dewey diary

2011-02-21T06:01:00.001-06:00

Okay, here it is almost five months since I last wrote on the blog. Frank has been telling me that I've got to get back to it. So, after thinking about it for some time, I'm trying to do that. I thought I would start this again by posting our monthly updates. That would be a good start and let you know from month to month what we're doing and what is happening around the Home of Hope. We send these updates out by email to people who have indicated they are interested in receiving and are interested in praying for us. But the big majority of our friends on Facebook do not receive them, so I think it's good to put it here and then notify them on my Facebook page.

Well, what have we been doing since my last posting in late September which was about our trip to Prague, Czech Republic? In October we were in our routine here at the Center. I went to the orphanage every week, and we had our fellowship meeting with the young adults as well as my ladies' group. Frank started his Bible study with another group of ladies, finishing their work with the book of Hebrews. He also worked on the treasurer's books and helped out in small jobs as needed. In November we went to the U.S. for three weeks to check up on Frank's mother. She is getting more and more frail and we felt that it was important for us to go home and assess her situation. For now she is staying in her small assisted living apartment, but it is getting more difficult for her to get around. Frank talks to her on the phone several times each month. This picture was taken in late November while we were there.

We came back to Berdyansk at the end of November expecting to be met by extreme cold and snow. But you know what? Our winter has been very mild for the most part. Many days have been in the upper 30s and mid-40s with lots of sunshine and very little wind. And we've only had three or four snow showers, after which the snow quickly melted. We've often said that we are glad we weren't in the U.S. Even Oklahoma has had some rough weather, cold, windy, and snowy. Now, having said all that, I have to admit that last week and this week are more normal for Ukraine. The temperatures are down in the teens and lower at night, the wind is very brisk during the day, and it feels like winter here. But we still haven't had snow and the sun is shining. February is supposed to be the worst month of the year, and it is just about over. March is around the corner and we are thinking about spring, although that won't really arrive until early April.

I think most of you know that in December the Ukraine field received a wonderful Christmas present in the form of money to finish the Home of Hope building. Since late December the place has been busy with workmen in the new sanctuary and in other places. We are excited about seeing how the place will look when everything is finished. Some work outside will have to wait until warmer weather. The parking area in front needs to have more cement poured and the guttering outside needs to be finished. When it is I promise that we will have lots of pictures to show you.

I think that's all for now. It won't be long until we get our February update written and posted here. Thanks for reading this.

JANUARY 31, 2011, UPDATE

We ended the calendar year with Christmas, and we opened the New Year with another Christmas! Many of the Protestant churches here, particularly those with ties to Western groups, have some celebration on December 25. And so on the 26th, Bethel, the church we attend, had a special program involving their children and teens. But most churches also celebrate Christmas on January 7th, which is the birth of Jesus according to the Eastern calendar. So that afternoon we watched a program at the sister church in Primorsk (about 20 miles away), and came back to participate in a short program and then a meal at Bethel. We also went to the First Stage Orphanage to see the kids practice a short Christmas program which they presented later downtown in the city hall. They love to show off their acting, singing and dancing abilities! We loved watching them do it. Then we distributed pretty boxes of candy to them.

In our home we had a Christmas get-together for our young adult group. We insisted that they had to sing some Ukrainian Christmas songs for us, and the music was good. We ate a lot, talked a lot, and played some group games for fun. It was a great evening.

Work on completing the construction on the Home of Hope (where Bethel Church meets) is progressing well. Almost all of the interior work is now done. Some of the exterior work (plastering the guard and storage unit, painting, and finishing the concrete parking area) will have to wait until winter is over and temperatures are suitable. In the meantime there is work to be done on the guttering and some other outside metal work.

I (Frank) recently finished up one course I have been teaching, and have now started a new class, this one on the Acts of the Apostles. There are five ladies from the church attending it.We are encouraged because the number of people in the class has increased, and interest is developing about the opportunity to study God’s Word.

The treasurer’s work keeps me busy, especially now that there is construction going on. I make several trips to the bank each week, and soon it will be time to finish the financial year, and get all the books up-to-date and ready to close for a new financial year to begin.

In our December up-date, we had mentioned our trip to the capital, Kiev, for passport business with the American Embassy. That trip went well, though it was much colder there than down here in Berdyansk. Then in January we made a trip to our district headquarters to renew our local registration, so we are legally here for another year. We’ll probably not travel far from home for a while now, since the worst month of winter is February, when we get most of our snow and bitterly cold temperatures. Brrrrrrr. . . . .

The group of church ladies who meet in our home had to postpone their Christmas visit to our apartment to January 9th, but Chris had a good time with them. She prepared a few American Christmas dishes for a tasting party----roast chicken and dressing, cranberry sauce, and fruitcake. In the serious part of the evening she has been discussing issues related to Christian families, from a Biblical point of view. One of the ladies made the suggestion that they should share with each other the names of their children, so they can pray for each other’s families. We believe that they will follow up on this idea, and that is also an encouragement because they initiated this themselves. You can see a few of the ladies below wearing knitted scarves that were sent to Ukraine by a lady in California. They had fun choosing which one they liked the most.

We have received a number of Christmas cards and greetings from friends in the States, and wish to thank all of you who have sent them, as well as those of you who have been so faithfully remembering to support us with your gifts, prayers and encouragement.

PRAGUE VACATION

2010-09-23T07:57:00.000-05:00

I'm writing this more for our family than for everyone to see, but if others are interested to read it that's okay.

We hadn't had a break since last November, so we decided that we would take a week's vacation in September, hoping that the crowds of people in Europe would be less. Ha! That's a big laugh. There were not many children traveling, but everywhere was full of people, especially Prague. It was crowded. We decided on Prague because we had heard that it is a really great place to visit and it's full of history, which of course Frank and I really love. So we made our reservations online in August. I want to say something here about prices. It was cheaper to fly from Donest'k to Prague via Vienna than it was to fly from Donest'k to Vienna only. We had thought we might stay in Vienna and take some train trips to other places, but it cost $125 more per ticket to do that. So we flew to Prague, changing planes in Vienna. Crazy! And our hotel-----I booked on Expedia at a price that was 1/3 of the price that was quoted on the hotel website. And we got a discount because we stayed six nights.

We left Berdyansk on the morning of Sept. 12 and took a bus to Donest'k to get our Austrian Airlines flight. Driving by car the trip takes about 2 1/2 hours, but the bus takes almost four hours. It stops for a half-hour in another nearby city, and it stops along the way to pick up and let down people. We were cutting it pretty close to get to the airport, but we made it. There was a crowd of people in the departure area, some of them on charter flights. Anyway, we were okay and got to Vienna right on time, which was good because we only had 30 minutes to get to our connecting flight. We fidgeted in the passport control line, but finally got through and hurried through the airport to our gate. We were just about the last to get on the plane, but there were others from our first flight who also got the flight to Prague. The funny thing was: we got on the same plane that we had gotten off of a half-hour earlier. And our suitcase got on the plane too. We wondered if it would make the connection, but it was there in Prague when we got to the luggage area. We were a little disappointed about one thing: we entered the European Union in Vienna, so when we arrived in the Czech Republic we didn't get a stamp of that country in our passports.

We got to our hotel about 8pm and crashed for the night, but were up at our regular time and got down to breakfast about 8am. The breakfast was pretty good with a variety of selections. But we have usually found in European hotels that the breakfast is much more than what Americans call a "continental breakfast." We ate a really good breakfast everyday and then ate again about 2 or 3pm. So we had two good meals a day, and maybe a snack in the evening. We found two Indian restaurants in the historical area, so we ate at each of them once. The food was okay, but it definitely needed more green chilis. One day we ate traditional Czech food in an outdoor restaurant, under a sturdy cover while we watched the rain come down. Czech food is good, but tends to avoid vegetables and is heavy on carbs. One day we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. We had to try it since it was right there in front of us, and the food was good. Besides, we wanted to give our kids a good laugh, thinking about Mom and Dad at the Hard Rock Cafe. Are you laughing, Laura? Lori? Evan? Brent? The music was loud but it wasn't all hard rock or heavy metal. We sat under Jimi Hendrick's vest that he wore in a concert in Dallas. Whoopee.

I loved the guitar-shaped chandelier that we were almost under at our table.

There was also a Hooters close to our hotel, but we decided that was probably just a bit too risque for us, so we didn't go there. And we saw a TGI Friday also, although we didn't eat there.

Let's get to the history part! Prague actually has a fascinating history and a lot of church history took place there too, so of course we were interested in that. Prague was one of the few cities in Eastern Europe which was not devastated by W. W. II. The great majority of its buildings are authentic from the time when they were built. In Germany for example many of the buildings are reconstructions of what had been destroyed. Frank enjoyed going to Bethlehem Chapel which was the church of the early reformer John Hus. The cathedrals were wonderful. We were in four or five of them because the city has quite a few. For the first time we were in cathedrals of three different architectural style: Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque. Each was totally different from the others. Prague has the largest castle in the world according to the Guiness Book of World Records. It is huge with several palaces, a large historic cathedral, other smaller churches, remains of a monastery, and lots of other buildings all connected to each other. It was like a good-sized town in the Middle Ages. In the oldest palace the great hall was large enough for medieval jousts to take place inside. And there was a ramp for the horses to come up into the hall from the outside. In the castle cathedral we saw the tomb of "Good King Wencelas" of the Christmas carol. Actually, there is a big square in Prague named after him with a statue of him at the top of the boulevard.

A view of the castle from the top of the medieval Town Hall. The cathedral, towering over the castle, is the spiritual center of Czech history and this is where Wencelas is buried.

Wencelaus' tomb.

Wencelaus on horseback in front of the National Museum, which we did not visit. There were too many other thngs to see.

The Old Town Square is the center of the historical district. The Town Hall has an interesting astronomical clock, which I cannot explain to you. It strikes on the hour and above it two little doors open and the twelve apostles go by. When it is done striking, a trumpeter in medieval costume at the top of the tower, blows a nice short flourish and then waves at the crowds below.

We were both interested to visit the Jewish section of the Old Town, and we did go there but that day was rainy and somewhat miserable, so we didn't stay long. We did visit the oldest synagogue still in use in Europe and it was quite interesting. There were actually five synagogues in a small area, but some are now museums of the Jewish people. There's a W.W.II. concentration camp outside of Prague where thousands of Jews either died or were transported to German camps. We didn't visit that either. I really wanted to visit the Czech Jewish Museum, but it was rather expensive. The whole area seemed to cater to American and European Jews who wanted to come back to Prague to explore their heritage.

The most annoying thing that happened was that our camera died right in the middle of picture-taking. No matter what we did, we couldn't get anything on screen except digital lines and gray markings. So we finally went to a good-sized department store and bought a new camera. We had planned to buy a new one anyway when we were in the States next, so we bought a more expensive one than we had in the past. Frank checked online when we got home and figures we probably paid $25-30 more for it than we would have at home. It's a Panasonic Lumix, and has all kinds of features which we haven't figured out yet. I'm going to have to work on that. It has an 8x zoom and 14.1 megapixels, a wide-angle, and it takes movies. Will I ever get it all figured out? The good thing was that the card from our old camera works in the new camera. So we didn't have to buy a new card. But a new camera was definitely not in our budget for this trip.

The weather could have been better. Our first day was very cloudy, but it didn't rain and the temperature was okay. Tuesday and Wednesday it got colder and rained frequently. Actually, I wore my leather coat everyday except Monday. I also got a new umbrella :) Thursday and Friday the sun came out, although it was still cool, and they were pretty nice days for sight-seeing. I would much rather have it a little cool than to be hot and sweaty. One negative comment I'll make about Prague is that the historical buildings and the statues really need a good cleaning. They had turned black and gray with years and years of weather. One huge statue of John Hus in the Old Town Square was absolutely green with oxidation. The city needs to make their wonderful exhibits look much better than they do.

What did I buy? Well, I didn't buy a lot because we traveled with only one suitcase, a leather backpack (thanks to Bud Hummel who gave it to us a few years ago), and my tote bag. So there wasn't a lot of room to pack things to take home. Bohemian crystal is beautiful and I bought a rose and a necklace. I also bought a small painting of the castle and the Charles Bridge over the river. I bought a scarf and a couple of other small items as gifts. I really wanted to buy some marionettes for the grandkids. The Czech Republic is famous for its marionettes, but there was no room to pack them and they were somewhat expensive. Sorry about that Kirsten, Riley, Anika, Garrett, Brock and Lance. I was thinking about you at least.

Aren't they wonderful? I loved them.

We took one tour outside of Prague to an old medieval town called Kutna Hora. During the Middle Ages it was a prosperous, booming town which mined silver. It rivaled Prague in importance. I did feel that we really didn't get our money's worth on this tour. It was on Friday afternoon, and the traffic was horrible so we spent a total of three hours on the bus and two hours in the town. Our guide and driver were eager to hustle everyone back into the mini-bus and get back to Prague, so we didn't have time to wander and see anything on our own. There were some interesting things though. We went through an old building which had been the mint centuries ago and we saw the old silver coins and how they were made. We went through a famous old cathedral (another one!) which was dedicated to St. Barbara, who was the patron saint of miners. And we saw an unusual ossuary---the basement of an old church where the bones of 40,000 people who had died in the Middle Ages of the plague and wars were carved into such things as a chandelier, the heraldic shield of the family who owned the place, and other "decorations." Not exactly the high point of our visit, but somewhat interesting.

The cathedral of St. Barbara, with flying buttresses on the sides holding up the walls.

The heraldic shield made of bones.

A view of Kutna Hora from the ramparts next to the cathedral.

We got back to Berdyansk Saturday night without any problems, but we crashed on Sunday. We had a good time, and are really glad that we chose Prague for a week's vacation. Everything there was right down our alley, so to speak. I'll end this with just a selection of pictures with a few comments.

This picture's for Brent---check out the old Ford. Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

A modern sculpture made entirely of keys.

I took this picture so you could see how small the door was.

I'm rather proud of this picture! The rose window at the castle cathedral.

Wencelaus Square looking down toward the National Museum.

No comment needed!

We were in a museum of education history and Frank pointed out that the little guy in the middle of the picture looks like Brock. What do you think? Of course Brock wouldn't be caught wearing a big bow under his chin!

How's this for a motorcycle? The back side wheels retract. You can stay dry riding this one.

Another trumpeter, on the Charles Bridge this time.

On the Charles Bridge with the castle in the background.

A final word for the family. In Yukon next to the cemetery on Garth Brooks Blvd. there is a large Catholic Church called St. John Nepumok. We had never heard of him before, but we found out lots about him in Prague. He had been the confessor for one of the early queens of Bohemia (the early name for the Czech Republic). Her husband did not trust her and wanted Nepumok to tell him what she had said in confession. Nepumok refused and the king had him killed by throwing him off the Charles Bridge and drowning him. There is a statue of him on the bridge (along with many others) and the spot where he was thrown from is marked by a memorial. In the castle church there is a big silver tomb for him. In another church there is a memorial to him with a painting of him with the queen in the background. He is one of the important saints to the Czech people. And there are a lot of Czech descendants in Yukon.

The memorial to Nepumuk on the Charles Bridge.

The picture of Nepumuk with the queen in the background.

I know there is lots and lots more that I could write about, but I'm stopping here. Hmmmm, where shall we go next year for a week's vacation? How about St. Petersburg, Russia? Sounds like a winner to me.

MINISTRY DEVELOPMENTS, PART 2

2010-08-11T03:57:00.001-05:00

I want to continue talking about what we are actually doing here in Berdyansk. I have written about the difficulties in getting a lay education program started and the Berdyansk Training Institute up and running effectively. But we wanted to get to know people and become involved in their lives in a positive way, and this was also slow to develop. Our first four months here (December thru March) were mostly spent in settling in, adjusting to weather and cultural issues, learning what was actually going on in the WGM work here, and finally moving into the bigger apartment and Frank's learning the treasurer's work.

I was determined that we needed to take the initiative in meeting people and developing relationships. Keep in mind that we still have the language issue that is a barrier, but some folks do know English and like to talk to us with the little they know. And Frank is growing in his ability to understand and slowly communicate, much better than me. And since Ukrainians tend to be reserved until they get to know you, it was up to us to take the first steps.

So in April we started in a small way to invite people to our home for a meal. Our first guests were some young people who work here at the center, Igor and Vika, a young couple, and Inna, a young woman who works as a translator and part-time accountant. Igor works in maintenance although he likes to be involved with the youth and other ministries, and Vika was working at that time in the youth ministries.

Inna and Vika

Vika and Igor

I love Igor's smile! It's like a little boy, and he has the ability to laugh at himself and with others. He is a Bible school graduate, but hasn't found the right place for ministry. Bill Brower and ourselves want to encourage him to keep working here, but also to make attempts to get him involved actively in ministries that he enjoys. He is a wonderful woodworker and does beautiful plaques and signs. A very talented young man who also likes to sing and play the guitar. Vika worked with the youth center and the orphanage ministry for a while, but she has moved on to other jobs. She was really helpful to me when I first started going to the orphanage, sometimes translating, sometimes making suggestions. Inna has become a good friend. She and I go to get our nails done together. The manicurist, Larissa, works from her home and she and her husband and two boys attend Bethel Church. Inna is the translator for our missionary friend, Don Norton. He has ESL classes in the Ministry Center and is helpful in many ways.

We have also had Pastor Sergei and Pastor Arkadi in our home for a meal, as well as discussions about how to develop a lay training program. When they came for a meal a few weeks ago they brought along Sergei's mother, Lena. She is very friendly and was really interested in my needlework and quilting. She encouraged me to try and get the ladies together sometime to work on teaching them some of my skills. I am working on this, trying to find the right time and the right way to go about it. Perhaps I'll write more about this in September.

Pastor Sergei and his mother

Pastors Sergei and Arkadi (I wonder where Arkadi's sweatshirt came from?)

But our major focus has been in continuing a small group which was started by our missionary friend, Don Norton. He had been meeting it two or three times a month for food and fellowship. We wanted to start something, but we didn't want to be in competition with him. Well, the young adults were ready to have as many meetings (and free food!) as we could provide. But we worked with Don and now we have a fluid schedule that alternates meetings at his place and ours. So we have a small group once a month, usually on Saturday evening. So far it's been basically for food and fun, with games. But we want to expand it into something more meaninful and serious, keeping the games but wanting to have at least a half-hour of discussion, prayer and/or devotions.

Mexican train dominoes

Another young couple who are in our group is Sasha and Oksana. Sasha is the young man who was being mentored in Church history by Frank. His wife Oksana is lovely to be with. She has a wonderful sense of humor, and I love to hear her talking about "my Sasha." They are both Bible school grads, but are working full-time jobs to make ends meet. He is currently working in a factory which makes farm equipment, and she works as a hairdresser, doing senior citizens' haircuts at the centers where they meet or live. She has also been cutting my hair and Frank's. (It's nice to have the person come directly to your home to cut your hair.)

Oksana and Sasha

Sasha is now in the process of beginning a church in his neighborhood. It started as a church he attended and helped to pastor, but through various issues he is now spearheading a drive to reach more of the young families who live close to him. And he is taking over the role of pastor. He is a thoughtful fellow who loves the Lord and wants to be involved in ministry. He and Igor are not so interested in the games. Usually they sit and talk while the ladies play! One thing Oksana told me was that young couples crave good Christian fellowship and want to have activities on the weekend to fill that need. We want to help them find that fellowship.

MINSTRY DEVELOPMENTS

2010-07-22T04:27:00.001-05:00

Well, I've talked a lot about life here, the things we've seen and places we've visited. But we're not here on a tourist trip, we're here to work. So I want to spend some time talking about what we are actually doing in ministry. It's interesting in many missionaries' lives that they often end up doing things that they hadn't thought they would do and they don't do things that they had prepared to do. I think we can say that is the case with us in Ukraine. Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility.

We had been planning to develop a lay education program in the church. When we visited Ukraine in 2007 that was presented as a great need. And we had the qualifications to do that. When we were asked to start this, we were eager to do it because it got us out of an institutionalized frame of mind and would get us into practical, everyday ministry in the church. Well . . . . . things didn't turn out quite as we expected.

