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.

UKRAINE WINTER

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.