Aunt and Uncle —

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Good news! Olga’s sister Alla gave birth to a boy — Andrej.  The baby has some jaundice, but everyone is doing well. We’re very happy to be Aunt and Uncle. We’ll post pictures soon.

Alla is married to Zhelyan, a Montenegrin, and they live in Podgorica. And we will soon be in Montenegro.

(Click here for a quick guide to our Montenegrin connections.)

We’ll drive from St. Petersburg to visit the Stoneworks ministry in Minsk, then we’ll drive to visit friends in Hungary and Serbia, looking for ministry opportunities as well.

From there we’ll go to Montenegro to spend a few weeks with family and friends. We’ll follow basically this route, but now we have more personal connections along the way.

It will be great to be with our family in Montenegro, and we’ll be working on some ministry projects.

A Winter Walk

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winterwalk-2Yesterday I had to run some errands down town, and decided to walk part of the way back home.  Just before the New Year we had a record snow fall since 1881, so much that the city almost came to a full stop for a few days.  Things are a little better now, but it is still hard to get around.  Nonetheless the scenery is a delight!

Our past winters have not spoiled us for beautiful views.  We occasionally had some cold spells and some snow, but this time we are really having a winter!!!!   For a few days now we had this beautiful snow covered trees, and the city looks like a winter wonderland!

It is truly a joy to walk through streets and parks and enjoy the clean snow, the lovely trees and buildings covered with frost!  I forgot how much I love waking in downtown St. Petersburg.

I walked by Moika river.  They cleared a little path on the embankment.  The access ways to the water were filled with snow, so I was not able to get down to the ice covered river.

Earlier that day I read from a devotional book about getting to some quiet place where you can see the majesty of the Lord.

winterwalk-62Well, I would not call the city a “quiet place”, but I sure did feel His majesty and power even in the midst of stone and granite and power lines and cars. He showed me that He was still in charge, and that He can do whatever He wishes to do.

Men can do great things, they are, after all, made after His image and likeness, but He alone will order the day!

So yesterday I had this wonderful and surprising gift from my Father, and I am so grateful for it!

May the Lord bless you and delight you with small and big wonders!

Russian Christmas

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Here’s a good explanation about Russian Christmas and why it is celebrated on January 7 —

Russian Christmas

Thirteen days after Western Christmas, on January 7th, the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates its Christmas, in accordance with the old Julian calendar.  It’s a day of both solemn ritual and joyous celebration

After the 1917 Revolution, Christmas was banned throughout Russia, along with other religious celebrations.  It wasn’t until 75 years later, in 1992, that the holiday was openly observed.  Today, it’s once again celebrated in grand fashion, with the faithful participating in an all-night Mass in incense-filled Cathedrals amidst the company of the painted icons of Saints.

Christmas is one of the most joyous traditions for the celebration of Eve comes from the Russian tradition.  On the Eve of Christmas, it is traditional for all family members to gather to share a special meal.  The various foods and customs surrounding this meal differed in Holy Russia from village to village and from family to family, but certain aspects remained the same.

An old Russian tradition, whose roots are in the Orthodox faith, is the Christmas Eve fast and meal.  The fast, typically, lasts until after the evening worship service or until the first star appears.

The dinner that follows is very much a celebration, although, meat is not permitted.  Kutya (kutia), a type of porridge, is the primary dish.  It is very symbolic with its ingredients being various grains for hope and honey and poppy seed for happiness and peace.

Once the first star has appeared in the sky, the festivities begin.  Although all of the food served is strictly Lenten, it is served in an unusually festive and anticipatory manner and style.  The Russians call this meal: “The Holy Supper.” The family gathers around the table to honor the coming Christ Child.

A white table-cloth, symbolic of Christ’s swaddling clothes, covers the Table.  Hay is brought forth as a reminder of the poverty of the Cave where Jesus was born.  A tall white candle is place in the center of the Table, symbolic of Christ “the Light of the World.”  A large round loaf of Lenten bread, “pagach,” symbolic of Christ the Bread of Life, is placed next to the Candle.

The meal begins with the Lord’s Prayer, led by the father of the family.  A prayer of thanksgiving for all the blessings of the past year is said and then prayers for the good things in the coming year are offered.  The head of the family greets those present with the traditional Christmas greeting: “Christ is Born!” The family members respond: “Glorify Him!”

The Mother of the family blesses each person present with honey in the form of a cross on each forehead, saying: “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, may you have sweetness and many good things in life and in the new year.”  Following this, everyone partakes of the bread, dipping it first in honey and then in chopped garlic.

Honey is symbolic of the sweetness of life, and garlic of the bitterness.  The “Holy Supper” is then eaten (see below for details).  After dinner, no dishes are washed and the Christmas presents are opened.

Then the family goes to Church, coming home between 2 and 3 am. On the Feast of the Nativity, neighbors and family members visit each other, going from house to house , eating, drinking and singing Christmas Carols all the day long.

The “Holy Supper” Continue reading →

Ghosts of Christmas Cards Past

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I recently told some Russian friends about something I did before I moved to Russia, and they asked if I’d post it on the web:

Years ago, when I was an old bachelor, I had the idea that it would be funny to have a different family each Christmas on my Christmas card.  One year at a church cookout I decided to go ahead and do it.