First of all, we were extremely slow in getting to the field. Ernie Smith, our friend and previous Field Director, rightly felt that he couldn't wait forever for us. So he put Bill Tarr in place, here in Berdyansk, to begin the lay education program. Bill and Betsy moved to Berdyansk from western Ukraine after the Wesley Bible School closed because of lack of funds and students. Bill was very experienced in education and began to work on developing classes which would be taught at the Home of Hope ministry center. A name was given to this: the Berdyansk Training Center. Our vision had been that we would be out in the churches teaching these classes, but since we weren't here Bill did what he thought was best at that time. The classes were very slow to begin, the interest among the lay people was low, and the churches didn't seem to have much interest to move in this direction. Consequently, the BTI has not been successful. Frank began teaching one class in January with only two students. And for various reasons, that class discontinued in March, although Frank continued to tutor one young man, Sasha, in Church History once a week. (And I must add here, Frank has learned a lot from Sasha about the Ukrainian church and people.) The Tarrs left the field in early March because of Bill's health problems and Frank was put in charge of the BTI. At this time, Frank is trying to develop opportunities to meet with various pastors in Berdyansk, get to know them, and talk to them about developing BTI for the needs that the Ukrainian churches feel that they have. It has been extremely slow, and a little frustrating. But we don't want to rush into trying to develop something that will immediately die off when we leave the field in a year or two.

Frank's main job at this time is Field Treasure. Betsy Tarr capably filled that position for a number of years, but she is now gone and Frank is still on the learning curve about what is expected by WGM accounting and by the IRS, etc. Banking, expense reports, budgets, expenditures and receipts, etc.----all these things fill much of his time.

I (Chris) had planned to teach also, but that hasn't worked out. The BTI library is in the ministry center and needs work done on it, but we are waiting to see how things develop before I spend hours and hours working on the books, cataloguing and classifying them. Betsy Tarr turned over her responsibilities has ministry center hostess to me, but that job is fairly easy at this time. If work teams return to Ukraine next summer, I will be busy, busy, busy. I am also the official mentor for Oksana Brower. This is a WGM program that was developed to help new, young missionaries fit into the ministries of the field and the expectations of what a missionary should be. I'm sure I learn more from her (since she is Ukrainian) than she learns from me. My favorite day of the week is Tuesday, when I go to the orphanage in the morning and spend time with the little ones. I love it when they run to me and give me big hugs when we walk in. I helped with the VBS/Kid's Club in June, teaching some lessons and just being available to do whatever was needed. My current dream is to get a women's ministry started. Some ladies have shown interest in my knitting and crocheting, and even my quilting which I don't do hardly at all here. I'll let you know how this develops as time goes by.

In my next posting, I will write about our entertaining of friends and young people in our home. We started this is April, and have continued to develop it through the spring and summer. I'll put up pictures and tell you all about our Ukrainian friends. And I will also share about an unexpected new ministry that is developing---that of helping Americans who are in Berdyansk in the process of adopting Ukrainian children. More on that to follow.

THE BAZAAR

2010-07-06T02:57:00.000-05:00

We had been hearing about the bazaar since January, and had even driven past it several times. But we had never gone before April because it is all outdoors except for a few buildings with indoor shops, and it was usually just toooo cold to do outdoor shopping, although that didn't seem to stop a lot of people from doing it. The sign above the old entrance says "Import Market," or something close to that. There are several entrances. We usually come down a long flight of stairs from the hill above and enter from the back side. But the bazaar is spread over a large area and even crosses the street where there is another large section of it. Along that street people set up little tables and sell everything from pirated DVDs to puppies, parakeets, and kittens.

The little shops in the older sections are usually just wooden partitions with tables set up to display the goods. The newer section has small metal pre-fab buildings divided into shops. There are probably hundreds of little shops in the whole bazaar. Each shop seems to specialize in one particular type of item. Most of the shops are clothing shops and the majority of people in Berdyansk buy their clothes in the bazaar. One shop may sell jeans, another ladies' shoes, another dresses and skirts, etc. And of course there are shops for men's clothing as well. My favorite shops (blush, blush!) are the bra shops. I have never seen so many colorful, sexy, exotic, lacy bras in my life----all right out in public for the ladies to look at. Some of the shops (including the bra shops) have a curtain in one corner where you can go and try the clothes on. I watched one fairly large lady trying on bathing suits a few weeks ago. She would change behind the curtain and then come out to get her friend's opinion. We had been told that in the bazaar people may try on clothes right out in public, and the polite thing to do was to simply look right through it as it wasn't happening, especially if the ladies stripped to their underwear. We have not seen that happen when we've been there, although we may have just missed it. The selection in each shop is usually not very large, but you can go a few steps and find another shop that may have what you want.

This young lady was selling bikinis because summer was coming and everyone wants to go to the beach. She was very friendly and nice. Loved having her picture taken.

I bought this filmy pink scarf from this lady. She had a lot of scarves and other accessary items for ladies.

I've been to this lady's shop several times. She does beautiful crochet work, she loves to see me coming because she knows I'll probably buy something.

Jeans, jeans, and more jeans. Most of them wild and funky.

On a warm Saturday these two men (called buskers in Europe---entertaining for cash) were playing some of my favorite old standard music. Frank put some coins in their pot after I took the picture.

This shop is not in the bazaar, but it is just a few steps down. It is in an indoor mall across from the meat market. I have been in this shop often, buying yarn for knitting and crocheting. This lady was very helpful, but I didn't linger in the shop too long. She had been eating her lunch and the smell of garlic was overpowering. That is only time that has ever happened to us.

I could write a lot more, but I think you get an idea of what the bazaar is like. I have not shopped for clothes, but if I do I will probably go to the indoor malls where there are lots of clothing shops. The quality is definitely better there. I have bought two pairs of shoes in the bazaar---a pair of sandals and a pair of nice slip-ons for church. Actually, I thought some of the prices in the bazaar were somewhat expensive for the quality. But, for people-watching and having a nice day out, the bazaar is definitely a fun place.

SPRING IN BERDYANSK

2010-07-05T04:24:00.002-05:00

SPRINGTIME FLOWERS

Well, you can tell I'm really behind in my writing when I am talking about springtime! But I'll do this and then my next posting will be to tell you about some of the important things that have been going on since May.

Spring in Berdyansk was wonderful. From the end of March through the first week of June the weather was great, just right for walking and exploring parts of the city that we hadn't visited earlier because it was just too cold and we didn't want to get lost in that weather. We got our outside walking routine started and walked down streets that we hadn't seen before. Along the way I kept watching various flowers pop out of the ground and counted the days until the tulips began to bloom.

The Ukrainians love their gardens and the flowers began to bloom in just about the same order as they do in the States. First came the tulips and daffodils, crosuses and iris. Red seemed to be the favorite color for the tulips, but there were other colors as well. The city folks plant flowers outside their gates and fences and between the sidewalks and the road. No one seems to pick the flowers, maybe there's just an unwritten rule that you leave other people's flowers alone. The lilacs were gorgeous and their aroma filled the air. Across the street from the ministry center the whole block was lined with lilac trees that bloomed for several weeks. Perhaps flowers are so important to folks here because winter is so long and cold and icy, and the flowers represent the end of winter and a period of warmth and outdoor activities. I took pictures, but they didn't turn out so great, so I'm not putting many here.

As time passed we saw lily of the valley, peonies, roses, and hollyhocks, and tiger lilies----many of the old-fashioned flowers which we don't see very much at home anymore. I loved them. Sometimes I would peek through the fences and see that instead of having a front yard with nice grass the houses would usually have the ground tilled and planted with vegetables. In one yard I saw a big strawberry patch with huge bushes and lots of strawberries just turning red. By the way, the strawberries in the market were wonderful and so were the cherries which came a few weeks later. Soon we'll see apricots and local peaches on the shelves too.

DOWNTOWN BERDYANSK----THE PROMENADE

Downtown Berdyansk is interesting and it can be fun. It begins at the big market with all the fresh vegetables and fruits, and I mustn't forget the dried fish---yum,yum (yeah, right). In a building next to that market is the meat market with fish, pork, beef, and poultry. There are lots of stalls selling things you might need in the kitchen----my favorite is the spice stall. It has lots of spices and mixtures of spices out in the open where you can see them and decide if you want them. Reminds us a lot of India. My favorite mixture smells a lot like Indian masalas, but is not nearly as hot in taste. I use it on meat, or make rice pilau and add some red pepper flakes to give it some bite.

The market is on the main street called Lenin Boulevard. It soon becomes a pedestrian mall with shops on either side of the street, very European in tone. The next street over is Karl Marx Avenue, and on the other side is Workers Avenue. This is just to remind everyone that Ukraine was once a communist country and still has strong socialist influences. But the shops and cafes are definitely in the capitalist mode! Lenin Blv. marches straight down to the sea front where a large statue of the man himself faces the Sea of Azov.

We were there a day or two after the date of his death in April and someone had put a bouquet of red roses at the foot of the statue. So some people here still revere him.

During the winter the promenade is empty outside and not much happens in the shops either. But with the warm weather the sidewalk cafes open and the streets and buildings are spruced up for the influx of Russian tourists who come to southern Ukraine to enjoy the beaches and sunshine. The fountains are cleaned and started again. Of course, the locals are ready to enjoy all this too after being indoors for at least six months.

This shop is called Cossack Cottage (or home). The Cossacks lived just to the north of Berdyansk and roamed this area during tsarist times. This is just basically a souvenir shop with various items to attract customers.

The sea front at the end of the promenade is not suitable for swimming. It is rocky and close to the port which is the main employer of the people of Berdyansk. There is a wall which separates the promenade from the rocks, but it is easy to get down there and many people do. They fish and many sell their catch along the streets.

The beaches for swimming are mostly along a long, skinny peninsula which is close by and dips down into the Sea of Azov. There are hotels and restaurants all along it for the big tourist season in the summer.

This is a popular picture to take in Berdyansk. A statue of a worker coming out of the manhole. Someone always sticks a cigarette in his mouth.

This little girl and her mom were having fun with the cement shoes. The little girl's name was Sasha, which could be used for a boy or a girl. It is the pet name for someone whose full name is Alexander or Alexandra.

She was friendly and not a bit shy. We had eaten at the same restaurant as her parents and saw them afterwards here. Just couldn't resist the pictures.

Good stopping place for now. Next I'll write about the bazaar.

A NEW LOOK FOR THE BLOG

2010-07-05T02:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, I admit it. I've been bored with the blog and haven't been writing in it. But today I saw some new templates and decided a change would be good. So, here it is. A new format and design. Hope you all like it. I really liked it as soon as it popped up. I don't know if it will help my boredom about writing, but I'll give it a try.

EXPANDED PRAYER LETTER

2010-04-21T03:21:00.001-05:00

It has been more than two months since I wrote on the blog. In February I had a rotten cold and no enthusiasm as well as going to the Field Meetings and helping with hospitality. In March we moved and everything seemed to be on hold. It's April, the flowers are beginning to bloom and the trees are budding. I need to get caught up. To begin with I am posting here our current prayer letter which I just wrote, although I am expanding it somewhat with more pictures and details. It will give you a month-by-month rundown of our time in Ukraine so far. This is my rough draft which has been approved and sent to WGM for formatting and printing, so it won't look as good as the final copy. However, you will be the first to see it.

TRANSITIONS

MAY, 2010

Wow! When the Lord decides it’s time to do something special in our lives, He really gets to work! In October, 2009, we were not sure we were ever going to get to Ukraine, in November we were packing and closing our house, and the first week of December we arrived in Berdyansk. Hectic? Yes. Wonderful? Definitely.

We have had five months to settle in and adjust to our new surroundings, including our first winter in this northern climate. Actually, our winter here was much milder than in the U.S. Everytime we heard about another blizzard or storm there, we were doing pretty good here in Ukraine! So, what have we been doing? Here’s a brief rundown of our time so far.

December: Settling into our small apartment in the Home of Hope, learning to shop, enjoying Christmas. Thank you, Lord, for helping us learn how to shop in another language.

January: We enjoyed Christmas a second time, as we celebrated on January 6 of the Eastern Orthodox Church calendar. We went to Hungary in January, getting our long-term visas to come and go from Ukraine for four years. We got the visas with no problems, saw a little bit of historical Budapest, and got back to Berdyansk without any weather difficulties. Thank you, Lord, for smoothing the way ahead of us.

Filling out our visa applications in the Ukrainian embassy in Budapest.

Enjoying some sight-seeing in Budapest on a very cold day.

February: Important field meetings were held in February to do strategic planning and look ahead to the next phase of work in Ukraine, and at that time missionaries Bill and Betsy Tarr announced that they needed to leave the field for medical reasons. We know they will appreciate your prayers as they look ahead to find the Lord’s plan for them. They will be missed.

Bill and Betsy live in Ocala, Florida. What a change for them from the cold weather in Ukraine.

Our other missionary colleagues here are Bill and Oksana Brower. Their main focus is on youth ministries and the bookstore in the ministry center. We thoroughly enjoy working alongside them. We praise you, Lord, for the ten years of service that Bill and Betsy Tarr have given to Ukraine, and we praise you for the outreach ministries of Bill and Oksana Brower.

The Deweys with Oksana and Bill Brower, the current WGM team in Ukraine.

BUT, the departure of Bill and Betsy left gaps in the ministries here, and we were asked to fill those empty places. Frank is now the field treasurer, taking over from Betsy. He had some experience of this in India, so it was not a huge adjustment for him. He is also in charge of the Berdyansk Training Institute. This is one ministry that has great potential, but it has been difficult to get it up and running effectively.

Chris is in charge of the Institute library and will be getting it organized and hopefully training a Ukrainian to do the work in both Russian and English languages. Pray that the right person can be found to do this. Chris also goes to the First Stage Orphanage once a week with Bill Brower to be involved with the small children there. As the hostess for the ministry center, she takes care of overnight guests and their needs. Making beds and doing laundry! Thank you, Lord, for a good washer and dryer.

March: The Tarrs left on March 6 and two weeks later we moved into their large apartment where the treasurer’s office is located in the Home of Hope. As we settled into our new home, Frank settled into the treasurer’s work. Unfortunately his first month on the job was also the last month of the fiscal year, so he had his hands full getting everything done according to the needs of the WGM Accounting Department in the U.S. Thank you, Lord, for helping him with this new work.

April: Spring is here! The tulips, violets, daffodils, crocus and irises are popping out of the ground and the trees are budding. Every day that we walk outside I take along my camera hoping to get some pictures of the first flowers. The tulip buds are just about ready to bloom. I'll put pictures on the blog when they do, along with other flowers. We celebrated Easter with the Bethel Church in Berdyansk and participated in an afternoon procession through the downtown area proclaiming that Christ is Risen! It was a cool, but sunny day, and the atmosphere was joyous and uplifting.

The big sign at the front says, "Jesus Christ, Savior for Ukraine." Other signs say "Christ is Risen!"

This little girl is the daughter of one of the lay leaders in our church. Her name is the Russian equivalent of Bethsheba.

In April we began talks with Pastor Arkadi of the Primorsk Church, 25 miles away, to see if there is a way that we can be involved in the ministries of the church there. Please pray that the people of Primorsk will find the right place for us to serve them and build up the congregation through our teaching ministries. We are eager to get with the people and do something practical and long-lasting in the churches here.

Last weekend Frank and Bill went to Primorsk to help the church clean up the property it is buying for summer camps and other activities. It is an old farm with the house and other outlaying buildings. The house is pretty dilapidated, but after it is cleaned up it could be used for the kitchen or even for sleeping. The ladies of the church actually started planting some potatoes and garlic in one of the fields. They will probably use the produce in camps, or sell it in the local markets to raise money. Frank and Bill worked together to prune back the trees of a small apricot orchard on the property. Bill wielded his chain saw and Frank dragged the lopped-off branches and twigs to one place where they could be taken care of later. The property is about three kilometers from the seashore, so it won't be quite as convenient for that as we had hoped. But the church is excited about the possibility of great summer activities there. We praise you, Lord, for a lively church that is enthusiastic about serving you.

Igor (left) works at the Home of Hope, and Pastor Arkadi.

The ladies planting in the field.

Bill Brower and the chain saw.

Without your help we could not possibly stay here. Your prayers give us strength and grace for every day’s needs. Our biggest challenge right now? The Russian language. English is used very little. We can read the script; we know some vocabulary; actually, Frank has learned a lot of vocabulary, but putting it all together with the proper grammar is a huge struggle. We don’t need to be fluent for the time we will be here, but we would like to be able to have simple conversations with people in shops and at church. Pray for us that the Lord will give us a mind to study and the memory we need, as well as opportunities to practice as much as possible. We trust you, Lord, for help in every need, including the Russian language.

Without your help financially we won’t be able to stay long. As the economy improves in the U.S., perhaps the Lord will ask you to take support in our ministry. 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.

Finally, you can keep up with our adventures in Ukraine through our blog, www.deweydiary.blogspot.com, or on Facebook when you look for Christine Taylor Dewey. These websites have more details and more pictures of our lives as we serve the Lord in the place where He has put us.

We praise you, Lord, for all the people in the U.S. who have supported us through prayers and finances, some of them for many years. Bless them, Lord, and supply their needs through your riches in Christ Jesus. Amen.

UKRAINE WINTER

2010-01-21T04:34:00.005-06:00

I've been thinking about all the interesting things we are seeing here in Berdyansk. I thought I would share a few with you: winter impressions.

Hats. Everyone wears hats. The middle-aged and older ladies wear what we would consider to be old-fashioned hats, some are shaped like big pillboxes (remember those from the 1950s?), some are asymetrical in shape, some are huge furry creations that have little tails at the back. The younger women wear cute knitted hats that fit closely to the head, the kind that look great if you have long hair and an unwrinkled face :). I am dying to take some pictures, but feel a little awkward about pointing my camera in their faces, especially if I'm just out on the street. At the Primorsk church a few weeks ago one of the ladies insisted I needed to use her long scarf to put over my head to keep warm. I don't usually wear hats, although I do have several knitted hats. The men wear hats too. Remember seeing on TV in the 70s and 80s pictures of Russian leaders standing outside the Kremlin wearing big fur hats? Well, some men here still wear those hats. I have heard that the best fur is very expensive now. Ten years ago it was much cheaper.
Coats. Of course everyone wears coats, even me. But the style of coats is interesting. Older women love long, sometimes floor-length coats. They're no fools, they want to keep their legs warm. Lots of women wear fur coats, probably faux-fur, but some look real. The fur coats look like the fur coats of the 1950s-60s. But they also look warm. The younger women usually wear hip-length modern style coats, lots of padded coats, often with hoods that are trimmed with fur. No one has a coat like mine, which I love and which is very warm. It was given to me by Laura, and is pretty much right in style in the U.S. It has a hood too, for which I am very grateful since I don't wear hats much. Some younger women wear long coats trimmed with fur. Fur is very big here. I can understand why, but some of the fur is purely decorative and probably doesn't do much to keep people warm. Besides brown or black fur I have seen purple "fur", red "fur", pink "fur" and blue "fur."
Cars. I have yet to see shiny clean cars here. The weather tends to keep cars dirty, so why take the trouble to wash them? I guess I have seen one or two clean cars, but it may be that they were dark in color and the dirt didn't show much. A lot of cars are white, and they look utterly filthy on the outside. Whenever I get into a car or bus I am very careful about not brushing up against the vehicle and getting dirty.
We live across the street from a big school and I watch the children play outside. They don't seem to mind the cold, they are running and talking, sliding on the sheets of ice, just generally doing what kids do in the wintertime. It is in the low 20s outside now and it is noontime here. The kids are outside on their lunch break, seemingly unconcerned about the cold.
I love the strollers for the babies. They are well padded and have a thick cover that is pulled up over the baby and zipped all around to keep the little ones warm. Of course the babies have blankets over them too. The toddlers are bundled up so heavily that they can hardly walk, let alone run. They have long padded leggings, coats, and thick hats with big flaps that cover their ears and necks. All you can see is their little round faces.
From my kitchen window I watch people walking down the street in front of the ministry center, probably going to the nearest bus stop. The older people tend to walk slowly in the cold. The young people walk faster, especially when the wind is blowing. The young women who are concerned about being stylish all wear high boots, usually with very high heels but not always. They also wear skin-tight jeans or pants and their hip-length coats. Their legs have to be freezing. The older ladies wear what I would call normal pants, but sometimes they have boots too with medium-high heels. Actually, some of them look pretty classy with their boots, pants, knee-length coats, and the omnipresent hat. Usually their coats are longer though, to the calf at least.
Everyone takes their shoes off when they enter the house. The winter streets are dirty and slushy, even with fresh snow. And the streets aren't very clean even when the weather is dry. So, like India, shoes come off in the house. Some people keep extra pairs of slippers near the door for their guests to put on to keep their feet warm. I haven't bought any extra pairs yet, but they are on my shopping list. (I have to admit, I keep one pair of shoes that I wear inside. The tile-covered concrete floors demand some better footwear to keep my legs and feet from hurting.)

