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.

A game of chess anyone?

Josh had learned how to play chess and he loves it. He has won very many games, but he'll alway play a game with you. Why don't you stop by for a game?

Jessica is learning the piano

Jessica has been taking piano lessons for a few months now. About two weeks ago she told me," I really enjoyed my lesson." I am glad that she is enjoying her music lessons, for more than one reason. In the States she had asked me about taking lessons, but then last Feb. she got her index finger on the left had cut off. It was reattached and A LOT of therapy followed. Now, praise the Lord, she can even play the piano, and it doesn't bother her. The doctor actually said it would be great therapy. Her teacher is a very godly Ukrainian man, who writes the songs that he teaches her. He doesn't speak English, so all the lessons are translated by our friend, Roman.

Puppies

Puppies are so cute. Our dog had eight of these littles cutties. Well, there used to be eight anyway. Some things are hard for us to understand(especially Jessica).

He giveth and He taketh away.

This is a sad but true story. Yes, we have puppies. Both Jessica and Josh were excited when our dog Jenny had 8 little puppies last month. They had a hard time waiting until their eyes opened. They were so happy when they could finally hold them. But mom kept hearing little puppies sound under the desk when it was school time. They were always trying to sneak them in the house. Well, all the fun ended this morning. About 5:15 this morning, I woke up and smelled smoke. Of course I woke up Jason and we tried to find the fire. We couldn't find it in the house. But then we heard the puppies crying. Our wood shed was on fire. A heat light had fallen on some doggy bedding.The dog house had burned up with 6 of the puppies in it. And part of our wood pile was on fire. We formed our own fire department, quickly. Dad was fire cheif, Mom fill water buckets, and kid's carried filled water buckets. The fire was soon out, PTL! We are so thankful it wasn't any worse. Our wood shed it metal so it didn't burn, but just some of the things inside. After the fire was put out and everyone was calmed down, we knelt down as a family and thank the Lord for His protection. No one was hurt, we still have most of our winter wood pile, our dog Jenny wasn't hurt and we still have 2 puppies to play with, of all these things we can be thankful. But we still miss the puppies.

We were in our old stomping ground, Nova Odessa, over the 14 and 15th. We were filling in for fellow missionary, Katrina. It was great to be back and see many friends. But the ones that were children in Kid's Club when we were there are now tranlating for Kid's Club and church.

Had to share this great picture with you. This picture was taken in Siberia in the same area where Jason will be going. Yes, Jason's visa for Siberia came through tonight, so it looks like he really is going. Thanks for praying. He plans on leaving Feb 27th and returning on March 21st. Please pray that God will go before him and make the way clear. He is planning on taking a pastor friend, Serga, and a translator, Stephen. God has already been working things out, when our first translator backed out and God provided another, which will be even better. Jason will be encouraging small house churches, giving out Bibles and preaching in remote villages in the Arctic circle. Pray for their safety, as the temperature is suppose to be around -40. He will most likely be doing some of his traveling by sled. But most of all pray for those that have never heard the Gospel, will hear it and give their hearts to the Lord.

MUD!!!

We love snow! Yes we live in the right place if we love that white stuff that frequently falls from the sky. But we don't love what happens when it all melts. We took Katrina, our missionary friend, to the airport on Tues. morning. We couldn't get our van in our driveway, so we had to leave it at a friend's house on the other side of the village. Katrina's flight was VERY early. Don't ask me why she had to get the 5am flight. That meant we had to leave our house at 3am. And it wasn't like we could just jump in the van. Try imagining this (it was too dark at that hour for pictures). Jason went ahead to warm up the van. So Katrina and I headed across the back field with a flashlight and most of her luggage. The field was wet but not as muddy as the road. But when we started across the wheat field I just knew we would sink in or maybe slide farther than we wanted to, so we went around. When we saw the headlight of the van it was a welcomed sight. Jason met us at the end of the paved road and we were glad to ride the rest of the way to the airport. We were all happy to get Katrina to the airport on time, in spite of the mud.

Allow me to Brag.

Jessica and her friend, Luba, making cookies in our kitchen here in Ukraine. Those of you who know me, know that I love children. And that includes my own children. Yes, I love children's ministry and all that it involves, but I can say that I love working with and teaching my two children, Jessica and Joshua. This last week something happened that made me treasure my daughter even more. We were having a typical missionary day, people in and out of the house. We had just finished lunch,(three guest) when I was called to the door and need to speak with a lady and then we prayed with her before she left. When I headed back to the kitchen to start on the clean up, I found that Jessica had already done it and was just finishing up to head back to her school work. It made me sooooo thankful for a daughter who is old enough to see what needs to be done and does it without being told. Kids are great, when we take the time to teach them how to be. No I can't take all the credit for this. I would just have to say that God gave me a wonderful daughter

Sunday School in Osikova

It has been harder than I thought to get the Sunday School up and going here in our village, Osikova. Lately it has been gain one kid and lose two. There has been a Sunday School here in the past, but for some reason the parents and children are a little shy about coming. I guess that is why they call missionary work, WORK. Well, yes it is work sometimes. Not that I am complaining. It is the kind of work I love. I wanted to show you all a few pictures of what we have been doing in Sunday School. Yesterday was a great day, even though several of the kids were sick and didn't come. We are learning about the Armor of the Lord(Eph.6) and I am telling the story of Pilgrim's Progress. Jason has been a big help in acting out the story. Yesterday he was throwing darts, and I was glad that I had a good shield. The kid's are loving it and they are not the only ones. My tranalator says he likes it more than church. Growing up he never had Sunday School. This past week we started another weekly children's service in Kanyazachee. This village is much larger and the children seem more interested. We will see how many children come next week. Only the Lord knows and it is our job to be faithful. If you are looking for a prayer project, you could pray for our Sunday School and the ministry to children here in Ukraine.

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