Frank checked at the post office about sending the books via sea mail in a book bag. The book bags are still available, limit of 66 pounds per bag. The catch is that they no longer ship them sea mail, everything goes airmail. The cost to send one bag of books---$250. And we have enough for three bags. Guess what? the books are not going to Ukraine in a postal bag. We'll ship them in boxes separate from our big U-Haul boxes, but along with the total shipment.
Our Sunday School class is a blessing to us. This morning they decided to take up an offering next week to help us send 700 pounds in our shipment. That will cover almost the whole cost. We know they will be praying for us every week that we are in Ukraine. We praise the Lord for them.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
PACKING FOR UKRAINE
Okay, here's the situation. There are three kinds of packing going on in our house right now. First, what goes into our shipment at 89 cents a pound to get it to Ukraine. Second, what should we keep out to pack in our suitcases that go with us----two suitcases each, 50 pounds allowed in each one---all basically warm heavy winter clothes. Third, what can we live without for at least two two years and leave here in storage.
Our big problem right now is how to get our books there. Books are the tools of our trade, we need these books to do our work properly and to share with others on the field. Books are very heavy. Our shipping company has said that each box we ship cannot weigh more than 66 pounds. We're using fairly large dish boxes that we bought at U-Haul, a nice size and sturdy for shipping. The first box Frank packed with books in the bottom weighed 100 pounds. Okay, unpack it and start over. The problem is that the boxes are too big for only 60 pounds. When we reach that amount the boxes are only half full. After several attempts to unsuccessfully get the weight now and fill the box at the same time, we decided to consider sending the books through the postal service. You can fill a big postal bag with packages of books and send them by sea mail, which means we won't get them until February or March, but that's okay. Frank has to check to see if our local post office here in Yukon will handle that sort of thing, or even if the service is still available.
We've basically done all the shopping we need to do to get things to send to Ukraine. Major items that we definitely needed to take with us include all the vitamins and minerals our doctor wants us to take, as well as 12 months of my prescription for Evista, which prevents osteoporosis (did I spell that right?). We went to Sam's last week with Laura and got all the vitamins, etc., as well as popcorn, granola bars, and some heavy warm woolen socks. I don't need to take a lot of kitchen stuff because the apartments in the Ministry Center are furnished with a lot of things already in the kitchen. So I'm only taking a few things for that. Food items: among other things we are packing peanut butter, Crisco, spices for Indian cooking (we need our curry fix every now and then), Pam for easy cooking, minced garlic and onion, and ziploc bags which are useful for everything. One thing I am taking is my small sewing machine. It isn't in a box yet, but it soon will be.
I've decided not to take my quilting stuff with me. There's just too much that's involved with that. But I'm sending all my bags of yarn that has accumulated over the years. It doesn't weigh a lot and it's a good filler in packing. My knitting needles, crochet hooks, and some patterns are going too. Fortunately, there are tons of knitting and crochet patterns on the internet, so I don't need to take a lot of those. I'm also taking some of my cross-stitch materials and threads. I have a lot of cross-stitch kits that I have bought on sale at Hobby Lobby through the years, so I stuck some of those into the shipment too.
We asked our church to help some of the kids in orphanages and some adults with warm winter clothing, so we have that to pack as well. Several coats, a number of nice sweaters, and some hats and gloves have come in for that. And Frank needs to put in some tools that come in handy now and then around the house or apartment. And I have some CDs and DVDs that we're taking with us too.
We need to get this finished early in the coming week and take it to Tulsa to a shipping company which ships only to Ukraine and takes care of customs, etc., and delivers it right to your door. Much easier than having to take it through customs yourself and then make arrangements to get it home afterwards. Busy week ahead. We have always looked at our going to Ukraine as a new adventure for the Lord. We need adventures to keep us young and excited about life in general. I think the adventure has already started in all the issues of packing!
Our big problem right now is how to get our books there. Books are the tools of our trade, we need these books to do our work properly and to share with others on the field. Books are very heavy. Our shipping company has said that each box we ship cannot weigh more than 66 pounds. We're using fairly large dish boxes that we bought at U-Haul, a nice size and sturdy for shipping. The first box Frank packed with books in the bottom weighed 100 pounds. Okay, unpack it and start over. The problem is that the boxes are too big for only 60 pounds. When we reach that amount the boxes are only half full. After several attempts to unsuccessfully get the weight now and fill the box at the same time, we decided to consider sending the books through the postal service. You can fill a big postal bag with packages of books and send them by sea mail, which means we won't get them until February or March, but that's okay. Frank has to check to see if our local post office here in Yukon will handle that sort of thing, or even if the service is still available.
We've basically done all the shopping we need to do to get things to send to Ukraine. Major items that we definitely needed to take with us include all the vitamins and minerals our doctor wants us to take, as well as 12 months of my prescription for Evista, which prevents osteoporosis (did I spell that right?). We went to Sam's last week with Laura and got all the vitamins, etc., as well as popcorn, granola bars, and some heavy warm woolen socks. I don't need to take a lot of kitchen stuff because the apartments in the Ministry Center are furnished with a lot of things already in the kitchen. So I'm only taking a few things for that. Food items: among other things we are packing peanut butter, Crisco, spices for Indian cooking (we need our curry fix every now and then), Pam for easy cooking, minced garlic and onion, and ziploc bags which are useful for everything. One thing I am taking is my small sewing machine. It isn't in a box yet, but it soon will be.
I've decided not to take my quilting stuff with me. There's just too much that's involved with that. But I'm sending all my bags of yarn that has accumulated over the years. It doesn't weigh a lot and it's a good filler in packing. My knitting needles, crochet hooks, and some patterns are going too. Fortunately, there are tons of knitting and crochet patterns on the internet, so I don't need to take a lot of those. I'm also taking some of my cross-stitch materials and threads. I have a lot of cross-stitch kits that I have bought on sale at Hobby Lobby through the years, so I stuck some of those into the shipment too.