I know there must be more things that I haven't thought of yet, but I will stop for now. I need to go and get a sweater to put on :) because it's getting colder.

TRIP TO HUNGARY

2010-01-18T09:04:00.003-06:00

Our trip to Hungary was great! We needed to go there to get residence visas to stay in Ukraine for an extended period of time. We entered Ukraine on a 3-month tourist visa. This meant that we had to do something within that three months to be able to stay longer. Our deadline was March 4th. We could have waited, but Frank was concerned that the weather would get very bad in February, which is usually considered to be the harshest winter month. So, we decided to go as soon as possible after all the holidays were over. As we checked the weather in Europe we noticed that it was terrible from the British Isles to Germany and beyond. Two days before we left for Budapest 250 flights were cancelled out of Frankfurt, Germany. What to do??? We decided to go ahead and make an attempt to get to Budapest where WGM missionaries Dan and Katy Beth Searls live and work.

We left at 6am on Monday, Jan. 11, and had a four hour bus ride to Donet'sk, the nearest international airport. It wasn't too bad, the small bus was better than most of the buses in India. We had a young Ukrainian with us, Sasha, who guided us through the business of buying tickets and getting to the Donet'sk bus stop. When we arrived there we were ready for something to eat since breakfast had been only a piece of toast. A McDonald's was close to the bus stand, so we headed there and had Big Mac combos at 10:30 in the morning! Not exactly breakfast food, but it tasted good at that moment. The Golden Arches are always a friendly, familiar sight in an unknown place. Sasha got us to the airport in a taxi and headed back to Berdyansk. We went inside to an unheated international airport. It was pretty cold, but after we checked in and got into the gate area we noticed a duty-free shop and just ambled in to check it out. We stayed quite a while---it had heat! We then flew to Vienna, Austria, where we had a four-hour layover. While we were waiting for our flight there were announcements that flights into Germany had been cancelled because of the weather. How thankful we were that the Lord had put us on a different itinerary. Everything went as smoothly as it could have. There were no weather delays in any of our flights, and all of them were on time. We arrived in Budapest about 9:15pm after a long day.

We stayed at the home of Katy Beth and Dan Searls. Dan is actually in the U.S. right now for knee surgery, so we didn’t see him. They have four daughters, aged 11 thru 13. The oldest two are twins. Those girls are sweet, pretty and totally unlike the average American girl. They look the same, but have a completely different outlook about life in general. They are an important part of their parents’ ministry and have been raised to love the Lord and family first. I really can’t explain the difference very well, but we were totally impressed by them. The two oldest actually go to a regular Hungarian school, and the two youngest go to an American (?) international school. Katy Beth is enthusiastic, vivacious, joyful and tons of funs to be with. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with her and the girls. She loves company and she has the house to accommodate it. They use their large home for youth ministry, Bible studies, English classes, etc. etc. etc. You’ll feel like she’s known you forever after a few minutes with her.

Frank, Susannah, Abby, Annie, Sadie, and Chris

The girls with Katy Beth in the center.

Katy Beth made sure she had time to go with us through downtown Budapest and drove us to the Ukraine embassy. Budapest was sunny and bright most of the time, although it was cold, and we got our visas without any trouble. We were still thinking in India mode----we kept waiting for the Ukrainian consular officer to raise objections, or seem unfriendly, or just generally give us a hard time----but none of that happened. The lady who served us was somewhat friendly and helpful. We did make one mistake on Tuesday. We didn’t realize that the office closed to visitors at noon. We were there in the morning, but had to go to a particular bank to pay for the visas and get back before noon. We didn’t have enough time to get that done before noon, so we had lunch and then went back at 1pm. The lady let us in, told us our mistake, but was good enough to continue with our work. It was during this time that another problem arose---the cost of the visas had jumped from $100 each to $165 each. If Katy Beth hadn't been with us we would have had to find more money from an ATM or through the bank. But Katy Beth insisted on helping. We were able to repay her later for her expense. We had to return to the embassy on Wednesday morning to actually have the visas put into our passports, and because of a computer glitch we had to wait for an hour and a half, but again the lady was nice and apologized for the delay. We were elated to get the visas so easily and left the tiny embassy feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

We had enough time on Tuesday to do a hour or two of sight-seeing. We had lunch at a big modern mall which was where the bank was located. We insisted that we didn't want American style fast food, so we ate in a small restaurant and had real Hungarian food for lunch. Katy Beth took us to the hill overlooking the Danube (this was on the Buda side of the city, we didn’t get across the river to the Pest side) and showed us the beautiful Parliament building, and an old cathedral dedicated to one of the early kings. The hill itself was the site of an old palace which was destroyed in WWII by the Nazis and the Soviets, and we walked through the elegant streets leading up the hill. It just made us want to return in warm weather for a longer stay.

Do we look cold? We were!

The beautiful Parliament building across the Danube River in Pest.

On Wednesday afternoon she took us shopping in a British chain store called Tesco. I guess you could compare it to a super Walmart, except it’s British with Hungarian products as well as other European products. I picked up a few things that I haven’t found in Ukraine but not much. We travelled with one suitcase and a limit of 20 kilos per bag. So we didn't have much room and weight left. At the airport in Budapest I bought a small ceramic dish with a package of paprika in it, and at the airport in Vienna I bought some wonderful European chocolate :). Nobody does chocolate like Europeans.

We left Budapest on Thursday morning and got to Donet'sk at 2pm that afternoon. We were able to get to the bus stand by ourselves, buy the tickets and get back to Berdyansk by 7pm that evening. I made it a point to stop at the McDonald's in Donet'sk before we got on the bus. I couldn't bear the thought of sitting on a very cold toilet seat in the airport! (Although it could have had squat toilets, since most public places do. But it would be too cold for even that. McDonald's was heated.) The weather was foggy part of the way home, and we did see some snow and ice coming out of Donet'sk, but in Berdyansk it was raining and not too cold. Another long day.

Our biggest adventure on the trip: the taxi ride from the Donet’sk bus stand to the airport on Monday afternoon! Need I say more???

We had put a prayer request on Facebook and Frank had sent another by email to our friends and supporters in the U.S. to pray for us as we made this trip. Many folks wrote back to us that they were praying. We know that everything went so smoothly and the weather cooperated because of those prayers. God really does take care of His people when they trust Him for their needs. Thank you, Lord, for our trip, for the Searl family, and for the visas you provided. This is another confirmation that we are where you want us to be.

UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS

2010-01-15T07:20:00.003-06:00

It's late to keep talking about Christmas, but that was just a week ago here in Ukraine and I want to tell you about it. Ukraine's history is intertwined with the Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been here for more than a thousand years. In 1988 it celebrated 1000 years here. In Orthodox tradition Christmas is celebrated on January 7. And although some Protestant churches may celebrate on December 25, it really isn't Christmas to Ukrainians. Here in Berdyansk our churches planted by World Gospel Mission celebrate Christmas on January 7. When communism took over in Russia in 1917, the leaders wanted to end the celebration of Christmas, but they knew that the people would be very reluctant to give up this important part of the Orthodox calendar. So the communists were very tricky. They encouraged the people to stop celebrating St. Nicholas and Christmas, and instead began to promote a legendary character, Grandfather Frost. Grandfather Frost would come and leave presents and check to see if the children were good or bad, and in both Russia and Ukraine the real reason for Christmas was slowly pushed into the background. Even now, many people are not aware of the birth of Christ in a very personal way. It is just another holiday to give them a break from their hum-drum lives.

Our Christmas here really started just before December 25th when the children at the First Stage Orphanage put on a program for us and a few other friends. This program was centered around the stories of Saint Nicholas, whom the Ukrainians call Mikolai. One of the matrons at the orphanage dressed in a long red and white robe and hat (sort of like Santa, but not totally). The children recited poetry and sang songs which were traditional for them. I wish I could have understood it all, but I think they were all about St. Mikolai. WGM in Ukraine had purchased a tall live tree for the orphanage, and the children had decorated it with shiny paper ornaments, balls and garlands. Some of the little girls were dressed up to be stars, but usually the small children sat very, very quietly on their little chairs and watched along with us. This program was interesting to us because among the guests were the representatives of a political candidate who is running for President of the country. (Ukraine has national elections on Jan. 17). The representatives distributed toys and candies to the children, but they wanted to make sure that everyone knew it was from this candidate! The CEO of a large company here in Berdyansk was also there with his wife, and they distributed toys to the kids. We sat back quietly and watched. There wasn't very good light to take pictures, so I really didn't get much to show you. Oh yes, I mustn't forget that two TV channels sent their cameramen to film the program. I hope it got on TV, but we didn't see it.

The children did another program on January 5th, just before Orthodox Christmas. The attendees were fewer in number, but the children were just as adorable as ever. This time they were dressed in traditional Ukrainian outfits and the program was about how Christmas was celebrated in Ukraine. There was a table with examples of the special foods that were prepared and the children sang and recited again. Most of the singing and recitations were done by the older children. . But the little ones were dressed up too and looked beautiful. They were eager for their presents. WGM in Ukraine had brought along toys and candy for the kids this time, and they were distributed to big smiles and eager hands. We were glad to be a part of this day, and hope that Christmas day itself was just as happy for them.

On Christmas Day we attended two church services, one in Berdyansk in the morning and one at Primorsk in the afternoon. I'm just putting in some pictures, first of Berdyansk, to show you some of the people.

The Berdyansk program was rather traditional with the kids singing and reciting and the few youth who were there doing some musical numbers. Gifts were distributed and everyone seemed to have a great time.

In Primorsk it was quite different. The people of the church put on a big Christmas play which was based on the early life of Mary up until the birth of Jesus. One young woman in the church had written it, arranged all the music, directed it, and probably collapsed when it was all over! Most of the church people were in the play, and the church was packed with visitors and friends to watch it. I must mention that the Primorsk church is not heated, so it was cold inside, but the spirit was warm and exciting. The following are just a few of the pictures I took that day.

For some reason, these ladies have taken me to their hearts. They insisted I must be in a picture with them, and they were hugging me. I love going to Primorsk!

This little babushka was sitting at the back of the church. She was so much like my stereotyped image of what a Russian/Ukrainian grandmother should be that I couldn't resist taking her picture. But she wasn't very happy with me for doing it.

Finally, on the next Sunday one of the young women in the church testified that a large group of the church people had gone out on the main street in downtown Primorsk, stood on the corner and began singing Christmas carols. People were curious, stopping and asking them what this was all about. And the church people began to tell them about the real Christmas and the birth of Christ. What a wonderful evangelistic outreach to people who don't know the love of God. We were totally impressed with these people!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010

2010-01-02T02:37:00.001-06:00

What a difference a year makes! A year ago Frank and I were discouraged and downhearted over not being in Ukraine and having a hard time getting our support raised. Other things concerned with India had totally dismayed and shocked us. We wondered what the future held for us. As this New Year begins we are assessing our ministry roles here in Ukraine, planning for outreach, and asking God to open the doors that He wants us to go through. We are satisfied that we are here in God's timing. We are encouraged and content.

New Year's Eve in Ukraine was fun for us. We were invited to an American friend's apartment for supper along with Bill and Betsy Tarr. We had delicious food as well as good conversation and fellowship. We were home before 9pm, watched a movie and went to bed about 11:30. At midnight the fireworks began! Fireworks lit up the sky and for quite a while we could hear the crackers explode. New Year's Day was quiet all day long. We have been told that New Year's Eve is the biggest holiday in Ukraine. The early part of the evening is spent with family and there are lots of special foods and games and special programs on TV. Then the young people go to friends' homes, or out to bars and pubs, and party most of the night. The quietness on New Year's day was probably because most people were recovering from the effects of too much alcohol and too many parties.

I just discovered how to imbed puzzles into our blog, so I'm starting with this one that says it all. Happy New Year to all our friends, loved ones and supporters. May God bless you all throughout 2010.

ADVENTURES IN GROCERY SHOPPING

2009-12-29T08:13:00.000-06:00

Perhaps one of the most daunting things a person has to adjust to in a new country is learning how to shop for groceries. In countries where very little English is spoken, like Ukraine, it can be especially scary. You have to depend on the pictures which might be on the packages. But sometime you can make a mistake with that too----I picked up a packet that had a picture of what I thought was celery, dried celery leaves. When we got home and looked up the word in the dictionary we found that it contained dried parsley leaves. It wasn't a horrible mistake, but it illustrates how even pictures can mislead you. It really helps to have a knowledgeable friend along to give guidance the first two or three times. Fortunately Frank and I had started working on the Russian language before we left the U.S., although I am really poor at picking up new sounds and then pronouncing them. Frank has really done good, so I like having him along to read the labels in Russian. Oh-oh, another problem in Ukraine-----Ukrainians are very patriotric and are beginning to use Ukrainian more and more here in the eastern part of the country. Everyone still speaks Russian, especially the older folks, but many of the products which are being made here in Ukraine have only Ukrainian writing on them. It's very close to Russian, the writing is similar, but sometimes the words are different. Okay, so there is the basis for my adventure in grocery shopping.

When I saw the nice supermarkets here in Berdyansk I was very pleased. They are so much better than the grocery stores in India. But India has one advantage----most products had English on them, so you knew what you were getting. (That's due to being a colony of Great Britain for so many years. Indians are very patriotic and want to use their own languages, but they want to know English too.) The stores may not have looked as nice as these supermarkets, but they did have almost everything you might need, or want. Perhaps I should mention here that Frank and I aren't afraid to try new foods (although I did draw the line at fish-head curry in India many years ago---the eye staring up at me was just too much for me to swallow, literally.) So, what have I learned about grocery shopping in Ukraine?

Bring along your own shopping bags. If you need a bag, you'll probably have to pay for it. And you will bag up your purchases yourself. No one will help you with that. I was sort of expecting this, so in our shipment I included a couple of sturdy bags---a black Walmart bag and a larger green one from Joann's Fabrics. I bought those too, but they are probably stronger than what I have now.
You can buy fruit and vegetables at the supermarket, but there is a better selection at the regular market, which is in an unheated building with various stalls outside as well. You can also get meat and other items like spices at the market. I bought potatoes yesterday, they are really dirty as if they'd just been dug up. Carrots and onions are like that too. Even in the supermarket root vegetables have not been cleaned.
At the supermarket there are lots of items that can be purchased in bulk: flour, oatmeal, sugar, rice, and other commodities like that. But there are also delicious cookies and crackers of all kinds that you can buy in bulk. In the freezer section there are different fish, shrimp (looking up at you with the eyes still in!) mixed vegetables, and various Ukrainian foods including variniky which is somewhat like ravioli except it's stuffed with different things. I have bought cheese variniky and chicken variniky, both very good. Yesterday in a small grocery store downtown I saw frozen chicken heads just waiting for someone's soup pot.
When you buy a carton of eggs here, you get ten eggs, not twelve. They probably work more on the decimal system here. The eggs have very dark yellow-orange yolks, but they taste just the same as in the U.S.
Ukrainians eat a lot of fish, after all we're on the Sea of Azov. There are many, many different kinds and I don't know hardly any of them! Slowly, one by one, we will be trying some of them.
I haven't bought ice cream yet, but I've been told that it melts quickly so you need to get it home fast. However, if it melts and refreezes it doesn't get ice crystals like that in the U.S. It stays smooth and creamy.
The supermarkets have wonderful pastry sections. We're working our way through different breads and cookies and haven't had one yet that we don't like.
The deli sections are really good too. I'm trying a few things at a time. Our latest discovery was something I bought in the deli last week. It was a large oval-egg-shaped ball stuffed with something and then deep-fried. I thought it might be stuffed with potato or other vegetable since I remembered something like that from 2007, but when we heated it up in the oven and then opened it up, it was stuffed with tender chicken breast. We each had one for lunch and it was delicious. I asked our friends for the name, but they didn't know.
Paprika is a favorite spice here, probably because of the close proximity to Hungary. I have seen chickens in the meat section marinated in something dark red. I am guessing the marinade has paprika in it and I plan to buy one in the next week or so and give it a try.
There are scads of different sausages in the meat section. Some are salami, but most of them I don't know. I hesitate to buy them because I can see big pieces of fat in the cut ends of them. I want to try them, but we really don't need that high fat content.
One other thing that we have tried is pickled cabbage. It's not like saurkraut at all. It is very tart and I have added a bit of sugar to it to cut that sourness. It's makes a good salad. I get it out of the bulk section of the supermarket.
There are plenty of soft drinks including Coke and Sprite.
I bought a container of Pringle potato chips this week. It cost about a dollar. We have also tried some Ukrainian potato chips. They are good, with a little different flavor. Not bad at all.
We are tea drinkers. We had the best tea in the world in India, and I was extremely happy to discover some of our favorite brands here in Ukraine. Ukrainians love tea more than coffee, so they want the best. There is also coffee, but we haven't tried any of that yet.

I think this is enough about food for now. I know more things will pop into my mind after I finish this, but I'll write more about food as we continue to try new things.

FIRST DAY AT THE ORPHANAGE

2009-12-22T08:50:00.001-06:00

One of the first places Frank and I were invited to go to was the First Stage Orphanage here in Berdyansk. Bill Brower, our WGM missionary in charge of youth work, goes to the orphanage twice a week in the mornings to play with the kids and be a part of their lives. When he invited us, we were eager because we had been talking about the orphanages for two years and had shared about the spiritual and physical needs of these kids. So we piled into the van with him and his co-worker, Vika, a young woman who also works in the youth ministries.

At the First Stage Orphanage children are usually brought by their parents or other family members to stay because the family is unable to give them proper care, for various reasons. The children can stay for three months to begin with, but some stay as long as nine months. After that if the parents still can't care for them the children are sent to Azmol Orphanage, which is the regular long-term orphanage. There aren't lots of children in the First Stage Orphanage, but there are enough to break your heart. We spent time with the younger children who don't go to school yet, and they are as adorable as they can be. We also saw some of the older children who are probably between the ages of ten and fourteen.

As soon as we arrived at the orphanage, the small children were peeking through the door and couldn't wait to get their hands on us for some hugs. Bill and Vika had brought some games and puzzles for the kids to work, and we played with them too. Sasha, a nickname for Alexandra, took a liking to Frank and he helped her set up the blocks.

Daniel was a cute little guy, but he could be a handful too. Look at his wonderful smile.

Bill Brower has a special love for these kids. Look at him and Andrei, who is a first class show-off!

Little Denis seemed very sad and withdrawn. The matron said he was used to getting a lot of attention from visitors, and today he had to wait his turn. Whatever, the little guy is so very cute.

Pasha, Ulla, and another girl whose name I missed enjoyed the puzzles. Pasha worked the same puzzle over and over again, afraid to let any other child have a turn just in case he didn't get it back.

We stayed with them for about two hours in the morning. They are well taken care of, fed well and kept clean and dressed warmly. In fact, we had our sweaters on and were pretty warm the whole time, so the kids are kept warm too. The older children go to the local school, although it was a holiday the first day we went so they were there too although they didn't want to mix with the little kids too much. The director of the First Stage Orphanage is a kind man who seems to have the well-being of the children as his first priority.

We were told that children who grow up in the orphanages don't want lots of people to know about it because it is somewhat of a stigma for them as they get older. People of their own age look down on them and it is difficult for them to find their proper place in the world around them. What an opportunity for ministry! not just in orphanage, but to follow-up on them after they leave and try to help them adjust to their world, as well as to give them the spiritual message that even if no one else cares about them, Jesus will always love them and care for them and give them the security they need.

