Winter finally arrived! We had a (relatively) warm December and early January, and now we have a good full-on Russian winter. This picture was taken by my friend Zhenya Koltakoff as we were exploring in the forests north of the city.

As some people know, we’re in the process of applying for US green cards for Olga and Valerie. We thought we’d be in the States by now but the US government has asked for more documents, so we’ll file another round of paperwork and wait to see what they say. Who knows when we’ll go the the U.S. of A. . . . .

Since our last newsletter, I (Mike) have traveled a bit with visits to Belarus and Estonia. It’s been good to have time with friends (who are ministry partners). In addition to the travel, I’ve been helping Sergei Tovstopyat and Ursula Randlaine prepare for trips to the States, and I’m planning for summer mission trips. This summer we’ll have two teams in Montenegro, a team in Estonia and a team in Russia. We recently hosted a friend from the States, Seth, who was here for a few days after delivering a plane from Portugal (he’s a pilot). We love to host people, so come visit.

For the past few weeks the Cantrells have been happily at home. Valerie is doing well homeschooling, learning the piano, taking dance classes and memorizing Scripture. We’ve been getting our flat in order and even re-arranged the living room furniture.

And now from Olga: “The last month has been a little challenging, but I feel like we have passed a little milestone in Valerie’s homeschooling and upbringing. Valerie likes to memorize scriptures and do a lot of creative things. I’m learning to make bread and enjoy it very much. You know, it feels like a new beginning.”

Valerie says, “Thank you. Dad, Mom and Valerie love everybody. You’re welcome!”

A Little Familiana

January 14, 2014March 18, 2020Leave a comment

Well, it looks like I’ve finally figured out the problem with posting pictures on this site. It took me quite a while (needed to change folder permissions on the server), but now I’m able to create posts again. Hopefully that’s the last of our ‘issues’. Goodness, I spent many hours troubleshooting that problem.

A week or so ago we had friends over for “Mexican Night” and Val helped make tortillas. (I really like Olga’s home-made tortillas.) We cooked fajitas and made quesadillas and nachos. Tough life in Russia. . . .

Here is a video of Valerie reading. She is now reading and writing in both Russian and English. Just three years ago, when she was three and half years old, she spoke only three words. She’s a sharp kid. . .

Well, here’s a video of her almost exactly three years ago (at the same desk, in the same lap) saying two of those initial three words: gde, papa (where, papa). She could also say mama. By the time this video was made (5 weeks after she came to live with us) she could also say vse (meaning, done!).

Here’s a fun moment when I was showing her how to make videos using my small camera. She was pretty excited (poor kid had a few sores on her lip).

Now that our site is working again, I hope to post more updates, news, Postcards and devotionals.

Shchi – Russian Sauerkraut Soup

December 16, 2013Leave a comment

Here’s another Russian recipe for you foodies. Here is Olga’s recipe for this very traditional Russian soup (pronounced ‘shee’)–

Ingredients

• Beef – 1 pound (or as much as you want)

• Potatoes – 3-4 medium potatoes (or as much as you want)

• Carrots – 1 or 2

• Onion – 1 small

• Sauerkraut – 1 pound (or as much as you want)

• Bay leaf

• Parsley

• Pepper

• Celery powder (spice) – a touch

• Barley (optional) – ½cup

• Oat Meal – ½ cup

• Salt

——-

1. Rinse meat and put in pot in COLD water

2. Skim off the foam as it rises, before boiling is reached

3. Once the water is boiling – add onion, one or two whole carrots, bay leaf, spices, barley

4. Cook for 1.5 hours, at low boil

5. Add potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes

6. Cook for another 15 minutes (or until potatoes are almost done, don’t overcook)

7. Add oatmeal and sauerkraut

8. Cook for another 5 – 10 minutes

9. Add spices for flavoring

Notes:

Remove meat, cut it into pieces and add to soup, or keep for another dish

you can mash the potatoes once the soup is done.

From Lakselv to Tana

November 28, 2013Leave a comment

Here’s a video of our drive through Finnmark, in Northern Norway. Yura and I made the trip in September, and Yura set it to music —

A Postcard from Russia – Tempus Fugit

November 26, 2013March 18, 20202 Comments

Once again, it’s been a very full month since our last newsletter. We celebrated our 12th anniversary on Sunday. Tempus Fugit, eh? For our anniversary, a friend who works at the Four Seasons gave us a free pass to High Tea (thanks, Masha!). It was quite a treat. You can see how elegant it was and what a beautiful date I had.

I (Mike) was in the States for two weeks attending a Stoneworks board meeting and having good time with family, friends and ministry partners. Sadly, I wasn’t able to meet with everyone I wanted, but we should have opportunities:

Several months ago we filed paperwork with the US government to get green cards for Olga and Valerie. We intend to get US passports, and this is the first step. At some point we will (hopefully) be in the States for an extended visit as we finish up the process. We do not intend to live in the States full time but sense that we should now get US citizenship for Olga and Valerie.

We are already planning mission trips for next year. As the Lord wills, I’ll be in Montenegro with a team in May, and in July we’ll have teams in Russia, Montenegro and Estonia. (Anyone interested in leading a team to Belarus?) We are moving forward in our plans to buy land in Montenegro to open a Christian camp.

