Thanksgiving 2009 Part One

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Odessa! We missed family and American traditions but we gave thanks for the many blessings from our Lord in 2009. Adam enjoyed being with kids of all ages.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving in Odessa. Our friend and colleague, Elizabeth House, came down from Kiev to spend the holiday with us! On Thursday, we enjoyed a wonderful buffet style dinner with missionaries from various sending agencies and the seminary students.

My Guys

The loves of my life.....my husband and my son.

Mission Team from Georgia

A great big thank you to Dan Riordan and John Paul Hassick and their team members for coming to help us in Odessa. They blessed the lives of many children with their puppets, songs, animal balloons, games and just loving on the children. We also enjoyed some Diet Mountain Dew!

Harvest Day

Baptist in Ukraine have a Harvest Day Celebration in either late September or early October. Somewhat like our thanksgving, believers celebrate the harvest that the Lord has provided. Illychosk Baptist Church has six small daughter churches. All the daughter churches came together to celebrate Harvest Day. Everyone enjoyed singing, reciting poems and the preaching of God's Word. Afterwards, there was an outdoor "dinner on the grounds." The children in this photo have all been adopted by church members with the exception of two children.

A picture is worth a thousand words

We have visited many village churches and most do not have indoor plumbing. They do not provide corn cobs but occasionally there is some toilet paper. Our motto: Have wipes will travel. Indoor plumbing would be the first item on the list of things to do in America but seems to be at the bottom of the list here in Ukraine. Have a great day and be thankful :)

Not today but tomorrow

FIRST.....let me say that I know that I am not a writer! However, I feel that I should share this with you. Last week, I walked over to the cosmetics store because I needed some hair color. I picked up a box of Revlon and a box of L'Oreal. A store clerk asked if I needed some help and I said that I was only looking. Then, I put the L'Oreal back on the shelf and took down another box of Revlon. So, I had a box of Revlon in each hand and was trying to decide which color to purchase. Soon, I was approached by two clerks. I suppose one was there for support. The pretty young woman asked me if I wanted to buy the Revlon and I said yes. She then said that I couldn't buy Revlon today. Of course, I was surprised and asked why. She gave me a very kind explanation in Russian that I could not understand. I looked around the store and noticed that I was their only customer. There were at least 4 or 5 employees in the store. The shelves were fully stocked and I saw at least 20 boxes of Revlon haircolor. I placed the boxes back on the shelf. Then, I asked her when could I purchase the Revlon haircolor and she replied that I could buy it tomorrow. Tomorrow. It didn't make any sense to me. Why would they not sell me the hair color when it was obvious that there was plenty on the shelf? I thanked them, smiled and walked out the door with no purchase.
I have shared this incident with a few people here in Odessa and no one has been able to offer a valid explanation of why I could not purchase the haircolor. We have had a good laugh over the not today but tomorrow approach to selling.
So, why am I writing about this little incident? The Lord brought to my mind a verse from Proverbs 3:27 "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due. When it is in the power of your hand to do so." Most every day, I have at least a short conversation with some one. Maybe this person is checking out what is on the shelf of my life. Maybe they would like to know how and when they can have what I have. So the question for me is...have I shared Christ today or have I said "not today but tomorrow"? What about you?

Much joy,
Janet

Lost One

Adam is a Snaggle Tooth! He lost his first tooth on Tuesday. His bottom tooth has been loose for some time. Then, we noticed that a new tooth was coming in behind the loose tooth. He wiggled his baby tooth. We wiggled the baby tooth and it just would not come out. We had to resort to the piece of stringe technique. His eyes are puffy in the photos because this triumph did not come without shedding some tears. All is well and the Tooth Beary came to visit :)

Jesus Loves the Little Children

It's true Jesus loves children. He tells us that we have to come to Him in childlike faith. In our home, we often sing "Jesus, loves the little children all the children of Ukraine." Here are some pictures of some of the children that Jesus loves in Ukraine!

Outdoor FUN

Summer is drawing to an end here in Odessa! We wanted to take one more trip to the Lehman before it is too cool to get in the salt water. The Lehman has a very high content of salt in the sea water which is similar to the Dead Sea. Adam couldn't resist putting the mud all over his legs! He and Jon had a great time. NOW the threesome that you see is MK Elliot Mliakoff and two young women from Moscow who are visiting his family. The girls completely covered themselves in the black, salty mud! You must be asking how do get this stuff off? We bring several jugs of water to rinse with before ANYONE is allowed in the car :) FUN! FUN! FUN!

Outdoor Baptism

Most churches in Ukraine conduct baptismal services in a lake, river or the sea. Illichosk Baptist Church had their first baptismal service in their new baptismal pool located on the church property. On this day, there were 12 candidates for baptism. What a beautiful testimony!

Outdoor Concert

Our colleagues, the Mliakoff Family, are very talented. A couple of weeks ago, we enjoyed a cookout and then an outdoor concert. Rhonda is a concert flutist. Their children also play. Sophia and Deborah play violin. Elliot plays the upright bass or cello and Jon plays the piano. Stephan also joined in on this occasion. Stephan is a volunteer from Germany. He is a classical guitarist. The music was beautiful! Also, in these pictures are our colleagues William and Wynna Withers. The Withers are moving to Western Ukraine this month.

Sunday in the Village - Part Three

The second service began at 2 pm and concluded at 4 pm. Following the service, the interim pastor and his family invited us to their home for dinner. We had a delicious meal and good fellowship. This pastor and his wife and four children live in one room and a kitchen. Their home is very modest and they do not have an indoor toilet. One thing they do possess is JOY! It was so evident that God's hand is upon them and they take joy in serving Christ. Please remember this family and all the pastors in Ukraine who serve the village churches with little to no salary.

Sunday in the Village Part Two

Worship at the first village church started at 10 am and was concluded around 12 noon. Then we enjoyed tea and cookies with the pastor. We left this church shortly after 1 pm and headed to the second village church. As we understand, this church only had 3 older ladies who regularly attended. The church was dying. A nearby sister church began to pray about what they could do to help. After much prayer, they decided to send some of their own members to help out. The church sent two families and some young people. The church is growing and young people (ages 14 -25) are beginning to come and see what is going on! The church meets in an unfinished building. The sanctuary has been "dried in." They meet in a small room and most sit on pieces of lumber resting on some blocks or chairs. The young people participate with special music and poems that they have written. Calvin was invited to preach. Anna is the young woman translating. It was such a sweet, sweet spirit. The older ladies have welcomed these young people into the church.

Sunday in the Village - Part One

Last Sunday, we were invited to speak in two village churches. This church had about 30 in attendance. The village has a population of about 14,000. The church is in the planning and praying stages of building a new church closer to the center of the city. A Baptist church service usually consists of offering up prayers, poems, songs and at least two messages. After the service, they treated us to tea and cookies. It was a very sweet fellowship.

Chicken Pot Pie and Fellowship

We love to have people in our home for food and fellowship. Last week, we had two young women over, Amanda and Suzanna. Amanda is studying at Odessa Seminary for 6 weeks this summer. She is a senior at Moody Bible Institute. Amanda comes to our home for mentoring, also. Amanda is the young woman seated in the middle of the sofa. Suzanna arrived in Odessa about 3 weeks ago. She is from Germany and with another sending agency. We have been helping to get her settled until the rest of her team arrives. We enjoyed chicken pot pie and a very special treat of green salad. P.S. Thank you to Ms. Merle Pearman and Ms. Gaynell Johnson for the chicken pie recipe. We always get compliments on your recipe.