Siberia

This is the little team that helped Jason on his Bible trip in Siberia. God worked everything out to bring them all together and we give Him the glory. Pastor Serge (center) was the contact person as he has a sister who lives in Siberia. Stepon (right) was Jason's translator and a big help on the trip. The main purpose of the trip was to take Bibles to people who needed them and share the message of God's love to as many as possible. Every day they would pray that God would lead them. And I know that many of you were praying as well. The trip took many different turns as God led them to minister in prisons, hospitals, small house churches, orphanages, visiting in homes and visiting the Khunty people. Jason and those with him traveled over 3,000 miles while in Siberia. They were ,at one point, only 44 miles south of the Arctic circle.

Siberia cont.-Khunty tribe

The one thing that Jason loves to do is get God's Word into the hand of people who have never heard of God or have never had a chance to read a Bible for themselves. He has heard many stories of people who have repented and followed God by just reading the Bible and doing what is says to do. The far out remote areas is where he loves to meet people and talk with them, listen to their stories and tell them about a Book that changed his life. He found such a people in the Khunty tribe(you say it like Huntie) in northern Siberia. They are natives to Siberia and live a very simple life. For the most part they herd reindeer and live on fish and bread. Lets go with them as they head out to visit the Khunty people. Are you ready for a long walk in the deep snow of the north? I hope you are wearing your warmest coat and of course bring you pack full of Bibles. Oh, by the way don't get off the beaten path, you might just sink in the snow, like Stepon did!Say "hello" to the reindeer and hope they don't eat visitors for breakfast.

Then finally, after a very cold morning walk, we have arrived at a Khunty home. They used to travel by reindeer sled but now the oil companies in the area give them snowmobiles in trade for taking all the oil.

Siberia cont.- Khunty tribe

Welocme to a Khunty house. These are the native people of Siberia. They are not Russians and are usually looked down upon by the Russians. The Khunty are only one of 31 different Siberian tribes. Over all they knew little or nothing about God or the Bible. They worship spirits of nature. They are very short people as you can see by the door to their home. Jason and Stepon felt privileged to visit them.... eat with them...

and read and study the Bible with them. Being with the Khunty tribe was the highlight of Jason's trip.

Siberia cont.-Khunty tribe

Jason said that this was the coldest time while in Siberia. Stepon and Jason went fishing with a Khunty man. At 5a.m., in -35 degrees weather, and traveling on a sled behind a snowmobile all made it the coldest day. He actually froze his feet and couldn't feel them for around 4hrs. Thank you for praying. God gave definite help and Jason's feet are fine now.


This is the way the Khunty people fish. They have fish traps that are set in the rivers. All they have to do is dig down through the snow and pull up the traps and...

pour out the fish, which are frozen almost instantly, and reset the traps. Fish is the main thing they eat.

Siberia cont.- prisons

One of the first places that the team visited was a max security prison. Check out the guard tower. They were not able to take very many pictures because the guards didn't like it. This wood fence is only the outer, there are four more inside made out of diferent materal and high voltage. Below is one of the officers that helped to get all the permission and paperwork done so that Jason and the team could enter and tell the prisoners about Jesus.

Below is the low security prison that one of the guards suggested that Jason go and preach to

them as well.

Siberia cont.- hospitals and clinics

God lead Jason and Stepon to this clinic where the nurses really wanted Bibles. They were excited to get children's Bibles for their children as well. They were not planning to stop here but they came and asked if they could come. They asked many questions and wanted to know more about God.


















Here the team is all suited up to visit the patients at a tuberculosis hospital. They made many good contacts here and a couple of people prayed and repented of their sin.




















The man in the bed is one that repented. The team spent an afternoon in this hospital talking and praying with around 75 people. They ran out of Bibles and time before they could visit everyone. Who will go back and take God's Word to the rest of these needy people?

Siberia cont.- encouraging house churches

Jason and his translator, Stepon, preaching in a small house church. They visited 8 different churches, encouraging and preaching. Jason was nervous, not being a preacher. But God really helped and gave him the words to say, and peopled were helped. Thanks for praying!!!

Siberia cont.-orphanages

One of the orphanages that Jason visited. These are the workers and a few of the children. At this orphanage they were very grateful for Bibles and the children's Bibles.

Siberia cont.

Here is a mechanic shop and an electric company where they stopped and gave Bible and litature to anyone who was interested. Since Jason is a mechanic he could relate with these men.

Siberia cont.

In some of the cities they have these really cool ice sculptures. This is only one of them. I thought you would like to see this art work.

Siberia cont.

The way you go to school in Siberia. No joke these are school children with Jason.

Siberia cont.

