A Postcard from Dacha

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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.

A New Project in Belarus

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This is one example of the work our organization does in Belarus. Please contact me if you’re interested in knowing more or supporting this very worthy project.

From the Stoneworks International website:

We are very excited to announce our next project in Belarus: a home for young men we hope to open this Fall.

In 2009 Spring of Revival and Stoneworks opened the Minsk Family Home, a home for young ladies who are leaving the orphanage system and need help making the transition to life on their own.

Timothy House is a natural extension of this ministry to graduate orphans.

If you would like to donate to help establish this home, please send a check to Stoneworks or donate online.

You can see and download a brochure here: Timothy House Brochure.

Here is an open letter from board member Jill Tyson:

Dear friends,

From the first days when I met Olga Goncherenko in Belarus I understood immediately that hers was not a casual relationship with the orphans in her country. I knew from the way the children smiled and hugged her while we were there that what she and her team were building special relationships that would last through the years.

Indeed, the commitment of our dear Christian friends has yielded much fruit in the lives of 100s of orphans in Belarus. One result of their discipleship and devotion to the children was the beginning of the Minsk Family Home in the fall of 2009, a home for Christian women who have graduated from the orphanage system in Belarus and want to continue their studies in a safe place.

Spring of Revival and Stoneworks International now announce the next step, the founding of a home for men. We will call this home Timothy House, because we feel these young men will truly become Godly examples in Belarus.

Please see the attached brochure, and pray about your involvement in this endeavor. We are committed to raising 80% of one year’s support before we give the “go – ahead” to begin in fall of 2011. A Christian Belorussian couple is willing to parent the home, and we already have several young men in mind to live there. If you are able to help distribute the brochures or raise awareness for the need, we would sincerely appreciate it, and we would also be grateful for a one-time gift or commitment for monthly support in any amount.

We are excited to be a part of revival in Belarus, one life at a time. Belarus is under-served in World Missions from the USA, partly because no American missionaries are allowed to live there. The environment for ministry is hostile to Christians, and no private orphanages are allowed. The government watches everything, especially foreign help which makes legal cooperative efforts at times impossible without God’s working miracles (which He has done on a regular basis!) Praise God that He doesn’t depend on rulers or laws to accomplish His will!

With a thankful heart for your interest and concern,

Jill Tyson

This Will Be Memorable

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I received this from a friend at church today and wanted to share it —

On Easter  [my husband] and I will be in Myrtle Beach for my niece’s wedding. She is getting married in a peanut warehouse and everyone is wearing cowboy hats and boots, and we are all sitting on bales of hay. They are also leaving on a tractor. This should be exciting! Leave it to my family to be different. I wanted to throw peanuts at the bride and groom …. but she said no. Maybe it’s not classy enough…. but for pete’s sake she is leaving on a tractor!

Any suggestions on what could be thrown at the bride and groom as they make their exit on a tractor?

Olga’s Borsch Recipe

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As some of you know, Olga makes GREAT borsch, the traditional Russian beet soup.

This is her recipe:

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 bullion it if I use chicken for the stock, 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!).

A Snapshot from the US

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Here’s a sweet picture taken last week. We had a Stoneworks board meeting, and board member Dan Wilson took this picture at my parents’ house.

I’m in Montenegro now. Today I’ll drive into the mountains near Bosnia to look at some land we are considering for a Christian camp. More on that soon . . . .

A Snapshot from Montenegro

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Here is the view looking over the Adriatic as we drove down the coast from the airport in Dubrovnik, Croatia to Zeta, Montenegro. What a wonderful world.

Olga’s brother-in-law Zhelyan and his mother, Slavitsa, met me at the airport and got me safely home. Alla (Olga’s sister) and her son Andrei were here to welcome me.  It’s great to be with family.

But I’ve been awake for about 30 hours, so it’s time to hit the hay.

Our minstry flat in Estonia

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Here’s some news about our flat in Estonia. For a while I’d been thinking about finding a ministry flat in Johvi. Olga, Valerie and I will spend more time in Estonia over the coming year or two (as we build the center for disabled children), and I thought it would be good to have a home base in Johvi. I’ve also wanted to find a place where Christian workers in Russia can take a retreat.

I found a place earlier this year. I’ve only been inside it once. I looked at it before returning to Russia (and coming to the US) and then worked out a deal with the owner, an Estonian lady who now lives in the UK. She is willing to rent it to us for just the cost of utilities. I offered to remodel the bathroom, since it was in pretty bad shape.

Members of the church recently finished remodeling the bathroom, so it’s like new now. The flat is within walking distance from the bus station; it’s important to have easy access for people coming from Russia. It has one bedroom and a living room. The kitchen and bedroom had already been remodeled. It has a washing machine (which is nice), new windows and new heating. We just had WiFi internet installed. The living room needs some work, and so that’s next on the list of things to fix up.

A few people in Russia have already expressed interest in staying there. This is perhaps the first step toward my hope to have a Christian guest house in Estonia. I hope this flat will become a sanctuary, a place of rest and retreat.

here’s the way the bathroom looked before:

A Snapshot from the US

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I leave for Montenegro tomorrow. I’ll be there for a week and will report on that trip when I return. It will be great to visit our friends there.

For now — here’s a picture of Valerie with her new hat and ‘baby backpack’; both were gifts from friends. Valerie is having a great visit. And she’s already speaking some English!