A Postcard from Estonia

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I’ve just had a nice visit to Estonia. It was very nice to have a quite leadership meeting with Artur, Andres and Ursula. I hope to have some very good news about Sunbeam in the near future. Artur always seems to have some great plan in process . . . .

I received an email from a Norwegian believer, Trygve Nilsen, who I met a year ago when he visited Estonia. Two weeks ago as he was praying, he felt led to contact me about a small ministry in Moldova that he’s been helping. My heart leapt when I read his note. A pastor there, Victor Urasinov, has a small church and runs a crisis center for single mothers. They help about 15 mothers and their children. Additionally, Victor and his wife have adopted eight orphans. I’ve exchanged emails with Victor and like all that I hear from him. I may try to make a fact-finding trip there. So, we’ll see how that goes . . . .

I’m in the thick of planning multiple mission trips and helping support the workers over here. We’ll have teams in Norway, Russia, Estonia and Montenegro. I plan to be with the teams in all of those countries, so the next few months will be quite busy preparing and then traveling. More news on that later.

A friend sent a message the other day reminding me of a great truth about our God. He is a refuge in times of trouble. We do not need to fix our problems before we go to Him. He wants us to run to Him in times of trouble, to find safety with Him.

Green Card News

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As many of you know, we’re applying for US green cards for Olga and Valerie. We don’t intend to live in the States full time, but we feel like now is a good time to get green cards.

Our lawyer just wrote saying that it may take another 5 – 9 months before we’d go to the States. I’m very surprised at this but the US government is taking longer than expected to process applications, and it’s just a long plain old long process.

However, this means that we’ll probably be on this side of the ocean for the summer, and that’s good. We can do a lot of work at dacha and I’ve got plenty to do in Russia, Estonia and Montenegro as we have teams coming over for summer ministry. Our lives are not our own, and we’re happy to be here if the Lord wants that. Though we’re sad that we’ll be away from our family and friends in the States for so long. (It’s been two years since we visited Texas!)

Onward!

Encouragement

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A good friend sent me a note yesterday. I had written to him, thanking him for his partnership and mentorship over the years as we’ve worked together in ministry. His letter was a great encouragement —

At church I am in a 5 person rotation for leading opening hymns and prayers and scripture. I was leader yesterday, and the Psalm was Psalm 15 (see below). Without necessarily naming these ideals specifically, I feel we have tried to live by them in our dealings, and it has borne great fruit in our lives and for the lives of others.

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain?

The one whose walk is blameless,

who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from their heart;

whose tongue utters no slander,

who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others;

who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord;

who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind;

who lends money to the poor without interest;

who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

 

note: I will point out that I believe under the New Covenant we are not to despise people. Our battle isn’t against human beings; it’s a spiritual battle. We’re to despise (feel contempt or a deep repugnance for) vile spirits and attitudes. I’ve experienced plenty of extortion, gossip, manipulation, etc, all of which I despise. I love the extortionists, the gossips and the manipulators. (Or at least I’m working on it.)

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

A Postcard from Russia

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cold

To Belarus and Beyond; All are Different, All are Loved; Faces of Sunbeam

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

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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

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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.

 

A Postcard from Russia – Tempus Fugit

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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

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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

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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.