These are a few pictures to show the cold. Take a look at how high the snow is from inside the house, several inches above the window sill.

What a cool picture of Siberia.( no pun inteaded)

Siberia cont.

Veta, Stepon's wife, came to meet him at the airport. It was a surprise, and as you can see from the picture, it was a good one! They have been married only 7 months, so it was very hard to be apart. This is one young couple that is whole heartedly following the Lord.

Our daddy and my husband is home at last. This is his welcome home meal.

Music in Metro tunnels

This really neat Ukrainian musician, playing in the metro tunnels, allowed Jessica and Josh to get their picture with him.

I am not the only one who gets stuck on the muddy roads. Here pastor Roman is digging out his little car, after trying to come up our road for church. Thankfully it didn't take very long until we were driving down the road to the next village and the next service. Josh thought it was pretty cool that he could help.

WHAT A DAY!!!

This picture was actually taken when we were living in Nova Odessa, but it is how I feel after the last day and a half. If you are a mom you should appreciate this story. Thursdays is what we call our "busy day". Maybe that is an understatement, but for lack of a better term, that's what we call it. I teach a lady English at 7am and then come home to start the day, which includes homeschooling my two kids, making sure all the things get done around the house, prepare for the weekly Kid's Club in Kanyazachee,study my stories, and cook meals. Then I have to load up everything I need and get it all loaded into the van and leave the house by 3:30 at the latest. I usually have a few kids that want to come with me, but this week I have to say "NO", because of disobedience last week. So I was already feeling like the mean, bad missionary. My kids were helping me load everything, and I asked Jess if she had the keys, and she said yes. I didn't think to ask her which keys she had, and I promptly locked the house and headed out to start the van. Then Jessica realized that she didn't have her music for piano lessons and I looked at my key ring and realized that I didn't have the right key to get back in the house. But we had the van key and we headed on to Kid's Club. I will admit I can be a little scatterbrained at times, but the Lord really helped us in the children's service and things went smoother than I thought they would. Jessica went ahead and had a lesson without music( good thing that she had most of her songs memorized). And our national pastor actually had a spare set of keys to our house. Thank the Lord things were going to work out. I have already shown you what our roads look like, now that it is starting to warm up. Yes, you guessed it, I had to 4 wheel drive to get off our street, if you can call a mud trail a street. But coming back home was not so smooth going. We got stuck, and I don't mean a little bit. We really did a good job, and the van wasn't going anywhere. It was a good thing that we didn't have far to walk to get home, because we had to carry all the supplies with us. What a day! My bed looked pretty nice, and I was tired. My story doesn't end here. At 3am I woke up with a jolt and realized that my little boy was very sick. Yes, I mean puking sick. We got him out of bed so at least I didn't have to change the bedding. But I did mop and scrub the floor and at 3am and you wouldn't believe the things that go though one's head at that time in the morning. Like how does one get puke out of the cracks in a wooden floor? And why don't dads ever clean up puke,(like Jason even could since he is in Siberia) and why do kids usually puke at night. Like I said it was a day. Thanks for praying for this crazy missionary.

Fish for supper

These next few pictures are of what Jason has been doing in Siberia. He has one more week to go before flying home on the 21st. This first picture is of a family, of the Khunty tribe, at meal time. I have been doing a bit of research on the internet about the Siberian tribes. They are one of the least studied groups of people, and unreached with the Gospel as well. Jason was able to find one man who had become a believer, two years ago. He asked Jason and Stepon, his translator, to eat with them and spend the night. Jason did even the some of the Russians couldn't believe he would. I hope as you look at the next few pictures you will pray for Jason and the unreached people who need to hear of a Saviours love.

Siberian way to travel

How would you like to get up at 5am and go check the fish traps? Oh, by the way you go by sled. After an hour out in the cold, it takes you 3 to get warm again.

Siberia

Jason says it is unbeliveable COLD! Yes, they do have snowmobles and they even pull their reindeer sleds with them. Notice how short these folks are. And that beautiful coat. What interesting people and so needy for the Saviour.

Pictures from Siberia!!!

I am so happy that I was able to open these pictures, of Jason's trip. This is a little girl of the Khunty tribe, that Jason was able to visit. When he called me he was so excited. He said," I have found the tribe I have been looking for." He love to tell people who have never heard the Gospel and give them a Bible. This little girl has a children's Bible. There houses are made of log and their main job is herding reindeer. It was exciting for Jason and his team to tell some of these who had never heard of Jesus and never seen a Bible in their life.

Teach us to pray!

