Sunbeam Open House

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I was in Estonia last week for the Open House at Sunbeam. The mayor of Jõhvi, city administrators and townfolk came to learn more about the center and see our progress. Mary Walsh and Janice Himmelsbach, supporters from the US, were also there. They are in town advising the staff about the program.

Things are coming along pretty well. We already have three children signed up, so it’s nice to know that we can hit the ground running when the building is ready. We’ll need more money to finish out the building, though. All in all, it’s great to see what’s been accomplished since February 1.

In addition to the center for children with disabilities, we’ve also rented a portion of the building to the Salvation Army, a kindergarten and a youth center. A Christian dance company is also talking with us about renting the hall. So, Sunbeam has become a ministry center, more than our original vision for only a day center for children.

Such is the Spirit

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I’ve just returned from time with a mission team in Montenegro and I’d like to share one example of how the team served and how God spoke.

We ran a youth camp for a few days earlier this week. As a part of the camp, in one session the team had a time during which each camper was prayed for and team members would share impressions that they sensed as they prayed; the purpose is to share scriptures and words of encouragement and comfort.

One of the young lady campers heard about this ahead of time, and that day, as she was reading the Bible story of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet with perfume and wiping them with her hair (Luke 7) the camper said to God something like — ‘if this team is really hearing from you and if you really speak to people, then have one of the team members mention the story of this woman to me today’.

We all, Americans and campers, sat in a circle as the team shared their words of encouragement. Each team member prayed, asking God to give good words to share with each camper. Many good, encouraging words and scriptures were shared with all the campers. When the time came to share with this young lady, though people said many things to her, no one mentioned the story.

After we’d spoken to each camper, there was a time for team members to say anything they may not have had time to share before. Again, no one mentioned the story to the young lady. She was dispirited and sort of ‘gave up’ on the whole thing.

After we dismissed that meeting, one of the team members went to the young lady and said that the Lord had put something on her heart for the camper. It was Luke 7, the story of the woman washing Jesus’ feet!

The camper was in awe that the Lord would hear her prayer and love her so much as to answer it so specifically. Her heart was deeply touched and she was very encouraged. Only God could make that specific connection for that young woman. Her faith was increased and she felt the touch of the Lord.

God is love. He will be found by those who seek Him.

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We had a work day at Elama on Saturday. It was cool and rainy, so we didn’t get as much work done as we’d hoped, but we had a great time of fellowship together. Elama will host quite a few people this summer.

I’m now in Montenegro, awaiting the arrival of a mission team. The busy part of the summer will quick be upon us.

Here are a few pictures of the day:

elama work day 021 Workday at ElamaMasha, Katya, Yan, Olga, Sergei (Kristina was with the kids, I took the picture)

elama work day 022 Workday at ElamaKsusha (one of Sergei and Kristina’s daughters) by the summer kitchen

elama work day 004 Workday at Elama
Sergei and Kristina

elama work day 005 Workday at Elamaof course, we cooked shashleek

elama work day 002 Workday at Elama
and you gotta have kvas!
elama work day 019 Workday at Elama
Masha Oshkina
elama work day 023 Workday at Elama
two years ago a mission team cut down a BIG tree; we finally got it cut up and moved; now we need to split it for firewood

Snapshots from Russia

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We were all at dacha for the May 9 Victory Day holidays earlier this week. I go to Montenegro tomorrow to meet a mission team, and it was nice to have this family time before my trip.

The little white flowers are called “Under the Snow” and are considered to be the first flowers of Springtime. The daffodils are also blooming now.

The buds are on the trees:

We organized and cleaned the summer kitchen. It looks worlds better than it did:

Of course, we have a meal together. We cooked shashleek the day before and had good leftovers as well as traditional Russian salads.

Great-granddad Orest came to visit our home a few weeks ago. I like this picture:

A Trip To Elama

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Yesterday Sergei and I went to Elama, our camp about an hour north of St. Pete. It’s time to start opening it up, and yesterday among other things we connected the primary part of the water system to be sure things are working. We also met with some workers who will clear some land and remove trash (see pictures below).

This summer the Elama calendar is booked solid. Next month we’ll host a team of 20 from the US who will run a camp for foster children. We’ll also host several church retreats.

You can see more at the Elama website. If you’re interested in helping, we need funds to help improve the bathing facilities. We’d also like to install flush toilets (we have outhouses now).

It was a great day, and I’m very glad we’re there for our 5th summer.

From Russia to Estonia

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I drove to Estonia from Russia yesterday. The total driving time from St. Petersburg to Johvi, Estonia is about 4 hours, but the border crossing can take anywhere from an hour to 5 hours. Yesterday I made it across the border in 50 minutes. That was nice.

I’m working on Sunbeam, a day center for children with disabilities we are opening here in Estonia. You can read the latest news here. I’m helping set up some administrative items, and I’ve been building a simple website for Sunbeam.

I made a couple of videos of my drive in Russia. I’ll call them Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. First, the nice Dr. Jekyll:

And the rough Mr. Hyde. (It’s no wonder I need to get my car fixed pretty often.)

And another:


Just AFTER I made that last video, I saw a sign that said Rough Road Ahead. (!)

I’d like to point out that this is THE main federal highway from St. Petersburg into Europe.

Vids of Val

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Here are a couple of recent videos of Valerie.

By the way, she’s doing great. Beth Shanklin, a good friend who is a neuro-developmentalist, visited recently from the US. Beth assessed Valerie about a year ago and wrote a program to address some developmental issues. Olga has been faithful to do the program over the months.

Beth checked Valerie last week and Valerie is almost at her age level developmentally, with just a few small issues. Remember, just over a year ago Valerie said about three words (at age 3). She’s really catching up, speaking more and more English, too.

We went to a park:

And today she did something really great. I’ve set out my small travel hammered dulcimer for her to plunk around on, hoping she’ll take interest. I showed her how to play the Alphabet Song (she doesn’t know it as Twinkle Twinkle yet). Today, after some rough starts, she did this:

That’s m’girl!

Kunda Mill

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Last week in Estonia we did some exploring between meetings. Estonia has many old manor houses, and we went snooping around for  them. You can see ALL of them at this website. Estonia has some beautiful places.

One great thing we found was an old water mill. Water mills are always in great locations, near flowing water often with beautiful trees, down in a low spot of land so that the place is remote. I often look for watermills in the various countries we visit. I’ve found them in Russia, Finland, Estonia, Montenegro and of course the US.

In addition to a great location, this mill has some wonderful old buildings. They are in disrepair (but the roofs and foundations are good) and it was fun to imagine how they could be brought back to life and used as a ministry center. (Anyone want to chip in a few hundred thousand dollars?)

First a video and then some pictures:

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A Snapshot from Estonia

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I was in Tallinn today for a few reasons. I had a very good visit with my friend Heikki, I picked up my new Russian visa (!), and I met Beth Shanklin at the airport. Beth is a neuro-developmentalist who will be helping us establish Sunbeam; she’ll have a series of meetings with the leadership over the next few days, before we head to Russia on Sunday afternoon.

Oh, the picture is a view the Gothic town hall (c. 1403).