Teri Tarlton, IMB Missionary

Teri Tarlton, IMB colleague and friend, passed away unexpectantly at her home in Moscow, Russia this morning. Teri and her husband, Ed, have served in Moscow for the last 14 years. They are the Strategy Associate for all of Russia. Ed and Terri have four children Adam, Anna, Rebecca and Rachel. Teri was in her late 40's.

Calvin and I had the privelege of being mentored by them while we were in Richmond for our training last summer. Recently, Ed and Teri were in Kiev for visa renewals. We were blessed to share the 4th of July with them. Teri was such a beautiful person inside and out. She impacted my life and encouraged me as a mother.

Please join all of us as we intercede for the family and the CEE family. Right now, Ed is in Moscow. Rebecca and Rachel are on their way back to Moscow from a MK retreat in Budapest, Hungary. Adam is at North Greenville College in South Carolina. Anna is at a university in Oklahoma. This family needs our prayers as plans are made.

This is a picture from the 4th of July. Teri has a banner on because it was also a birthday celebration in honor of her.

borsch lunch

Try my Borsch?!

BEFORE I FORGET : YOU CAN DOUBLE CLICK ON THE PICTURES AND YOU WILL SEE THEM FULL SCREEN.

Valya makes the borsch at our house. She shared her recipe with us and this week I made some. When our teacher and the pastor of the church where we study found out that I had made borsch, they wanted to try it. I think it was their first borsch made by an American. Well, it was this American's first time making Borsch! We had so much fun! Along with the soup, I made some fresh yeast rolls and some white chilled chai. The first picture is Pastor Boyko raising his cup with approval of the chai. He teases us because we like to drink Coca Cola Light. He said the borsch was "concentrated." He said that usually they add more water so that more can eat from the pot.

In the pictures are Pastor Boyko, Luba (our teacher), Tonya (Janet's conversation partner) and Tonya's son, Oleg and his fiance Zhana. Tonya has such a precious spirit. She reached out to me the first time she saw me. She doesn't speak any English but there is such a sweet fellowship between us. Tonya and family were getting ready for the wedding this Saturday. It was a blessing that we brought lunch for all to share. Zhana speaks beautiful English and I hope to get to know her better. Just sharing a meal brought us all together. Praise the Lord! And, thanks Valya for the recipe. I would like to share it with all of you.

Ukrainian Borsch
1 beet
1 big carrot
2 onions
4 - 5 potatoes
3 cups grated cabbage
1 red bell pepper
1 - 2 cups sour cream
1 c tomato paste
2 chicken bullion cubes (about 8 American size)
2 bay leaves
Salt, pepper, dill and parsley to your taste
1 - 2 T sugar

Grate all the vegetables. and bring to boil with about 2 liters of water. Cook about 20 minutes. Add, boullion, seasonings, tomato paste and sugar if needed. Cook about 15 minutes. Add sour cream and cook another 5 minutes.

Serve with a dallop of sour cream and some good crusty bread. Remember, borsch without sour cream is just soup!

walking to grocery

So many times on my way to the grocery store I think "I wish I had my camera." Today I remembered to bring it. It takes about 8 minutes to walk to our "Cilpo." It is such a nice walk. We pass 3 schools on the way. Some of the scenes I will not post because of the graffiti on the buildings. This is a great time to prayer walk for our huge neighborhood.

Lunch at Luba's

On Wednesday, we had lunch with one of our language teachers, Luba. Luba lives on the outskirts of the city, Bucha. Population 30,000. We had an incredibly wonderful day. She prepared a delightful Ukrainian lunch consisting of a chicken patty dipped in flour and egg and pan fried, cucumber, tomato, cabbage and tuna salad, boiled new potatoes with dill, pelmini dumplings eached stuffed with either cabbage, home made cottage cheese and little sugar or home grown blueberries with a dallop of sour cream and lastly white or black bread. To drink we were offered black currant compote, seltzer water or Kavac. Many Ukrainiana drink Kavac in the summer months. I think it is made with bread but is NOT fermented, usually. They also make and drink it at the church where we have language school. We tasted it but ended up drinking the compote. By the end of the meal, we were stuffed and did not have room for any chai (hot tea).

Before lunch we toured Luba's home. This home is the home where she and her sister grew up with her parents. Now Luba, her son and his wife live here together. It is very comfortable modest home - very common for most Ukrainians who live in a house. Outside she has tomatoes, dill, parsley, carrots and other veggies growing.

After lunch, we took a driving tour of Bucha, visited her parents and husband's graves. Adam had a blast. He did not want to leave and could not understand why we would want to drive around in the car when we could play at Ms. Luba's house!

It was a most relaxing day! Hope you enjoy the pics.

Celebrating July 4th!

What a great time of food and fellowship we enjoyed with our IMB families. There are severals units here in Kiev. We also had some of the Russia Field here for Visa renewals. We all gathered in the forests next to a small lake. We had an old fashioned grill about 6 inches off the ground. We had "Shoshlyk" (pork on skewers) with all the trimmings - potato salad, coleslaw and homemade ice cream. One family had an old hand churn style ice cream maker. Everyone had to take their turn churning. I made some oatmeal cookies. This is such a good time for our MK's to talk and have fun together. Three of our older MK's will be heading off to college in the States. Please remember their parents.

Just three Georgia girls. Jennifer, Janet and Lori. Both Jennifer and Lori have daughters headed to college in the states. Jennifer is from Vidalia, Ga. She and her family serve in Siberia. Lori is a PK from Ga. She and her family serve in Kiev. They are our up stairs neighbors. After all these years in Russia , they both still have those beautiful southern accents!

Centre of Odessa

Here are few more pictures of "downtown" Odessa. Hope you all enjoy!