A mission team from Oak Hills church in San Antonio arrived yesterday. I met them at the airport and helped shuttle luggage to camp where they will minister for the next two weeks. This team has been coming for many years. It’s good to see old friends.
Tomorrow (the 14th) is Valerie’s fourth birthday. We celebrated early because Olga’s mother left for Montenegro this morning, and I came to Estonia today. Our friend Olga Ryazhskikh also joined us.
Here’s a little ‘familiana’, when we ate the birthday cake:
Olga and Valerie were coloring together at dacha. The light was good and the subject superb.
I love my family.
I’ve just arrived in Estonia after a very nice drive from St. Petersburg. I took a little video while I was in No Man’s Land on the bridge between Ivangorod, Russia and Narva, Estonia.
Two fortresses face one another across the Narva river: on the Russian side Ivanogorod Fortress was built in the 1490s, to fend off the Livonian (German) knights. Herman Castle, a Danish and then Livonian Teutonic fortress from the 13th century, sits opposite on the Estonia bank. It’s quite beautiful, really.
I’ll be here a few days, working on a few items related to the center for disabled children we plan to build here in Johvi, and I’ll also visit with our good friends here.
A friend in Estonia, Artur Pold, bought Valerie a bike last week. I took it to Russia with me a few days ago. We went for a walk/ride in the park across the street from our flat in St. Petersburg:
We are so very thankful for the many good friends and great family we have in so many places — Russia, Finland, Estonia, Belarus, Montenegro, and the USA.
You don’t see this every day —
At dacha last week, a member of our family (who shall remain un-named) was cleaning the inside of the reservoir we use for the water system.
(That’s our banya in the background.)
We are back in Russia after a great visit to the US. We arrived in St. Pete a little over a week ago. After battling jet lag, we are finally back on schedule.
This weekend we are at dacha (rhymes with ‘gotcha’). A dacha is a Russian country house, anything from a hovel to a mansion. Olga’s grandparents own a house in a small village south of the city. We came here to open up the house and prepare for the summer. Part of that involves planting. Above is a picture of Olga planting carrots. We’ve also done a lot of mowing and cleaning (and eating and sleeping).
This is Valerie’s first visit to dacha and she loves it. She had her first Russian banya (sauna) last night and really liked it. We’re very happy to have time here. For those of you who have asked, Valerie is recovering splendidly from her hernia surgery. She barely missed a beat.
Next week I (Mike) go to Estonia to do some work and have meetings about the center for disabled children we plan to open in Johvi. We are renting a flat in Johvi, and I need to spend some time there, too. Recently two missionary families stayed there in our absence. It’s a real blessing to people.
Camp Elama is getting ready for a full summer, I’ll be with a team in Montenegro in July, and MIR will send about 50 foster children from Russia to a Christian camp in Estonia. Stoneworks is hoping to open a home in Belarus for young men who have graduated from orphanages; we’re calling it Timothy House. There’s a lot going on, as usual.
We are happy and thankful for all our good friends and family all over the world. God has blessed us, and we thank Him.
I drove from Estonia into Russia this morning, crossing the border at 7am. It’s cold here now — about -20C (-4F) — and that makes everything beautifully frosty.
On the road from Narva to St. Petersburg:
Olga has been teaching English on Monday nights for quite a while. And now Valerie is helping!
The young man is Kostya Protasov. He was a heroin addict who lived as a thief and extortionist before becoming a pagan who sacrificed to the gods of the forest; as a result of his drug use he contracted HIV and Hepatitis C. He ended up at a Christian rehab center but got sick of it. This is what happened as he fled the center, waiting for a train to go to the city:
As I waited, the pictures of my empty past and dreary future filled my mind, and I heard a voice in my heart saying: “Go back to the center lest you die!” Going back to the center was 8 kilometers through the forest and my bag that I had to carry [was heavy], but somehow I made a decision to go back.
I went through the forest and felt the presence of God! His mercy, His tremendous love overwhelmed me! I thought of many of my friends who in their “search of truth” and trying different things in life did not reach the most important – Jesus and His Word that really sets free.
One of the center workers told me: when a man takes one step towards God, God takes ten steps towards him! The hunger to know Jesus burnt in my heart, the desire to live in fellowship with Him. He met me in so many ways and the things that were impossible for me before became possible! I once was lost in sin, but Jesus took me in and set me free from the chains of addictions!”
You can read his full story here, (scroll down the page a little).
The Government has issued a travel warning due to the bad winter weather.
They suggest that anyone traveling in the current icy conditions should make sure they have the following:
I looked like an idiot on the metro this morning . . .
😉
Mike and Olga Cantrell 