We asked our church to help some of the kids in orphanages and some adults with warm winter clothing, so we have that to pack as well. Several coats, a number of nice sweaters, and some hats and gloves have come in for that. And Frank needs to put in some tools that come in handy now and then around the house or apartment. And I have some CDs and DVDs that we're taking with us too.
We need to get this finished early in the coming week and take it to Tulsa to a shipping company which ships only to Ukraine and takes care of customs, etc., and delivers it right to your door. Much easier than having to take it through customs yourself and then make arrangements to get it home afterwards. Busy week ahead. We have always looked at our going to Ukraine as a new adventure for the Lord. We need adventures to keep us young and excited about life in general. I think the adventure has already started in all the issues of packing!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
TRANSITIONS: NOVEMBER 2009
I am posting here a copy of the current prayer letter that we are sending out this month to all our supporters and prayer partners. It pretty well explains how we are finally able to get to Ukraine after two years of trying to raise our financial needs.
In 2007 when we came home from India, we needed a new theme for our prayer letters so TRANSITIONS was born. Since then we have traveled across the U.S., sharing our love and enthusiasm for the ministries and people of Ukraine. We had to raise a lot of new support during tough economic times, and some of our Transition time here in the U.S. has been very difficult. But these two years have had a lot of happy moments. Two new grandbabies were born—Lance to our daughter, Laura, and Anika to our daughter-in-law, Lori. What fun that has been! Our other grandkids and family members have given us loads of joy as well. We have met wonderful people from New York to Oregon and many states in between. We have never had car trouble or severe weather problems in all our travels.
But now the big Transition has arrived! We are finally going to the field! We will be leaving for Ukraine on December 3 to begin our ministry of teaching and mentoring the pastors and laymen/women of the churches that World Gospel Mission works with. We have often mentioned that we feel like new missionaries all over again, excited and scared at the same time. That pretty well sums up our feelings right now. We need to empty our house and make arrangements for renters while we are gone. But our biggest concern is for Frank’s mother, Edna Dewey, the oldest living missionary in World Gospel Mission. She will be 103 on February 8, 2010, and it’s hard to leave her. But our Laura has stepped up to help her grandmother, and our son, Evan, will support her and be there if necessary. We praise God for our children. They love the Lord and take care of us.
We are very appreciative that so many of you have stood by us faithfully when our future was in doubt. Thank you so much for that. We must mention that we are still underfunded as we leave for the field. WGM has worked out a financial plan so we can get to the field, but we still need your financial support. The amount that WGM headquarters and the Ukraine Field receive from our ministry has been reduced. And we have agreed to a 20 percent cut in monthly income. As the economy improves, perhaps the Lord will ask you to take support in our ministry. You have heard us talk about the great opportunities and the great needs in Ukraine. You have heard about our ministry of teaching and mentoring. If you would like to be a part of it, we would love to have you as a ministry partner. You can go online to http://www.wgm.org/ and follow these links: Fields—Ukraine—Those Who Serve—Frank and Christine Dewey—Support Our Ministry. That final page will give you various financial options for our ministry.
As the weeks fly by, both before and after we get to Ukraine, you can keep up with our progress online on Facebook. Chris will write almost daily notes on what’s happening. From time to time, Chris will update our blog, www.deweydiary.blogspot.com. We would love to have you as one of our friends on Facebook! It’s fun, informative, and easy.
Praise God with us, and pray for us as we make this huge TRANSITION. We appreciate every one of you!
frank.dewey@wgm.org
A/C 39
Berdyansk 71116
Ukraine
TRANSITIONS: NOVEMBER 2009
But now the big Transition has arrived! We are finally going to the field! We will be leaving for Ukraine on December 3 to begin our ministry of teaching and mentoring the pastors and laymen/women of the churches that World Gospel Mission works with. We have often mentioned that we feel like new missionaries all over again, excited and scared at the same time. That pretty well sums up our feelings right now. We need to empty our house and make arrangements for renters while we are gone. But our biggest concern is for Frank’s mother, Edna Dewey, the oldest living missionary in World Gospel Mission. She will be 103 on February 8, 2010, and it’s hard to leave her. But our Laura has stepped up to help her grandmother, and our son, Evan, will support her and be there if necessary. We praise God for our children. They love the Lord and take care of us.
We are very appreciative that so many of you have stood by us faithfully when our future was in doubt. Thank you so much for that. We must mention that we are still underfunded as we leave for the field. WGM has worked out a financial plan so we can get to the field, but we still need your financial support. The amount that WGM headquarters and the Ukraine Field receive from our ministry has been reduced. And we have agreed to a 20 percent cut in monthly income. As the economy improves, perhaps the Lord will ask you to take support in our ministry. You have heard us talk about the great opportunities and the great needs in Ukraine. You have heard about our ministry of teaching and mentoring. If you would like to be a part of it, we would love to have you as a ministry partner. You can go online to http://www.wgm.org/ and follow these links: Fields—Ukraine—Those Who Serve—Frank and Christine Dewey—Support Our Ministry. That final page will give you various financial options for our ministry.
As the weeks fly by, both before and after we get to Ukraine, you can keep up with our progress online on Facebook. Chris will write almost daily notes on what’s happening. From time to time, Chris will update our blog, www.deweydiary.blogspot.com. We would love to have you as one of our friends on Facebook! It’s fun, informative, and easy.
Praise God with us, and pray for us as we make this huge TRANSITION. We appreciate every one of you!
frank.dewey@wgm.org
A/C 39
Berdyansk 71116
Ukraine
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