MORE IMPRESSIONS AGAIN

2009-12-22T08:03:00.004-06:00

It's been a week since I wrote and a lot has happened since then. We have seen more of Berdyansk and continue to learn a little more every day. Some impressions:

It snowed last week and the streets are a mess. We haven't seen a snowplow around our ministry center, and as I look out the window I see people navigating through the ice and slush very carefully. We did see one snowplow downtown, but the streets were pretty messy there too. By "navigating" I mean that they are walking, probably to the bus-stop just down the road. The cars move very carefully.
We went shopping for some clocks and cell phones. The cell phones are nice and probably priced about the same as they are at home. I got one in "romantic pink"----it really is pretty and has a bunch of stuff on it. Now, if I could only read the instruction leaflet---it's written in two languages, Russian and Ukrainian. We didn't sign contracts, we got a starter pack which gave us our phone numbers and then we buy cards with a certain amount of time on them and enter them in the phone for use. Somewhat like what we did in India.
We learned that the Ukrainian people put a high value on "image." This includes what you wear and how you behave in public. You would never go out in public dressed sloppily or with your hair messy. In summertime you would never wear shorts to go shopping. At least we understand that's true for men, I'm not sure if it holds true for women. I guess we'll find out next June. But, you must be dressed "properly". You must always look good, preferably in the most current fashion. I'm pretty sure Frank and I haven't reached the proper status yet! Along with the clothes image, the women wear lots of make-up and do their best to look really good in that respect. Of course, it's not hard for them because the women are so beautiful anyway. Lots of blondes, but also a lot of people with very dark, almost black, hair with blue or green eyes. They are gorgeous. The dark hair may be a throw-back to the time when the Tartars invaded from the east and stayed in the area of both Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainians love bright colors. Perhaps it is because they often have drab lives. They live in tall, gray ugly apartment buildings. In winter everything is gray, cold, and cloudy, with the sunshine only shining now and then. The clothes are colorful, the shops are colorful, and curtains and other household linens are colorful. We haven't been inside a Ukrainian apartment yet, but the chances are good that they are decorated with bright colors. There is nice furniture in the shops, but it isn't exactly like what we would find in the U.S. Every country has its own taste in design and functionality.
At Christmas there are lots of decorations available. We bought a small tree (made in China), various ornaments, garlands, and lights. Total cost: about $30. Actually, although it's December 22nd here and we are in the mood for Christmas, the Ukrainian Christmas isn't until January 7th. That's because of the Orthodox church traditions which have a strong influence on the lives of the people. The missionaries here will have a small dinner together on December 25th, but the big celebrations will be two weeks from now. Frank and I are looking forward to seeing what happens in the church as well as all around us. We especially want to try some special Ukrainian foods that are prepared for Christmas.

These are just a few of the things we have noticed. I'll write next about our trip to the orphanage and the Christmas program we saw there.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN PRIMORSK

2009-12-14T03:13:00.000-06:00

One of the churches we had visited in 2007 was the Primorsk congregation, which met in the local theater while their building was being constructed. It was a lively group of people with lots of singing and enthusiasm for participating in the worship service. It was at Primorsk that we met Larissa Prechunk, the school principal who gave up her secure position to work in the church and serve the Lord full-time. We shared her story with folks in almost every service we held in the U.S. during our HMA assignment.

So, when Bill Brower called us on Saturday and asked if we would like to go to Primorsk on Sunday, we had no hesitation if accepting his invitation. We were really interested to see how the church was doing. We were warned that although the church building was done and there was electricity, there was no heat in the building and it would be cold. Okay, we knew this was going to happen sooner or later, so we might has well just get used to it. On Sunday we dressed very warmly, long underwear, two pairs of socks, etc., etc., and climbed into the van to go to Primorsk. We drove along through the flat steppe landscape and arrived just in time for the service to begin. As we settled into our seats, Rev. Arkadi suggested we sit where we could put our feet on the rungs of the seats in front of us to take our feet off the cold floor and help keep them warm. I'm all for that----I always have cold feet in the wintertime. The outside temperatures were in the low 30s, so it did feel cold in the church, but we were inside without any wind, so it wasn't too, too bad. The service began with lively, good singing led by a worship team of six young adults. There were testimonies and a good sermon, lots of amens in the congregation, and a warm atmosphere. We were briefly introduced and people were encouraged to meet us after the service. This is where the story gets good!

As we stood at the back of sanctuary, the first person to come up to us was Larissa! Even though we had met only briefly in 2007 she remembered us, and she remembered that we were going to be involved in lay leadership development! I suppose she remembered because this is such an important issue for her since she wants to see the church grow and the people develop into leaders. Anyway, she told us (through an interpreter) that she had been praying for two years that we would return to Primorsk and begin our ministry of leadership development there. She had been praying for us specifically. Wow! what else can I say? We were overwhelmed by that. But there was more----the whole church had been praying that a missionary would come to their church to serve, they wanted a missionary, in particular they wanted the Deweys to come to work in their church. We are humbled and in a little shock with all this. We had no idea anyone would even remember that we had been there since it was two years ago and we were only in that one service at Primorsk. Lots of Americans come to visit the work here, and we were here at a time when one WGM work team was also here, so we were just part of the whole group.

At this point we have no idea how all this is going to work out. We live in Berdyansk, about 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) from Primorsk. Larissa said the church wanted us to move to Primorsk so we could be in the ministry full-time there. Pastor Arkadi was there with her, although he didn't say a lot, so we want to get to know him better and learn what his thinking is. We need to work with our missionary team here, and with our field leader, to pray about it and find the Lord's leading in all our decisions about this. Probably nothing will happen for a while because we are entering the Christmas season here and it lasts through the first week of January. In fact, Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on January 7th as part of their Orthodox traditions. Pray with us about this opportunity, that everything will be done as the Lord wants it to be. To us this is just a confirmation from the Lord that we are where we are supposed to be, and that He has work for us to do here.

MORE IMPRESSIONS

2009-12-14T02:28:00.002-06:00

We haven't seen the sun yet, although as I sit by the window and write this the sun is trying to shine through the clouds for the first time since we arrived.
Driving to church on Sunday afternoon, the road was not busy with a lot of traffic. Our driver, a Norwegian (sp.?) missionary, was stopped for driving too fast! A patrol officer standing by the road with hand held radar caught him.
The water in our building was off quite a bit this weekend. It was off several hours on Saturday afternoon, and then was off again all of Sunday morning . Frank didn't get his morning shower!
The ladies here like to be very fashionable. Knee-high high-heeled boots, nice coats with fur collars (not old-fashioned fur collars, but very trendy looking fur), make-up, hair, etc., all really nice. I felt rather clunky!
Drinking water is brought into the building in large 5-gallon containers. We use this water for drinking and cooking. We go down to the office and get a new container when we're getting low. The tap water is used only for laundry, dishwashing, and showers. The water in our kitchen tap has a distinct sulphur smell.
No tv for us at this time. We could get a satellite dish, but the channels are basically all in Russian or Ukrainian, there is one English-language channel (BBC news), although we could pay more and get some other English channels. We'll wait and see how we feel about it. Right now we're getting our news from the internet, watching the nightly broadcast of Katie Couric on CBS News. Not our favorite, but it works. Checking other news channels for more stories.
Having long, long winter evenings is an adjustment. It's almost dark by 4pm, and by 8pm we're thinking it's bedtime!
We realized we were spoiled in India. We could go almost anywhere and find someone who spoke fairly decent English. In fact, we could go to the city and never have to use Kannada, our local language, at all. Lots of English bookstores. In Ukraine very few people speak English, although many want to learn. No books in English, except for what we have with us or what the other missionaries have.

More next week.

UKRAINE, FINALLY

2009-12-09T08:11:00.002-06:00

On Thursday, December 3rd, we said goodby to Laura, Brent and our grandsons as we headed to the airport to get on our plane. There were no tears, but it was tough to kiss them goodby. And we know it was hard for Laura, because she had come to depend on us for backup when things got hectic around her house. And she always has a hard time saying goodby. But she also wants us to do what God has planned for us. So, she was smiling and waving with little Lance as we went through security at the airport and blew them a last kiss.

Our travel was fairly routine except for the part of it that crossed the north Atlantic. It was rocky! We had lots of turbulence and a bumpy ride off and on for several hours. But we arrived in rainy Munich and got our flight to Donetsk which arrived at our destination right on time. The airport at Donetsk is the smallest international airport we have been in. One other flight was on the ground, loading passengers for takeoff. We came down the plane's steps and were taken to the terminal in a bus. The flight had not been full so there weren't many passengers who had to go through immigration, which was about the easiest we have experienced. However, when we went to get our luggage (five fairly large suitcases), it was on a cart just outside the terminal, there were no luggage carts for passengers to use, and so we had to move it ourselves one or two at a time into the terminal. That was a first for us. The other WGM missionaries in Ukraine were waiting for us and there was a happy time of greeting and shaking hands. The other missionaries are Bill and Betsy Tarr, and Bill and Oksana Brower. Bill B. met Oksana here and after some time they were married and she is now also a missionary with World Gospel Mission. After a drive of 2 1/2 to 3 hours we arrived in Berdyansk and the Home of Hope ministry center. We both slept very good that night, at least a good ten hours.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It gets dark early! It starts to get dark before 4pm and is completely dark by 4:30. That's because we are so far north, much further north than we have ever lived before, particularly in India.
The land is flat! After spending a wonderful summer in the mountains, we are now in an area of Ukraine that is part of the steppe of western Asia and eastern Europe.
Our apartment is quite nice. It is small, but just right for two older missionaries like us. A living room, bedroom, nice kitchen, bathroom and storage room, which is large enough to accomodate a desk and become Frank's office. The rooms are all in a line with a fairly wide hallway going alongside them. The appliances in the kitchen are really good, and the cook (me) is very happy with it. We have radiator heating in all the rooms, with a second large heating-cooling unit in the living room. We are comfortable.
Shopping is interesting. We went to the supermarket on Saturday and were thankful to have Bill Brower and Betsy Tarr along to guide us through the different foods and labels. Frank can read some of the labels, so he could recognize a lot of foods, but I'm really slow with that. (Language study! Language study!) Lots and lots of fish (Berdyansk is on the Sea of Azov), cabbage, good cheeses, pork products (very fatty pork), chicken, not much beef, delicious-looking breads and cookies. On Monday Bill Brower took us to the open farmer's market, part of which was indoors, but unheated. Lots of good vegetables and fruit, nuts, sweets, odds and ends. The meat market was also in the building----again, a lot of fish and pork, and chicken although there was some beef also. In the cold weather, it's okay to go to the meat market in the afternoon, but come summertime the morning will be the time to go since there is no heating or cooling in the building. Outside the building lots of stalls were set up for individual vendors, mostly women, to sell their produce. I felt sorry for the women because it was a cold day with a brisk wind, and their faces and hands were red and chapped with the cold. I had on my heavy coat with the hood pulled up over my head, so I wasn't too bad. They had good coats and hoods too, but their hands were bare so they could do their work. And in a brisk wind after a while even a good coat is not enough. My plan is that before I go grocery shopping next time, I will make my list in English and then write it in Russian so I can begin to read the labels for myself and develop my very small vocabulary.
The last time we saw sunshine was Thursday morning in Oklahoma City on our way to the airport. The sky has been cloudy and sometimes drizzly since we arrived. The temperatures have been in the lower 30s. But I comfort myself with the thought that today in Oklahoma, Kansas, and states north and east, the temperatures are much lower and there are heavy snowfalls, sometimes blizzards. Our turn will definitely come, but not right now.

CHURCH

On Sunday morning we attended our first worship service as missionaries in Ukraine. The service is held in the Home of Hope ministry center, which is also where our apartment is located. So we didn't have to go outside, we were quite close to the place where the services are held while the sanctuary is being completed.

The service was three hours long, which is about par for most mission fields, although we were spoiled in India with shorter services at the seminary. The service here started with one or two songs, after which Rev. Sergei spoke for fifteen or twenty minutes welcoming everyone and making pertinent comments. The singing resumed and lasted for at least 45 minutes. But the music was wonderful! I loved the melodies, and the Russian words were shown on the screen, so with our little bit of language study we could follow somewhat, although we didn't try to sing except on the refrains. The music was upbeat, catchy, and easy to follow. After the music finished, the floor was opened for testimonies, and a number of people got up to testify. I won't say they got up to say a few words, because it seemed that many of them were telling their life stories! Actually, except for one person they were usually relating one particular incident where the Lord taught them something new, or worked out a problem for them. We were fortunate that we had some translation done for us through earphones, since Oksana Brower is Ukrainian and she did the translation.

After the testimonies, the pastor's message focused on Passover in the Old Testament and how that led to the ritual of communion, and its importance in the family life of the believer. He is a lively preacher with use of humor and illustrations. At the end of his message communion was served and so we were able to participate for the first time in a meaningful act of worship with fellow believers in Ukraine. It was a special moment for us.

WHAT'S COMING UP IN THE NEXT WEEK

Well, we are pretty much settled into our apartment, so the coming week will be spent getting more information about the work here and how we will fit into it. We want to get Frank's office set up so we will feel more "professional" or at least make it look like we're busy! We will definitely be getting back into our Russian language study several hours a day so we can understand more and make some primitive attempts at communication.

If the opportunity arises and the weather permits, I plan to start taking some pictures soon and will try to get some posted here and on Facebook. Stay tuned for the next installment.

SAYING GOOD-BY

2009-12-09T06:52:00.000-06:00

SHIPMENT OFF TO UKRAINE

Well, the last time I wrote was November 15, when we were packing our shipment to send to Ukraine. That was three weeks ago, so I will just give a fast run-down of events up to December 3, when we actually boarded a plane and headed eastward toward the place where God has been leading us.

We did finally get the shipment packed and sent. The books (which were giving us the most trouble) were packed separately in smaller boxes and sent along with the main shipment. When Frank checked at the post office about sending them in one big mail bag, we could still do that. The big catch: they would have to go airmail. The USPS is no longer sending these big bags by sea mail, and the cost of airmail is just toooooo much to send books overseas. So, we were back to square one and finally decided just to pack the books in separate boxes that would each weigh up to 66 pounds, which was the size limit. It worked okay and we finished packing. When we were done we had nine boxes that each weighed about 66 pounds. A good friend from our Sunday School class, Craig Guy, helped Frank load the boxes into his big pick-up and drove with Frank to Tulsa to the Ukrainian shipping agent. They went on their way and we could turn our attention to packing up the house and preparing to leave.

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving week was both hectic and fun. Our son Evan and his wife Lori, with their three little girls came on Tuesday to spend 3 1/2 days with us. Evan and Frank worked all day Wednesday cleaning out our garage and doing other jobs around the house that needed to be done before we could leave. They continued the work on Friday and got just about all of it done. Our garage had not been totally empty since 1992 or earlier! My mother had left things there, Evan and Lori left things there, and we left things there at various times. Evan helped move the big pieces of furniture into the the storage units we have rented, so our house began to look more and more bare as the week went by. Thanksgiving itself was good. Fourteen of us sat around the table at Laura's house. Frank's mom, five Tevebaughs (Laura's family), five young Deweys (Evan's family), two of us and a good friend of Laura's. The food was traditional, turkey, etc. We divided up the cooking between us, so Laura didn't have to do it all. She tried an interesting way of roasting the turkey: around midnight before Thanksgiving Day, put the turkey in a roasting pan, cover it with foil, and put it in a 275 degree oven. Let it cook slowly all night until noon or so on Thanksgiving Day. When the foil is removed, the turkey is self-basted and brown, as well as being very tender. It was delicious. Thanks to Laura's friend, Melinda, for the new technique---at least it was new to us. I could write lots more about our granddaughters and grandsons, but there's too much to say. I'll have to devote one entire blog session to them later.

SAYING GOODBY TO OUR HOME

After Evan and his family left, Frank and I continued cleaning, packing, and moving things to the storage units. On Monday, Craig Guy came by again and spent the whole day helping Frank move the rest of the furniture and taking trash to the dump as well as taking a big load of things to Goodwill. (One thing about moving is that it's a great opportunity to get rid of the clutter that accumulates so fast.) Laura came to the house and helped me empty the kitchen. She took charge and it was done pretty fast. Tuesday was the day for cleaning the house and getting it ready for the rental realtor. Frank and I worked all day, and Laura came in the evening to help finish the mopping and cleaning of the bathrooms. When Frank turned it over to the realtor on Wednesday morning, it was very clean, the garage was totally empty, and we said goodby to the house for two years. It was a little sad, but we didn't dwell on it, we looked toward the future and what would be happening in our lives after we got to Ukraine.

SELLING OUR CAR

I have to devote a whole paragraph to how the Lord worked out the details of deposing of our cars. We had decided to keep our mini-van: we like it, it's in good condition, and it will be waiting for us when we return to the U.S. in 2011. Evan's in-laws in Texas have big barns and storage areas on their farm, and they were glad to help us out by storing our van in one of them. Evan drove our van back to Texas when he and Lori left us (Lori drove their van with the three girls) and he is taking care of our car for us while we're gone.

But the truly amazing story is how we sold our little Mazda, which we used around town and on short distance driving. A friend had been interested in buying it, and we had been keeping it for her. But at the last minute she felt that she couldn't swing it, so backed out of purchasing it. We understood, we were not upset. However, this happened on the Saturday night before we were to leave on Thursday, not much time to sell a car. On Sunday morning in Sunday School, we mentioned that the car was available, if anyone was aware of someone who might be interested in it, and we were asking about $3000 for it. No one said a word. Okay. On Monday one lady from our class called and knew of a young man who might be interested. Before he had a chance to see the car, Linda Jergens from our class called and mentioned that her son-in-law, Kevin, might be interested. She was a little disappointed because the young man was going to look at the car. Well, he looked, talked to his dad, and finally decided not to buy it. But God had not left us without hope, because Linda had called and our next step was to get in touch with her again. It was arranged that Kevin would look at the car on Wednesday night (less than twelve hours before we were getting on that airplane.) He and his wife had been traveling home on Sunday, and had talked then about how they needed a good second car for him to drive to work. They needed it to cost about $3000. Well, enough said. You can see where this story is going. They had a need, and we were able to fill it. We had a need, and they were able to meet it. God had it all worked out ahead of time, but it would be nice if He didn't wait until the very last minute to reveal it! We needed that $3000 because our house taxes are due in December and we didn't want to dip into our savings for that. And there is enough left to keep a decent balance in our checking account until we begin to receive income from rent on the house. Thank you Lord for taking care of us.

PACKING UPDATE

2009-11-15T14:40:00.000-06:00

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.

PACKING FOR UKRAINE

2009-11-14T09:01:00.001-06:00

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!

TRANSITIONS: NOVEMBER 2009

2009-11-04T10:10:00.004-06:00

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.

TRANSITIONS: NOVEMBER 2009

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

The West and Mountains

2009-10-22T07:49:00.004-05:00

I can't leave the Northwest without some reflection. I have always been fascinated by the American West. Perhaps it was because of the old western movies, but probably more because of the wonderful topography, the vast prairies, (Little House on the Prairie and all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books), the wildlife, and the colorful historical characters who inhabited it. Many of those characters had lives that were stranger than fiction. And I can't leave out the native Americans who lived somewhat primitive lives, but had marvelous resiliency and tenacity, as well as their own myths and spiritual elements.

Mostly this past summer I have reflected on Mountains. We were within view of mountains, or at least high, high hills, almost everyday of our seven weeks in the northwest. I love the mountains. They challenge us to be stronger and braver than we normally are. They inspire us with their beauty. They draw us closer to God, not just in terms of height and feeling physically nearer to Him, although that is definitely there, but also in terms of understanding a little more of His majesty and grandeur. I plan to begin writing a series of Bible studies on the significance of mountains in the Old and New Testaments. I was going to start them this past month, but other events have pushed this to the back burner for a while. It probably won't start until after we get settled in Ukraine, but I want to write the studies and post them to the blog here, perhaps twice a month. It all depends on our work schedule there. Stayed tuned.

Yellowstone National Park

2009-10-21T15:05:00.008-05:00

Well, it's been two months since I wrote here, but when we got home from the Northwest we had lots of things to catch up on, and nothing much seemed to happen. So I neglected the blog. Well, things are definitely happening now, so I need to get back to it. And I think a good place to start is where we left off.