A friend from church was my ‘wife’, and we had three children.  I can say that it was quite a surprise to people when they got my card that year.  Several people thought I’d gotten married and hadn’t told them. (If you look closely, you’ll see that I have half a mustache; that was my way of saying ‘this is a joke’.)

The second year, I had a different wife and different children, a LOT of different children:

When my cousin got married, her mother (my Aunt Rose) asked if she could be on my next card.  We took this picture immediately after the wedding; the bride and groom are our best man and maid of honor.

As you can see by the groom’s expression, he was a bit befuddled as to why we were taking this picture on his wedding day, using the official photographer.

My church was located in an old movie theater in a strip shopping center.  One day after church, as I was walking to my car in the parking lot with many people going to and from the nearby shops, one of the ladies at church yells across the parking lot to me, ‘I want to be your wife this year!’  I yell back, ‘you’ll have to ask your husband!’

Later I thought about how very strange that must have sounded.

The next year, I was on hard times —

But by the last year, I had a trophy wife and a nice house!

And that was really my dog, Hank.

The story behind the last picture is fun.  I had scouted out this house to use for the card; it was on a large piece of property and quite imposing.  The day of the picture, we showed up and knocked on the door.  It took a little while for the owner of the house to understand exactly what we were asking, but once he got it he was pretty entertained and gave his permission.

I was soon to be married, and so the tradition ended.  Now I’m very happy to have the same wife each Christmas.

Burton Holmes in Russia

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Over 100 years ago,  Burton Holmes (1870-1958) traveled to Russia.  Holmes was an American traveler, photographer and filmmaker, who coined the term “travelogue”.  Travel stories, slide shows and motion pictures were all in existence before Holmes began making his travel films, but he was the first person to put these elements together into documentary travel lectures.

Here are some of the photographs from his book detailing his visit to Tsarist Russia in 1901.

A Postcard from Russia — Foundations

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This may not look like very much, but it is the fruit of much loving labor and the beginning of something great. This picture was taken recently at Elama, our camp in Russian Karelia. These are part of the foundations of a pavilion and summer kitchen we’ll build next year.

St. James UMC in Athens, GA has taken this on as a project and will send a team in May to put up the two buildings.

The foundation was built by our good friends Sergei Tovstapyet and John Bull. They had the help of some men (at left) from a nearby Christian re-hab center. When the American team comes to build the buildings, we’ll also have the guys from the rehab center working with them: ministry, labor, fellowship.

We also hope to improve the heating and water systems at Elama, and we’ll try to find a riding mower/small tractor so we can clear more land.

Next summer we will host over 100 children at Elama, in addition to various church retreats, workdays and cookouts. These two buildings are going to be a blessing to many people.

Other quick news: MIR is sending 11 orphans to the US for the hosting program (we have fewer this Christmas because the Russian government is concerned about swine flu and has limited overseas travel for orphans);  we’re already planning next summer’s youth camp in Montenegro;  the Minsk Family Home is very successful after it’s first few months.

The Lord continues to give us abundant life, and we thank Him for it.

Magnificent

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This was recently posted by some friends, Matt and Hope Hunt, who are currently in Morocco —

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U2 was in Morocco last year to write some of their newest album and here is a music video that was shot here in the city where we’re studying Arabic.  I couldn’t help but see the symbolism.


Magnificent by U2

Oh, oh, magnificent

I was born, I was born
To be with you in this space and time
After that and ever after
I haven’t had a clue only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue, oh, oh

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar

I was born, I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice but to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice from the womb
My first cry, it was a joyful noise, oh, oh

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love can heal such a scar
Justified, till we die you and I will magnify, oh, oh
Magnificent, magnificent, oh, oh

Only love, only love can leave such a mark
But only love, only love unites our hearts
Justified, till we die you and I will magnify, oh, oh
Magnificent, magnificent, magnificent

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. -2 Corinthians 3:16-18.

A Postcard from Russia — ‘Our Girls’

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We have mentioned this before, and it’s high time to introduce you to Zhenya, Anya, and Natasha. Just about a year ago, we were in the US when three young ladies from our church, on short notice, needed a place to stay for a few weeks. Well, that ‘few weeks’ has turned into a year of blessing.

We are now like family; even at church the girls are referred to as Канртеллы (Cantrells).

We just celebrated a fine Thanksgiving meal with them and other friends and family, where Olga’s grandfather, Orest Maximilianovich, played the piano (see the picture below).

— Zhenya Kopushy has degrees in Education (Russian language and literature) and Physics (thermodynamics). For six years she taught at a Christian school and is now working with a Dutch mission at Hospital #15 for street children. She leads intercessory prayer at our church.

— Anya Kazak is originally from Belarus. She is studying to be a teacher of deaf children and is also teaching at a Christian school. She is the leader of the children’s ministry at Street Cry.

— Natasha Pavlova is a counselor at Crimson Sails, a Christian children’s shelter in St. Petersburg. She has as degree in architecture and worked for several years at an architectural firm before joining the staff of Crimson Sails three years ago.

Zhenya, Anya and Natasha bring life and joy to our home. We continue to argue with them about who is the most blessed by this arrangement! This is clearly a God-given family, and we are so thankful.

Orest Maximilianovich Grotin, Thanksgiving 2009, at the very piano on which he learned to play over 80 years ago