I really liked this picture from Sunday school and had to share it with you. This little girl has come a few times. And the week this was taken, I was teaching them, that when we pray we are talking to God. These kids have taken it very seriously to pray for Uncle Jason, as they call him. I know many of you have been praying as well. He has reported that a couple of people in a hospital ward they visited, prayed and gave their heart to the Lord. He is really wanting to get back to the Indian tribes in the far north if he can. About a week ago he thought he might have frozen his feet. But God woke up several people, in the States to pray for him that night, and everything is fine now. Thank you for praying. One of the best things I have to report is that a week from tomarrow, a very loved Daddy and husband is coming home. I am sure he will have much more to share with you.

holding down the fort

This is our street. And as I write, I can hear it is still raining. Praise God for 4 wheel drive!!!

Some of you have asked how I am coping with my man in Siberia, giving out Bibles and preaching to short Eskimoes. Well, I'm staying busy, that's for sure. Homeschooling our two children, teaching Sunday school in our village and Kid's Club in another village everyweek, and teaching a young lady English (every morning a 7am) and all the normal mommy things, like cooking, cleaning, dishes and laundry. I'm not sitting around twittling my thumbs. Since my "bus driver" is gone at the moment, I have taken over that role. I'll tell you this, I'm not nearly as good at 4 wheel driving as Jason is. Last week, when I had to 4 wheel up our road, one girl looked at me when I was getting nervous and said, "You're not Jason." No I not, I'm just his wife. But I am sure trying to be the best wife I can be, and he will sure be appreciated when he gets back. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.

What keeps him warm

Jason had tried on this warm clothes for his trip to Siberia and Josh was not ready for his Daddy to leave. Yes, good Carhart farmer coveralls are keeping him warm, but we sent a lot of love along to keep his heart warm as well. We miss you Daddy.

Deer or Dear?????

My dear husband called this morning and told me that he smelled like a deer. Why, you ask? The answer is that he had just spent the night with a family in their one room cabin in Siberia. This family is from the Huntie tribe and they herd reindeer. The bed was a low platform were the whole family slept rolled up in their fur coats. Jason said after sleeping all night rolled up in a deer skin he felt and smelled like a deer. They woke before dawn (5am) and went with their host to check his fish traps. Jason and Stepon, his translator, rode in a sleigh, that was pulled by a snowmobile, no it wasn't reindeer. After checking fish traps for 1 1/2 hrs, Jason said that it took him 3 hrs to warm up. But that gave him plenty of time to talk to his host and get to know the people more. Jason said that some of the Hunties had never seen a Bible, or really even heard about Jesus. It was a joy for him to share the basic message of the Bible and give them a book, that Jason explained, had changed his life. The family he was able to stay with last night had heard the Gospel message only 2 years ago and the father had repented. He was really happy to meet fellow believers and spend some time with them. Thank you to everyone who is praying. Jason and his helpers have just finished their first week in Siberia. They will be there, Lord willing 2 more weeks. God is working so many things out and daily leading them to people who need to know of a Saviour. Next week they plan to head to the Artic circle. I will try to keep you posted.

News from Siberia

Jason called us a few hours ago and gave us an update on how things are working out in the cold, cold north. When I asked him how Siberia was, his answer was, "COLD." Things may be below freezing but that hasn't stopped our God from working. First, I want to say thanks to everyone who has been praying for him. When Jason and his two Ukrainian friends were in route to Siberia they had a layover in Moscow. They had a contact there that was nice enough to show them around the city. On the way back to the airport, they had an accident. There car was hurt, but thank the Lord, no one was hurt. I guess they got too close to a semi. They did make it to their plane on time. Except for this little excitement, they made it to Siberia fine. Saturday, they were able to purchase Bibles and then had a little rest before scouting out the town. Right now they are in a town called Langepas(or something like that). They will be traveling around quite a bit while they are there. Jason reported that on Sunday morning God came in the service, and people were praying. In the evening service, which lasted 3 hrs, all three of the men, Jason, Serga, Stephen, gave their testimonies and answered questions. Today, or Monday, the plan was to try to do some evangelism in the high security prison, which is on an island in a big river. The pastor had tried in the past to get in, but with out success. So they prayed and started out. God worked a miracle and allowed them to get in and have a small service and give Bibles to those who were interested. One of the guards wanted them to go into the lower security prison for a service. Here Jason said that the guards had all the men (150 of them) come and stand outside to listen to the preaching (remember this is Siberia). I don't think anyone slept through that sermon. Jason said that actually many of the men were interested to hear their testimonies and wanted to know more about God. They were able to pass out tracts, booklets and even Bibles to those who wanted them. Jason sounded like he was on top of the world. I guess he's actually not too far from it. Isn't great how God knows where we are and what we need. Thanks for all the prayers and notes of encouragement. Plan to keep you updated as I can.