In my last posting I wrote about the casinos in Montana and South Dakota. After that we stayed with friends in Fallon, Montana, for a week or so and then decided we couldn't leave the northwest without a stop at perhaps our most famous national park, Yellowstone. It is definitely the first national park established. So we headed toward Cody, Wyoming, which we used as our resting place two nights. We drove into the park from the east and were thrilled by the forests and mountains and geological formations along the way. And of course the first part of the park we had to see was Old Faithful. I took pictures from the front side, but the wind was blowing the steam and water vapor sideways, so it really didn't show up very well. But later we were walking behind the geyser along the pathways and Old Faithful shot off again and I got some decent pictures from the rear.

We roamed the park for two days, saw lots of animals (mostly buffalo again), and were fascinated by the geysers, hot springs, mud volcanoes and Yellowstone Lake and River and the Grand Canyon of the park. All of it something everyone should try to see at least once in their lives. We left the park from the northeast entrance and drove the next day over Beartooth Pass, along one of the curviest roads we have ever traveled. We were finally high enough to be at a level with the peak of Beartooth Mountain. In the picture below you can see the bear's tooth in the center of the peaks. We were just about level with the top of the mountain here.

After leaving Yellowstone we had a meeting in the small, small town of Reed Point, Montana, and met some more great people there. We left Reed Point Sunday afternoon and headed south toward home. We stopped at Dalhart, Texas, to see Evan and his family again and stayed there for a day or so. We finally arrived home on August 26 after seven weeks of roaming the northwest.
It was a wonderful summer. We saw our beautiful nation, we met wonderful people, we shared about the needs of both India and Ukraine, we raised some new support for our work in Ukraine, and we learned more about faith and trusting God for all our needs. We have lots of happy memories of July and August, 2009.

A FINAL WORD ABOUT CASINOS

2009-08-11T17:37:00.005-05:00

If you read my previous posting you read about the casinos in Deadwood, South Dakota. But that was just one place with lots of casinos in a tourist setting. Casinos are everywhere in Montana and South Dakota. They are not like the big resort casinos in Oklahoma which are scattered across the state, on Indian lands. Those casinos have motels and restaurants attached to them. These casinos are small, some look very attractive, some are attached to convenience stores and are small and bland-looking. In the shopping malls, there are casinos. Today, in Billings, Montana, we were driving to Walmart and on a four-way stop, with four corners, casinos were on two opposite corners. They are everywhere, in strip malls and on all major streets. They may have a sign saying that you must be 18 years old to play. I have complained a lot about the Oklahoma casinos, but they are nothing compared to the casinos in these two states. I don't think they are all owned by the Indian tribes (although that may be so), but Frank and I are stunned by the pervasiness of the casino culture here in these two states. Most people seem to accept them, but Christians should be very concerned about how their states are raising money. I can't say what effect the casinos have, because we haven't really talked much about them with people here, but it would be interesting to know the effect they have on youth and on family life.

THE BLACK HILLS OF SOUTH DAKOTA

2009-08-11T16:28:00.017-05:00

After Ridge Campmeeting finished we had a week with not a lot to do. We had thought we would go to the Black Hills and just be tourists for most of the week. One of our new friends at camp then told us that our free week was the time of the annual Biker's Rally at Sturgis, South Dakota. Over half a million bikers from all over the States and a few from other places converge on the Black Hills for a week of carousing and showing off their bikes, mostly Harleys. Motel rooms were at a premium, and we just couldn't afford that. As we pondered what to do instead, our friend, Chad, informed us that he had talked to his folks and we were welcome to come and stay in their home in Rapid City. The Lord is really good to us by working out situations almost before we are aware of them! So we drove to Rapid City on Monday and stayed in the home of Roger and Rebecca (Becky) Bingaman for the whole week. Most of the time we were out sight-seeing and enjoying nice weather.

But first I must talk about the bikers. It was incredible to see so many motorcycles on the road and parked by the hundreds at the different places we visited. Who would have ever thought that bikers would enjoy sight-seeing too! We finally decided that we had never seen so many tatooes in our lives, along with heads covered with bandanas, and lots of leather jackets and pants. In fact, when one salesperson asked me if I was in Rapid City with the bikers, I just looked at her and replied, "Do I have any tatooes?", at which she and I laughed together. Some of the motorcycles were fantastic, and some looked very uncomfortable to ride.

Our first day out we went to Mt. Rushmore and had a wonderful day for it. The sun was shining but the temperatures were mild and pleasant. I'm rather proud of the next picture. The sky was very blue and George and the boys looked wonderful.

Another day we went to Custer State Park to see the wildlife, and had some wonderful shoots of the buffalo herds. The following guy got up close and personal, so I quickly rolled up my window!

The final day of sight-seeing we went to Deadwood, the home of Calamity Jane and sometime home of "Wild Bill" Hickok, and their burial place. Deadwood was awful. It has become a mini-Las Vegas where all the old western buildings have been turned into casinos. The crowds of bikers were terrible. We went inside one casino----the bottom floor had a model train exhibit and Frank wanted to see it----and I thought it was shabby and uninviting. The slot machines were noisy and the people were like automatons--nothing got their attention but the machines. One casino had an interesting motorcycle on display outside. It was really cool with the pictures of old-time Westerners on it. We ate lunch in a restaurant that had a restored Victorian interior and even there the slot machines were working and people were trying their luck. For us the best thing about Deadwood was the cemetary. It really showed the history of the town, complete with the graves of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. And it was quiet, no roar of engines.

RIDGE CAMPMEETING

2009-08-06T10:12:00.016-05:00

The sign says it all! The tiny village of Ridge is surrounded by ranches with herds of Black Angus cattle, fields of hay, and some antelope and deer. The ranches don't look much like the ones in western movies. The houses are ordinary, sometimes double-wide manufactured homes, with barns and sheds that are basically just like those on farms. From the main highway 20 miles along a dusty road to the turnoff at Ridge, it is another three miles through ranch land to the camp. Frank was joking along the way that it was more of a cowpath than a road, but it was actually better than that, although when it rains it becomes a gooey mess.

When you expect the worst, it is always pleasant to find that things are much better than you expected! True, the cabins were rough and rugged, there were lots of daddy-longlegs, and the tabernacle had a sawdust floor and really uncomfortable benches. But the people were friendly, the food was excellent, and the outdoor setting for the camp was gorgeous. Lots of pine trees and hills with beautiful wildflowers in abundance. The worst part------the cold weather! In an unusual year the temperatures were really, really cold in the early morning and just a little warmer in the afternoons. One morning it was 44 degrees, but most mornings were between 48 and 55 degrees. In a warm building that's bearable. But in an unheated cabin with open spaces between the floor boards, it is really hard to get out of those blankets in the morning and undress to get dressed! We had a cheerful yellow nine-patch quilt on our bed as well as two good blankets, but for two nights we still needed to put on more clothes when we hunkered down for the night. Actually, we were reminded of our India days when we went to visit Laura and Evan at boarding school. Several days were cloudy and rainy just like Ooty, the town where the school is located, as well as being very cool. One night the thunder actually rolled across the hills. I had always heard that phrase, but now I really understand what it means. The lightning show was spectacular, and the rain came down on the tin roof of our cabin. It was just like Ooty. Of course, to complete the comparison to India, the electricity went off in the night and didn't come back on till mid-morning the next day.

This is the tabernacle on a sunny morning. The sides can be put down to keep out the wind and the rain. The preaching was good, old-fashioned holiness preaching, but the evangelist had a sweet spirit and a great sense of humor. His name is E. R. Trouten, he was a Wesleyan pastor for a long time and later taught at God's Bible School in Cincinnati and Hobe Sound Bible School in Florida. There were a good number of teens at the camp, and he continually urged them to think about their spiritual life and what God required of them. But he did it in a sweet way, not condemning them.

We shared every day, twice a day. Each service had a "missionary moment" and Frank and I took turns talking about our personal calls to missions, some outstanding moments from our work in India and our short time in Ukraine, along with our hopes for the future. It was a little daunting at first to think that we had to speak sixteen times, not including Missionary Day when we were responsible for two full services. But it's amazing how the Lord helped us think of interesting and challenging things to share each day. On Missionary Day Frank preached on the Great Commission in the morning service and in the evening we gave our Ukraine presentation. The offerings were good, and people would continue to press money and checks into our hands throughout the week. They love the Lord and they want the whole world to know how wonderful God is. One young man, about 12 years old, came to our cabin just before bedtime one night and gave us three dollars. He had missed the offering on Missionary Day and he wanted to be sure that he participated in world evangelism. His name is William, but everyone calls him Wills. God has something special for Wills----he has a tender heart and a loving attitude.

In spite of the cold weather everyone had a good time at camp. The teens were fun and friendly, the cooks were fantastic, and the other adults were committed to hearing God's Word and obeying His commands. I'll just put in a few pictures of different people below so you can see their lovely smiles. We were ready to move on at the end of camp, but we will remember this as one of the most interesting experiences we have ever had on Homeland Ministry Assignment.

SPOKANE TO CAMP RIDGE

2009-08-06T09:46:00.010-05:00

It's been two weeks since I wrote, so I must catch up on things. I'll go back to Spokane where we stayed with some long-time supporters whom we had never met before. Praise the Lord for wonderful people who feel that God is leading them to pray for and financially support missionaries, even though they don't know them personally. Roger and Janice Long are people like that. They opened their home to us for two nights in Spokane and encouraged us with their own active ministry of small groups in their home. It was great to finally meet them and hear their stories of how the Lord has lead them into helping people think about their faith and what they believe.
Next we headed east on I-90 through the skinny part of Idaho in the northern part of the state. We stopped at an old Jesuit mission to the Coeur d'Alene Indians and saw the old church which the Indians help build. It was really neat. I was particularly impressed by the official seal of the tribe----it is the only Indian seal I have seen which includes a Christian cross.

ON TO SEATTLE

2009-07-20T17:06:00.006-05:00

Our time in Portland is finished. The campmeeting was really good, the preaching was excellent, the people were friendly. We did get a little monthly support pledged, and we will receive an very good offering.

On Sunday afternoon we headed north to Seattle. We had a meeting Sunday evening in an Evangelical Church where some old friends from India attend. Our meeting was good, again we did get promises of more support. It was wonderful to be with folks we hadn't seen for a long time. Lester and Mary Hamilton were missionaries with WGM in India for about 35 years. They were responsible for starting the Vacation Bible School ministries which reach more than one million children and youth every year in India. Their daughters are old friends who grew up with Frank and now live in the Seattle area. Unfortunately Lester is in a care facility for Alzheimer patients, but Mary is still living on her own although she is frail and needs daily help.

We are close to Mt. Rainier and can see it clearly from our motel. It is snow-covered and has a somewhat rounded peak which is a little flat at the top. Below is the short article from Wikipedia to tell you a little more. I know it's a little pedantic of me to post this article, but I found it interesting and says everything much better than I can.

"Mount Rainier is an active stratovolcano (also known as a composite volcano) in Pierce County, Washington, located 54 miles (87 km) southeast of Seattle. It towers over the Cascade Range as the most prominent mountain in the contiguous United States and Cascade Volcanic Arc at 14,411 feet (4,392 m).
The mountain and the surrounding area are protected within Mount Rainier National Park. With 26 major glaciers and 35 square miles (91 km2) of permanent snowfields and glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states. The summit is topped by two volcanic craters, each over 1,000 feet (300 m) in diameter with the larger east crater overlapping the west crater. Geothermal heat from the volcano keeps areas of both crater rims free of snow and ice, and has formed the world's largest volcanic glacier cave network within the ice-filled craters. A small crater lake about 130 by 30 feet (40 m × 9.1 m) in size and 16 feet (5 m) deep, the highest in North America with a surface elevation of 14,203 feet (4,329 m), occupies the lowest portion of the west crater below more than 100 feet (30 m) of ice and is accessible only via the caves.
Mount Rainier has a topographic prominence of 13,210 feet (4,030 m), greater than that of K2 (13,189 feet (4,020 m)). On clear days it dominates the southeastern horizon in most of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area to such an extent that residents sometimes refer to it simply as "the Mountain." On days of exceptional clarity, it can also be seen from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Victoria, British Columbia."

Okay, class dismissed!

Tomorrow we leave Seattle and head east to Spokane to spend two days with some of our supporters. Then on Thursday we head to southeast Montana to begin the Ridge Holiness Campmeeting. We'll be out in a National Forest and I'm pretty sure we won't have internet access or cell phone signals while we're there for at least eight days. So you won't be seeing us on our Facebook page or here at the blog for a while. This is where we will really be roughing it, so we appreciate your prayers!

PORTLAND, THE CITY OF ROSES

2009-07-20T16:36:00.018-05:00

Portland is called the City of Roses for a good reason. On Saturday we had some free time and the weather was wonderful, so we headed to one of the many rose gardens in the city. This particular garden was high on a hill and had some statues that commemorate the Lewis and Clark expedition. But the best part was the roses. You can tell from one picture that many of the plants were taller than me, and a few were taller than Frank. There were all kinds of roses: tea hybrids, floribunda, minature, old fashioned, you name it. I was in rose heaven!

FURTHER IMPRESSIONS

2009-07-16T00:07:00.005-05:00

More impressions of the Portland area, some not so great:

Lots of adult video and book stores, visible everywhere.
Lots of people smoking, which is strange considering how exercise conscious they are.
No gas pumps at convenience stores.
Not pumping your own gas, the law won't allow it. So someone else fills your tank for you.
Environmentally conscious----we supposed to sort our trash: paper, plastic, glass, etc.
Beautiful wildflowers----okay, some people would call them weeds, but when they're blossoming into wonderful colors, they're wildflowers. What colors? red, yellow, purple, and blue, mostly.

Well, we're finished with Portland for now. More later.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

2009-07-13T10:21:00.005-05:00

What are our first impressions of Portland, Oregon, after being here for the weekend:

Very green. It looks like a jungle here! All this cool weather and lots of rain make it look like a tropical paradise.
Huge roses and hydrangeas. The flowers are absolutely beautiful.
Few visible churches. We come from the Bible belt with churches on every block. Here the churches must be hidden behind all that greenery.
Reminds us of the hills of south India, especially Ootacamund, the town where Hebron School is located and where our children (and Frank!) went to school----except that it's much cleaner! The weekend was cool and rainy, just like Ooty weather.
People wearing sweaters and jackets in July.
Lots of people riding bicycles, with special lanes in the roads for them. Almost like Europe.

More to come later.

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

2009-07-11T20:40:00.010-05:00

Our trip was just over 2000 miles from our home in Yukon, Oklahoma, to Portland. After celebrating Anika's birthday we left Dalhart on Wednesday morning and headed west. From the time we sighted Raton Pass in northern New Mexico until we got to Portland we were in sight of mountains or foothills of the mountains. Some of the mountains were snow-covered, such as at Monarch Pass in Colorado. Others were not so high, but were rugged and beautiful in their own way.

On the western edge of Colorado we stopped at Colorado National Monument, a ruggedly fascinating landscape of mountains eroded into fantastic shapes with deep canyons. In the Visitor's Center we saw a presentation that stated with absolute certainty that these formations began to evolve 2 billion years ago. When I get to heaven I want to ask God how all these scientific statements (truth?? theories??) fit into our Biblical account of creation. The geological formation is extremely interesting to study with numerous layers of sediment from inland seas that developed and receded several times over the 2 billion years.

After leaving the Monument we soon crossed the stateline into Utah. The landscape became a barren moonscape. It was desolate and empty, at least that's the way it seemed to us as we sat in the car on I-70 going westward. No towns or villages, no trees, no people except those traveling east or west on the interstate highway. The foothills of the northern mountains were barren and uninviting. But we eventually turned north and headed to Salt Lake City where Frank let me stop and visit a great quilt shop. I loved the shop and bought Laura's birthday present there. I might have to try it out before I give it to her!

The next day we continued northwest and drove through southern Idaho toward Oregon. In the afternoon we reached the Columbia River and traveled on I-84 westward along the river. It is an awesome work of nature. On the opposite shore is the state of Washington. On both banks of the river are many huge windmills generating electricity, more than we've seen anywhere else including Oklahoma. As we got further west we could see Mt. Hood in the distance and we entered a forest of evergreens. It really is a beautiful part of the country. In the coming week I will write more about Portland and the surrounding area.

Tomorrow we begin our ministry at the Clark County Holiness Camp in Vancouver, Washington. We need to get back into missionary mode as we prepare to share the needs of Ukraine. We appreciate your prayers as we try to help folks find what God wants them to do with regard to the needs of the world around them as well as around the rest of the world.

ANIKA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY

2009-07-11T20:17:00.010-05:00

We are in Portland, Oregon, after a long week in the car. We left home on Monday morning, the 6th, and drove to Dalhart, Texas, to see our son and his family. The 7th was our little granddaughter Anika's 1st birthday. We are so glad that we were able to be there for it. Ain't she sweet? Of course, we had fun with Kirsten and Riley too. They are live-wires and keep us hopping all the time we're there. After all, aren't all grandparents just supposed to play games all the time?

We had birthday cupcakes and Anika really enjoyed hers, if you know what I mean. The rich chocolate frosting was delicious and she enjoyed every moment of it!

It took Anika a little while to warm up to us because we don't see her very often. But pretty soon she was letting us hold her and love her up. She is a sweetie-pie.

Fourth of July, 2009

2009-07-04T11:26:00.004-05:00

Well, our July 4th is pretty tame. We're staying home, getting things organized to leave here on Monday. We will be going first to Dalhart, Texas, where our little granddaughter, Anika, will be having her first birthday on Tuesday, July 7th. We have an invitation to her birthday party, and we wouldn't miss it for the world.

On Wednesday morning we will get in the van and head for the northwest. We will probably be gone from home for six-seven weeks. We will be in Portland, Oregon, for about ten days, visit old friends and participate in a campmeeting, and then head for southeast Montana for another camp. After that we will have meetings here and there along the way. Usually I hate being away from home for six weeks, and I'm sure that by middle August I will be ready to come home. But I'm looking forward to this trip. I love the American west, and I'm looking forward to the great scenery and the whole western atmosphere.

This past week we were able to be with our niece, Dacia Brown, and her husband Ken. Ken served three tours of duty in Iraq, came home with neurological issues from having so many concussions as he led his unit in house searches and convoy protection, and is now at Camp Benning, Georgia, training and doing other work with the Army. He looked great. He was trim and fit, and happy. We had a wonderful time with them and their eight-year-old daughter, Arissa. We went to Toby Keith's restaurant here in Oklahoma City. They really wanted to go there because a country/rock band called Gloriana was performing there that night. It was fun. We sat on the patio for our meal, then went inside to watch the band for a while. The noise volume was pretty loud, but maybe we were the only ones who noticed that :). Dacia is worship leader at a large Baptist church in Columbus, Georgia, and has piano students during the week. We don't get to see them very often, so it was good to make connections again.

I'll write more next week after Anika's birthday party, and probably put some pictures on too.

ADVENTURES IN JULY AND AUGUST

2009-06-27T13:05:00.005-05:00

World Gospel Mission has really been trying to help us get to the field. There are six other couples like us who are struggling to get their support, and WGM has been coaching us and giving us new ideas to follow and new methods to approach people. We were encouraged to start a page on Facebook.com, so we have done that and it is marvelous to see old friends we haven't heard from for ages and ages suddenly popping up and visiting with us. I have posted links to our video and to this blog on Facebook, so they can see and learn more about us. At the bottom of this page also there are links you can follow for Facebook and our video, as well as the field website for Ukraine.

We will probably be heading out from home to the Northwest right after July 4th. We are scheduled to be in two campmeetings, one near Vancouver, Washington, and the other way out in the boonies in southeast Montana. Frank got the directions to the Ridge, Montana, camp today and it sounds as if we are really going to be very rustic for the week we are there. I should note that I (Chris) am not a rustic type of person. I love the beautiful outdoors and the scenery, which will probably be wonderful, but I don't particularly like roughing it. However, I can handle it for a week, and I'll even try to keep smiling all the time as long as it doesn't rain too much or be too cold or require lots of physical endurance. I can do this.