Interestingly, we don’t yet have the money for the purchase, but everything else is in great shape: good relationships, much unity among the leaders and a clear dependence on God’s guidance and provision. We will need money when the time comes to buy, but we’re not quite there yet.

And now from Olga: It is hard to believe that Mike and I have been married for 12 years! It seems just like yesterday, and I keep thinking what a young and inexperienced girl I was then. Now my life is so full! I continue homeschooling Valerie, which a great fun, though it is challenging at times. Next year according to Russian system Valerie has to start school, and we are hoping we can home-school her here. The Russian law has been changing on that. Also, it is far less common here to educate your children at home, and pretty often now I get into conversations about it with various people. One of them was my dad. When I first told him about our decision to home-school Valerie he was very negative, but as we talked more he actually admitted that it made a lot of sense. So we are on this fun and hard road, and we love every bit of it. Valerie keeps making progress and loves discovering new things and new skills!

In Christ,

Mike, Olga and Valerie Cantrell

Upcoming schedule:
Nov 27 – Dec 4 Estonia
Dec 15 – 19 Belarus

A Postcard from Russia

October 20, 2013March 18, 2020Leave a comment

Well, well. Autumn is here and we put on winter tires just in time; we’ve just seen the first snow of the season. Many of the leaves have now fallen. It’s been a glorious Autumn.

After a tremendous amount of travel (Central Europe, Germany, Montenegro, Estonia, Finland and Norway), we are now at least settled in the same general area. I’m in Estonia for a few days taking care of some business (like putting on winter tires) and head to Russia tomorrow.

On Friday we had a board meeting of Sunbeam, the center for children with disabilities in Estonia. That program is doing very well (but is in need of financing, as is often the case). The director, Ursula, is a very good leader, and more children are joining the program. In addition to the wonderful paid staff, we also have two interns from the USA serving for several months. The leadership team is pictured below.

One VERY good outcome of the meeting is our intention to open a Christian kindergarten in one wing of the building. I hope to have more news about that in the coming months. This was Artur’s idea, and we all agree that it will be a wonderful thing to have a Christian school there, starting with a kindergarten. Continue reading →

Valerie on the Pi-a-ner

October 19, 2013Leave a comment

Valerie is taking piano lessons:

This is the piano that Valerie’s great-grandfather Orest learned on over 80 years ago. Valerie’s teacher, Olga, is very good and, even though she’s just beginning, it’s been quite fun to watch Valerie, learning to read, write and play music. She’s recently been asking to play my mandolin, too.

Olga’s Borsch Recipe

October 7, 2013Leave a comment

Preparation time: 3 – 4 hours

3-4 medium sized beets
3 medium potatoes
Half of a small green cabbage
1-2 chicken fillet breasts or the equivalent of beef or turkey (the meat can also be on the bone)
2 medium onions
2 medium carrots
3-4 bay leaves
3-4 pepper corns (or ground pepper)
2-3 bullion cubes (optional, I usually add it if I use chicken, but you don’t have to do it. Beef and other meats are flavorful enough by themselves)
1-2 Tsp white vinegar
Salt to flavor
Parsley to flavor
Dill to flavor

Boil the beets beforehand. Don’t cut them, don’t peal them, just wash and cook them with a lot of water. You check their readiness the same way you check potatoes. (It will take about 3 hours to cook the beets.)

Shred Cabbage and set aside for later.

Rinse the meat, put in a large pot and fill with water leaving 2-3 inches on top. Add one onion and bay leaf. Bring to boil, continually skim off the foam on top before the water starts boiling.

(The time for preparing the soup depends on the time it takes the meat to cook. For chicken it takes 1 hour, for beef, turkey or pork – about 2 hours.)

When the water starts boiling reduce the heat, add salt and pepper corn (or ground pepper) and shredded cabbage.

Peal potatoes and cut in bite-size chunks. Add them to soup 20 minutes before it is done (if the potatoes cook too long, they will be too soft).

Chop the second onion and grate the carrots. In a skillet sauté the onion until golden then add carrots and keep sautéing for a few more minutes. Add to the soup 5 minutes before it’s done.

Right after that take out the meat, cut into bite size chunks and put back into the soup.

Add bullion cubes. Remove the whole onion and throw away (unless you like boiled onion, which I don’t).

Peal beets, grate them and add to the soup 1 minute before it’s done. Immediately after that, add vinegar. Start with 1 Tsp and taste the soup. You have to be careful with vinegar because if you put too much, it will make the soup bitter. Add more if you need it. Vinegar will keep the color in. Add parsley and dill. Taste, and adjust the seasonings.

You are done. Serve it with sour cream, freshly chopped parsley and dill (and dark rye bread!).

Driving in Norway

October 2, 2013Leave a comment

From time to time I post videos of places I’ve driven. While in Norway, Yura made some pretty long videos of our drive. I’ve trimmed a few down so you can see what it’s like up there. These were all made as we drove from Lakselv to Vadsø, across Finnmark.

Driving Across the Tundra —

On a fjord (the fjord appears at 1:07) —

A rainbow appeared —

Pic Dump

September 30, 2013March 25, 2020Leave a comment

Here are a few pictures that didn’t find their way into other posts —

Here is a screen grab from a Skype call we made a while ago. Valerie likes to send me messages while we talk. When I’m traveling, at least we have Skype —

I took this as we crossed from Finland (left bank) into Norway (right bank). This is the Anarjohka River, the border also between Lapland and Finnmark.