided to finish them next week. This also allowed our kids and myself to be in our places for the adult fellowship time after their services were over.

Alexander and Galina were also celebrating 20 years since they met today!

 We enjoyed a great lunch together with all sorts of goodies.

Galina "naturally" decorated some eggs.

Here is a link to show you how to color Easter eggs using this method.

We also enjoyed tortilla roll-ups and sandwiches;

"Blinchiki" made by Galina (the best "blinchik" maker ever!) and cream cheese balls rolled in imitation crab meat;

(A few cupcakes were left over from the children's service for the adults!)

and pretzel rolls (made by the American)!

A few of the children were so sweet to give us gifts for Easter.

I just loved this handmade gift from one of the newest teen girls!

 It was a great day and we were so grateful for each and every person present in the services. David made it through the whole morning but was definitely ready for a rest afterwards!

Every year it is such a blessing for us to have the privilege to teach more and more Russians about the importance of Christ's resurrection. If you could see the faces this morning as the children understood from Scripture exactly what Christ did for us through His death, burial, and resurrection! Please pray for the seed that was planted to take root, and that they would ask Christ to come into their hearts.

Women's Day March 8, 2012

This year's celebration of Women's Day was a bit different than last year's since we were not able to use the House of Culture building to hold our Ladies Tea. I had wanted so badly for this to become a yearly tradition, but it will have to wait. This summer, we plan on remodeling our old house in order to be able to hold Sunday school and special meetings on our own property. We have already begun tearing out the bathroom to give more space in the largest room of the house. I will soon post about this to show the "before" photos of this project.

So, our Women's Day celebration began on the Sunday before with the Sunday school class making gifts as a craft to give to Mom, Grandma, a teacher or any other special lady they wanted to congratulate. I was so thankful to be able to find some great craft supplies here in Krasnoyarsk with the recent opening of several new stores. One such item was these hats which we used to make potpourri-scented decorations. 

Yana trying on a hat.

We set up a table, plugged in the glue gun, and the kids went to work filling their hats with potpourri and decorating them. The kids enjoyed the craft and were able to either make the hats into magnets or glue pretty ribbon to them so they could be hung in a special place at home.

This little guy came along with his sister, Yana, and just enjoyed the toys we keep around for little ones. We have a nursery, Sunday School, and teen class all rolled into one!

On Friday, March 9th, we held a ladies meeting/tea with just myself and our two most faithful ladies. I had wanted to begin monthly meetings with them but one of the ladies work schedule has made it very difficult. For Women's Day I told them I wanted just the three of us to get together, Lord willing, as a beginning to a monthly ladies ministry.

We had talked about each inviting unsaved family members or friends but I felt the Lord wanted me to take this particular opportunity to meet with these ladies and teach more on some issues and questions women face as new Christians.

Dee and the ladies.

It was great to see how the Lord worked and even the topic of conversation at the beginning of the meeting matched perfectly with the lesson I had prepared. 

What is a ladies meeting without treats? 

I made a honey bun cake and the ladies brought caviar sandwiches, chocolate, and ice cream. 

Just in case you are wondering, I have tried both kinds of caviar on several occasions and do not enjoy either one. Caviar is one of the most difficult foods for me to eat with a smile!)

Praise the Lord for a great day of fellowship and the birth of a ladies ministry!

Back to School Sunday

On August 23rd, 2009, we had a "Back to School" Sunday for the kids who attend our weekly services. After the songs and Bible lesson, we enjoyed playing dodgeball with the kids and then eating chocolate cupcakes! Each child was given a gift bag of school supoplies to help them start off the new school year.

Timothy and friends enjoying the cupcakes.

Playing dodgeball.

The kids after they received their gift bags of school supplies.