Actually, I'm looking forward to this trip. Memories of vacations with my family when I was a child keep coming to my mind as I think about Montana and Wyoming. My folks took us to Yellowstone, to Glacier National Park, to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore, among other places. Frank hasn't been to any of those places, and we probably won't be able to see them all, but I'm hoping we will have a chance to see some of the beautiful mountains and forests of the north-central and northwest U.S. The last time I was in the Northwest was in 1975. Evan was only three months old and Laura was being potty-trained all the way across the northern states from Iowa to Oregon. Frank has been back there a couple of times since, but not me. This could be a great adventure for us.

MEDICAL UPDATE

2009-06-27T12:50:00.002-05:00

Well, Frank and I are in pretty good health for the most part. Frank did have to have a colonoscopy in early May. He had been having some internal issues that just didn't seem to get better, so the doctor sent him to a specialist to be checked out. The colonoscopy wasn't too bad (getting prepared for it the previous day is the worst part!), and the doctor didn't see anything that was abnormal, for which we are thankful. The doctor thinks it's probably related to irritable bowel syndrome or colitis. Frank is taking medication for a while which is supposed to help it.

I'm scheduled to have a colonscopy also in late August. My mother had colon cancer, although after surgery it was gone and, to my knowledge, did not recur. I believe the Lord has been putting it in my mind for the last three or four months that I need to have this done since there is a history of it in the family. I would have it done sooner, but we are heading out on the road in a week and I don't want to use my last week at home for a while getting ready for, having, and recovering from a colonoscopy! My irritable bowel/post-gall bladder problems have really improved during the past eight months. I went from November till early February with no pain attacks at all, then had a rough March which eased into April. Right now it's been two months again since I had any trouble. I am hoping that the Lord is healing me a bit at a time and that eventually it will go away for good. However, for now I still carry my medication along with me everywhere I go. I am walking more than 3 miles everyday on the treadmill, trying to burn off calories to lose my winter weight gain. Slowly, slowly it is coming down. More to follow.

ONE HUNDRED TWO AND STILL GOING!

2009-06-24T08:23:00.008-05:00

Frank's mom, Edna Dewey, had her 102nd birthday on Feb. 8. She is incredible. Her mind is still fairly good, but her body is weakening. She is frustrated because she wants to walk fast and steady like she did even thirty years ago, but her knees have osteoarthritis and she is bent over and moves very slowly with the help of a walker. About four months ago the assisted living center insisted that she get a motorized chair because it was taking her so long to get from her room to the dining room. She really didn't want it because she felt that it was taking away from her exercise, and she was a little afraid of it. But she has learned to use it and gets around the center much faster and better now. She has been having some physical therapy on her knees twice a week, but basically there's not a lot that can be done to help except surgery, and she's too old to be able to handle that now. She is getting more forgetful and gets some things mixed up once in a while, but I (Chris) do that too sometimes! Frank is wonderful about going to her apartment and fixing things and doing her shopping. I think she doesn't want to ask the people at the center to do things for her, so she calls Frank often and he always goes without hesitation.

Since we had a big celebration for her 100th birthday we haven't had big birthday parties since. But she came to our house, and Laura and her family came, and we had a nice meal and a birthday cake and some presents for her.

Is this why God is keeping us in the U.S. longer that we expected? So Frank can continue to help his mother? If so, what will happen when we finally do get to Ukraine? Lots of questions that need some answers.

Whatever the answers, we are thankful for Mom Dewey and that the Lord has let us have her for so long.

STARTING OVER

2009-06-23T10:19:00.002-05:00

Okay, I admit it----I haven't written anything on the blog since November 12, 2008. (I have to admit it, it's right there in front of my face!) I'm going to get it started again. This past winter was a very slow time for us. It seemed that there wasn't anything new and interesting to write about. We didn't have many meetings to talk about Ukraine, and actually we were wondering if we would make it there. Our new support has trickled to a standstill, we were a long way from what we needed financially to get to Ukraine. We were really down a lot. But we kept asking God, that if it wasn't His will for us to go to Ukraine, then He would have to show us what He had in store for us instead. And He did not show us anything different.

However, we did keep up our preparations to go. We started Russian lessons in November and continued with them. In fact, although our tutor, Olga, has gone back to Russia now for her summer vacation, Frank in particular is continuing to study and study and study Russian. He is getting a good grasp of the vocabulary and grammar and works on pronounciation now (without Olga) with the help of two computer programs that we have to help us. I haven't done as much----I can always find lots of things to fill my time and I don't have the drive to study any language, it's just a big struggle for me. I tell myself that when we get there, I'll have to learn it, immerse myself in it. We'll see.

Another thing we did was to continue attending our small group sessions with in a church near to us. This is training for becoming facilitators of Living Free, an organization which has developed materials to use with people who have life-controlling issues that keep them from being all that God wants them to be. Issues such as addictions, relationship problems, acceptance of self, and so on. The wonderful thing about this program is that all the materials are already translated into Russian and are available free online to qualified facilitators. Our field leader in Ukraine is very anxious for us to get there so we can get the program started in the churches that have been planted by World Gospel Mission. I have written a little about this in some of my last entries that I made in November. Well, we haven't given up on it. In fact, we're in a group now called The 12 Step Recovery Program which is really good. The material is excellent. We have learned so much from the prisoners in the groups. Some are stumbling along, but some have made definite decisions to change their lives and with Christ's help to be released from their life-controlling issue even if they aren't released from prison. One of the women in our group now, Jean Ann, spent 10 years in prison for dealing drugs; it took two more arrests for her to finally face the fact that she needed the Lord and needed His help to change her life. Her problems aren't all gone, but she is serving the Lord and trusting Him for each day's needs.

Finally, I have gotten a little involved in the work in Ukraine in another way. The Bible school was closed and the library was moved to Berydansk (where we will be) to begin pastors' training and lay development. It is being organized and set up on the computer there, and I have having the opportunity to give suggestions as to how to do it correctly. I have even bought some library materials that every library needs, and am working through that to send information and help to Bill and Betsy Tarr as they direct the setting-up of the library. WE NEED TO GET THERE!!!!

Okay, that's all I'll write on this posting. Tomorrow I will write more about how things are slowly coming together for us, and we are encouraged, feeling that we will finally reach Ukraine in the fall.

Grandkids again!

2008-11-12T09:11:00.009-06:00

Kirsten and Riley, our Denver Bronco cheerleaders!

Sweet Anika, four months old.

Brock and Lance for the church Fall Festival

Laura and Garrett, who is working toward being an Eagle Scout.

Three Interesting Groups

2008-11-12T08:28:00.002-06:00

I've got to tell all of you about the three interesting groups we were a part of last week. Well, actually Frank was in only two of them, but I was in all three. However, one was interesting and challenging because of the spiritual warfare going on; the second was interesting because it was fun and with some people we hadn't seen for years; and the third was interesting because Laura and I did it together and it was fun and different!

Ist Group
The first group of the week was our Insight Group on Wednesday night. If you don't know what an Insight Group is, you can go back to early October and read my posting about it. This week we had a different leader, a woman named Susan, who worked to keep the group on the subject of how we build internal defenses and isolation to avoid facing the life-controlling issues that are in our lives. Dean, one of the prisoners, is really growing spiritually and has looked at himself somewhat clearly about the issues in his life. He shared about his feelings and how he depended on the blood of Christ to give him the grace and strength he needed each day in prison; also how he was overwhelmed by the thought that Jesus had shed His blood for him and his sins.

A few minutes later a young woman whose name I won't mention spoke up and said that she was uncomfortable with all this talk about "blood" and "death." She didn't like it and requested that we not talk about it any more. Now she had admitted in an earlier session that she had dabbled in Satanic practices and worship, so this comment about blood and death sent chills down my spine, so to speak. Satan hates for us to talk about Christ's sacrifice which involved blood and death. This young woman is still open to Satanic attack and he wants her to focus on the "hypocrites" in the church rather than her own needs and how Christ can free her from Satan's bondage. She has built her internal defenses so strongly that they are deeply ingrained in her being. She needs our prayers. I wish I could give you her name, but I just feel that I should not do that. One of the important aspects of an Insight Group is that the members must not reveal in detail issues that are brought up in the group. But this young woman needs our prayers and she needs counseling from an experienced, mature counselor. Let's pray that the leaders of the group will be able to help her through some of the issues in her life.

Group 2
On Friday we were in a totally different kind of group. Last weekend was homecoming at Southern Nazarene University, our alma mater. On Friday noon there was a luncheon for the various missionaries in the area, both retired and furloughing like us. The food was okay, but the fellowship was great. We met several folks who were in school with us and we caught up on forty years of life events! One had some news that sobered us. She and her first husband had been good friends of ours and he had been Frank's best man at our wedding. Now they are divorced and he is away from the Lord, doing nothing. She has remarried and is very happy with her second husband. She looks almost the same as she did forty years ago, same kind of glasses, same hairstyle, a few more pounds, but not many.

Another friend Frank was happy to see was another of his classmates, Stephen Heap, a missionary to Brazil. Stephen is one of those guys who is faithful, steady, and deeply spiritual. It was fun to see him. And there are several others I could mention as well, but won't take the time now. Of course, we enjoyed meeting all the dear old folks who served so faithfully through the years and have now been retired for some time. What missionary pioneers they were! Going to unevangelized areas of the world and spending their lives for Christ. It was great to meet them.

Group 3
Now the third group was totally, totally different. On Saturday Laura and I took a class at the local quilt shop here in Oklahoma City. It wasn't traditional quilting. It was a class that taught us how to make bowls and baskets using cotton clothesline cord and fabric. There were five other ladies in the group as well as the teacher and we all had a good time together. My bowl was in bright aqua blue and purple. Laura did a Christmas bowl in bright red and green. It was fun at the end for all seven of us to show what we had done and how different each bowl was depending on the fabric that had been used. I should have taken a picture or two and posted them here so you could see our work. Maybe I will do that in the coming week. Ladies who take quilt classes are fun to be with. We all want to help each other and get ideas from each other. I wish I could take more classes, especially with Laura. No kids around, just us. It was a great bonding time.

Russian Language Study

2008-10-31T14:20:00.002-05:00

One very important thing that Frank and I have been working on is studying the Russian language. Since we have had more time recently, we have been working with the Rosetta Stone program to begin to get a basic understanding of Russian. Frank is way, way ahead of me. He has a much easier time hearing the variations of sounds and then repeating them correctly. I can't seem to get the correct pronounciations.

One very important word that we must learn is the word for 'hello'. A transliteration of the Russian word is: ZDRAHfst - vwee, which sounds something like zdravstvuite. I cannot get the first syllable, zdr. I'll just have to keep practicing and hope that sooner or later I'll be able to get the z and the dr to come together correctly! The word for 'hi' is much easier and I can say it without any problem (sort of). preeVYET. Not too bad, except that it is not suitable to use this word with older people or people in various positions of authority. Young people use it casually with each other, but never with older folks.

We have found a young Russian woman to help us twice a week. Olga is a student at Southern Nazarene University, which is nearby, and she was very pleased to have the opportunity to earn a little extra cash and help us practice her language. Olga is actually at SNU on a tennis scholarship, she is not a Nazarene and is not very familar with spiritual issues. She is a member of the Russian Orthodox Church and was put into contact with SNU through an international tennis organization that matches colleges with students who want to get to the U.S. and play competitive tennis. I haven't taken any pictures of her yet, but when I do I'll post some here. We're thankful that we were able to find her and learn some Russian from someone who is native to Russia.

Two months later!

2008-10-31T13:59:00.005-05:00

Friends, it's been almost two months since we've written on the blog. Gosh, I didn't realize how long ago it had been. Actually, September and early October were fairly quiet for us. We didn't have many meetings, so we haven't traveled far. We've stayed home a lot and caught up on things that had been neglected. We got a prayer/newsletter written and sent out and many of you have already seen that.

INSIGHT GROUP
By the middle of October, things were getting more interesting. As we've mentioned earlier we took a Living Free training course in July to facilitate small groups in the church, helping people face and overcome life-controlling issues. We are hoping that this will be really useful in Ukraine. Well, in order to become full-fledged faciliatators we have to go through the first group ourselves, not as facilitators but as ordinary participants. There aren't many groups meeting in our area of Oklahoma, but Frank found a group not far from us. The Mustang Assembly of God Church has a number of groups meeting, and we were able to get into the entry-level group, called an Insight Group. The interesting thing about this group is that it is primarily made up of inmates from a nearby correctional facility (i.e. prison) as well as their wives and girlfriends, and a few other folks from the community. We're definitely like fish-out-of-water in this group, but so far it has been extremely educational.

One of the men has been in prison for five years and has grown spiritually in a wonderful way. Sometimes he mentions how he witnesses to other prisoners, and the reactions he gets from them. Another young man mentioned this week how one of his major emotions is insecurity and jealousy. He has a very attractive girl friend and he is always worried about how men will hit on her while he's in jail and he won't be able to protect her or be there just to be with her. One young woman mentioned how she is angry over things that have happened to her in the past and how she doesn't trust people because of these things. Another woman mentioned how she is trying to stop smoking and how the Lord brought to her attention that she needed to do that.

It is wonderful to see these men come in with their Bibles and participate in the group. Of course, some of them don't say anything. In fact, Frank and I haven't contributed much to the discussions. We know we are different, better educated, and have been serving the Lord for a long time, and we don't want to seem to be like know-it-alls, or get too preachy. If anything, we need to share some of our emotions and feelings just like they do. We actually just want to be accepted as part of the group just like the rest of them. That may take a few weeks or more to accomplish.

COMING EVENTS
We'll try to do better in the coming months to keep you informed and up-to-date on what's happening in our lives. November will be busy and then of course December will be full of events. This weekend (Nov. 1-2) we will be in Wichita, Kansas, at a missionary convention held at a large Methodist Church. The following weekend we will be in Wichita again at a convention held at a satellite church of the Methodist church we're in this weekend. Does that sound okay? Is it clear? I hope so. More to come . . . . . keep tuned in.

Preparing for Ukraine

2008-09-04T11:30:00.002-05:00

We were supposed to be leaving for Ukraine at the end of September, but that isn't going to happen. We haven't gotten all of our support raised yet, so we can't go until we get it. We have about 2/3s of it raised, but we still have a long way to go before we get the rest of it. The economy of the U.S. hasn't helped us at all this year. People and churches are becoming very careful about where their money goes, and, to be frank, money is becoming scarce both in the churches and in homes. One church recently dropped our support because the money simply wasn't coming into the church the way it had been and the church didn't have it to send for us. This really hurt us because that church supported us with more than $250 a month. Right now we are hoping and praying that we'll be able to leave at the beginning of 2009. Pray along with us that God will speak to people and churches about our needs, but especially about the needs of Ukraine.

We feel as though we need to do something concrete to show people (and the Lord) that we are really serious about getting to Ukraine. So in August we started studying the Russian language. Frank is really doing good. He is working through the Rosetta Stone language lessons and is just about through Level I. He hears the sounds so much better than I do (this is Chris writing), and having learned Greek while in seminary, he finds the Cyrillic alphbet much easier to learn and follow. I'm struggling along, still in the early stages of Level I. I've made flash cards with the alphabet letters so I can get that memorized with the proper sounds. If the letter looks like a 'c', it should sound like a 'c', right? Wrong!!! It sounds like 'ess', or 's'. 'B' sounds like 'v'. Etc., etc., etc. And there are some letters which are totally new and different.

We're also doing lots of reading that goes along with the small group Turning Point ministries which we are looking forward to using in the Ukrainian churches. Not only do we have to do the reading, but we have to submit summaries to the Turning Point Ministry to receive credit for it. Fair enough. The material is interesting, but there's a lot of it. I'm getting ready to read the book, Caring Enough to Confront, by David Augsberger. This has to do with confronting people with life-controlling issues in order to help them overcome their problems. I'll write more when I've finished the book.

So much to learn, so much to remember, so much to put into practice when we finally get to Ukraine.

August Summary

2008-09-04T11:01:00.006-05:00

Okay, it's September and I'm behind. But before I write new things, I'm going to give a summary of what happened in August. It was a good month for us as far as family is concerned. We visited our son Evan and his family twice in August. The first time was so we could see our new little granddaughter, Anika Faith. She is a sweetie! Lots of dark hair and very petite. The second time we visited was so we could attend her dedication to the Lord at church. It's always fun to play with Kirsten and Riley. Riley is warming up to us and has become friendly, so we feel really good about that.

Anika Faith, aged six weeks

Kirsten, aged 4, and Riley, aged 2 1/2

We had great fun too when we celebrated Lance's 1st birthday the first week of August. His party was a little late since he was born on July 26th last year, but his mom wanted to be sure that we would be home so we could be there. Have you ever seen a one-year-old dig into his birthday cake? Well, it's messy but fun! We think he is adorable. He actually prefers his grandpa Frank to grandma Chris, but that's okay. His big brother Brock is just the opposite.

Lance, aged 1, before cake

Lance, after cake!

We haven't had any meetings this past month, so we spent most of the time at home catching up on chores around the house and helping Frank's mom with doctor and dentist appointments. All in all, a good month.

Borderland: A Journey Throught the History of Ukraine

2008-08-04T09:01:00.003-05:00

What are we reading these days? I thought I would start mentioning some of the books that we are working through as we prepare to go to Ukraine. We have a ton of books that we have to read for qualification as facilitators for Living Free seminars. And from time to time I'll tell you about them because they touch on some very important issues that the world is facing today.

But I want to share with you today a book on the history of Ukraine. Frank and I both love history, so it was natural that we would want to find out as much as we could about the past and and how it affects the present in Ukraine. Our friends in North Carolina, Mark and Christa Graham, gave us a book entitled Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine, by Anna Reid. The author is not actually a historian, but a journalist who has spent some time in the country and her writing is interesting, definitely not just dry names and dates. She starts from the earliest recorded history and proceeds to the recent past. What did I learn from the book?

One of the interesting things for me was the beginnings of Kievan Rus. Moscow wasn't even founded when Kiev became an important city which received visitors from western Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Christianity is old in Ukraine; the churches are beautiful; and Orthodoxy has suffered just as the people have suffered.
I love the stories of the Cossacks. But much of it is romanticized and not true to historical fact.
Throughout its post-Kievan Rus history Ukraine was never a nation until the Soviet Union fell. It was always regarded as a borderland buffer, fought over by Poland, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Consequently, the people of Ukraine are a ethnic mixture which includes Tatar blood as well as European. And the people of Ukraine struggle with the concept of nationhood.
The Jews in Ukraine were decimated just as the Jews in Germany were. And their numbers were almost equal to those killed in Europe in World War II.
The Ukrainian people suffered horribly from Stalinism during the period between the world wars, and they suffered horribly from both the Nazis and Stalinists during World War II. It's a wonder there were any Ukrainians left to survive and develop after the war.
Ukraine is a land divided. The western part is the heartland of Ukrainian nationalism. The eastern half is much more sympathetic to Russia and its influence. The people of these two regions speak differently, think differently, have different cultures, and struggle to accept the other.
My heart was broken by the suffering of this land. The people have little trust in their government, little faith in God, and great need to hear the gospel.

Missionary Day at Camp Sychar

2008-08-04T08:20:00.010-05:00

Tuesday, July 29th, was Missionary Day at Camp Sychar in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. I'm not sure how many missionaries were actually there, but there were at least seven "official" missionaries from World Gospel Mission and some more who just came in for the day because the camp has supported them for a long time. It was a great day!

Frank and I started our day by being a part of the youth meeting. (By the way, Camp Sychar is a great family camp with more than 100 teens present.) We were the only missionaries who spoke in the youth meetings, so we felt a certain responsibility to do a good job. The music rocked, the counselors were groovy, and the whole atmosphere was young! Needless to say, Frank and I, oldsters that we are, trembled a bit at the thought that we were supposed to get and keep the attention of these kids. But the Lord helped! He gave us the right things to say, in the right way, and kids listened. Frank gave them a challenge: How big is your world? I gave my testimony about how the Lord had called me to serve Him when I was a teenager. Later in the day we had a number of teens who came up to us and said that they really enjoyed hearing us. So we weren't toooooo far off the mark with our presentation. We pray that God called someone or two to serve Him as missionaries someday, somewhere.

The afternoon was fun! The camp had a Missions Festival on the campground with booths set up for kids to play games and win tickets for prizes. I think each game, no matter what, cost 25 cents. All that money went to missions.

