PACKING UPDATE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.