Kids got their faces painted.

Counselors got whipped cream in the face!

Some missionaries sold balloons.

And we redeemed tickets for prizes.

We appreciate Camp Sychar and the support it has provided for us through the years. Not only was Missionary Day great, but the preaching services were edifying and the music was wonderful. Thank you Camp Sychar for a wonderful week.

Camp Sychar, Mount Vernon, Ohio

2008-07-25T18:29:00.005-05:00

Yep, we're heading towards Mt. Vernon, Ohio, this weekend to spend three or four days at one of the few remaining interdenominational holiness campmeetings still left in the eastern U.S. Camp Sychar has supported us for several years, and we look forward to being with friends we have made there in the past. I wish I could say that everything is air conditioned and comfortable, but I'm afraid it isn't. The weather is supposed to be in the mid- to upper-80s next week, and the humidity is always high is Ohio! We will be presenting our work and needs on
Tuesday, which is Missionary Day, but we want to be a blessing to the folks everyday that we're there. We will probably leave on Wednesday or Thursday and head west again toward Oklahoma and home. More to follow.

Living Free

2008-07-25T18:09:00.002-05:00

Well, there's a lot to catch up on right now. I'm going to start with a two-day course we took in Chattanooga. It's called Living Free. You can see it at www.livingfree.org. The basic purpose of Living Free is to help Christians (and others if they so desire) to break free of life-controlling issues such as substance abuse, behaviorial problems, and difficult relationships with others. It is not a counseling program, as such, and it does not consider itself to be psychology. It works on the theory that small groups within the church can help everyone, not just those who seem to have problems. We can take a good look at themselves, sometimes through the eyes of others in the group, and find help spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. The program uses three things to help each one: the Word of God, the Spirit of God and the people of God.

Our training was to enable us to use the material in the church, and to train others in using it. Actually, the two days were just the beginning of the training. We have a list of books to read and we are supposed to participate ourselves in some of the groups. We have a year to finish up the training process. Our field leader in Ukraine, Ernie Smith, is really excited about us doing this. He feels that the program can really help new Christians in the young churches overcome some of the big problems that are keeping them back from becoming all that they can be. One of the best things about this program is that all of the materials have already been translated into the Russian language and will soon be available for free download from the internet by those who have been trained to use it.

While we were in Chattanooga we stayed again with Frank's childhood friend Ken Anderson and his family. We had a lovely time with them and especially enjoyed their backyard swimming pool! It was a real treat for us to cool off in the evenings in the pool. I can't swim, so I just paddled about the edges of the pool, but Frank got out into the water and and learned some new water games from Ken and his family. The Lord gave us a wonderful week with them before it was time to move on to far-western Pennsylvania for a service in Genesis Church which has supported us for quite a few years. The drive from Chattanooga to New Castle, Pa., was beautiful. We enjoyed driving along some back roads and seeing "wild and wonderful" West Virginia along the way.

Pictures of Anika Faith

2008-07-10T07:26:00.009-05:00

Evan sent us some pictures of Anika Faith, so we'll share some of them with all of you. They are all good, but I especially love the one of big sister Kirsten with all her fly-away hair and her big smile! Riley is still not sure how she feels about the baby. Lori went home from the hospital yesterday and is recovering quickly, surprising the doctors and nurses. Continue to pray for all of them.

We will add here that Laura took Brock for his three-month check-up with the specialist for his Legg-Calve-Perthes disease. The doctor took fresh x-rays and said that it appears that Brock has a mild form of this disease and it may not get any worse, while it may get much better. He has his next check-up in four months. Laura was very pleased and encouraged. As we were also.

On the Road in Ohio

2008-07-09T09:31:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we were near Canton, Ohio, at a little town named Waynesburg. The Little Country Church is there and has been a strong supporter of World Gospel Mission for many years. This is our sixth time to be at the church and we spoke in both the morning and evening worship services. Several folks there have had support in us through the years and it was good to see them again.

One of the nearby attractions southwest of Canton is the Amish country in Holmes County. It was super-busy on Saturday in Berlin, Ohio, where we stopped for a while. I love going through antique malls, and enjoyed the one in Berlin, not to mention all the quilt shops and Amish furniture places. The Amish food is delicious, but probably not so good for someone trying to watch their weight or cholesterol.

Tomorrow, July 10th, we are driving to Nashville, Tennessee, where we will visit an old friend from India, Dr. Paul Beals, who was a visiting professor several times at South India Biblical Seminary. From there we will go to Chattanooga for our counseling training next week. We'll try to write again from Chattanooga. Thanks for your prayers.

Anika Faith Dewey

2008-07-09T09:16:00.002-05:00

Anika Faith was born on Monday, July 7, at 10:10am to our son Evan and his wife Lori. She weighed in at 6 lbs, 14 oz., and was 20 inches long. Evan said she has a big mouth! We're not sure exactly what he means except that he said when she cried her mouth looked huge. Big sister Kirsten, who will be four in August, is being very motherly and wants to hold the baby all the time. Big sister Riley, who is two, was more worried about Mommy and wanted to sit by Mommy on the bed.

Not everything was rosy when Anika was born. When the placenta came it brought the uterus with it, which is called "inverted uterus" and can be fatal to the mother. This is a very serious and rare complication. In fact, neither of the doctors who worked on Lori had even seen it before! The doctor and nurses swung into action and took Lori to surgery where the second doctor was finally able to get the uterus back inside after a two hour struggle. Lori needed four units of blood and was given lots of medication to stop the bleeding as well as to help with the pain. She was groggy a lot of the day after being taken back to her room. But she was able to hold the baby, and the doctors say that except for being very sore inside for some days she is okay. We are thankful for people who were praying for Lori and the baby. Evan called us several times and kept us informed of what was happening so we were able to pray too. He says that Lori may be able to come home today, which is Wednesday, the 9th.

When we get more pictures of Anika, we'll be sure to post them here. By the way, Anika is Scandinavian for Anna. At least, that's what I read online.

Grandbaby on the way!

2008-07-03T21:07:00.000-05:00

We just talked to our son Evan. His wife, Lori, is expecting a new baby any day now. She is having some contractions, but nothing else seems to be happening, so if the baby doesn't come this weekend, she will have labor induced on Monday morning, July 7th. The baby is a girl to go along with the other two sweet little girls they have. We're excited, but a little disappointed that we won't be able to see her until August after we finish this July roadtrip to Ohio, Tennessee, and back again. When we hear more, I'll write more.

I've been thinking recently about my own family (this is Chris writing). I have two sisters, no brothers. Evan and his family are kinda like us. Three girls, but closer together in age that my sisters and I are. We three are still pretty close and try to keep in touch. Email has really helped in that line, along with cell phones. I'm the oldest, so I think I have an idea about how little Kirsten (almost 4 years old) will feel as time goes by. I'm going to watch Riley (aged 2) and now this new little one to see if I find any similarities between them and my two sisters because of their birth order.

Sometimes I think I read too much! I read about the effect of birth order a long time ago and my sisters and I pretty much fit right into the characteristics that our places in the birth order are supposed to have. How will Kirsten, Riley, and ????? develop? It'll be fun to watch.

July on the road

2008-07-01T13:46:00.000-05:00

Friends, soon Frank and I will be hitting the road for the month of July, so I want to write a few lines before we leave home. We will be leaving early morning on the 4th of July and driving toward Ohio. On Sunday we will spend the day at the Little Country Church near Canton, Ohio. So we need to get there Saturday night. This is going to be another l-o-n-g drive from Oklahoma City.

We will be having services at several different places in the Ohio-eastern Pennsylvania area, but there are two major places where we'll spend some time. First, we will head to Chattanooga, Tennessee, for a two-day seminar to help us learn how to teach others to be counselors in the church. This is a really serious need in Ukraine. Dysfuntional family life is one of the greatest issues that Christians face there, and we hope to be able to teach Ukrainians how to approach others and use good counseling materials (which are already available in the Russian language). The title of this program is "Living Free" from Turning Point Ministries. We are keen to take this course and give ourselves better preparation for our work in Ukraine. The dates of the seminar are July 14 and 15, during which time we will be staying again with Frank's long-ago friend Ken Anderson and his family. (See our earlier postings in February to read about Ken and his great family.)

Then toward the end of the month we will be at Sychar Campmeeting at Mount Vernon, Ohio. This is one of the old holiness campmeetings still in existence and it has supported us for four years. We are eager to get back there, meet old friends, and share our message about the needs of Ukraine.

We plan to stay at WGM headquarters in Marion, Indiana, for part of the time. While we're there, we're going to work on producing some DVDs to send to various churches and friends who haven't had a chance to meet us this year or to hear much of what we'll be doing in Ukraine. If you would like to see the video, the webpage is www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW5Hul1F_N4. Or, go to wgm.org----click fields----click Europe (find Ukraine)----scroll down and click Frank and Chris Dewey----click check out ministry pages----click our ministry video. It sounds complicated, but it actually goes pretty fast. The video will come up and you can see and hear us as we share our excitement about going to Ukraine.

No more for now. I'll write again next Monday to let you know how things go for us next weekend. Thanks for your prayers.

p.s. I notice that when I click on the above link, I get to youtube, but it tells me the video is not available. I typed in "Frank and Chris Dewey" in the Search box, and it took me right to our video. Hope this helps if you've tried it and couldn't get it to come up. (Sometimes I wish I was a computer wizard!!! Then all of this would work the way it's supposed to. I think.)

Next stops: Iowa and Minnesota

2008-06-11T10:49:00.000-05:00

Well, friends, here I (Chris) am at home and Frank is on the road. I feel a little guilty about not being with him as he travels, but for various reasons I am staying home during the month of June. First of all, I have a couple of doctor appointments---nothing serious, just those yearly check-ups and follow-ups. Secondly, I just needed to stop and stay at home for a few more weeks. When we travel, my weight balloons and I have a lot of stomach trouble due to my intolerance of high fat foods. So, I am fighting to get my weight back down to what it was before we started traveling and I'm trying to really watch out for those foods that make me have abdominal pain and IBS. I'm on the treadmill almost every day and am feeling pretty good.

But that means that Frank has to travel by himself for long hours on the road. Right now he is in Oskaloosa, Iowa, attending the Iowa Holiness Association Campmeeting. We lived in Oskaloosa before we went to India. In fact, our son Evan was born in Osky. We know a lot of people there and World Gospel Mission has a strong presence in the area. Frank is the assigned missionary for the campmeeting and speaks on Thursday and Friday. When I talked to him on the phone last night he was in the old, old cemetary in University Park, the home of Vennard College. The cemetary is a wonderful old place. You can see the headstones of many of the old holiness preachers and missionaries. In fact the grave of Cecil Troxel, the first WGM missionary (to China) almost 100 years ago is there. There's nothing scary about that cemetary. It is a wonderful place to roam and read the headstones of marvelous people who served the Lord so faithfully.

Now, on to more serious things. If you've been reading the news you know that there are floods in Iowa. Frank says that Oskaloosa is okay, but some of the places he wanted to visit next week may still be underwater. He has two cousins in northern Iowa, one near Waterloo where there was some flooding. So he's going to play it by ear and wait to see how the situation develops. Later next week he will be in central Minnesota for another campmeeting. He's not in a good place as far as weather is concerned right now or next week!

What am I doing at home? Walking the treadmill, quilting, seeing doctors, checking up on Frank's mom, and spending time with our Laura and her kids. All in all, a pretty good situation!

Pray for Frank as he travels and continue to pray that our financial support will come in so we can get to Ukraine in the fall. Thanks for thinking about us.

The Merry Month of May 2008

2008-05-30T14:44:00.000-05:00

I know, I know. It's been a month since I've added a new entry here. Our month has been busy, and while we're home I can find so many things to do that I can't do when we're on the road that I forget about writing on the blog. So, I have a month's worth of news to catch up on!

We arrived home on May 2nd, and we both immediately crashed for about a week. I started to do a little quilting, Frank caught up on email and other items, and we both just basically didn't think too much about mission business.

However, on May 15 we headed toward Bailey, Colorado, via Dalhart, Texas. We lived in Bailey for two furloughs in the 1980s, along with Frank's retired parents. The Platte Canyon Community Church in Bailey has been a faithful supporter of us for more than twenty years, and we wanted to visit old friends and report on how the Lord is doing new things in us and with us as we prepare to go to Ukraine. We had a lovely time with all of them, especially some of the older folks who remembered Frank's folks as well as our kids when they were growing up.

Another thing we did was to visit our old house which Frank's dad built in the late 1970s after he and Mom Dewey retired.

We enjoyed seeing Mt. Rosalie again. We used to see this mountain every day when we left our house and headed towards the main road. The deer have multiplied and are totally unafraid of humans. This picture is of deer grazing in the yard of our former home, paying absolutely no attention to us at all. All in all, visiting our old friends and home in Colorado was wonderful. The weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful, and the fellowship with old friends was good.

One of the benefits of going to Bailey was that we could stop for three nights in Dalhart, Texas, with our son, Evan, and his family. We hadn't seen them since Christmas, so we were both eager to see our little granddaughters, Kirsten and Riley. Their mommy is going to have another little girl in early July and we needed to catch up with her and hear how she's doing too. We like to say that Kirsten is three going on thirty-three! She will actually be four in August and she has a great vocabulary and interest in everything. Riley is two and is really good at it! if you know what I mean. She's shy, very independent, and loves that word "no."

Kirsten "helped" Frank make up the bed, and Riley was really good on the sliding board in the park.

Evan continues to work for his father-in-law on the farm and take online classes to prepare for a degree in aviation safety. Lori stays at home and has a small business making cakes! She does about three a week and is really good at it. She's planning to slow down in a couple of weeks before the new baby arrives.

How can we close this without a recent picture of our little Lance, our daughter's ten month old baby? Here he is, just about as handsome as any little boy should be. We are crazy about all our grandkids----Laura's three and Evan's two and three-quarters!

Marlton, New Jersey

2008-04-26T10:07:00.000-05:00

Not much to write this week. We are east of Philadelphia, across the Delaware River, in Marlton, New Jersey. Beginning Sunday (tomorrow) we will be in a missions conference at Wiley Church, which has supported us since 1976. The conference will end on Wednesday night, April 30, and we will head toward Oklahoma early Thursday morning. We plan to make the trip in two days, so we should arrive home sometime Friday evening. We're ready to go home! Pray for our travel, and also that we will be a blessing to people at Wiley Church. Thanks for thinking about us.

Mount Vernon and Arlington National Cemetary

2008-04-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

One of the great advantages of being on Homeland Ministry Assignment is being able to see parts of our beautiful country that we otherwise would not be able to visit. During our week in Maryland we took one day to drive down to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. It was wonderful. The weather was gorgeous, the grounds were beautiful, and we had such a great time going through the mansion and strolling the paths. It was crowded with lots of school groups, but there was plenty of room for us all. The view from the veranda out to the Potomac River was beautiful.

After spending the day at Mount Vernon, we decided to stop at Arlington National Cemetary which was directly on our way back in the late afternoon. I am so glad we did! It was a wonderful experience walking through the grounds, reading memorial markers, and seeing the Washington Monument across the river. But the highlight of our time there was watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. The military rituals are very meaningful and touching as we saw several wreaths laid before the tomb and heard taps played each time. We also saw the graves of Robert F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy, as well as memorials to both the Challenger and Columbia space shuttles. We wish we could have stayed there longer to see all of it.

West Virginia

2008-04-18T13:20:00.000-05:00

Well, friends, we had a great weekend last week near Martinsburg, West Virginia. The Snyder Bible Chapel is in a beautiful setting in the hills and valleys of eastern West Virginia. We were there for their annual missions conference along with Jim and LouAnn Smith of World Gospel Mission and John and Trisha Fraser of OMS International. John and Trisha are missionaries in Budapest, Hungary, and were there with their three children. The youngest is only four weeks old--little Jonathan. We spoke five times and had wonderful fellowship with everyone in the church. This church as taken several life-shares in our ministry in the past and we felt that we were with old friends.

This week we have been staying in Westminster, Maryland, with our hosts Royal and Patty Mattoon. Their basement is fixed up as an apartment complete with stove, sink, fridge, tv, etc. So it really is a great place for us to stay. Royal and Patty were our hosts in February when we were in their church for a missions conference also.

This weekend we head back to Pennsylvania where we will be in a small church on Sunday morning, filling in for the retired pastor who is now in Florida. Then next Wednesday we head to New Jersey for meetings in that area. We will be in the missions conference of the Wiley Mission in Marlton, New Jersey. This conference will last through Wednesday, April 30. After that we head home to Oklahoma for a few weeks of catching up on things at home.

We appreciate your prayers for us during these meetings. We still have a ton of support to raise and it is coming in very slowly. Of course, the economy is not helping us at this time, and people are just not ready to commit themselves to long-term financial support. Pray that their hearts will be moved and they will be obedient to what God wants them to do to help us get to Ukraine in the fall.

Web-link reminders

2008-04-16T13:03:00.000-05:00

This is just to remind all of you of our two other Ukraine-related websites:

The field website is www.sevenloaves.org.

World Gospel Mission's official website is www.wgm.org.

Pray for Brock

2008-04-10T19:51:00.000-05:00

This is Brock, our five year old grandson. He was the Very Hungry Caterpillar in his pre-school program. That's our daughter, Laura, with Brent, her husband.

Brock is a happy, cheerful boy who loves soccer and anything with wheels. He had an accident on the day before Good Friday when he fell off his swing in the back yard. By Friday morning his leg was very painful, although there were no bruises. Laura and Frank took him to see the doctor that morning and the doctor took x-rays to see if there was a hairline fracture. Well, there wasn't a fracture, but the doctor discovered that Brock has a disease of the hip joint called Legg-Carve-Parthes Syndrome. Something cut off the flow of blood to his hipbone and it has started to die and shrink. There isn't any cure for this, but with care the bone may begin to grow again. So, for now Brock cannot play any team sports (like soccer), he cannot wrestle with his big brother, and he cannot do anything that will add pressure to the bone and cause it to crumble more. The specialist will check on Brock every three months to see what the progress is.

Pray for Brock because our busy boy is going to have to give up a lot of the things he enjoys for now. We think the "accident" was providential because the doctors were happy that the disease was found early enough to reverse its effects.

By the way, Brock's big line at the end of the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar was "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" Grandma Chris is happy she got to be there to see it.

Sweet Lance

2008-04-10T19:44:00.000-05:00

I can't pass the chance to put up a picture or two of our sweet little Lance. He is Brock's baby brother and he was eight months old on March 26th, and he is adorable. He loves people. He is going to be a sociable boy. Pick him up and talk to him and he gives a big grin. Grandpa Frank obviously likes him! We are crazy about Lance.

On the Road Again

2008-04-10T19:20:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been two weeks since I've written in the blog, so it's time to get caught up on what's happening in our lives.

We drove to northern New York, arriving at Peirrepont Manor on Saturday, March 29th. We have been in the church there at least three times before and we felt welcomed by the pastor and his wife. The pastor is also a dairy farmer, so he was busy during the day getting his cows taken care of. We stayed with a wonderful retired couple, Chester and Ruth Rudd. They had a lovely house and we were upstairs with our own bathroom and comfortable bedroom. Our service on Sunday, March 30th, was good and we enjoyed a carry-in lunch afterwards.

One of the highlights of our time in New York (besides the coooold weather!) was being able to visit a missionary friend from India. Buelah White is 82 years old now; she never married and devoted her life to young village women in the state of Andhra Pradesh. She was principal of a school for these young women where they learned to read and write, they studied the Bible, and learned some practical skills like sewing. They all loved her and many of them keep in contact with her even now. Buelah retired in 1990 and returned to her family's home in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. What a change from hot, dusty, dry Andhra Pradesh. We stayed one night with Buelah, sharing old memories and hearing about her life in retirement with her cat.

Last weekend we were in a church in northwestern Pennsylvania at a small town called Emlenton. We participated in their missions conference where Frank preached both services on Sunday. He did a great job! After we left there we returned to Harrisburg, Pa., to spend a few days with Jo and Truman Long. We stayed with them in March when we were in their church's mission conference, and they invited us to come back if we needed a place to stay for a few days. We have enjoyed their friendship for a number of years and the fellowship is always good in their home.

Tomorrow, Friday, April 11, we head toward Martinsburg, West Virginia, where we will participate in another missions conference. It's only a 2 1/2 hour drive, and we must be there by 3:30 in the afternoon.

Pray for us right now. Both of us are having stuffy heads from colds and we don't have a lot of energy. We'll probably be running on adrenalin during the weekend since we'll be speaking at least four or five times, some shorter, others longer. Both of us sort of crashed today. Praise the Lord for wonderful friends like Jo and Truman who gave us a lovely room with it's own bath, upstairs away from everything that was happening downstairs.

I'll write more next week. Thanks for your prayers.

Meet our son, Evan

2008-03-25T13:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Evan! Evan was born on a cold, snowy Palm Sunday, March 23, 1975, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. We are proud of our kids and are grateful for the fact that both of them love the Lord and serve Him.

Evan has a beautiful wife, Lori, and two little girls, Kirsten and Riley, that he is crazy about. (We're crazy about them too!) And . . . another little girl is coming their way in early July.

Evan and Lori live in Dalhart, Texas, and he works for his father-in-law on a large farm. He has a pilot's license and is seeking to find just exactly the right place where God wants him and his family to be. Pray for Evan and Lori that they will find the perfect place to serve the Lord in the future. We are proud of our son.

Catching up after a month!

2008-03-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been ages since I've written on the blog. It just didn't seem to work into my schedule at the time, and I got side-tracked with other things. Anyway, here's a brief look at the past month. By the way, I'm writing from our home in Yukon, Oklahoma. We had a two-week break over Palm Sunday and Easter. I'm so glad that churches don't want missionary services on those weekends! It's given us a chance to get home, take care of some family issues and relax a little in our own comfort zone. But we're back on the road the day after tomorrow, Thursday, March 27.

We spent the end of February near Keymar, Maryland. We were in a good missionary convention at the Evangelical Wesleyan Church there and enjoyed the fellowship of many people in the church who overfed us and seemed like old friends. We have been in that church for their convention at least twice and one other time on a regular weekend. We had planned to spend a few days sight-seeing around Washington, D.C., but the weather was so cold it just wasn't practical to be outside much. We stayed for ten days in the home of a retired pastor and his wife, Rev. Royal and Patty Mattoon. We were actually in a little apartment with a small kitchen, so we didn't need to bother them much as far as meals were concerned. Patty and I are both quilters, so we talked a lot about quilts. They are wonderful people and we enjoyed our stay with them.

From Keymar we moved on to New Jersey for a Monday night meeting on March 3rd. A Dr. Edward Roberts had contacted our northeast regional director to find a missionary who could share in his missiology class, and since we were in the area we were happy to go to Newark. Newark is actually a rather gray, grim town, but across the river we could see the skyline of New York City. We were picked up at our motel by a young black man who had attended Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. The school was located in the basement of an old big church. Most of the students were in the late 20s or 30s, worked during the day, and took classes three nights a week in the Bible school. OH, did I mention that we were the only white people in the building??? Yep, the church was a black church and Dr. Roberts directs the school, although he is the pastor of another black church in the city. They were wonderful, friendly people. We had a great time with them. I teased Frank that this was probably the only time he ever taught a missiology class where the students were amening and praising the Lord the whole time!

From Newark we headed towards Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where we were in another missions conference at the New Love in Christ Church. The New Love church has supported us in India for many years, and we have been to this church at least five times through the years. We stayed with our old friends, Jo and Truman Long. We have stayed with them at least two times in the past and felt like right at home with them. The conference was very good and we had fellowship with several other missionaries who also participated. Again, we were overfed and felt like stuffed turkeys!

We finished in Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon, March 9, and headed home. We had planned to follow I-70 all the way west to St. Louis, but that weekend Ohio was hit with a huge snowstorm and roads were treacherous. So we took I-81 south to eastern Tennessee and caught I-40 west. I-40 passes about two miles from our home in Yukon, so it worked out good, although the trip was a little longer that the northern route. Coming south through Virginia and west through Tennessee was a very nice drive, we would love to see it in the late spring or autumn. It's a beautiful part of the country.

Well, we got home on March 11th and had time with family, as well as catching up on things around the house. We had a good day on Easter with Laura and her family as well as Mom Dewey. We leave again on Thursday, March27th, heading toward northern New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia. We're hoping that this time around we will be able to get to Mount Vernon and other areas around Washington, D.C.

Please pray for us as we travel and present the needs of Ukraine, as well as our own needs of financial support to get to Ukraine by the end of September. Pray for safety on the roads and contacts with people whom God has prepared by burdening their hearts for the lost souls of this world.

Keymar, Maryland

2008-02-26T11:33:00.000-06:00

Right now we are in Maryland. We participated in a great missions conference this past weekend in the Keymar Evangelical Wesleyan Church along with other World Gospel Mission missionaries. We are staying with a retired pastor and his wife. We have eaten way too much food, but have had wonderful fellowship and made some new friends.

We are not scheduled at this time for a service on Sunday, but will be in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday evening, March 3, speaking in a college class which is learning more about missions and missionaries.

The weather is cold and rainy today in Maryland. As we go further north we will probably run into snow. Pray for our travel and that everything we say and do will represent Christ and challenge people with a lost world.

A new friend from our blog

2008-02-26T11:12:00.000-06:00

Christa and Mark Graham with Matthew, Caitlin (back) and Abigail

We had a great time last week spending a few days near Raleigh, North Carolina, with a friend we made through blogspot. Christa Graham found our blog when she googled "Berdyansk". She and her husband are in the process of adopting a child from Ukraine, actually from Berdyansk. Christa, her oldest daughter Caitlin, and a good friend are in Berdyansk now, working on the adoption. They left Monday, Feb. 25th, and plan to spend a week in Berdyansk. We are praying that everything will go well for them. We were able to put them in touch with our field leader, Ernie Smith, and it was an encouragement to them to know that they would be able to worship on Sunday with a wonderful group of Ukrainian Christians.

Dr. Stephen and Ruth Ann Gunter

We also had the opportunity to have lunch with Frank's old college roommate, Stephen Gunter and his wife. Frank and Steve were roommates for approximately 3 1/2 years at Bethany Nazarene College in the 1960s. Steve is now Associate Dean for Methodist Studies and Research Professor of Evangelism and Wesleyan Studies at the Duke Divinity School. (Ain't all that a mouthful!) Anyway, seeing some of these old friends reminds us that we have aged as much as they have!

Old friends meet

2008-02-14T19:49:00.001-06:00

Frank and Ken 44 years later

Another great part of our week in north Georgia was having the chance to meet an old friend. When Frank was a teenager at Lushington Hall in Ooty, India, one of his friends was another MK named Ken Anderson. Ken's parents were working in Andhra Pradesh in southern India. After leaving India, Frank kept in touch with Ken for a while, but then lost contact and 44 years have passed since they last saw each other. Recently Frank found Ken's email address through another old friend from India. He immediately re-established contact, and we made it a point to visit Ken and his family here in northern Georgia.

The Anderson family

Ken is now Dr. Ken Anderson, a professor of vocal music at Covenant College on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. He and his wife, Lois, have six children. Lois is also an MK who spent part of her childhood in Mexico City. The two oldest children are young women. One is married and the other is now teaching music at Hebron School in Ooty, India. Their other children are four young men still at home, and they are a great bunch of kids. Ken and Lois graciously allowed us to stay with them for a few days between meetings and we have had a wonderful time with this lovely Christian family.

Communication potentials on the web

2008-02-14T19:33:00.000-06:00

What a great week we have had! We left Clanton, Alabama, last Saturday and drove to Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia, which is just across the Tennessee-Georgia state line south of Chattanooga. We had services on Sunday morning in the Ft. Oglethorpe United Methodist Church. The pastor, Rev. Mark Davis, is a person who wants to see missions work around the world and in the local community. He is truly a missions facilitator.

Pastor Mark introduced us to a TV producer who loves the Lord and wants to help missionaries communicate their needs in a way that reaches the most people with their message. We really believe that this is going to be a tremendous help to us as we raise our support, both prayer and finances. On Wednesday we met with some of his people who interviewed us on camera and will produce a video for us that will be posted on a website designed especially for us with opportunities to broaden our support base. This is costing us absolutely nothing! What wonderful people to serve the Lord by helping Christian workers communicate their needs! We'll keep everyone posted in the coming weeks as to the status of our website.

Please pray that this will prove to help us communicate our needs and the needs of Ukraine. Especially pray that it will bring in the finances we need to reach Ukraine in September.

101 Years Young

2008-02-09T17:02:00.000-06:00

How could we have forgotten to post this news???? Yesterday, Feb. 8th, Frank's mother, Edna Dewey, celebrated her 101st birthday. We sent her flowers and talked to her twice on the big day. Her assisted living center had a nice party for her and she had several calls from old friends and family. Mom Dewey is the oldest living missionary in World Gospel Mission. She and Dad spent 32 years in India at South India Biblical Seminary. See some of the pictures posted earlier just to see how great she still looks. As she puts it so bluntly, "Just because you're old doesn't mean you have to look like a prune."

Many more happy birthdays, Mom.

On to Georgia!

2008-02-07T14:48:00.000-06:00

Well, we have one more day here in Alabama and then on Saturday we head to northern Georgia to a southern suburb of Chattanooga. Our stay here has been good. Wednesday morning we were awakened at 5:30am by the warning siren. Tornadoes were in the area. We were assured by our host that it was a severe thunderstorm warning, went back to bed, and then were roused again at 6am by another siren. We went down to the basement for about half an hour, then went back upstairs to our room. Clanton didn't have any tornadoes, but northern Alabama was hit along with Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

Our meetings on Sunday were good. In the morning we were at Rocky Mount United Methodist Church and in the evening at Mt. Pisgah United Methodist Church. The people were incredibly friendly and interested in both places. We had a great time with both groups. We are praying that they will remember the needs of Ukraine and the Lord will ask them to support us and our ministry there.

One last thing: at a mall in southern Birmingham we met a tall, gorgeous young woman named Natalya from Ukraine. She was working at one of the kiosks in the middle of the mall. As we visited, she shared that she was from the historical, beautiful city of Lviv. That's one of the places we hope to visit one day. We told her about what we were planning to do, and she told us about her home. We love making new friends from Ukraine! Hopefully we'll find a few more during the coming months.

But for now, it's on to Georgia!

Greetings from Clanton, Alabama

2008-02-01T12:36:00.000-06:00

Here we are in Alabama, heart of the South! Southern hospitality and good friends. We are staying with long-time friends of World Gospel Mission, Dr. Phil and June Simms. They are wonderful people who have helped many WGM missionaries through the years. Dr. Phil has been on the WGM Board of Directors for a long time. Some years ago they realized that missionaries traveling on deputation (oops! Home Ministry Assignment) often need a place to stay for days at a time. So they created a "Prophet's Chamber" on the second story of their lovely home. It is a suite of rooms with big bedroom, a sitting room, and bathroom. We have stayed there before and are there right now, enjoying their Southern hospitality.

Yesterday they took us to Birmingham IMAX theater to see the movie "Mummies: Secret of the Pharoahs." I really don't think it was their "cup of tea", so to speak, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. After that we went to eat in a great restaurant before heading back to Clanton. Here's a picture of them at the IMAX theater.

Our meetings have been small, but enjoyable. We have renewed friendships with a number of people who have prayed for us and supported us financially for many years. One of the things we have noticed is that some of the churches do not have many young adult couples who participate in mission meetings. Many of the folks have been senior citizens, lovely Southern ladies and gentlemen. Praise the Lord for them. But the church needs those young couples! Missions need those young couples! Pray that the churches will find a way to communicate the needs of the entire world to these men and women who are the future of the church and of World Gospel Mission.

We will be here in Clanton for another week. On Sunday we have two meetings, morning and evening, in Methodist churches. During the weekdays when our time is free we may do some antique looking, check out one or two historical sites, and catch up on our reading. I'll let you know how that goes when I write next week!

www.sevenloaves.org

2008-01-21T15:04:00.000-06:00

If you have a few minutes, check out the Ukraine website, http://www.sevenloaves.org/. It will introduce you to all the WGM missionaries and the work they do in Ukraine. It will give you some idea of our needs and theirs.

You should also check out the World Gospel Mission website at www.wgm.org. It has tons of information about the fields, the missionaries, and how it can help individuals and churches promote missions.

Life on the Road

2008-01-21T14:46:00.000-06:00

It's time for another update on our lives. The month of January has been slow for us because we did not have many meetings scheduled for the first three weeks of the month. But things will begin to pick up now and we will be heading out for a six-week time of Home Ministry Assignment (formerly known as deputation).

We leave OKC on Saturday, Jan. 26, and drive to Clanton, Alabama that day. It's a long drive, but not long enough to divide up into a two day drive. We will be having meetings in Alabama and Georgia for a month, then head toward Maryland and Pennsylvania where we will be in two mission conferences held by churches which have supported us for a number of years. If you read this, be sure to say a few prayers for us as the Lord brings us to your mind. Safety in travel, good weather, and especially receptive hearts to the needs of Ukraine and how we will be actively engaged in meeting those needs. We need good offerings, and we need people who will be willing to make a commitment to support us financially for four more years.

Life on the road in fun in some ways, but difficult in others. I (Chris) like the travel, sitting beside Frank in the van, talking, seeing new sights, and maybe even stopping along the way to browse in an antique mall, visit a quilt shop, or see some historical site. Sometimes we have quite a bit of time on our hands between meetings and that gives us opportunity to visit some places that we otherwise wouldn't see.

Life on the road can be difficult though because we spend so much time in the car that we don't get our good exercise in as we would like. I usually gain weight, and that is a big problem for me. Another problem for me is that I can't watch my diet the way I would like to. I have to be very careful of high fats or else I have attacks of pain and IBS. When you're staying in other people's houses and they are kind enough to welcome you and help you, you don't complain about the food! At least we don't. But I have experienced some very bad attacks while we've been on the road, and it's mostly because people are so good to us that they want to serve us what they consider to be the very best food. And that usually isn't good for me. I never know when these attacks will happen, and it's always just a little embarrassing for me to have to excuse myself to lie down or hide in a bathroom.

So as the Lord brings us to your minds, please say a few prayers for us. We appreciate it.

Christmas with Frank and Chris

2007-12-31T08:32:00.000-06:00

What a nice Christmas we had! Evan and Lori came in on the 20th with Riley and Kirsten, so we enjoyed having them with us. Of course, we live near Laura and Brent and their three sons, and we also have Frank's mother close by. So all of us had a good time together. On Friday morning we took our four youngest grandkids to the mall to have their picture taken with Santa. While we were waiting, I took this picture.

From left: Lance, 5 months; Brock, 5 years; Riley, 2 years in February; Kirsten, 3 years.

One of the highlights of the weekend was when Frank dedicated little Lance to the Lord on Sunday morning. Almost 20 relatives on both sides of the family were in the church for this special time. How fortunate our grandchildren are to have loving, Christian families who love them and want God's best for them! Another picture here is of Frank's mom with Laura and Lance. I love this picture!

One happy bit of news from our family is that Evan and Lori are expecting another baby in early July. Our motto is: The more the merrier!

Evan and Lori and their girls.

Laura and Brent and the boys.

As you can tell, we love our family. We praise the Lord that all of them love Him and are serving Him in the places where He has put them. Hope you enjoy our pictures.

Preparation for Ukraine!!!!

2007-12-15T14:04:00.001-06:00

Most of you have seen on the news about the ice storm in Oklahoma. We had just gotten home last Saturday from Missionary Forum which is a retreat held every year in Indiana for WGM missionaries in the U.S. for Home Ministry Assignment (formerly known as furlough!) In Indiana we spent three days listening to good preachers (one a professional comedian), renewing friendships with other missionaries whom we hadn't seen in a long time, and generally having a good time. We woke up on Wednesday morning to a temperature of 1 degree above zero, wind chill -8! Actually, our temperatures these past two weeks have been lower than they are in Berdyansk, Ukraine. There was lots of snow and cold winds, which, by the way, did not chill the warmth of fellowship and spiritual renewal.

We left Indiana on Friday, Dec. 7, and got home to Yukon, Oklahoma, late that night. We started out in snow and ended in very cool rainy weather. Saturday night our storms started here. LOTS of ice. Church was cancelled on Sunday, so we stayed home and enjoyed a very quiet day with good books and TV. On Tuesday morning our electricity went off, so we headed over to our daughter's home which had already lost its power the day before. But her husband had a generator, so we were warm and able to have some light. Laura cooked on their propane camping stove. Our electricity came back on Wednesday late afternoon, but Laura and her family still do not have electricity today, which is Saturday, the 15th. They are with us in our home now, to have a change from their electricity-deprived house. We are praying that their electricity will return today sometime. Today it is snowing, but the temperatures are expected to rise tomorrow and melt it for the most part.

So, what has this taught us? Well, we did feel that God was just giving us a little preparation for winters in Ukraine! I wonder if He's chuckling at us now with all of our moans and groans. We have learnt about how He takes care of us during difficult environmental conditions. Of course, we had already learned this in India, but the temperatures were considerably different and there was no snow or ice. We know that He helped us get home before the major storm hit and He gave us fairly good traveling conditions for most of the day. He reminds us of our loving family and how we care about each other and help each other when necessary.

2007-11-26T17:08:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day at our house. This is Frank's mother who will be 101 years old on February 8 holding her newest great-grandson, Lance, aged 4 months. With her and Lance are his big brothers. Brock (middle) is 5 years old, and Garrett is 14.

Immeasurably more

2007-11-26T16:38:00.000-06:00

Sometimes Frank & I get discouraged thinking of all the support that we need to raise in the next ten months in order for us to get to Ukraine. It seems like a mountain and we really haven't had a great response to our message of need. People are always congratulating us on being brave and ready to make a big change from India to Ukraine at this stage of our lives, but when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, to where it hits them hardest, their pocketbooks, they back off. (Of course, the current financial markets haven't helped us out at all!)

Yesterday was the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so we didn't have a Home Ministry Assignment and were able to be at home in our own church. That's always a great treat for us. The pastor's message yesterday sorta hit home to these two missionaries. His text was Ephesians 3:20-21. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church . . . ." Immeasurably more . . . We are completely unable to fathom, much less measure what Jesus is able to do in our lives. The translation The Message says, " . . . far more that you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams . . . ."

Are we doing what God has called us to do? Yes.
Are we in God's will in going to Ukraine? Yes.
Is it God's will for Ukrainian Christians to take leadership in their churches? Yes.
Are we able to help them do that? Yes.
Will this bring glory to God in the Ukrainian church? Yes.
Is God able to bring in our support so we can get there and do our work? Yes.
Do we need more faith in His ability to provide? Yes

Pray with us that immeasurably more financial and prayer support than we could ever imagine will be in hand when it's time for us to go to Ukraine next September.

A New Blog by Chris and Frank

2007-11-23T16:52:00.000-06:00

Friends, this is something totally new for us! But . . . we don't want to be old codgers who can't keep up with new trends. Communication has changed so much since we were young missionaries that just keeping up with everything new is a challenge. But we're willing to try.

Today is the day after Thanksgiving. We had a lovely day yesterday with our daughter and her family. Frank's mom was with us too. Laura and I collaborated on the food, and it was pretty good, even if I do say so myself. Turkey, etc. I noticed that in the prayer calender, My Utmost for His Highest, the verse for Thanksgiving Day was I Corinthians 10:31, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." A great verse for a day when we can count our blessings, and a reminder that we mustn't leave God out of any aspect of our lives.

What did we give thanks for? Our family, our warm home (it's been really cold outside here in Oklahoma, almost as cold as it is in Berdyansk in Ukraine), all the wonderful people who have supported us financially and prayerfully through our long years in India, our missionary friends and colleagues, our home church here in Oklahoma, good health . . . . . . This list could be endless because God has been so good to us.

We especially thank God for the leadership He has given in our lives as we change missionary fields from India to Ukraine. Our financial needs to get to Ukraine seem like a huge mountain, and sometimes we can get discouraged about ever getting there, but we're sure this is His will for us to make this change. Pray for us and ask the Lord to touch people's hearts for the needs of the church in Ukraine.